3. Harper

Chapter 3

Harper

It’s been hours since I left Miles at my house. I want to know what’s happening, but I don’t want to call and bother him. I’m sure he would call if they found something terrible that I needed to know about.

Just as I think about checking my phone again, it rings. A quick glance shows that it’s not Miles, but my other best friend, Gillian.

“Hey, G.”

“Oh my gosh! I just heard about your house. Are you okay? Is Titan okay? Do you need anything? Do you need to stay with Archer and me?”

“Slow down and take a breath. You would think you were the one with the house underwater,” I laugh. “Titan and I are fine, and we don’t need anything. I don’t need to stay with you, but thank you for the offer. You and Archer make out too much for me to be around for any kind of extended period. That man can’t keep his hands off you.”

Gillian sighs, “No, he can’t. It’s amazing.”

“I wouldn’t know,” I mumble under my breath. I’m so happy for Gillian, but also insanely jealous. Everyone seems to be pairing off and I’m by myself.

“So, where are you staying?”

“Um, I’m at Miles's house tonight. He rescued me when I couldn’t figure out how to turn off the water and he’s still at the house working with the crew. He didn’t want me to deal with any of it until they knew the true damage. You know how I get with the unknown.”

“I do. I also know how your feelings toward a certain sexy builder may have taken a turn. Are you gonna climb him like a tree? I mean, you would have to cause he’s so flipping tall.” Gillian laughs at her joke.

“Gillian! I’m not going to climb him like a tree. Why on Earth would you suggest such a thing?” It’s not like the thought hasn’t crossed my mind, but I’m not going to admit that to Gillian.

“I mean, I’m married, but I still have eyeballs. He’s a gorgeous male and I can objectively see that, plus I know you. I know that you’re scared of things changing between the two of you, but you moved to Star Mountain to be closer to him. That’s a big thing for someone who is just a friend.”

“I don’t have a lot of people and I like it here.”

“I know, hun. I’m just saying this would be the perfect opportunity to stay with Miles and see what happens. I’m sure he’s offered his guest room. You need to take that risk. Look what happened to me when I did. I met Archer and found my happily ever after. Maybe you will find yours with that sexy…”

“Gillian?” I look at the phone to see if our call got disconnected, but it’s still going. “Gillian?”

“I’m here, but I gotta go. Archer’s home. Love ya!”

I didn’t even get a chance to tell her that I loved her too. Archer probably heard her talking about sexy men and got jealous or turned on. With those two, one inevitably leads to the other.

I’ve almost decided to call Miles when his front door opens, and he walks in. He’s wet and dirty from working on my house and I do want to climb him like a tree. How can a man look so good after hours of being in a flooded house?

“Can I go shower quickly before we talk?” Miles asks as he takes off his work boots at the door. “I’m disgusting and no one should be subjected to this.”

I nod and he smiles as he heads up the stairs. A scenario immediately plays in my head where I follow him upstairs and offer to wash his back. It would be the friendly thing to do, right, since it’s my house he’s been working on?

I blame Gillian. She put the thought of climbing him into my head and now I can’t move past it. Ugh, this is why I can’t stay at his house. Anything happening between us would be sure to ruin our friendship.

People don’t stay, and I don’t know if I could survive losing Miles.