“What’s happened?” she asks.
I shrug. “Nothing,” I say, probably too quickly.
“Either of you find dates for tomorrow’s party?”
I shake my head. “Nah, no luck there,” I say.
“Nothing is going on with you and him?”
“Mom, please,” I say, rolling my eyes. “Nothing is different between us.”
Before she can try to get any more questions in, I tell her I need to check my email, and that I need to get some sleep if I’m going to help Bev set up and then enjoy the party the next night.
I rush off to my room and close the door behind me and every inch of my body still tingles from what Zane and I did.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
ZANE LEWIS
The house has never been more crowded in my entire life, at least, not that I can remember. At the same time, as I wander around my parents’ big anniversary blowout party, I feel lonely. Everyone who comes into the house or wanders out into the yard and sees me seems to want to know how the military is treating me, and whether I plan on staying in or taking my retirement.
My only comfort is overhearing the other people my age at the party, including Harper, getting the same kinds of questions I’m fielding. What their next career move is going to be, when they’re going to settle down and get married. All the usual things that older adults ask younger adults, over and over again.
In and outside a house filled with practically everyone I know outside of the army, I feel like I can’t escape.
I spot Harper edging away from a group of older people, looking around for an exit of her own. When her gaze lands on me, I grin and shrug. She rolls her eyes and shakes her head. I’ve been watching her all night. In fact I’ve been watching her every time she’s anywhere near, ever since the night before.
I could not get the memory of her out of my head.
I look around, there’s only one place I know of in the whole house where none of the guests will be. My room upstairs has a bunch of even-younger kids in it, drinking sodas, eating snacks and arguing over my PlayStation. The only empty place in the whole house will be my parents’ room on the ground floor. I lick my lips. No one is going to notice if we’re gone for, like, twenty minutes or so.
I have to get Harper alone.
I move a little closer to her, and start to almost walk past her in the crowd of people wandering around the house, catching her eye with a quick gesture I learned in the army that comes in handy. Hopefully no one else notices it.
“My parents’ room,” I murmur, as I walk past her.
“Two minutes,” she says just as quickly, her voice low in my ear.
I nod quickly and hurry in the direction of my parents’ bedroom, trying to look like I’m doing some kind of urgent chore.
I feel like there’s a hot wire running through my spine from my skull to my hips as I wait for Harper to follow me. Just remembering her from the night before in the water completely naked is enough to start getting me hard. It’s all I’ve been able to think about ever since it happened.
Harper slips into the room, closing the door quickly behind her, and I’ve got my arms around her waist before I can even think about what I’m doing. My mouth is against hers. Instantly Harper’s lips open to the touch of my tongue and she responds to my every touch. I push her up against the wall to get as much contact with her body as I possibly can.
“I — I take it you’re having a frustrating night, too,” Harper says when I break away from her lips finally, dipping down to her neck.
“God, if I hear one more question about what I’m going to do, I’m going to show them some shit I learned in basic,” I tell her, and close my mouth over hers again.
“Didn’t we say we couldn’t do—” Harper breaks off with a moan, and her hands are all over me, sliding against my chest, grazing against the rock-hard ridge at the front of my pants. I groan out and my hips push against her hand.
“Not here,” I say, pulling back a little bit. Attached to my parents’ bedroom is their bathroom, and while the idea of bending Harper over my mom and dad’s bed is pretty horrifying, I think we can both get some stress relief that I know we need in the bathroom without it being too gross.
I drag her into the big bathroom and close the door behind us. I’m all over her again almost before I can think about whether or not I should be. Harper moans and the sound makes the hot tension between my hips, down along my groin, burn more intensely.
“Do you want to do this?” I nip at the spot where her pulse flutters along her jaw, and Harper’s head moves up and down.
“Yeah, it’s probably the worst possible thing to do right now but yeah,” she says, sounding breathless.