Chapter <b>37 </b>


    Harper


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    E, Zoey and I came to the animal shelter for a different kind of fun. We’d had enough of partying and drinking.


    There was a tiny golden retriever pup nibbling at the ends of my hair as I tried to scoop him into myp.


    “So, how does it feel without Maddox in town?” E asked,ughing at the soft little growl the beagle pup in her arms made.


    “Yeah!” Zoey leaned towards me with wide eyes, her ck dress covered in white fur from her tiny husky. “Now that you can’t be with him in less than thirty minutes and do whatever you want to each other, how does it feel?<b>” </b>


    I looked at both of them in disbelief, but giggled when my golden retriever licked my cheek. “You two can’t be serious right now. And why are we talking about this here?”


    “Come on. It’s not like there’s anyone else around, so how does it feel without him?” E wiggled her eyebrows.


    “Why are you making it sound like I haven’t seen him in months? It’s only been two days.”


    “Well, yeah, but still, how does it feel?” The tiny husky wriggled in Zoey’s arms.


    I sighed. “You’re both reading too much into this.”


    “What else do you expect after what you did?” E’s eyes narrowed as she pulled her beagle away from her shirt before he chewed a hole through it. “You spent two weeks not seeing him and he spent that night paying attention to everyone else, only for the two of you to end up in bed together!”


    “Look, one thing just led to another and that’s it. He’s now hours away and-”


    “Aha!” Zoey yelled a little too loudly, scaring the puppies. “OMG I’m so sorry my lovelies.” She looked around at each one of them, then back at me. “There, you said it. You miss him.”


    My eyes narrowed. “None of those words came out of my mouth.”


    E smirked at me. “You didn’t have to say anything directly. We can tell.”


    “I understand that the two of you just want to see me move on, but it’s not going to happen like this.” I gently scratched my golden retriever’s ears.


    “Now that I think about it, you’re right.” Zoey huffed. “Looking at the way things are going right now, it’s not enough. We’re going out with the Bary twins this evening and they know all about Maddox. Maybe they can tell us something about him that you don’t yet know, like what he likes and stuff like that.”


    “There’s no need for that.” I firmly shook my head, bringing my face real close to the golden retriever so our noses could touch. “Look, I’ve told you several times that what I have with Maddox is nothing serious.”


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    “Oh, yeah?” E rolled her eyes dismissively. “It’s always so funny to me that you keep saying that and yet you two fucked like animals.”


    “Yeah and doesn’t he text you like… all the time?”


    I leaned back against the wall, letting the golden retriever curl into myp. “Don’t the two of you. Text me all the time as well?”


    They nced at each other, then back at me.


    “Good point!” they said in unison.


    “Don’t get mad at me for saying this,” Zoey paused, setting her husky down and throwing a squeaky toy, “but maybe you should actually stop sleeping with him.”


    “What? Why?” My voice was loud.


    E tilted her head with a smirk. “Is that your way of saying you want to keep doing it?”


    I blinked rapidly. “That’s not what I meant. Anyway, what were you trying to say, Zocy?”


    “I just feel like the more you keep doing this, the harder it’ll be for you to move on. You keep saying there’s nothing between you two, but for how long will you stay this way?”


    “Weren’t you the same ones hyping me up to enjoy the fun with him while itsts?”


    “That was before we saw how you act around Grayson.” E scratched under the beagle’s chin. “We just want to see you happy.”


    “Ooh, How about Dean?” Zoey suggested.


    “Not this again.” I huffed. “He’s just a friend and doesn’t give off that vibe. We’re getting to know each other and I don’t think it’ll ever be anything more than that.”


    “That’s how it starts and then before you know it, you’re ripping each other’s clothes off! Today might be the day since you’re going on a date with him.”


    “We’re just grabbing some dinner together at a fast food restaurant and that’s it.” My tone was dismissive.


    “So… you’re stuck with Maddox?” Zoey held up her beagle’s paws to make him wave.


    “You make it sound like it’s a bad thing.” I shot her a yful re.


