Drunk on Harper Henderson is the best buzz I’ve ever had.
We dance, we drink, we chat and mingle and joke. And I have a better time than anyone is supposed to at these kinds of events.
“You’ve been back for a year now, Harper. Why don’t we ever see you?” a woman asks as Harper shows me the restrooms.
Harper fumbles for a moment, her smile tightening as the woman touches the crook of her elbow. “Hi, Mrs. Collins,” she says, turning to me. “This is Sean’s mother. She also helped plan tonight’s event.”
“I did plan it,” Mrs. Collins emphasizes with a huff, her eyes cutting over to Anna’s mother, Mrs. Drew, who is deep in conversation with Mrs. Riker.
I fight the urge to snicker. Or look around unimpressed. Or—
Harper grips the back of my shirt.
I clear my throat. “Nice to meet you. I’m—”
“Damien Barnes,” she interjects. “I know.” Her gaze sharpens, bouncing from Harper to me and back again. “Your mother never mentioned you’re dating an athlete.”
Harper pales slightly.
“That’s my fault.” I kiss Harper’s temple. “I’m sure she will soon,” I add, tucking Harper into my side. “I haven’t had a chance to introduce Harper to my folks yet so we were waiting, you know, until we could both introduce our families. But I can’t wait to meet your mom, love.” I drop another kiss to the tip of her nose, laying it on thick.
“She’s going to love you,” Harper murmurs, amusement flashing in her eyes.
“I’ll say,” Mrs. Collins mutters.
“Good seeing you, Mrs. Collins,” Harper says, making our getaway.
She escorts me to the bathroom, the two of us holding back our laughter until we clear the corner of the hallway and are out of view.
“Jesus, she’s insufferable,” I mutter.
Harper shakes her head. “I remember her being hardheaded but nothing like that. There was a time when she was like family to me.”
I search her expression for a flash of regret, or sadness, but her face is clear, her voice strong. It eases something in my stomach—the realization that she’s not pining away for this Sean guy like I imagined.
Like a part of me feared. Which is stupid, seeing as I’m her plus-one and she’s just my neighbor. I shake off the weird feelings and indicate the men’s room. “Thanks for the escort.”
“Didn’t want you to get lost.”
“Or you didn’t want to lose your buffer.”
“That too.” She gives a little wave as I dip into the bathroom.
When I’m washing my hands, a stall door opens, and Leo Quincy walks out. He’s a tough dude to read and given his reputation—fast on the field, quiet off of it—and team, it’s hard to know if he’s just a nice guy or good at hiding more sinister qualities.
“You having fun?” he asks, flipping on the faucet.
“More than I thought I would,” I admit.
“Yeah. You’re here with Harper. She’s good people.”
I grab a paper towel and nod. “You know her well?”
He’s quiet for a moment, studying me, before a smile moves over his face. “Whatever you’re thinking, man, don’t. I know Harper because she was always a nice girl, cool to chill with, and non-judgmental. Now that our paths cross at work, I can tell she hasn’t changed much since high school. Eh, she might be funnier now.”
I crack a grin, deciding Leo’s an all right guy. “Harper and I, we’re—”
He holds up a hand, cutting me off. “You don’t owe me, or anyone, an explanation, Barnes. You and Harp do y’all.”
“You here with anyone?”
He shakes his head and holds the door open for me. “I haven’t had something real in a long, long time.” He quiets as his eyes land, and hold, on a woman speaking with Harper.
“High school long?” I guess.
He nods. “Too long.”
“Hey!” Harper looks up when she sees us. “I was just catching up with Tess.”
A sophisticated-looking woman with blonde hair pulled into a low chignon smiles. Next to me, Leo stills. Tess’s smile widens.
And I can’t stop the chuckle that drops from my mouth. Harper cuts me a look, that amusement I love flashing in her eyes.
“I’m glad you came, Leo,” Tess says.
“Now, I am too,” he replies.
