“Are you going to answer it this time?”
“Nope.”
I scooted across the seat, cupped her face in my hands, and wiped away the last of her tears. “Tell me what happened.”
Before she could say anything her phone rang again, and she answered it this time. “What, Brandon?”
Oh hell. I was glad not to be on the receiving end of that. No more cute fierce looks; she looked like she could kill someone. I went back to my side and started driving toward the dorms.
“Seriously? You’re really going to play that game with me?—I left.” She started silently crying again and shook her head quickly. “Please stop calling me, Brandon.”—“Why don’t you ask Amanda? I’m sure she’d be more than happy to show you why I left.” Not two seconds later, she ended the call and held the power button until she could turn her phone off.
Amanda? Who the hell is Amanda? I stayed silent for a few minutes before reaching over and grabbing her hand. Thank God she didn’t remove hers. “Who’s Amanda?”
“Apparently she’s some girl he’s sleeping with. Bree and I saw her on Monday with him and a group of guys.”
Uh, I’d have known if Brandon were cheating on Harper. Even with avoiding the house. “Why do you think he’s cheating on you?”
“I was getting back in my suit and his phone kept going off! I wasn’t going to look, but I swear it went off like fifty times—okay not really fifty, but a few. It just seemed like a lot—whatever! So, anyway, I just leaned over to see who they were from, and there was a picture of this chick’s shaved vaj!” My eyebrows shot up, but I didn’t interrupt her. “So I opened his texts, and there was another picture of her boobs and her face, and she was saying things like, ‘I can’t wait ’til tomorrow’ and ‘I can’t wait to feel your lips all over me again’ I feel so stupid.”
“You shouldn’t.” Oh my God, what am I doing? This is the perfect opportunity to get her away from Brandon, but if she was this upset over the possibility of his cheating, I knew I wouldn’t be able to be more than what I already was for her. She needed to get over Brandon on her own another way, then come to me; but not from something she thought was happening. “I can’t believe I’m about to say this, but I think you’re wrong, Harper.”
“Excuse me? I know what I saw, Chase!”
I pulled up outside her dorm and put the truck in park before turning to look at her, “I’m not saying that, but he wouldn’t do that to you. That’s not the kind of guy he is, but even if he were, he would have told one of us. We tend to brag about girls we’re with. And as much as I hate him for it, all he does is talk about you.”
“Do you realize how all over the place you are? A week ago, you were telling me not to go on a date with him, and now you’re defending him?”
Yeah, I realized it; and yeah, I was driving myself just as crazy as I was driving her. “I’m not doing it for his benefit, trust me. I don’t want you with him, that hasn’t changed; I just hate seeing you hurt like this.”
She looked at me curiously for a few moments before removing her hand and reaching for the door handle. “Thanks for the ride, Chase.”
“Are you going to be okay? Do you want me to stay with you?”
“I’ll be fine, I’m tougher than you think. Go to work; I’ll see you around.”
I watched her walk inside before putting my car in drive again; once I pulled into the shop’s parking lot, I pulled my phone out of my pocket and called Brandon.
“What?”
God, he sounded rough, “Just thought you’d like to know where Harper is.”
“What’d you do to her?”
Thank God I was already stopped or I would’ve slammed on my brakes. “What did I do to her? I’m not the one who had her crying!”
“I know that, Chase! I feel like shit enough as is; but you have her. Why do you have her?”
Had her. Had. And I pushed her away. Again. “Don’t blame me for being there to pick her up when you broke her heart. She’s in her dorm room, by the way; you’re welcome for getting her there safe.”
“Damn it”—I heard his keys through the phone and knew he must be getting ready to go over there—“Chase, I didn’t do anything, I swear—”
“I know.”
“You have no idea what Harper means to me.”
My stomach tightened, and I ground my teeth together as I pulled the phone away from my ear. When I was sure I wouldn’t snap at him, I brought it back, “I’m pretty sure I have an idea. I gotta get in to work. Talk to you later.”