Page 24 of Singled Out
Harper frowned. “Annoyed,” was her response, which wasn’t at all what I’d expected. “I get that he owns the house, but I’ve been living there, paying rent, for three years. He can’t just kick me out on the street.”
“We can take that up with him when he’s sober. I wasn’t about to leave you alone with him.”
“I’m glad you were there.”
I had a strange urge to take her hand, but I resisted it.
Ten minutes later, I pulled into my garage, passing Dakota’s car in the driveway.
Harper sat up straight. “Dakota’s still here?”
I laughed. “Of course. She can be flaky sometimes, but so far she hasn’t left Danny alone when she’s supposed to be taking care of him.”
“Right. Duh. I…don’t want her to see me.”
“Why not?”
“She’ll jump to the wrong idea.”
“Probably, knowing her. We don’t have anything to hide though.”
“I know that, and you know that, but do you think she’d ever believe it?”
“You know my sister pretty well, don’t you?”
“Know her and love her, but she can be like a bulldog.”
“Wait here. She’ll be gone in five minutes, and then you can come to bed.”
As her brows shot upward, I realized my error. “Then you can come inside, I’ll show you to the guest room, and you can go to bed,” I corrected.
And I would go to my own bed, and I would not lie awake for hours thinking about how close she was or wondering what she’d brought to sleep in.
When I slid out of the SUV, I had to adjust my pants and coach my body to calm the fuck down before I could face my sister.
Chapter Eight
Harper
The five minutes in Max’s garage before he came back to get me were the longest, quietest of my life.
I’d been fighting off ugly shit in my head since we’d left the gala by chattering about whatever came to mind, trying to keep up a happy front. A bone-deep, suffocating sadness was seeping in, catching me off guard. I’d expected the award acceptance on Naomi’s behalf to be hard, but…
I squeezed my eyes shut as I sensed Max reentering the garage. When I opened them, I blinked at the light coming from inside the house. As he reached my door and opened it, offering me his hand, I tried to appear composed.
He’d turned out to be the right partner for this specific evening that could’ve so easily been hell. Thanks to him, I’d gotten through it intact. When we’d run into several people he knew, he’d included me in their conversations. And since he’d been to dozens of formal events before, he was well versed in the routine and clued me in when I needed it, like with the forks.
What was more, he seemed to be empathetic to my nervousness, not only about speaking in front of people but about managing my sadness. We didn’t talk about it; I just sensed he got it, maybe because of his own recent loss.
He’d indulged me by dancing, where I didn’t have to make small talk with strangers or think too hard about Naomi. Mostly I had to concentrate on not falling into Max’s arms the way I wanted to.
He’d basically been the support I needed to get through the evening. I wasn’t sure any other guy would’ve understood that, let alone gone along with it. So among the many feelings swirling inside of me, there were depths of gratitude.
The other feelings were more confusing, I acknowledged, as he took my backpack from me and put a hand at the small of my back, guiding me into his house.
It was wild to think I was spending the night at Max’s, but after that creepy run-in with Naomi’s brother…
On the drive into town, after leaving Naomi’s, I’d told him I could go to my dad’s or a friend’s place. The time was nearly one in the morning though, and as he’d pointed out, I didn’t want to wake anyone up and worry them.