“You never know what some of these creeps are into.” I laugh as I walk past him, gesturing to signal he can come inside. He walks past me, Maggie still in his arms, and sets her on the small black couch near the door. Maggie takes off with the zoomies towards the other end of the house.
Harley turns around, putting his hands in his pockets. “I checked the closets, bathrooms, even behind the curtains, and under your bed,” he says, rocking on his heels a little bit, almost looking nervous.
It's a decently small house since it’s just me and Maggie, not much to check, but I appreciate it nonetheless. I lowkey like that he was feeling a little possessive over me and my safety. His possessiveness doesn’t make me feel strangled like it always did with Dean.
A yawn escapes my lips. I am exhausted after today, especially ending on the foot we did tonight. “I really appreciate you getting me home safe, and checking to make sure it’s all good,” I say quickly, suddenly nervous with the energy surrounding us.
He smiles softly. “I wouldn’t have been able to sleep tonight if I hadn’t driven you with my own hands.” I believe him. He leans down, and kisses me softly on the cheek. “Get some sleep, pretty girl. Don’t forget to take some aspirin and drink some water.”
Before I can say anything, he is out the door, walking towards a car that I hadn’t noticed was there before. Once he gets in the passengerside and shuts the door, he smiles at me through the window, rolls it down, and says, “Get inside and lock the door before I leave, Ember.”
“Have a good night, Harley,” I call back, leaning against the doorway, before closing the door and locking it with a smile.
Once Harley is out of sight, I walk into the kitchen in search of a glass of water. I grab a glass from the cabinet and fill it with water from the tap. I lean my hips against the counter and smile to myself, clutching the water against my chest.
I think about the way Harley held me tightly when he kissed me on the porch. My body fit perfectly into his, despite our height difference.
I laugh to myself as I walk into my bedroom, remembering how judgmental I’ve always been about the instalove trope in books. I always believed it took time and effort to fall for someone. Maybe this isn’t that, though. It isn’t love at first sight. It’s meeting again, and our bodies syncing up right where we left off sixteen years ago.
I head into the bathroom and half ass scrub my makeup off. A text comes through from UNKNOWN and I don’t have the energy to interact with it tonight. I strip off my leggings and slide under the warm comforter. I pull up Shrek on my TV to fall asleep to and pull out my phone. I scroll Facebook until my eyes start to feel too heavy to keep open. Maggie hops up on the bed, and takes up residence in her normal spot in the bed next to me. Once she’s done her circles and stops moving around, I let sleep take me with a smile on my lips, thinking about Harley Fucking Blackwood.
CHAPTER FOUR
HARLEY
Ember Fucking Alden.
I think I almost popped a blood vessel in my eye when she came out of that house this afternoon. And then, seeing her carrying sweet Aria, my heart stuttered a bit. I didn’t realize it was Aria immediately, and thought Ember had gone on and met someone and had more babies. Of course I would have been happy for her, but part of me has always regretted letting her go.
I knew she’d gotten pregnant by that dumb fuck, Dean Michaels. I was a year ahead of Ember in school, and we’d broken up about four months before they got together. I’d seen the sleaze ball around school. Saw him hanging around the crowd that the police knew by first name. I hated knowing he had caught her eye, and she didn’t know what he was doing while she was at home. I was best friends with her older brother, Reed. Their parents were on the strict side with Ember and Atlas. At the time, it seemed crazy, but looking back now, with Ember getting pregnant at sixteen, I guess they had a right to be.
I used to see Dean hanging out at football games with other girls. Always with his sister and her boyfriend, and they were always stoned. He oozed trouble, and I knew he would take Ember down with him.
I loved Ember, but dating your best friend’s younger sister doesn't always work out when you’re only in high school. I know we were only fifteen and sixteen, but I knew she was special the first time she sat at our table simply to piss Reed off.
Flashback
Reed can’t stand his younger sisters. Honestly, I think he just doesn’t like women period, and the way he treats them has started to have an effect on our friendship. I have four sisters, so I have a certain level of respect for people who treat women shitty. Or lack of, in this situation. Her sitting with his friends pisses him off.
Every day, I look forward to lunch, searching for her smile at the table in the courtyard. I finally told Reed that I like Ember, and he shrugged his shoulders and mumbled that he didn’t give a shit.
I write her a note and pass it to her under the table during lunch that day. My palms stay sweaty after that. She doesn't read it at the table, thankfully, because I know the guys would have started their bullshit. Lunch ends, and I tell her to meet me at her locker after her next class. She looks at me with her curious blue eyes, and I watch as a blush creeps over her cheeks.
The class feels like forever, but the bell rings and we’re dismissed. I make a beeline for Ember’s locker, getting there just before she does. I lean against the lockers, looking down at my DCs. A set of white Converse comes into view, and I look up and I’m met with Ember’s bright blue eyes and big smile.
“Yes, I'll be your girlfriend,” she says with a blush tinting her cheeks again.
My smile hits my eyes, and I slide over to let her get into her locker. “Here, I'll carry those for you,” I say, grabbing her books from her. That’s the most cliche thing to do for your girlfriend in passing period, right? My girlfriend. Ember Alden is my girlfriend. I try to reign in my smile, but I can’t help it.
“Harley, it's fine,” she says softly, but allows me to take them from her arms.
The halls start to clear out, and before she can shut her locker, my hand shoots out to stop her. “Can I kiss you?” I ask too quickly.
Her eyes grow wide, and her cheeks grow redder, but she nods her head. I lean in, her books in one arm, and my free hand rests at her neck, tipping her chin up. We have a pretty decent height difference, so I have to lean pretty far down to kiss her.
Soft. Her lips are soft, her bottom lip heavier than her top, and she tastes like the vanilla bean chapstick she applies every morning. It is a brief and innocent kiss. Ending quicker than I want, but we don’t want to get caught by a teacher in the hallway.
“That was my first kiss.” She tucks pieces of her hair behind her ear, cheeks still red and her eyes now glued to the floor. I already knew it was. We had all sat around and talked about our first kisses a few weeks ago. When she told us she had kissed a boy on a Truth or Dare over the summer, Reed lost his shit and stormed away. I don’t know why, it didn't really count. I will always be her real first kiss.
