telling me not to.”
He laughed. “Remember me? Harley? Not the assholes you’ve dated? Have fun, Trig. Tell the guys I said hello.”
Was he for real? She knew that would soon change now that they’d kissed. Guys were worse than women when it came to jealousy. Not only was he a switch flicker, but now she felt a time bomb ticking in her head, counting down the end of their one-in-a-million awesome friendship.
She put her things in the truck and climbed into the driver’s seat, trying to keep her emotions at bay. But her head was spinning, and her body was still humming from his kisses. She didn’t want to ruin their friendship, but God, Harley had gotten under her skin.
As she drove into the pub parking lot, she wondered, if he kissed like that, what would he be like in bed? The animalistic sounds he’d made came back to her, and her entire body shuddered. She threw the truck into park, fighting the urge to turn around and go back to his house, to take everything she wanted tonight just in case she woke up smarter tomorrow. She gripped the steering wheel so tight, her knuckles blanched. She stared up at the sign over the door of Dutch’s, and no part of her wanted to go in. She always went to the pub on Thursday nights. What was wrong with her? Mere kisses had never affected her like this before.
Irritated with herself, she threw the truck into drive and turned around, stopping at the edge of the parking lot. Her pulse sprinted as she gazed down the dark, wooded road toward Harley’s house. “Fuck it.”
She’d never been one to take the safe route. But with her friendship with Harley on the line, she sped out of the parking lot toward home, knowing it was the right thing to do.
CHAPTER EIGHT
HARLEY WOKE UP feeling like he had a new lease on life, despite knowing he had to be careful with how he handled things with Piper. She might have built walls around her tender, needing-to-be-loved heart long ago, but it was still in there, and he knew she’d fight him tooth and nail to protect it.
“Let’s go, girls!” Harley called upstairs as he put the lunches he’d packed for the girls in their backpacks. He hadn’t wanted to inconvenience Piper any more than he already was by leaving the girls’ school preparations to her, so he’d taken care of things himself and texted her to let her know she didn’t need to be there until it was time to leave for school.
“Uncle Harley, will you give me one ponytail on the side for crazy-hair day?” Sophie asked as she flitted down the stairs in a pair of pink shorts and a sweatshirt. She held her new book under her arm and was waving a comb like a flag.
“Sure, but it’s got to be quick. Piper will be here any minute.” He took the comb as she turned around. “Do you have a hair tie?”
She nodded. “And a ribbon in my pocket.”
“Attagirl.” As he parted her hair and made the ponytail, he remembered the hours Delaney had spent teaching him how to make ponytails, braids, and buns. She had needed to attend a conference in New York City, where Harley was living at the time. Their parents had been running the bar, and Marshall had already gone AWOL. Harley had let Delaney stay at his place, and he’d gone to stay at her house with the girls for the weekend. Jolie had been five and going through a very girlie phase, which had included frilly dresses and socks with lace and braids or ponytails with ribbons and bows, all so different from her tomboy attire of late. He’d arrived on a Thursday, and by midnight he was a hairstyle pro. His friends had given him a hard time, but he’d have done anything to see his nieces happy.
He tied Sophie’s ribbon around the hair tie as Jolie came downstairs wearing a pair of denim shorts and a long-sleeved shirt with a picture of a soccer ball and JUST KICK IT! across the front. She was carrying her diary. He took it as a good sign that she put the diary in her backpack. “Want me to do anything funky to your hair, Jo?”
She shook her head.
“Do you like my hair?” Sophie asked.
Jolie looked at her. “Yeah.”
She sounded bored, but at least she didn’t pick a fight with Sophie. When Harley had worked