Stealing Harper (Taking Chances #1.5)(12)
She batted her blue eyes like there was something in them and spoke in a sugar-sweet voice, making her sound like Kristen had that afternoon. “Little miss thing over there with your boy. You’ve been acting all kinds of weird these last two weeks, and it’s starting to make sense.”
“You don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Chase”—Drew nudged me, and I let go of Natalie with a shake of my head to start looking for my gray-eyed princess again—“table’s set up, you ready for beer pong?”
“Yeah sure—” I instantly took off toward the living room and saw Harper and Brandon sitting on one of the couches. They were close, too damn close. They both started leaning in toward each other, and I was glad she’d sat on this side of the couch. I leaned over the arm, grabbed her around the waist, and hauled her away from him and over my shoulder. “LET’S GET THIS BEER PONG TOURNAMENT STARTED!”
“CHASE! Put me down!”
“No way! The princess needs her throne!” And besides, I was enjoying having her ass directly next to my face and my hands high up on her thighs.
I swear she growled, and I couldn’t help but laugh, especially when her tiny fists started pounding on my back and her whole body wiggled as she tried to get down. I couldn’t resist anymore, it was right there and shaking; I smacked her butt, and she froze for all of two seconds before pounding both fists at the same time, all the while yelling, “If you don’t put me down, I will make good on my previous threat!”
Brandon walked into my line of sight and crossed his arms over his chest as he watched us, and my laughter died as I set Harper down. I hated seeing that possessive and concerned look in his eye when he looked at her. I hated that he was looking at her at all. I pulled her away from everyone in the kitchen and waited until we were in the entryway before turning around and pulling her close to me. “I don’t want you with him.”
“What is your deal with him? Is there something he did that you’d like to share?”
He looked at you! “He’s not good enough for you.”
“How do you know what is and isn’t good for me? You don’t even know me!”
All of a sudden, Brandon’s hands were on her shoulders, and I realized I’d been holding her against me. I dropped her arm and took a step away as my eyes burned holes in his hands, which were by then going up and down her arms.
“I thought I told you to back off, man?”
“I don’t really think that’s up to you.”
No, but God I wish it were. I glanced up at Harper’s innocent face as I fought with myself over what I wanted and what I knew she needed. “You hurt her, I swear to God, I’ll break your neck.”
I stalked past them and into the kitchen, grabbing a new bottle of Patron and walking over to one of the many hallways off the main room. I didn’t bother with a glass; there wasn’t much of a need at this point. That girl in the entryway with one of my best friends was driving me absolutely insane, and I hated it.
“You don’t know what I’m talking about, huh?”
Glaring up at Natalie, I kept my eyes on her as I took another swig out of the short bottle. I closed my eyes and enjoyed the heat as it made its way through my chest. “Shut up, Natalie.”
“I’m just saying—”
“I don’t want to hear it!”
People started cheering in the kitchen, and I rolled my eyes as I took another large gulp before wiping my mouth on my forearm.
“Do you want me to help you relax?” she asked huskily, and began pulling at the buttons on the top of her shirt.
I let my eyes fall over Natalie’s tall, slender frame. “Later,” I said as I made my way back to the kitchen to make sure they weren’t letting my princess play. Of course they were, and Brandon was playing against her. How is this protecting her? I watched her laugh outrageously with everyone and flirt way more than was necessary with Brandon. Who taught her to look up from under those insanely long eyelashes? And who gave her those shorts? I would kill Bree for taking her to the mall if this is what came from it. No one else needed to be looking at her. I thought about Natalie’s barely there skirt and thanked God that at least she wasn’t wearing one of those.
I took another long gulp of the liquor and almost choked on it as Brandon walked right up to my princess and kissed her, picked her up, and took her into the living room. What the hell was this and where was the pure-as-snow Harper? Her legs had instantly wrapped around his waist, and when he sat them down, she arched her body into his. I pushed off the counter too quickly and had to grab onto the pantry door to steady myself as the alcohol really started to catch up with me.
“Easy there, tiger.” Natalie wrapped an arm around my waist and started pulling me toward the living room. “I saw them, too. You ready to relax now?”
With Natalie? For once, no. I wasn’t. But with the way Harper was acting, I sure as hell was going to act like it. Two can play this game, Princess. I let my arm fall around her shoulders and nodded once. “Let’s go.”
“Calm down,” Natalie whispered, and grabbed at my hand.
My hand had curled into a fist as I watched Brandon kiss down Harper’s neck. I knew this would happen. He had no idea because she was acting like a f*cking slut, and all too soon one of the best traits about Harper would be gone. Time to throw on Brandon’s emergency brake. If it weren’t for the fact that I was sure she was about to hate me, I wouldn’t have been able to stop smiling. “So much for the PG rating.”