Harper catches on and slips her arm through mine. “I want to show Damien some things from back in the day,” she says, pulling me out of the hallway.
“You don’t need to show me the hockey trophies, babe,” I mutter in her ear as we slip into the main hallway. “I got my own.”
Harper chuckles. “They would be the football, not hockey, trophies.”
“Damn, cut me some slack. I’ll make you a puck bunny yet.”
Harper cuts me a look.
I grin. “But a classy one. Best dressed.”
“Shut up,” she laughs, hitting me in the stomach with the back of her hand. “They set up an area with different photos and memorabilia—nostalgia type shit—from our class.”
“You must be real nostalgic,” I comment.
She laughs again but stills when we come to an empty classroom. Peeking her head inside, her shoulders pinch together, and a half laugh bubbles up from her throat.
I slide my hand down Harper’s arm, interlacing our fingers, and look into the classroom over her head. It’s a science lab, set up with stations of sinks and Bunsen burners.
“Bad memories?” I ask.
“Bittersweet,” she replies honestly, turning to stare at me. Her naked back rests along the doorjamb and I slip into the small space across from her, letting her floral scent wash over me. “I was happy in high school. I didn’t have that awkward phase or question what I was meant to do with my life. Back then, all I wanted was to go away to college, have experiences, and come home to marry Sean. It was afterwards that…”
“That?”
“All the insecurities started.” Her voice is nearly a whisper and I lean closer, reach out to touch her cheek, the side of her neck.
“You have nothing to be insecure about.”
She arches an eyebrow, her eyes holding mine. The amusement from earlier is gone, filled with questioning and longing and that spark.
A heat I want to burn myself in.
My eyes drop to her mouth and the second her lips part, I’m on them, covering their softness with my want.
My hands wrap around her waist, drawing her closer, kissing her deeper. She moans as my tongue dips into her mouth, teasing hers.
“Damien…” Her voice is raw. Her eyes fly open, and she looks over my shoulder at the empty hallway. When she turns back to me, I pull away slightly. What the hell am I doing? I can’t make out with her in an open hallway. “We’re alone.”
“Not a chance I’m willing to take,” I bite out, taking her hand and pulling her into the science lab. I kick the door closed behind us.
The science lab is dark, only the moonlight streaming through the windows. It casts shadows on the long workbenches and gleams off the clusters of beakers and test tubes.
Turning Harper into me, I kiss her again, my hands finding the soft swells of her cheeks this time. She sinks into me, matching me kiss for kiss, her body pressed along mine. When her hands untuck the back of my shirt and her fingers caress the skin of my back, I groan.
When was it last like this? Electric and needy?
Harper’s hands flatten along my back, and I tug the hair at the nape of her neck, gaining more access to her mouth, her neck, the high, round curves of her breasts I want to taste.
She arches into me, silently asking for more. And I give it to her, my hand slipping under the skirt of her dress, my fingers teasing her over the satin of her panties. I back her up until she’s leaning against the tallest workbench, her lower back cutting into the edge. I shift our position and slip my hand around her lower back so the countertop doesn’t streak her skin with a red line.
She mewls and I swear, looking up to make sure we’re still alone. The fact that anyone can walk in at any time, the high probability that her other classmates are wandering the halls, recalling memories from high school, on the other side of the door, heightens everything about this moment.
Harper’s breathing is ragged, and I kiss her hard, swallowing her sounds as I shift her to a lower workbench. Lifting her, I place her on the edge of a counter and part her knees, stepping between her thighs and rolling up the material of her dress.
She watches me intently, rolling her lips together as vulnerability swims in her eyes. “I don’t normally do this.”
“Watch as a man gets you off?” I trail my fingers up the inside of her thigh. The growing wet patch on her panties turns me on just as much as the lust that clouds her eyes. Fuck, I want her to watch as I get her off.
“Revert to high-school fantasies,” she admits.
