She thought she was making me mad? SHE WAS! But she wasn’t. Hell, I was confusing myself! I was making me mad, Brandon was making me mad even though he’d asked me too many times if there was anything going on between me and Harper. I didn’t want them together, I wanted her for myself, but I couldn’t be with her. Wait, what? Why the hell did I drink so much tonight? The way I feel for this girl is confusing enough on a normal, sober day; but tonight I feel like I need someone to put me in a straightjacket and a padded room. “Nothing! You did nothing; I’m not mad at you!”

“Seriously, you’re hurting me! Get off me and leave me alone!”

Hurting her? How am I hurting her? I’m trying to protect her!

“What the hell, Chase!”

Oh my God, what now? I turned and had barely made out Brandon, Bree, Brad, and Derek all in the doorway before Brandon’s fist was flying toward me. Aw hell, this is going to hurt like a bitch.

WHY IS IT so bright? Did I leave the light on in my room? I groaned and rolled over as I smashed my face into my pillow. What the hell? My eyes snapped open to see green underneath me, and I leaned up quickly to see grass. Who the hell put me outside? With another groan, my arms gave out, and I face-planted into the wet grass. “Ow.” Turning my head to the side, I rubbed at my jaw, and last night came rushing back to me just as I heard someone yell my name from inside the house.

Pushing off the grass, I stumbled to get myself upright, then stayed still for a moment to make sure I was steady. God, I still feel drunk.

“Chase, open the damn door!”

And that would be Brandon. I looked toward the house, and sighed. “Gladly,” I mumbled and sauntered over to the sliding glass doors. Ugh, someone needed to tell the sun to go away for a few more hours. I rubbed at my burning eyes and opened the door to see Brandon pounding on my bedroom door, “What’s with all the yelling?”

“You son of a bitch!” Brandon yelled, and started stomping toward me.

Seriously? This bastard must not have had anything to drink last night; it’s way too early for fighting.

“Brandon!” Harper hissed, and stepped in front of me.

That woke me up. Hell. No. I grabbed her around the waist and pulled her back before situating myself in front of her. I didn’t know what was happening that morning, but whatever it was obviously involved the three of us. And while I knew Brandon wouldn’t hit a girl, I wasn’t letting Harper get anywhere near a fight, let alone in the middle of one. I prepared myself for when Brandon hit me, and the damn girl moved back between us.

“No. Brandon, just stop!” she said, exasperated, and I reached out to grab her and pull her into me; but she put a hand on my chest.

“Harper,” he snarled, “please move.”

“No.”

Oh my stubborn princess. I got ready to pull her into me again when she moved away and went to Brandon, placing both hands on him. That hurt worse than face-planting on my already sore jaw.

“You have got to be kidding me! He—”

She cut him off, but I wish she hadn’t since I really wanted to know what I’d done this time.

“Will someone tell us what’s going on?” Brad asked from somewhere on my side.

I almost said I wanted to know the same thing when Harper pulled Brandon’s head down toward hers and kissed him. Screw being partly still drunk and partly hungover. I’m ready for this fight.

Brandon’s gaze glanced up to meet mine quickly before looking back at my princess and exhaling loudly. He whispered something to her and picked her up, walking her out of the living room and toward the hall that led to his room. She wasn’t a child! She could walk just fine.

“Chase, what did you do to her now?” Bree asked accusingly.

I didn’t respond because not only did I not know, but I was still itching to have my fight with Brandon, and anyone who got in my way wasn’t going to enjoy being around me until then. I walked up to Brandon’s room and heard low murmurs as I knocked and opened the door. Brandon was sitting on the bed but shot up off it when he saw me, and for a split second, I got excited that we were going to get our round. But then my gray-eyed princess put her hand on his chest, and the bastard stopped walking.

“Well, you just woke everyone in the house. Care to clue me in?”

On the one hand, Brandon looked ready to kill me; on the other, he looked like he wanted to take Harper away from me. I knew exactly how he felt.

Harper sighed and broke the silence, “Chase, how drunk were you last night?”

Enough to still be slightly drunk now. “Not drunk enough to forget why my jaw hurts.”

“Well, you deserved that one, you were being rude.”

Apparently that’s all I knew how to be around her! My arms flew out to the side in exasperation. “I was just talking to you!”

Brandon pulled my princess toward his body. Before I could curl my lip at him, he lifted up the sleeves of what had to be his shirt on Harper, and asked harshly, “This is just talking to her?”

