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“For the same kind of fling you had with Eva.”
Another laugh escapes me. Big mistake.
My woman spins on me with all the fury of a mother bear, making me think of the future, which doesn’t seem so impossible anymore. If it wasn’t for Adam lurking in the background, I’d tell her right away, all of it.
“How is thatfunny?” Harper snaps. “This is my life we’re talking about. It’s not a joke. I’m done playing games. Something happened between you and Eva.”
“No, it didn’t,” I snarl, the thought making me sick. “I can’t explain the connection between me and Eva, not without Adam’s permission, but I have to tell you this. The thought of you believing that, even for a second, something happened between us… I can’t tolerate it.”
I move close to her, staring down. “Eva and I knew each other before Adam and Eva met. But we were only ever friends. I swear, Harper, nothing ever happened. She was like a sister to me.”
“Why did Adam freak out when I asked about it?” Harper asks.
“Because Eva was ashamed.”
“Of what?”
I groan. “I wish I could say, but I can’t. She never wanted you to know. Or anybody to know. She was proud like that.”
“Swear on Eva,” Harper says firmly, “that you didn’t have an affair.”
“I swear,” I snarl. “Nothing like that ever happened.”
“Then why did you and Adam fight? Why did you leave? I thought it was about an affair.”
The words are on my lips. Then images of Adam flit into my mind, a thousand of them crashing together and driving home how wrong this is. Even if it feels so right.
“If you thought Eva and I had an affair, why did you want me?” I snap.
“Don’t turn this around on me,” she snaps right back, her voice so fiery I can’t but smirk, despite the rage. “What’sfunny?”
“Nothing’s funny.”
“If you won’t answer me about the fight, then just get out. Thanks for breakfast.”
“Harper…”
“Get.Out.”
I could fix this right now, hold her tenderly in my arms, whisper that hers isn’t a one-way obsession.
Instead, I leave, feeling like a coward. Running from love, the only life I want… I need.
I shut the door behind me and walk down the stairs.
CHAPTERNINETEEN
Harper
I spend the day in my room, on my laptop, handling some logistical tasks for the podcast. I start editing the next one, though Tiffany said she was happy to do it. I told her no. I want something to focus on.
My boss is okay with me not going into the restaurant since I explained the circumstances, but I can’t just sit around doing nothing. My thoughts turn over and over what Bryson said about him and Eva. There was no affair.
They knew each other before she met Adam. They were just friends. No, more than that. She waslike a sisterto him. I do the math. Adam and Eva met in their early twenties.
Bryson told me he was raised in an orphanage. Eva was ashamed and didn’t want anybody to know.
Leaning back in my desk chair, the audio editing software opens on my laptop. I nod to myself, knowing that must be it, or close to it. The pieces are all fitting together.
