Page 67 of A Brush with Love
It shouldn’t have happened. It thrilled her and electrified her and made her feel terrifyingly alive. She’d been too vulnerable, too open. Harper needed to restore boundaries and get some space, because the taste of him made her desperate for more. She needed to stick to the goddamn plan that was supposed to carry her to graduation and wherever came after.
She wasn’t the girl who kept her mind on a guy and fingers glued to her phone, allowing a stupid crush to tip the scales and detract from her goals—so she needed to stop acting like it. With a final heavy sigh, she heaved her body off the bed in search of her cat and an IV drip of coffee.
She padded down the hallway toward her kitchen and nearly jumped out of her skin at the sight of a body on her couch. She put a shaky hand over her heart, trying to calm its berserk rhythm, as she took in the scene.
Dan was asleep on the couch in an upright position, Judy’s giant body stretched bonelessly across his shoulders, jutting his neck forward at a severe angle. He still wore his suit pants and button-down, looking incredible even through a rumpled night, and Harper felt a twinge of regret and shame that such a nice suit hadn’t been put to use at the dance.
Looking at Dan, she was overcome with indescribable tenderness. No one had ever witnessed her panic at that level, her instincts always telling her to shield it from others, that voice in her head telling her it was a shameful thing that needed to be kept hidden, that there was nothing anyone could do for her anyway.But Dan had seemed to know what to do. How to bring her back from that dark and isolated place. Harper had never felt so protected.
But she also had questions that trumped letting him continue to sleep. Shuffling closer, Harper stretched out her leg and poked his knee a few times with her big toe. He started, eyes flying open and head trying to push upright against Judy’s girth. The cat meowed and slinked off his shoulders while Dan rubbed his neck. His gaze traveled around the room, landing on Harper, a shy smile spreading across his face.
“Morning, sunshine,” he said through a yawn, standing to stretch his arms above his head.
“H-hi,” she stammered out. Even after their time spent together, his beauty still managed to catch her off guard.
Finishing his stretch, he dropped his hands to her shoulders, then ran the backs of his knuckles up and down her arms, sending a shiver of pleasure down her spine and leaving goose bumps across her skin. She ducked her head and became hyperaware of her state of dress.
Harper crossed her arms over her chest and took a step back, turning away slightly. She wasn’t wearing a bra and her T-shirt did nothing to hide her obnoxious nipples peeking through to say good morning. She was relieved to feel the elastic of her underwear firmly in place.
Her stomach flip-flopped. With no memories to go on, there was a very real possibility that Dan had dressed her. Which meant he might haveundressed her. And seen her boobs. She flushed crimson at the idea. It wasn’t that shedidn’twant Dan to see her naked, just that she’d want to remember it if he had.
Dan opened his mouth to speak, but Harper cut him off, feeling overwhelmed.
“Coffee?” she asked, whipping around and heading for the kitchen, her voice three octaves too high.
She banged around in the cupboards and drawers, the coffeepot clanging against the counter as she moved, trying to calm her racing thoughts.
“Harper?”
The closeness of his voice startled her. She turned to see him leaning against the doorway, eyeing her closely, his arms crossed over his chest.
“Hmm?” she hummed, turning back to scoop the grounds into the filter.
“Are you feeling okay?”
“Fine. Fine. How are you? Fine?” She stood on her tiptoes to grab a mug from the top shelf, but it dropped from her shaking fingers, landing in the sink with a clang. She reached for it and Dan’s hand closed over hers, turning her to look at him.
“Can you put a pause on the coffee for a second and talk to me?” he said gently, tilting his head to meet her gaze. “You seem to be freaking out just a tiny bit.”
She let out a nervous laugh but met his eyes.
“It’s just… this has never happened to me, but I don’t really remember what happened last night after we got here and it has me kind of… yeah, freaked.”
Dan’s free hand reached up slowly, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear.
“I think one or two extrabottlesof wine might be responsible for that,” he said, letting his fingers linger on the side of her throat. “We left Lizzie’s apartment and came back here with pizza and drinks. I stayed to make sure you were okay and didn’t get sick during the night or anything.”
“I guess…” She sawed on her bottom lip with her teeth. “I guess what I don’t remember is if we—um, if we…” she waved her hand, searching for words. Dan stared at her blankly.
“Did we hook up?” she blurted out.
Dan’s brows shot up so high, they almost disappeared into hishairline. After a moment, a small, gentle smile tugged at the corners of his lips.
“Of course not. We’d both had way too much to drink. I would never do something like that.”
As if to prove his point, he took a step back from her. She instinctively reached for him but dropped her hands. Space was good. Space was right.
“Oh, thank God,” she sighed out, a bubble of relief filling her chest. Harper didn’t miss the flash of insecurity that crossed Dan’s face, but it was gone in an instant.