What is just talk—oh holy shit. It felt like someone had punched me in the stomach. No, no. No way I did that, I wouldn’t do that to any girl but never to Harper. When would I have even done something like that to her? Parts of last night flashed through my mind again. Seriously, you’re hurting me. Oh my God. No. I shook my head and looked up at her understanding face. Why did she have to look at me like that? If any time was a good time for her to look at me like she hated me, this was it!

“Oh God, Harper. I di—I.” What the hell is wrong with me? “Harper, I’m so sorry. I had no idea, I swear I didn’t mean to hurt you.” God, I would never have hurt her, not like that. I would have tried to keep her from me, but I wouldn’t have done this!

I stepped closer to her and ignored the warning growl Brandon sent my way as I placed my fingers on the large bruise on her arm. I’d done that, I’d hurt this perfect, innocent, frustrating-as-hell girl.

“Harper”—my voice gave out, and I had to clear it a couple times before I could talk again—“can I please talk to you alone?”

I couldn’t even care when Brandon kissed her and spoke softly to her. All I could see were the bruises on Harper’s arms. He kissed her, and though a part of me felt like it died again, I couldn’t find it in me to do anything about it. As soon as he left, and I heard the front door shut, I exhaled roughly and couldn’t keep quiet anymore. “Are you okay? God, that’s a stupid question, of course you’re not.”

“No, I am. I’m fine.”

“How can you even say that?”

“Because I am. They don’t hurt, and I didn’t even know they were there until Brandon saw them.”

So stubborn and frustrating! Yell at me, please! Tell me you hate me and never want to see me again, anything; just don’t act like this is nothing. “I just—I never meant to hurt you, I swear.”

Her hands found their way around my neck, and she pulled down until my forehead was resting against hers. I was so shocked by what she was doing, I couldn’t even try to push her away like I knew I should. I took in a shaky breath. God, what is it about this girl? “I know you didn’t, Chase. It really is okay; you were drunk, and I was being stubborn.”

There she went again! “Don’t do that. Don’t act like it’s okay when it’s not. You do this with everyone. And please don’t make excuses for me. Yes, I was drunk, and I don’t always realize what I’m doing after I’ve been drinking, but that’s no excuse, Princess.”

Her soft laugh and the way she gently squeezed my neck tugged at my heart. “Well, maybe you shouldn’t drink then.”

“Maybe I shouldn’t.” If I had it my way, Harper and I wouldn’t be standing in this room right now, we wouldn’t be pressed against each other. I would just be her roommate’s brother who pisses her off. But when it came to this girl, I was no longer in control of anything. She consumed me in every way possible. My brain was telling me to run from her, to keep her safe, to keep her from someone like me, but she had my heart completely, and that was winning out. I wanted her, I wanted her to want me and only me. Not Brandon even though I knew he was the better choice for her. But that just didn’t matter to me at that moment; all I cared about was the fact that one of my best friends was winning over the only girl that would ever mean anything to me. “Why him, Harper?”

“What do you mean?”

“Why Brandon? You’d never been kissed, why’d you choose him to change that?”

“Why not Brandon?”

I snorted. Because I’m right freakin’ here wanting nothing more than to love you forever.

“Why does that bother you so much, Chase?”

“Because you deserve someone who realizes how amazing you are. You shouldn’t have just let the first guy who gave you the time of day kiss you.”

“You’re acting like I gave him everything, and all we’ve done is kiss! And who are you to judge who I do and do not kiss?”

She’d removed herself from my arms and went to sit on the bed; that was too far for me. I just followed her and put my hands on each side of her as I rested my forehead against hers again. “Please don’t. Don’t give him everything. He doesn’t deserve you, Harper.”

“And who does, Chase . . . you?”

God, why did she have to talk all soft and breathy like that? Why did her chest have to rise and fall so quickly; I knew I just had to say the word, and I could make her mine. Say it. Say it, you stupid bastard! I squeezed my eyes shut and let my head fall from hers. “No. I don’t deserve you either. You need someone who will cherish you, protect you, and take care of you. Someone that realizes they’d never be able to find another you in the world, no matter how hard they looked.” I looked back into her soft gray eyes and continued to fight with myself on taking what I needed and giving her what she needed. Without thinking about it, I leaned in close until I could feel her breath against my lips; I would have given anything to kiss her. Just as I started to close the already minimal space between us, her voice stopped me and snapped me back to my reality.