Taking Chances (8 page)

“I know you
won't, I'm not worried about that.” I pressed my face into his chest and fought
the urge to run my fingers across his abs. We sat there in silence for a few
more minutes, I almost fell asleep from the way his fingers were trailing down
my back, but I wasn't ready to finish my time with him just yet. “Where did you
go when you left?”

“Did you miss
me?” He chuckled into my hair, “I just took a shower.”

“Oh, that was
fast.” Seriously? He’d only been gone a handful of minutes, it practically took
me that long to wash my hair…not that he had that problem. Slowly reaching my
hand up, I passed it over his short buzz a few times.

“Does my head
bother you?”

“Not at all.” If
I was being honest, I loved the feel of it against my palms and fingers. I’d
been wanting to do this since the moment I first saw him in the café. I continued
to lightly run the tips of my fingers over his head, causing him to groan.

“You don't know
how good that feels.”

I crawled
higher up on the bed to press my lips to first his head, then temple, making my
way to his lips. He crushed his mouth to mine when I got closer and I sucked in
a startled breath. He held my body close to his, the weight of him as he rolled
slightly on top of me was exhilarating and I found myself trying to pull him
even closer. Parting my legs with one of his knees, heat instantly pooled low
in my belly when his knee pressed high up against the inside of my thighs. I shuddered
when Brandon made a trail to the base of my neck.

“Harper,” He
groaned into my skin, “you can't do that.”

I froze, “What
did I do?”

He blew out a
long breath before rolling back to his side and curling me into his arms. “You
can't shiver like that when I kiss you. It drives me crazy.”

Relieved I
hadn’t actually done anything wrong, I bit my lip and tried to keep the stupid
grin off my face. Good to know I affect him as much as he does me.

“If we don't go
to sleep, I'm going to have to go back to the floor.”

I sighed in
disappointment, but he was right. “Goodnight Brandon. I'll see you in the
morning.”

“Night
sweetheart.”

***

There was no
freak out when I woke the next day, I knew exactly who had their arm around me
and where I was. I stayed wrapped in Brandon's arms for a few minutes just
enjoying being there until his fingers started tracing patterns on my waist.

“I'm guessing
you're awake then?”

“Well I really
hope I'm not dreaming you here.” Dear Lord how could his voice be any sexier?

I turned to
face him and when his breath caught, covered my face with my hands. I silently
prayed I didn't look absolutely hideous. I had washed my make-up off the night
before, so there wouldn't be any streaks of mascara. But I'm sure there could
be a ton of other things wrong right now.

He slowly
peeled my hands away, “God you're beautiful Harper.” His hand left mine to
brush across my cheek and push back my hair. “It was too dark to see you last
night, but now?” He paused and slightly shook his head. “Beautiful is all I can
manage right now.”

I smiled and
studied his face for an immeasurable amount of time. Something seemed off but I
couldn't place it for a while. “Your eyes are brown!”

He laughed and
I desperately wanted to kiss that dimple, “Thanks for the observation...?”

“No, no. I just
thought they were gray, like mine.”

“I've never
seen anyone with eyes like yours. They're mesmerizing.” I looked at him
pointedly, so he continued, “Grayish, brownish, greenish. Just depends. They
change all the time.”

“But they were
really gray yesterday, and now they're really brown. They don't just look
hazel.”

“Different
lights, different shirt colors, different eyes.”

“So what would
usually make them green?” I was fascinated now, I wanted to see every different
color they could possibly be.

“I don't know,
hulk-like tendencies I guess.”

I laughed and
kissed his hard jaw, “Well too bad it was dark in Chase's room last night, I
would have liked to see that color too.”

His hands clenched
into fists behind my back and I'm pretty sure he growled.

“Hey, calm
down.”

“Sorry,” he
exhaled and forced his hands to relax, "I just feel like one wasn't
enough. He deserves a few more for yesterday.”

Males and their
constant need to be violent. Ridiculous. “Please don't. I'm fine, all he did
was embarrass me.”

“If he does
anything like that again and I'm not around, please tell me.”

