Amusing You - Claire Cullen Page 0,59
that.”
“That makes a crazy sort of sense,” Beckett said. “You were hurt for a long time after Dante. I understand not wanting to be burned again. With Harper, you got all the benefits of a relationship without any of the risks.”
“But that wasn’t fair to him.”
“No,” Beckett conceded. “But he gave it to you willingly. Is it possible you were giving him something he needed, too?”
Since they’d shared Harper’s heat, that thought had been on his mind. Was Beckett right? Were they both dancing around the obvious?
“I should talk to him, shouldn’t I?”
Beckett huffed out a laugh. “Yeah, I think it’s safe to say you should.”
“But what do I say?” And would Harper want to hear it?
“Tell him what you told me. Not the compatibility stuff, but the real stuff. How much you enjoy spending time with him, how much you like him as a person, how being with him makes you feel. Just… be honest. Painfully, embarrassingly honest. That’s what love is, at the end of the day.”
William checked the time, wondering if Harper was home yet. Would he mind if William dropped by? He glanced back down at the plans he’d been reviewing, but Beckett moved them out of reach.
“It’s getting late, and we’ve done more than we planned to for the day. Go, see Harper, spill the beans, and trust that things will work out for the best.”
William shook his head ruefully. “Seems like things never do where I’m concerned.”
“Yeah, well. You’re your own worst enemy,” Beckett said with a laugh.
William tried to call Harper from the car, but the omega didn’t pick up. He knew he was taking a chance just dropping by, but if Harper was with Zac, Beckett would have told him. Halfway there, his phone rang. He glanced at the screen hopefully, but it wasn’t Harper, it was Zac. Maybe Harper really wasn’t ready to talk to him, and Zac was going to tell him to back off.
“Hi, Zac.” He tried to hold onto hope, even as his heart sank.
“Hey, Beckett said you were on your way to Harper’s place. Are you close?”
He considered the traffic and the swirling snow before answering. “Twenty minutes away. Why?”
“Harper’s been evicted. He’s trying to get his stuff and get a cab to our place, but with the weather and everything, I’m worried he might be stranded. I was going to send Beckett, but he said you were already headed there.”
“Of course. I’ll call Harper and let him know I’m coming.”
“If he’s trying to get a cab, he’ll be out on the main street. Or he might head south to catch the bus if he can’t get a ride.”
“I’ll keep my eyes peeled,” William promised.
The snow got heavier, the traffic slower, and Harper’s phone rang out each time he tried to call. Worried about the omega as the weather grew worse and the temperature dropped, all he could do was hope that he had already gotten a cab. But if not, William would find him.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Harper thought his week couldn’t get worse, but there he was, standing outside his apartment and looking at the shiny new lock that his key no longer fit. Staring at the door in bewilderment, he tried knocking. After a few minutes with no answer, he pulled out his phone and called Colin.
“Hello?”
“It’s me. I can’t get into the apartment. Did your uncle finally fix the door?” That thing had a habit of refusing to lock just when you were already running late.
“Uh, hey, Harper.”
“Don’t ‘hey Harper’ me. I’ve had a long day, and the last thing I need is to be stuck waiting for you to get home so I can go to bed. Where are you?”
“I’m with Devin. Shit, Harper, I was supposed to call you, but it slipped my mind. My uncle got a call from someone about you. He, uh, he doesn’t want you staying in the apartment anymore.”
Harper blinked. “What? He can’t just kick me out, Colin. I pay rent.”
“Yeah, but it’s my name on the lease. And it’s his apartment. What he says goes.”
“But all my stuff…”
“Right. He said something about that. Uh… he packed it up, and it’s… out in the alley.”
“He dumped my stuff?”
“I mean, he said it was mostly trash, and…”
Harper groaned, slamming his palm against the door. “And what? You couldn’t reason with him? Give me a heads-up? It’s been snowing all day, Colin. If my stuff’s outside…”
“I tried, Harper. You know what he’s like when he gets in a temper.”
Harper suspected that