    “Looks like someone likes being stuck with Maddox,” they teased me.


    I tried to shut them up, but they just wouldn’t stop. I eventually gave up and let them say it for as long <b>as </b>they felt like it.


    I might’ve felt the same way about Maddox back when he was just Tiffany’s brother to me and things changed between us, but I wanted to keep things as they were with Dean. It wasn’t every guy that came into my life that I was going to sleep with.


    16:04 Tue<b>, </b>Sep 16


    :


    36


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    Dean and I were on our way home and had decided to walk since it wasn’t too far from my ce.


    I had lost count of the number of times he had made meugh. I could still feel my ribs hurt. He had so many stories to tell me and each one of them kept me intrigued.


    “Damn,” I said, when I finallyposed myself to stopughing. “I didn’t think you had it in you like that.”


    “Yup, that’s what most people think at first nce, until they actually get to know me and I prefer it that way.” He grinned.


    While he’d managed to grab my attention most of the time while we had dinner, my attention split each time Maddox sent me some nasty texts that were for my eyes only. I still had to y it cool around Dean so he wouldn’t think I had little interest in being with him at that moment. It was for this reason that I barely replied.


    A few seconds away from my doorstep, Dean said, “I haven’t had this much fun in a long time. How about we watch a movie Friday evening?”


    I smiled politely. “I’d love to, but I already have ns.”


    I’d been counting down to Friday so I could spend time with Grayson ever since he’d told me he wanted us to spend time together.


    Nodding in understanding, he said, “How about Saturday?”


    “I’ll be visiting my aunt and might be with her all day. How’s Sunday?”


    “I like the sound of that.” He chuckled. “I really had a good time, even though the steak was a bit too salty.”


    I giggled. “Me too.”


    “I hope this won’t get you in trouble with Maddox.”


    I still smiled, but my eyes narrowed. “Why would that happen?”


    “I saw the pictures and videos from his birthday party. You two seemed very…close.”


    “We’re just friends.”


    “Of course you are<i>.” </i>He scoffed as he began to walk away. “Good night, Harper.”


    He nced back and smiled at me, not stopping in his tracks for even a second.


    As I watched him turn at the corner, I remembered what Zoey and E had said to me about sleeping with him, but I still felt the same way at that moment. I didn’t see myself in bed with him. He was just a friend and I wanted to keep things that way.


    I finally made it inside the house, changing into something morefortable and replying to Maddox’s text at the same time.


    I had texted Grayson a few hours earlier, but he hadn’t yet replied. He usually did that to me.


    His message thread was right below Maddox’s and it hurt every time I was replying to him.


    <b>36 </b>


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    Each time I looked at his message thread, my gaze dropped to Grayson’s name, wondering when he’d read my text and reply.


    I was just about to open another text from Maddox when Grayson finally read my message and as soon as I spotted those three bubbles floating, I held my breath in anticipation. I had only sent him a greeting, but the fact that he was replying made my heart flutter. I hated it, but I just couldn’t help it.


    Then, my heart shattered when the bubbles disappeared, like he had just deleted whatever he was typing. I stared at the screen, hoping to see the bubbles again, but nothing happened.


    I pressed my lips together in disappointment and tossed my phone next to me, telling myself not to get my hopes up ever again.


    As soon as my phone began to ring, my first thought was that Grayson had decided to give me <i>a </i>call instead of texting, but when I looked at the caller ID, I felt stupid because it was Maddox. Why did I keep doing that to myself when it came to Grayson?


    I shut him out, wanting to distract myself. I thought Maddox wanted to take it up a notch with everything sexy we’d been talking about. It was for this reason that when I picked up, my voice was already a little flirtatious.


    “Looks like someone just couldn’t wait.”


    “What’s the name of thepany you work for?”


    I frowned. “Why are you asking me that now?”


    “Just tell me thepany name.” His voice was urgent.


    “DataSphere Solutions.”


    “Fuck,” he said under his breath.


    “What’s wrong?”