I blew out a
deep breath and kissed his lips to keep from saying anything about his
protective nature, he was just standing up for me. “I will.” Tucking my head
back into his chest, I finally got a good look at it. “Hey you have a tattoo.”
I touched the numbers on his chest and tried to make sense of them.

“I have a few.”

“What do the
numbers and letters mean?” I traced them all.
U A F 175 9 11 01

“United
Airlines Flight 175. September 11, 2001”

“Your Dad.”

“Mhmm.”

“Can I ask you
something? You don't have to answer it.”

He tucked my
hair behind my ear again and cupped my face, “I'll answer anything for you.”

“Why was he on
that plane?”

“Twice a year
he had to go on a two week long business trip all over the country. He was
headed for his last stop before he was going to come home.” The pain in his
voice was unmistakable and I instantly regretted asking.

“I'm sorry.” I whispered
into his chest, and placed a light kiss over the tattoo. I sat there quietly
until he returned to playing with my hair and making circles on my back, even
then I waited at least five more minutes before I said anything. “Will you show
me the others?”

He smiled and
flipped around so his back was facing me. I gasped when I saw everything on his
back and shoulders. There were definitely more than a few. Tribal swirls covered
the majority of his right shoulder leading toward his waist; I would have thought
it looked stupid on anyone other than Brandon. It flowed perfectly over his
sculpted back. A few lines of words in another language were peeking out from
the bed near his ribs on his left side. Hidden between a swallow, a few stars
and a Celtic cross were other designs I’d never seen before but thoroughly
complimented the rest of the tattoos.

“Brandon, this
is amazing.” I breathed.

“You like
them?” He started to turn around but I stopped him so I could keep looking. He
laughed and grabbed my hand to kiss my palm. When I felt satisfied, I tugged on
his shoulder until he faced me again.

“Thank you
Harper.” He said softly.

“For what?”

“For letting me
talk about him, and knowing how to respond.”

I pulled his
face towards mine and looked directly into his eyes, “Whenever you want to talk
about him, I'll be here.”

He kissed me
quickly before climbing out of bed. I instantly missed his arms around me and
frowned. “Don't pout. It's cute as hell, but I want to take you out to
breakfa-err...lunch.”

I grumbled and
tried to crawl out of his bed. Before I could get my feet on the ground he had
my legs wrapped around his waist, and his lips were devouring mine. Our tongues
touched, and thankfully he didn't seem to mind my next shiver. I laughed into
his mouth when he slammed my back into the wall. His mouth left a trail of heat
down my neck, across my collar bone and stopped on my shoulder. I wiggled
against him when he didn't continue.

He sucked in
air through his teeth and I felt his chest rumble. “Are you fucking kidding
me?!” he yelled it loud enough that I flinched and I wouldn’t doubt if he woke
up everyone else in the house.

I shushed him, “Brandon!
What's wrong?”

For how angry
he seemed all of a sudden, I was surprised with the gentleness of his touch on
my arm. He was breathing hard, but somehow I didn't think it had anything to do
with me being pressed up against the wall anymore. He cursed again under his
breath and his eyes finally caught mine when he set me down.

I inhaled
sharply when I saw the hate in them. “Brandon?”

Mashing his
lips together, he set his forehead against mine and closed his eyes. When I
tried to look down at whatever he'd seen, his other hand slipped under my chin.
“Don't.” He growled. After a few more seconds he took a deep breath in and
looked at my arm again. “Harper.” He said through clenched teeth, “I want you
to stay in here, and get ready. I'll be back soon.” He firmly pressed his lips
to my forehead and turned to leave.

“Brandon what's
wro–” my eyes widened, “Oh. My. God.”

“CHASE!” He
roared as he left the room.

I stared in
shock until his door slammed shut and he yelled for Chase again, then I grabbed
the shirt he'd been wearing last night off the floor and took off after him,
pulling the shirt over my head in the process. “Brandon! Brandon, don't!”

“Chase open the
damn door!” he yelled as he banged his fist on his door.

There were
already a group of barely awake people standing behind me in the living room
when Bree opened the door.

“What is your
problem?” She hissed at him.

“Where is he
Bree?!”

