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I asked, “Then why did you immediately replace me with Dani?”
“What are you talking about?”
“I saw you last night, out on the pool deck with your arm around him.”
“What you saw was me comforting a new friend, who was really upset. His father has cancer and Dani flew to Brazil last weekend to visit him in the hospital, but the man refused to see him. His whole family disowned him when he came out.”
I murmured, “That’s terrible.”
“Dani’s a sweet person, but he’s not you, Phee, and he could never take your place.”
“Just so you know, I didn’t sleep with Kel, and I wasn’t hitting on Tristan.”
Harper rubbed his cheek against mine. “Can we maybe just have a conversation next time, instead of jumping to conclusions?”
“Definitely.” I put my head on his shoulder and said, “I’m sorry I’m so bad at this.”
“I’m not great at it, either. I haven’t exactly had a lot of relationships.”
“Is that what this is?”
“That’s what it’s trying to be, if we let it.”
As he ran his hands down my back, I asked, “Why haven’t you had many relationships? I mean, I haven’t either, but you must have had every opportunity.”
“After I became a celebrity, it seemed like people only wanted me because they were fame chasers, or because they were interested in my money. No one just wanted me for me. But I really think you like me in spite of the fact that I’m rich and famous, not because of it.”
“That’s true, actually.”
I felt him shiver, so I took off my fleece jacket and draped it over his shoulders. Then I found my phone on the counter and turned on the light. He smiled at me and said, “I love it when you take care of me.”
“Well, I’ve done a terrible job of it lately, and right now I should do something about our current situation.” I shone the light around and asked, “Where do you suppose the fuse box is?”
“I have absolutely no idea, but let’s not worry about that now.”
“It’s kind of important,” I said.
“So’s taking you to bed and holding you in my arms.”
He had a point.
I let him lead me to the bedroom, and we gathered up the chicken along the way and brought her with us. I placed my phone and its flashlight on the nightstand, which provided plenty of light for now. Then I kicked off my shoes and climbed under the blanket with Harper, and we wrapped ourselves around each other.
After a while, I asked, “Why didn’t you put up a fight when I broke up with you? It was depressing when you just let me go like I meant nothing to you.”
“I thought I was being clever. I insisted on this trip to Hawaii because I figured it’d give me a week to change your mind. I didn’t know what I’d done to make you dump me, but I figured whatever it was must have been bad, so I’d need plenty of time to fix it.” He grinned and added, “I also knew this house was tiny, so I was hoping all that forced proximity would remind you there are some things you actually like about me. My God are you stubborn, though! I really thought you might spend the entire week camped out on the porch.”
“I was absolutely going to. I was so mad when I thought you’d replaced me in two seconds.”
“I wasn’t too thrilled when I thought you’d decided to hit on most of my household, either,” he said.
“You were so jealous!”
“Of course I was. You’re mine, Phee.”
“Say that again.”
“Why?”
“Because I love hearing it.”
He kissed me, and then he said, “You’re mine, and I’m yours. I know this is still new, but we’re meant to be. I really believe that.”
“How can you be so sure?”
He picked up my hand and pressed it to his chest. “I feel it in here.”
I grinned and said, “You’re sweet and sappy and a hopeless romantic.”
That made him grin, too. “But you like that about me, right?”
“As a matter of fact, I do.”
We ended up talking for hours, curled up together in that warm, comfortable bed. As the first light of dawn seeped into the room, he whispered, “I want to be good enough for you, Phee.”
“What do you mean?”
“I know I’m kind of a doofus who can barely even feed himself, but I’m really going to try to do better. I don’t want you to feel like you’re spending your life babysitting an immature man-child.”
“You don’t have to change a thing about you,” I said, “because I think you’re wonderful.”
“You do?”
“Absolutely.”
Coming face to face with the insecure boy at the heart of the man made me feel protective of Harper. It also made me realize something. I’d always thought he and I couldn’t be more different, but he’d just shown me that deep down, we were exactly the same.
