A Brush with Love(54)

DAN

Dan lay propped up on his elbow across from Harper on her living room floor, a ravaged pizza box and two empty wine bottles littered between them. Harper used his discarded suit jacket as a pillow while she leaned back against the base of the couch, the skirt of her dress pooling in an emerald sea around her. Judy used the layers of fabric to duck and hide while Dan teased her with his undone tie, making Harper giggle when the cat pounced so hard against him, she knocked him off balance.

“Listen,” Dan said, chucking the tie out of the room and causing Judy to chase after it. “Tobey Maguire is the best Spider-Man casting in franchise history. I’m not gonna fight you on this one.”

Harper let out a choked shriek, her eyes sparkling from the combination of drinks and conservation.

“You’re so wrong. Andrew Garfield was the best Spider-Man we’ve had and ever will. There is no argument,” she said, leaning unsteadily across the pizza box to poke him in the chest.

Dan leaned in too, capturing her hand. “Are you kidding me, Horowitz? Garfield? Pssht. I could at least understand you following the masses and obsessing over Tom Holland, but Garfield? Tobey Maguire is the only Spider-Man I’ll acknowledge. Those tears? Iconic. It’s a cinematic masterpiece and you’ll never convince me otherwise.”

Harper gave a slow, drunken shake of her head. “You’re so blind. It’s like saying Chris Evans isn’t actually Steve Rogers and Captain America was poorly cast.”

Dan paused, his wineglass halfway to his lips, and thought for a moment. “They could have done better.”

Harper’s jaw crashed to the floor. She blinked at him for a long moment before giving her head another shake and reaching for the wine bottle, muttering about flagrant disrespect, in her home of all places. She turned the bottle upside down and gave it an impatient shake as two drops fell into her glass. Her lips pressed into a pout as she looked to Dan.

“Empty? Why’s it empty?”

Dan laughed. “That’s what happens when two people try to drink Philadelphia County dry.”

Harper’s brows furrowed as she looked around. “I think I have a bottle of Manischewitz from last Seder. I’ll go get it,” she slurred, propping herself onto her hands and knees and pushing up to standing. She swayed for a moment before plunking onto the couch behind her with a soft oof.

She blinked and looked at the couch, then to Dan. “I’m supposed to be getting the wine,” she drawled. “Why’m I sitting?”

Dan shook with laughter. Harper stared at him for a moment before her face broke into a wide grin, hiccupping giggles bursting out.

Dan pushed himself up and shuffled to kneel in front of her.

“How drunk are you?” he asked, eyeing her carefully.

She giggled again and pinched her thumb and forefinger close together, squinting through the tiny space. He smiled at her and she met his eyes, moving her hand to brush at his cheek. Dan sighed and planted a kiss on her palm.

“Come on lovely one, time for bed,” he said, patting her thigh. He stood and reached out his hands to help her up.

She beamed up at him with a smile like the sun, her eyes bright and filled with tenderness, making Dan’s skin warm.

“Lovvvvvely?” she crooned, clamping one hand over an eye to focus on him. “Do you lovvvvve me?”

Dan’s breath caught in his throat. He looked at her shining eyes and rosy cheeks, then around at the empty bottles littering the floor. He took a deep breath.

“Yeah, I do. I love you. I love you very much.” He’d be damned if he answered her question with a lie. She deserved to know she was loved, regardless of if she remembered it or not. And based on how much she’d drank, he was very confident she wouldn’t.

Harper stared at him for a moment, her features melting into wonder. She dropped her head back against the couch cushions and blinked.

“He loves me,” she whispered to the ceiling, a smile breaking across her cheeks. She let out a muffled squeal, and Dan watched her toes curl and uncurl against the floor in excited waves.

He loved her. It was simple.

She was. He loved.

Her head rolled forward to look at him. “You probably think I’ll forget this tomorrow,” she slurred, her eyes narrowing in suspicion.

“I’d put money on it.” He laughed.

“No!” She shot off the couch and jumped on him, knocking him onto his butt and pushing him to the floor as she lay over him. Dan let out a winded groan as Harper sat up to straddle his chest. She hovered above him, going a bit wild-eyed as she raked her gaze over his face and chest.

“What are you doing?” He chuckled at her serious expression.

“Studying you so I don’t forget. You’re my textbook right now.”

“I’m your—”

She pressed a finger to his lips, cutting him off. “Sshhh, I’m learning. You can quiz me tomorrow.”

Harper’s eyes traveled over him as if she were desperately trying to commit every inch to memory.

He let her look him over for another moment before sitting them both up.

“All right, lightweight, you need sleep.”

“What? No! I have to tell you something,” she said, entwining herself around him.

“What’s that?”