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What if living with him only intensified my feelings? What if I discovered I loved him as more than a friend? I was so screwed.
He made quick work of eating the second muffin while I busied myself stacking boxes by the door. He came up behind me, taking the box out of my hands. “I’ve got this. Why don’t you make sure you didn’t forget anything in the bathroom or your bedroom?”
A rush of affection ran through me, and I hugged him. Nothing I hadn’t done before, but this time, I noticed my breasts pressed against his hard body.
I’d never had a friend like Harrison, and I wouldn’t want to do anything to ruin it. So I needed to ignore the feelings that being this close to him evoked.
I loosened my arms and tipped my chin back to meet his gaze. “Thank you.”
He dipped his knees to make himself level with me. “You know there’s nothing I wouldn’t do for you, right? You’ve been there for me and Wren. I won’t forget it.”
“You’ve been there for me, too.” I stepped back from him, already missing the warmth of his body.
His brow furrowed. “Moving in together won’t change anything, will it?”
“Of course not. Why would it?” My face was flushed, and my voice was a little higher than usual, but if he noticed, he didn’t point it out.
“I’ve never done anything like this before. It feels a little reckless.”
“You have to remember we’re doing this for Wren. She needs both of her parents in her life.”
Harrison sucked in a shaky breath. “Every time I take her back, she asks if she can stay longer. She wants more time with me, and I want that, too. Maybe she senses that things are going to change with her mother being pregnant.”
“We’re doing the right thing.” I meant that in relation to Wren. What it would do to my relationship with Harrison still remained to be seen.
He braced his hands on the counter, his expression sober. “Are you sure about that? If you move in with me, you won’t be able to date anyone else.”
My stomach sank at his easy reference to me dating other people. “I’m not interested in anyone.”
He raised a brow. “And why is that?”
I swallowed over the tightness in my throat. I hoped he didn’t realize my discomfort was because I liked him. “I just haven’t met anyone who has potential.”
He crossed his arms over his chest. “In all the years we’ve hung out, you’ve never been serious about a guy.”
My breath caught in my throat because I’d always been hung up on him.
He tipped his head to the side. “Is it your dad?”
I scrunched my nose at the unwelcome reference to the man who’d walked out on my mother and me. “What are you talking about?”
“Your dad leaving messed with your head. You have trouble trusting another man not to do the same thing.”
“Maybe.” I’d confided in him a long time ago that I had difficulty keeping friends. I pushed them away before they could decide I wasn’t worthy. Harrison was the only one who resisted my efforts.
“I don’t want to mess things up for you or ruin a chance of you finding the man you’re supposed to be with.”
His words sent a sharp pain through my chest. He’d effectively taken himself out of the running, or he never considered himself for the role. Harrison wasn’t interested in me as anything more than a friend, and I needed to remember that.
“Tell me I’m wrong, Everly.”
“Obviously, I can’t date anyone while we’re doing whatever we’re doing. But I promise you, I’m in no rush to get married or have kids.” Harrison was a bit more optimistic but still careful about bringing anyone around his daughter. Other than me, I didn’t think he’d ever introduced anyone to her.
“Why is that?” He moved around the island and rested a hip against it, crossing his arms over his chest. The movement caused his biceps to bulge.
“I don’t feel that pressure to get married. I’m not under any illusions that having a man will save me or make my life better.” Just thinking about how easily my dad walked away filled me with anger. Commitment was meaningless to him. Why would it be different for anyone else?
“I hate to see you close yourself off to happiness.”
