AllFreeNovel
Share Us
She nods solemnly, avoiding my eyes.
“I’m sorry I ruined our date.” She takes a deep breath, clearly getting more and more upset the longer we stand here.
“Sweetheart, you ruined nothing. I should never have told Will we would go, knowing what happened there. I wasn’t thinking.”
And the look she gave me in that truck when she realized where we were going is going to haunt me for a very long time.
“Sit tight, and I’ll be right back.” She nods and as I walk away, I toss back, “There are also mints in the center console.” I wink as I take out my phone and walk farther away from the truck, calling Will.
“Yo, you here yet?” he asks before I have a chance to say anything.
“Change of plans, we can’t come.” I turn back to see Harper sitting in my truck, looking so small and yet so wonderfully beautiful that it takes my breath away. I give Will the CliffsNotes version of what happened, avoiding the puking part, but he gets the gist and says he’ll call a cab. I turn around, putting my phone in my back pocket and take a look at my girl, who is sitting in the cab of my truck, still looking a little pale but mostly sad and it breaks a small part of my soul. I did that to her. I caused that dejected look on her face and I make an oath to myself right there to make that look disappear by the end of the night.
“Was Will mad?” she asks as I close the door behind me and turn toward her.
I shake my head, pulling her hands from her lap and into mine, lightly stroking her wrists.
“No, he’s a big boy. He figured it out.” I kiss the back of her hand before my thumb brushes against her cheek. “Are you okay? Serious answer this time. Please.”
She takes a deep breath, her eyes avoiding my gaze as she looks out the windshield at the passing cars. “I’m better.”
I nod, loving that she trusts me enough to be honest.
“I’m really sorry about earlier. I haven’t been to the stadium since the day Dad got hit, and so I think I might have had a sudden panic attack that I wasn’t prepared for.”
I nod again, knowing that’s exactly what happened and feeling my gut clench at the memory of feeling so helpless.
“And now?”
Harper clears her throat and squeezes my hand. “I’m okay, Josh, I promise. I’m just not used to an attack coming on so fast and so strong. I think that’s why I was sick. Which by the way, thanks for the mints. I might have purged your supply.” She chuckles as I smile down at her, leaning in and kissing her lightly on the lips. When she pulls away suddenly, covering her mouth with her hand, I tilt my head back and laugh.
“Sweetheart, if you think what happened earlier would deter me from kissing my woman, then you haven’t been paying attention.” I smirk and lean in when she avoids me again. “Harper…” I warn as she shakes her head.
“Josh, come on, let’s just go do whatever you have planned.”
“Not until you kiss me.”
Her eyes narrow as my eyebrows raise.
“I’m not moving this truck until you give me some sugar.”
A smirk plays at the edges of her lips as she leans forward, touching her lips to mine ever so lightly.
“Now, you know that’s not what I meant,” I mutter against her lips as my fingers grasp the back of her neck and haul her toward me.
When our lips touch and she finally opens up for me and that moan leaves her throat, I sink into the feeling of her against me.
When we finally part, Harper’s eyes focusing on me after a few seconds, I pull her seat belt across her body and strap her in.
“So, where are you taking me?” she asks as I pull my own seat belt across and start the truck once more.
“Change of plans, but I think you’ll love it just the same.” I wink at her as I merge back into traffic and head back toward town.
“Burgers and fries in an abandoned parking lot?” Harper questions as I hand her the paper bag as she separates our orders on the center console. “This was your big date plan?” she teases as I chuckle softly.
“Actually, I was going to take you out dancing, but I figured after earlier you might not want to be around that many people.”
Her eyes soften as she leans over and kisses me.
