“Whatever,” I mumble, folding my arms.
He nods, turns, and I watch him walk away.
And then I just stand here alone and frustrated.
Again.
Five minutes later, I’m sitting in a poolside chair wondering what the hell is happening to my life. I was just a normal girl two weeks ago.
Sure, I had just one friend and a psycho ex, but I felt like I was handling it. Then some freak truck driver tried to touch me at a gas station and my dad sent his best friend to turn my life upside down.
Now I’m apparently the most popular girl in college, I’ve repeatedly turned down offers to run Greek Life, and I have a forty-two-year-old uninvited house guest who makes me hornier than I ever knew possible.
I’m also pretty sure I’m catching feelings for him.
“So,this is where Chris has been lately?” I lift my head to the female voice and my mouth falls open. “He must be branching out from the nightclub business. Never realized he was interested in running day care classes.”
“Who are you?” I ask, standing from the chair. “And what the hell are you doing in my house?”
Dressed in a sharp white suit, the curvy woman looks vaguely familiar. She looks me up and down and grimaces. “Cheap swimsuit. You looked better in the sequin ball gown.”
Oh my God! She’s the woman in the purple dress who was glaring at me at the alumni gala!
“Timid little thing, aren’t you, Harper?” I back away as she steps closer.
“I’m Milana Kauffman. Heiress of Kauffman Motor Industries. I noticed how closely you and Chris Collins interacted at the gala.”
She tilts her head and smirks. “I came here to warn you, sweetie. He might be sexy and rich, but you don’t realize how dangerous he really is, sweetheart.”
Summoning all the courage I have left, I raise my voice. “He’s here to keep me safe! You know, like from strangers whobreak into my house!”
“Oh, honey. I go where I want. Plus…” Milana waves a phone at me. “I keep close tabs on our mutual friend.”
I glare at her. “Youtracked his phone? Why is everyone such a psycho?”
“Chris and I are cut from the same cloth, sweetie,” she says in that condescending tone. “And let’s just say we’ve explored each other intimately. That’s why I’m surprised he’s here withyou. No offense, but you look a little…brittle. You don’t seem like you can handle him in bed.”
Why does everyone keep assuming this about me?
And why the hell am I so jealous that she’s had sex with him?
“Actually, Chris and I havea lot of fun together. Maybe he got bored with you?” I say, straightening my shoulders. Milana’s pointy eyebrows narrow and she forces a sinister laugh. “What’s wrong? Can’t handle the competition?”
“Oh, honey, don’t be so silly.” She waves up and down my swimsuit. “Look at you. You’re the most vanilla missionary-pillow princess ever. You’re out of your league, kid.”
“I’m not a kid!” I snap. “And I’m not vanilla. If you’d turned up just five minutes earlier then you would have seen what we were doing in that pool. We put on quite the show,sweetie.”
Standing my ground as Milana strides at me, she leans in close to my ear and whispers, “You’re just a frumpy little girl. Don’t fuck with me.”
“Don’t call me that!” I shout, pushing her shoulder away.
She’s six inches taller than me in those heels, but I’m done with people thinking they can treat me like shit.
“I have a black belt in karate,” I lie. “So if you don’t get your fake ass out of my house, you’ll regret it!”
Smirking like she’s impressed, she folds her arms, squeezing her massive breasts together. “Can’t believe he didn’t show up on a date withme…forthis?
He must be going soft. Unless you’re lying and you haven’t had sex with him?”
So she was the date he canceled the night we watched
The Notebook?
“Want to know how Chris likes to fuck?” Milana asks, not waiting for an answer. “He takes you from behind. Handcuffs you so you can’t run. And chokes you out. No kissing, no pillow talk.”
Goosebumps tingle up my arms, and I gulp.
“See!” she laughs. “I knew you hadn’t fucked him yet. You couldn’t handle it.”
My heart races, but I stand firm.
“Yeah, well,” I say. “Maybe he likes to have sex with you from behind because he didn’t enjoy looking at you. Because you’re not exactly nice to look at, are you,princess? And at least my body is the one I was born with. How much did those boobs even cost, anyway?”
Milan scowls and slaps my cheek. The sound reverberates across the decking, and I throw a hand to my face.
“He’ll be bored of your skinny little ass within a week,” she snarls.
“I don’t think so! He lives here with me!”
“Of course he does,” she mumbles. “He’s probably just playing daddy because he feels guilty about screwing your mother.” An icy chill runs up my spine and Milana grins. “Oh, wow. You didn’t know?”
“Stop it.”
She grins. “Chris fucked your mother behind your dad’s back. Some best friend, huh?”
“Shut up!” I yell.
“Probably feels guilty,” she says. “You know, because she died. What’s it like having a dad who doesn’t care about youand a dead mother?”
That’s just…evil.
What the hell is wrong with people thinking they can say things like this? She’s probably right about my dad, but this vile bitch has no business talking about my mother.
A tear falls from my eye, but the building rage overpowers the sadness.
“Oh, bless. Truth hurts, doesn’t it, sweetie?”
“No!” I scream. “We were fooling around on the sofa last week. Yeah! That’s right! He ditched your fake ass for a night withme
! And guess what, sweetie? He clearly didn’t regret it because he’s still here!”
I stare into her bottle green eyes. “Now, I’ll say this one last time. If you don’t get your disgusting witch-face out of here right now, I’ll hit you so hard your silicon tits will explode.”
Milana’s eyes flicker, but I don’t have time to react when she grabs my neck.
“You little skank!” she yells, pushing me sideways.
Sliding on the tiles, I fall into the water face-first.
“No!” I yell, spinning and gasping for air. “Help! I can’t swim!”
Milana grins and aims her phone at me. “Smile for TMZ, loser!”
“Help me!” I scream, water flooding into my mouth. “Please!”
“Stop acting like a baby and just crawl out, idiot.”
Trying to fight away images of the night my mother died, the young girl inside me reaches for the decking.
But Milana Kauffman digs her high heel into my finger.
“Not my fault you decided to steal my man,” she hisses, twisting her foot.
I release the ledge and fall backward.
Then my panic gives way and I sink under the water…
TWENTY-FOUR
Chris
Holding my head under the cold shower, I look down at my swim shorts, and I can still feel Harper’s hand wrapped around my cock.
“That girl will be the death of me,” I mumble, switching off the water.
Grabbing a towel and rubbing it through my hair, I think I hear something, so I tilt my head to the window.
And then it comes again.
Kicking open the bathroom door, I bolt down the stairs.
“Harper?” I shout. “Where are you?”
Thinking I can see someone standing by the pool, I run outside to find Milana Kauffman waving her phone around.
“What the fuck are you doing here? Where’s Harper?”
Milana laughs as she snaps photographs. “I think she’s having a bad day, bless her.”
Then I see air bubbles rippling the surface of the water.
Barging Milana out of the way, I dive into the water.
New Book: Back Home to Marry Off Myself
Loredana’s father left the family for his mistress, leaving them to fend for themselves abroad. When life was at its toughest, her father showed up with “good news” after 8 years of absence: To marry off Loredana to a paralyzed son of the wealthy Mendelsohn family.