A Brush with Love(92)

“Just because I left doesn’t mean I stopped loving you.” There was a brief pause. “I don’t think I’ll ever stop loving you.”

Another moment of silence filled the line, and Harper wanted to hear his voice again more than anything. She wanted to dissolve in the music of it, claw the words from her phone.

“But I’ll leave you alone. Bye, Harper. I’m so proud of you.”

And the line went dead.

Harper sucked in a shaky gasp of air, her whole world fracturing around her.

He still loved her.

He. Still. Loved. Her.

He loved her.

She dropped the phone to her lap, scrubbing at her tears. She had to do something. Anything. She didn’t want him to leave her alone. She didn’t want to hear goodbye.

Because their friend group lacked anything that even remotely resembled boundaries or privacy, Lizzie snatched up Harper’s phone. Indira and Thu crushed their faces close to Lizzie’s as they strained to listen to the message.

By the time it was finished, they all had tears pricking at their eyes as they stared at Harper—all except Alex, who was blissed out in his own drunken stupor.

“What do I do?” Harper cried, lost in how to navigate the complex map of everything she felt. All the love pulsing through her body.

“Isn’t it obvious?” Thu said, running a brisk hand across her cheeks to wipe away the tears. “We go to New York.”





CHAPTER 39





HARPER

Harper blinked at Thu. “What? No. I … When?”

“Now,” Thu said, standing from her seat and gathering her things. She tapped away at her phone for a few seconds before turning the screen to Harper. “A Megabus leaves in fifteen minutes. We can make it if we run.”

“What!” Harper said, gripping the edges of her chair like it would anchor her in the swell of the confusion. “Tonight? You think I should go tonight?”

“We are going tonight,” Thu corrected, helping Lizzie organize herself. “I just bought us five tickets. Now hurry up.”

“Why would you come?” Harper asked. Everything was happening too fast. She needed a day. Or five. Maybe a week. Just a little bit of time to process everything that was being said. Dan loved her. He was actively in love with her. And she loved him. Holy shit, did she love him.

“We’re coming because you can’t be trusted to follow through on something you absolutely need to do. I’m not sure if you’re aware of this, Harper, but you tend to overthink things and talk yourself out of stuff,” Thu said, shooting her a wink.

“I don’t even know where he lives,” Harper said weakly, taking Indira’s proffered hand as she pulled her up to standing.

Thu shot Harper a smug look. “Don’t worry about that,” she said, swooping her gaze to Alex, who was smiling and bobbing his head to the music, completely oblivious.

“Alex, honey?” Thu said sweetly, walking up to him.

His mood instantly changed, a look of pure fear flashing across his features. “What did I do?” Alex said, staring at Thu.

Her head jerked back. “What? Nothing.”

“You only use that nice voice if you’re about to yell at me,” Alex said. Lizzie let out a booming laugh and burrowed her face in Indira’s shoulder.

“That’s not…” Thu considered this. “Well, that’s not true right now.”

“It’s not?” Alex said, a skeptical look in his eyes as he took another sip of his drink.

“No. Right now, I need a big favor.”

“What favor?”

“I need Dan’s address.”

“Why?”

Harper wanted to ring his neck for not paying attention, and she opened her mouth to say something, but Thu held up a finger to silence her.

“We’re going to go see Dan,” Thu explained, gently slipping Alex’s phone from his pocket.

“Who is?” Alex said, his head darting around the group.

“We all are, kitten,” Thu said, picking up his hand and using his thumb to unlock his phone.

“Even…” Alex shot a wide-eyed glance at Harper then back to Thu. “Even Harper?” he whispered loudly.

“Especially Harper, you dimwit. Listen, I’m gonna need you to keep up here, buddy,” she said, scrolling through his phone for a moment before smiling.

Alex beamed at her. “Ah, there’s my Thu,” he said, dragging his hands over his face.

“No time to waste,” Thu said, making a beeline for the door. “We have a bus to catch.”

And they followed her, Indira and Lizzie both dragging one of Harper’s hands behind them, somehow making her feet move.

On the street, the cool spring air and the alcohol in Harper’s blood mixed perfectly to propel her forward as they ran the five blocks to the Megabus stop.

They got there just in time, the last person boarding as Lizzie screamed for the bus to wait.

Panting and slick with sweat, the friends hopped onto the bus, nervous laughter pouring out of Harper as they took their seats. A moment later, the doors swooshed shut and the lights dimmed as the bus pulled away from the curb, making a few turns before merging onto the freeway and heading toward New York.