“That’s a bit condescending, even for you. You should be happy we won, that I did good tonight. But no, instead, you’re such a bastard, you’re only focused on how good you played.”
“Tell me what you really think.” My hands tighten on the steering wheel.
The remaining drive is met in silence, which is fine with me. Even if Ashton’s right, and perhaps he is a tiny bit, I don’t give him the satisfaction.
Tomorrow, our disagreement will blow over, and everything will be back to normal.
However, right now, the tension in the air is thick.
Ashton eventually breaks the silence as we near my parents’ house. “I know you’re pissed that Harper missed our game. Just don’t take it out on her.”
“Wouldn’t dream of it,” I grumble.
When we finally get to the house and park the car, I head inside. The house is quiet. It seems Mom and Dad are asleep, or at least tucked away for the night. I don’t see either of them, and Mom usually comes to greet us.
Quietly, I head upstairs to my bedroom, bringing my overnight bag with me. I’m only here until tomorrow afternoon. I may have even avoided coming up this weekend, but I want to be here for Harper.
After all, Dante and Nikki are my parents. She shouldn’t have to deal with them, especially Dante, alone.
Opening the bedroom door, the light is off and I glance toward the bed. It’s empty.
I flip the bedroom light on, surprised Harper isn’t home yet. Although she did text me, mentioning working until close.
She’ll be at least another hour.
Zeke is in his own room, a pleasant surprise, and I peek in, making sure he’s sound asleep before returning to my room.
I leave my overnight bag beside Harper’s and strip down to my boxers, climbing under the covers. There’s a book on the bedside table. It’s one of Harper’s, and I grab it, deciding to give it a read while I wait for her.
I lose track of time and am startled when the bedroom door opens and Harper enters. She sways slightly, a rosy tinge to her cheeks. “You’re here?” Harper whispers, surprise evident in her tone, and she giggles.
I close the book, placing it back on the nightstand. “I am. I wanted to see you,” I say and pull back the covers.
Harper strips down to absolutely nothing before climbing onto the bed, kneeling as she towers over me. “I missed you,” she mumbles and I can smell alcohol on her breath.
“I thought you were serving alcohol, not drinking it?” I ask, running my fingers through her hair, brushing the strands behind her ear. There’s no accusation, just a question.
“Jayden bought me bourbon,” she says with a grin and leans in, her lips on mine. She pushes me onto my back, climbing above me, straddling my hips.
“Who is Jayden?” A tingle of jealous flutters through me.
“Just a guy at the bar. He was a good tipper, too.”
“Sounds like he was hitting on my wife.” Can’t say I’m too happy about that.
“He was just being nice. Besides, he’s got bad taste, since the liquor was gross.”
I ignore her bad taste remark. Anyone hitting on my wife has good taste, at least in women, but they ought to know she’s off-limits. “Bourbon is pretty strong.” I run my hands down along her bare back, my fingers itching to touch every inch of her skin, but she’s tipsy.
It’s the one thought forcing me to stop.
“It’s disgusting.” Harper leans down, her mouth on mine, pushing her tongue past my lips and I gently guide her off me. “You don’t want to?” she asks, surprised.
“I want to, but I’m not going to.”
Her brow furrows and she lies on her side, staring at me, thoroughly confused. “Zeke isn’t in our bed. It might be our only chance for a while.”
She’s right about that. I’m hoping that however they managed to put Zeke down in bed, we’ll have the same success at home tomorrow night.
