Page 95 of His to Teach
She’s the only thing I have that matters.
“I’m so sorry I hurt you,” I whisper. “I should have fought for us with Mason. I should have put in my leave weeks ago.”
She shakes her head. “I shouldn’t have offered to quit school.” Something seems to strengthen in her eyes. “I’m not a weak person, but I acted weak that day. I understand why you would think it was best for me to go.” Then her features harden and she pulls my hands from her face, squeezing them firmly between her palms. “But I can promise you right now, you leaving will never be the best thing for me.”
“I know,” I say quickly. “I figured that out.”
Her eyes remain hard. “Don’t you ever do it again.”
I don’t think I’ve ever felt so proud of someone as I do with Harper in that moment. Here she is, my brave, beautiful girl, reaching out and taking exactly what she wants. Expressing her needs, her boundaries. And she couldn’t be more clear—no more running. No more getting scared.
That’s a promise I can easily make.
“Since when do you boss me around?” I ask, a laugh forming deep inside.
She narrows her eyes, but I can see the humor hiding behind the surface. “You might be the big scary alpha dom, Nate, but you clearly need me around to tell you what’s what.”
I stare into her eyes, the desire to laugh fading away, obliterated by the deep truth of her statement. “You have no idea how right you are.”
“Then let’s make sure I’m always around.” She whispers. And then, finally, I’m kissing her, desperate and relieved all at once. I try to put every emotion I have into that kiss, needing her to know how sorry I am, how much I missed her, how hard I’ll fight from this day on.
My hands slide around her back, yanking her close, so hard that she gasps against my mouth. The sound lights my blood on fire, the feel of her beneath my hands making my heart pound harder, the sweet slide of her tongue against mine making me insane with want.
“Lock the door,” she pants against my mouth, and I break the connection, pulling back enough to look down at her.
“Again,” I say, my voice harder now, more controlling, “Since when do you boss me around? I’m pretty sure that’s not the way this works, angel.”
Her face is filled with happiness as she looks up at me. “It has been a while. Maybe I’ve forgotten how it works.”
The sassy little glint in her eyes fills my chest with warmth. God, do I love this woman. I stand abruptly, moving to lock the door. Then I turn around to face her.
“By all means, Harper,” I tell her, my eyes never leaving hers as I prowl slowly across the room. She shivers a little and I have to fight back a grin. “Let me remind you exactly how it works.”
And I spend the next half hour doing just that.
EPILOGUE
HARPER
“You hanging in there?”
I tear my gaze away from the car window to look over at Nate. “Sorry. Zoning out.”
He reaches over to take my hand and, as I so often do, I find myself entranced by the sight of his other hand on the steering wheel. Nate drives like he does everything else—with ease and control—and I find it incredibly sexy.
“It could have gone worse,” he points out, and I sigh, dragging my thoughts away from the first night I’d been in this car, and everything that had followed, to concentrate on the conversation.
“It could have,” I agree, only slightly glum. “He could have stormed out or punched you.” Instead, my brother had just been sullen and sharp throughout our uncomfortable meal. I suppose I should have been thankful.
“It was only the first dinner out with him,” Nate reminds me. “He’s still getting used to the idea.”
In all honesty, I’m relieved that Mason was willing to have dinner with us at all. A few weeks ago, I never could have imagined he’d agree to it. I would happily deal with a little bit of awkwardness if it meant I got to keep both my brother and Natein my life. Thank goodness Emma had come along as well—that girl could smooth over just about any situation.
“You ready?”
I look up, surprised to see that we’ve already reached the club. I really have been zoning out. A familiar flutter of nerves rises up in my belly, and I glance over at Nate. He’s watching me, his eyes steady and calm. “We can do this another time. It’s been a stressful night.”
I shake my head immediately. I don’t want to do it another night. The promise of these plans is what got me through the uncomfortable dinner and all the stress leading up to it. “I’m ready,” I tell him, warmth hitting me at the pride I can see in his eyes.
