I wanted to scream with frustration. How the hell did I wind up feeling like the one who was supposed to apologize, here? All I knew was I needed to see him. Unlike Greyson, I wasn’t about to let this fester. I was going to the inn right now, and I was going to clear the air.
27
GREYSON
I set the beer bottle down with a loud click on the counter. I was two–or maybe it was three–beers deep at the inn. All I could picture was Harper with that fuckwad’s lips against hers. I’d seen red and left the bar before I ended up punching some young kid for kissing a girl I wasn’t supposed to be exclusive with.
On cue, a small dusting of rain started to tap against the roof. Within moments, thunder rolled, and the tapping turned into a rolling wave of wet thuds.
Good. I didn’t mind a little downpour to accompany my misery.
The worst part was I knew how unreasonable it was to be pissed. I was the asshole who kept insisting this was casual. I was the one practically telling her to keep her options open. But the moment I see her doing exactly that, I lose my shit?
I dug through the fridge for another beer and popped off the cap, draining half in a few swigs. I felt like being drunk and wished I had some liquor around to speed up the process.
Piece by piece, everything was falling apart. Half of me wished I could just go back to my bleak existence in D.C. and… fuck. Since when had I started thinking of my normal life as bleak? I had my kids. I had… I groaned and pinched the bridge of my nose. I could already hear my brother’s voice echo in my head. A man needs more than his kids and work. Or was that Katie?
I picked up the beer and paused when I heard the door to the lobby open. Harper was standing there in the sexy dress she’d been wearing at the bar. Except the gray fabric was soaked through and I could clearly see her bra and panties. Her short red hair dripped on the floor and her eyes were blazing. “I’m not letting you think you saw what you think you saw,” she said, not even closing the door.
“Jesus Christ,” I said. I went to get a towel, then walked over to where she was and pulled the door shut. I wrapped the towel around her shoulders, and she muttered her thanks, looking slightly awkward after her big entrance.
My pathetic ass just wanted to hear her tell me it wasn’t what I thought. I didn’t want to think about why I needed to hear that so badly. I gestured for her to sit on one of the sofas. I was tempted to sit beside her and help her warm up because she was already shivering, but I just tossed a few logs in the fire and took a minute to fiddle with them. I needed a moment to gather myself, because my emotions were all over the damn place. I had no idea what was going to come out of my mouth if I spoke. I might tell her to get the hell out, or I might tell her to get the fuck in my bed.
I sat across from her, waiting for her to speak.
She was using an edge of the towel to dry her hair. She licked her lips when she saw me watching. “Okay. First of all, me coming here doesn’t mean you’re forgiven. I heard what you said, and it was really shitty of you to say that. I don’t care if we agreed to be casual. That’s just not how you talk about people.”
“Harper, I–”
She held up her hand to me. “Let me finish, please.”
I clenched my jaw and leaned back, glaring.
“And what you saw at the bar was a complete fluke. I didn’t see your text. I must’ve opened it by accident or something, but I didn’t read it until after I saw you leave. And that guy you saw kiss me was someone I just met.”
“Like that makes it any better.”
Now she was glaring. “You practically told me I had better not think of us as exclusive. You’ve been pushing this casual thing as hard as you could since the first moment. So I shouldn’t even need to explain this to you. It’s honestly none of your business.”
I leaned forward, ready to say something but she held me again with her hand.
“But,” she said. “I had no idea he was going to kiss me. I didn’t even kiss him back, and I have no interest in him.”
Relief flooded through me, but I tried not to show it. “I see.”
She folded her arms. “You see? That’s all? What about apologizing for being a royal dick?”