I snort, cupping her, but stop to look up. “You fantasized about hooking up in the science lab?”
She bites the corner of her mouth, her cheeks blazing. “It was years ago.”
“Go on.”
“I used to fantasize about getting it on in here, the last place anyone would expect. I was captain of the dance team and hooked up with Sean under the bleachers. Or in the locker room. Never someplace smart like the lab or the library. It seemed…forbidden.”
I growl, hating that she’s said his name. That she’s thinking of him in this moment, our moment. It’s irrational and ridiculous because I’m just a plus-one, but I can’t escape the jealousy that swims in my veins.
Instead, I ignore it and kiss her hard as my fingers push her panties to the side. I swipe along her slit, swallowing her moan, as my thumb applies pressure to her clit.
Tearing my lips away, I kiss down her neck, taste the floral fragrance she wears as I nip at her sensitive skin. Harper grasps the back of my head, holding my mouth against her skin as I quicken the pace of my fingers. She grinds against me, almost slipping off the counter as I sink one finger inside her. Harper pants, her skin flushing, as I bite the curve of her shoulder.
“Damien.”
I look up, watching as her eyes close. I add a second finger, pumping slowly as emotion washes over her face.
“I got you, Harper,” I encourage, quickening my pace. My cock twitches and my skin feels too tight as I watch her fall over the edge.
Harper convulses around my fingers and fuck if it’s not the hottest thing I’ve ever experienced.
A loud bang, like a locker door closing, crashes on the other side of the lab. “Remember we had chemistry in here?” A loud laugh rings out.
Footsteps fill the hallway, broken conversations of old times drowning out our heavy breathing as Harper comes down from her orgasm and I try to simultaneously clean and cover her up. Fuck, I need to get my cock under control.
I twist Harper away from the door and know that if anyone cracks it open, I can pull her into a kiss and all anyone would see is her naked back because of her sexy dress.
I step out from between her thighs and push her knees together, taking up the space at her side so I can kiss her cheek.
Harper blinks slowly, a smile working its way over her gorgeous face. She reaches for me and I snicker, shaking my head as I step away.
Confusion rings her irises, a flare of vulnerability, and she fiddles with her nose ring. I move back into her space, wanting to put her mind at ease. I wrap an arm around her waist and drop my lips to her ear. “I want your hot hands on me more than I want to breathe, Harper.”
She stills, waiting for me to continue.
“I want to take this further. Badly. But I don’t want anyone to see us together like that. When you’re with me, your moans and blushes are mine. If any man walked in, I’d fucking deck him.”
She inhales sharply, giving a little nod of understanding.
“But fuck if I don’t have the worst case of blue balls.”
She chuckles. “Can I help?”
“Tell me something awful,” I command.
“I had no idea you were a hockey player.”
I chuckle. “That wasn’t awful; that was truthful.”
“I used to think your parents bought your penthouse for you,” she tries again.
Christ, she’s too fucking purehearted. “They could if they wanted to,” I admit. “They gifted me my ride.”
She shifts, sliding off the table and fixing her dress. She glances down at my dick and smirks.
“You surprise me, Damien Barnes.”
The sincerity of her statement hits me square on, helping me get my raging desire for her under control. I don’t know if it’s good or bad, that my surprising her makes my chest feel tingly, makes me want to prove that I can somehow keep surprising her. “Is that good or bad?”
She holds my gaze for a beat, her eyes serious. “Good, I think.”
I grin, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. “I think you’re pretty great, Harper Henderson.” Then, I kiss her once on the mouth. “Come on, let’s go dance and let your classmates make up rumors about us.”
She laughs, lets me take her hand and guide her back to the gym. Before we make it, a man steps into the hallway and Harper’s footsteps falter.
He narrows his eyes, giving me a dirty look, before staring at her.
“Harper,” his voice cuts through the hallway, an edge of possessiveness I don’t like in his tone.
Harper halts. “Hi, Sean.”
Fuck.