Before she
could answer, the back door slid open and Chase sauntered in rubbing his eyes.
Had he slept outside? “What's with all the yelling?”

“You son of a
bitch!” Brandon boomed as he charged towards the living room.

“Brandon!” I
was standing close enough to the door that I stepped in front of Chase, who of
course wasn't having that. He gently moved me behind him and I saw his entire
frame tense up, ready for whatever was coming at him. “No. Brandon just stop!”
I moved back in between them and held one hand out towards Brandon and put
another on Chase's chest. I didn't care what Brandon did for a living, or that
I had only known him for a day. I knew there was no way he would hurt me. His
gentle touch just a minute ago when he was livid was proof.

“Harper, please
move.”

“No.” I stood
there with my hands still stretched toward both of them for another minute; when
I felt confident he wouldn't charge Chase, I moved closer and rested my hands
on Brandon's naked stomach. “He's not worth it.” I whispered.

The way he was
breathing reminded me of a bull. “You have got to be kidding me! He –”

“I know,” I
whispered so only he could hear, “I saw them Brandon. But please, don't do this
right now.”

“Will someone
tell us what's going on?” I didn't look to see who asked the question, I'm
guessing one of the housemates.

I wrapped a
hand around Brandon's neck and forced him to look at me. “We'll handle it, but
not like this, okay?” I kissed him softly and looked back into his soft eyes.
“Let me talk to him, I'll meet you in your room in a minute.”

His eyes
flickered between me and Chase before he blew out a hard breath. “Not a
chance.” Without waiting for a reply, he scooped me up in his arms and walked
us back to his room. I wanted to remind him I was perfectly capable of walking
myself, but I kept my mouth shut, “I'm sorry but I'm not leaving you near him
without me.” He pressed his lips to mine fiercely and set me on the ground.

“I figured as
much.”

“I know I'm probably
pissing you off right now, but –” He glanced under the sleeve of his shirt on
my body and sighed, “Why did you stop me?”

“I told you,
he's not worth it.” I replied, “You guys live together, and if you got in a
fight, I'm almost positive it wouldn't end with just you two. I don't want to
be the cause of that fight Brandon.” I absolutely hated that I was worried
about Chase. He was a big guy too, and I'm sure he wouldn't go down easily this
time, but I didn't want him hurt and I had no doubt Brandon could do serious
damage to him.

He pinched the
bridge of his nose and exhaled deeply again as he sat on the bed, “You have
bruises Harper. Bruises. Why didn't you tell me he was holding you that tight?”

“I hadn't
realized he was.” I lied.

Just then there
was knock on the door and Chase stuck his head in. Brandon stood up with a huff
but I kept a hand to his chest and hoped he got the hint. Thankfully he did,
because Lord knows I wouldn't be able to actually stop him.

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

I felt
Brandon's chest rumble beneath my fingers, ugh these guys needed to calm down.
“Chase,” I began calmly, “how drunk were you last night?”

“Not drunk
enough to forget why my jaw hurts.” His eyes wouldn't leave Brandon, I could
practically see the ways he was thinking of getting back at him.

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

He flung his
arms out and finally looked at me, “I was just talking to you!”

Brandon brought
my body to his and slowly raised the sleeves of the shirt over my shoulders, “
This
is just talking to her?!”

Chase's gaze
dropped to my arms and his face paled as he took in the three distinct bruises.
One on my left arm from the beginning of the party. You could actually see the
individual fingers on it. And the other two from where his thumbs pressed into
my shoulders during our confrontation in his room. He shook his head slightly
and tore his eyes from my arms to search my face.

“Oh God,
Harper. I di– I.” He took a deep breath and ran a hand through his shaggy hair,
“Harper I'm so sorry. I had no idea, I swear I didn't mean to hurt you.”

I had known,
even when it happened, that Chase wouldn't physically hurt me on purpose. But
there was no way to convince Brandon of that, and it looked like Chase was
mentally beating himself up worse than Brandon could have with his fists.
Despite Brandon's warning, he stepped up to me and placed his fingers on my
left arm, lining them up with the biggest bruise.