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Chapter 10
Brian sat outside the building where the ball was taking place. He wanted just a little bit more fresh air before having to deal with the festivities. Despite that, he was at ease. There wasn’t much bothering him aside from the recent events. He would have to see Michael and no matter what angle he looked at the situation from, the man had a bruised face and a swollen eye. There would be some level of tension. He could only hope that the mood of the party outweighed everything else.
He sat on a bench and right before him was a little squirrel scurrying around as squirrels were known to do. He related to the little animal. The thing couldn’t speak and at times neither could Brian. At least that was the case when it came to his feelings. The squirrel also moved about with little consistency and no clear direction—that was Brian’s life.
He would be lying to himself if he had said that he didn’t enjoy the kiss with Harper, and maybe there was a part of him that didn’t want to enter the ball because aside from having to see the bruised face of Michael, he would also have to see the bruised heart of Harper.
Did she like the kiss as much as he did? What was her agenda? Did she want marriage, or did she just tend to hint at things because it went hand in hand with her tendency to push Brian to the edge? What did it even matter? He knew the vows that he made to himself. He knew the empty future that he had laid out for himself, and he was happy with it. So, forget Harper.
Brian left the bench and took a deep breath before entering the ballroom. His goal was to enjoy himself no matter what. The goal before that would be to find the wine.
But as he first laid eyes on the room, the tension filled him, and his goals went out the window. A few eyes darted in his direction. One of the sets of eyes belonged to Michael. Even though there was a good amount of distance between them, he could see Connor put himself in between them both. It was apparent—Brian was not wanted at the ball despite his invitation.
He knew it was his fault. He brought the fanfare with his actions. Everyone he knew, he eventually hurt somehow. It was enough to make him want to turn around and leave the ball altogether.
And then that all changed when he spotted Harper. When he saw her, it was as though Michael, or the other judging eyes no longer existed. Her gown had gold lace around the shoulders that lined the top of her chest. Her hair was a flurry of carefully brushed curls that shimmered with the reflection of the overhead chandelier. Everything about her was perfect. Even from their distance apart, he could see her lips like they were right before him.
But he wanted to be careful. As much as he made her heart pound, he did not want to get her hopes up. He did not want to send her any mixed signals. That would not be fair to her. As annoying as she had been over the years, her heart did not deserve to be played with. It made him regret kissing her.
With Michael walking in the other direction, Connor came up to Brian with a look of concern. “I do hope you can be more reserved tonight. Harper does not deserve any more folly.”
Brian could not pull his attention from Harper.
“Are you alright?” Connor asked.
“You can’t live your whole life chasing your friends up trees you know.” Brian remembered Harper telling him as a child.
“I don’t think I’ll have close friends when I’m older. I’m going to go travel the world or something. Men like that don’t have time to be tied down with friendships and such.”
Harper shook her head. “Oh really? That sounds like fear to me.”
“Fear?” Brian laughed. “I think staying in one town forever doing the same thing over and over for eternity, that’s living in fear. I want to go on adventures.”
“It one thing to go on adventures. But it is far braver to commit to friendships and people. Because people are the biggest adventure of all.”
“You are a dreamer, aren’t you?”
“Brian? What’s the matter with you?” Connor followed up.
“Nothing. I am well. There will be no folly from me tonight.”
Brian stayed in his own space for a while. He meant it when he said he didn’t want to cause any trouble. There was no need. He had done enough. And for whatever reason, his memories regarding Harper were making it hard for him to stay out of his head. There was a sadness that filled him even though everyone seemed to be laughing and smiling. Even with the music that was jovial, he couldn’t find it within him to get into the groove of the party.
For most of the evening, he watched Harper in the distance. He couldn’t look away. He tried to tell himself that he was doing it to avoid her, but in all reality, he was doing it because deep down he wanted to talk to her. He wanted to be near her, those lips of hers.
But then he spotted her scan the room for Michael. When she found him, her eyes seemed to light up.
It seemed like everything that he had told himself in regard to not pursuing her romantically, went out the window. A place in his gut just wouldn’t allow him to stay away. Especially after seeing her look at Michael. Was it jealousy? Most likely. The same jealousy that caused him to hit Michael? Hopefully not.
The problem was, he did not have a plan. Jealousy had not been an emotion that Brian anticipated. Throughout his life, he had never even really experienced it. Perhaps the last time he did so, was when he was a child. But when he entered his teen to adult years, he found jealousy to be a useless endeavour. There was no place for it in his life. He was his own person.
Yet, there was that aura around Harper that refused to allow Brian any other emotion aside from jealousy. What did Michael know about treating a woman nicely, let alone Harper? Out of all the men in the group of friends, Brian fancied himself as the one who knew her best, even if it had not been on purpose, throughout his lifetime.
There was no time for planning, Brian figured. He needed to act quickly or else she and Michael would meet on the dance floor.
Brian went over to Harper and her attention quickly fell to him. A bit of shock rested in the few lines on her face, and unless Brian was imagining it through delusions of grandeur, she wore a little smirk as well.
Brian then took her hand, gave a short look to a frustrated Michael, and then said to Harper, “May I have your first dance?”
