Stealing Harper (Taking Chances #1.5)(82)

“You hiding?” That stupid sexy smirk was there again.

“Is it that obvious?”

He looked around the empty backyard, then glanced back to me, “A little.” He stretched out his long legs and sank farther into the chair, “Tell me, what’s a princess like you doing at my party?”

I bristled and literally had to bite down on my tongue. “I’m not sure what you mean, but I was invited.” It came out a little harsher than I’d meant it to, but I wasn’t about to apologize for that.

His smirk was gone, and he looked pissed, “You don’t have to be invited to come to the party, but if you didn’t notice, you don’t exactly fit in here, Princess.” He sneered.

My mouth dropped open with an audible pop, I quickly shut it. He was right, I didn’t. But seriously? Rude. At least when I was snide, you could hear the sarcasm.

“If the way we are disgusts you so much, feel free to stay at school next time.” Standing quickly, he shot me one more glare before turning away.

Aces. I’ve been here a little over a day, and my time here in California was already starting off so well.

“Chase,” my voice stopped him, “I’m really sorry, I was out of line.”

He turned to look at me, head cocked to the side. When he continued to look at me with a confused expression I went on.

“I was raised not to back down to people, but what I said was too much. So, I’m sorry. I don’t know you, I shouldn’t judge you.”

A huff of a laugh escaped his chest and I saw the corners of his mouth slightly tilt up. He shook his head, still looking confused and now a little stunned before he took off around the side of the house.

This was going to be a long night. If I had any idea where we were, I’d try to walk back to campus.

“Haarrrrrpppeeeerrrr!” I looked over to see Breanna stumble out the back door. “Harper, come inside, everyone’s gone!”

When I got close she hooked an arm through mine and led me into the living room. “So did you kiss anyone tonight?” She raised both eyebrows and it looked like she had to struggle to keep them there.

“No,” I muttered.

The same guy she’d been taking shots with when I left yelled from the kitchen, “I can help with that!”

I shook my head and started to answer when Bree spoke again. “No, no, no. I told you guys, she’s off limits!”

“Come on Bree, what’s your deal?”

She leaned forward and fake whispered, “Cause she’s pure. Completely. Pure.”

My jaw dropped and I grabbed her wrist as she went to tap my lips with her finger. “Breanna!”

Putting her hand back to her own lips she held one finger in front of her mouth. “Shh! Harper don’t tell them!”

A little late for that. I was completely mortified. I wanted to be angry at her, but she could barely stay standing, I doubt she would remember any of this tomorrow. Looking up, I saw four guys standing there staring at me with wide eyes before busting up laughing. I needed someone to kill me. Now. No, first I needed to get out of here. Then someone needed to kill me.

One of the guys I hadn’t met was wiping tears from his eyes, “Oh my God! Princess, is she serious?”

Glad to see they all adopted my favorite nickname. Was there something about me that just screamed Give me a nickname? I couldn’t even respond, my throat had closed up and I thought I would actually cry for the first time in years. Unhooking my arm from Breanna, I made a beeline for the front door, intent on trying to find my way back to campus. I stopped when I realized Chase was blocking the hall that led to the entryway, he was the only one in the room not laughing. Instead, his lips were mashed together and he was shooting daggers at his sister.

“Please. Move.”

He moved, but it was to grab my shoulders and steer me back toward the living room. What was he doing? I dug my heels into the carpet trying to scramble back in the other direction.

“Don’t touch me!” I hissed.

“Just trust me,” he growled in my ear, walking me past everyone still laughing at Bree’s slip.

When we hit a hallway I hadn’t been down tonight, one of the guys from the kitchen yelled, “Looks like Chase is gonna take care of that problem for you Princess!” That brought on a new round of hysterics.

Chase paused for a second, cussed under his breath and started forward with me again. When we got to the end of the hall he stopped in front of a door, and pulled out a key to unlock it before towing me in. When the light flipped on, I blinked until I realized we were in a bedroom, I gasped and tried even harder to get out of his grasp. If I could just turn a little, I could have him on the floor in a few seconds. But his grip was firm, I couldn’t budge at all.

“No! Get off me!”

“Not until you stop trying to hit me!”

I stopped but stayed tense as he waited for almost a minute before releasing my arms. Once he did I turned on him and backed away.

“Calm down Princess.” He sighed sounding uninterested, “I’m not going to do anything to you.”

“I really wish you would stop calling me that,” I said through gritted teeth.

He rolled his eyes and went to a drawer, after throwing a pair of basketball shorts at me he walked back to the door. “Put those on, I’ll be back.”