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Harper inhaled, knowing if she didn’t agree, Liv would find a way to make it happen anyway. “Fine. I’ll make the damn flyer.”
Olivia clapped and bounced up and down before throwing her arms around Harper’s neck. Her shoes put her at only a few inches shorter than Harper, so Harper didn’t have to bend down quite as much as she would have if Olivia was barefoot.
“Thank you,” Shane mouthed behind her, and Harper held back a laugh. She was sure Olivia had vented plenty to Shane about Harper’s unwillingness to try a new idea. Harper still wasn’t convinced it would do any good, but she guessed it couldn’t hurt to try.
She said goodbye to the happy couple and went to the backyard to pick up a few bottles and plates left behind. She dropped them in the garbage and made one last round through the yard. The slip and slide was still set up, and Harper had a feeling it wasn’t coming down anytime soon. She wouldn’t be surprised if she woke up to find Milo and Jasper taking turns with it.
Day had been completely consumed by night and other than a few streetlights and the moonlight glittering across the bays surface it was pitch black. She stood on the front lawn for a second, listening to the calming laps of the water hitting the bulkhead before heading in.
It had been a long day, and she couldn’t believe it was still the same day that she’d brought Tom to breakfast at the diner. That seemed a lifetime ago. She kicked her flip flops off at the door and walked into the living room. Jasper sprawled out on the too-small loveseat, and Milo was propped up on the couch.
“Where’s Tom?” she asked.
“Passed out in my bed. I managed to get him to wash his face before he smeared chocolate all over my pillowcase.”
“Why didn’t you put him in my room? I was going to sleep on the couch.”
“It’s no big deal. The couch has never bothered me before.”
She wanted to suggest that he could share her bed, but with Jasper home, she kept that thought to herself.
“Thank you,” she said. “I’m surprised he was even tired after all that sugar he had.”
“Did you see how many turns he took on the slip and slide?” Jasper asked. “He’s going to sleep like a baby tonight.”
Harper stood facing Jasper and Milo not sure where to sit. The uncomfortable feeling from earlier when she was unsure about sharing a chair with Milo came back at full force. She nodded to the television. “What are we watching?”
Milo held the remote out to her. “It’s your choice tonight.”
She moved to grab the remote but still stood with uncertainty until Milo lifted his arm. With a smile, she sat down beside him and cuddled into his side. Even though they’d done things that would forever change their relationship, right now, it felt as it always did. As if in this living room time didn’t move and life didn’t happen.
“I’m thinking a romcom,” she said.
After her day, romance and laughter were exactly what she needed.
Chapter 13
Harper followed the waitress to a table. Her date hadn’t arrived yet, so she took the seat closest to her and waited. A waiter walked by with a plate of nachos piled high with extra cheese, and Harper’s stomach cried out in desperation. She ran her hand over her cranky belly and looked around to make sure no one heard the beast awaken.
She perused the menu, that way when her date finally showed up, she’d be ready to order. Her stomach growled in appreciation.
She texted Milo a funny picture and stashed her phone in her bag. He’d been uptight and tense the last few days, even though he’d denied it, but she could tell he was lying. Something was on his mind, something that was eating away at him, and without him talking to her, all she could offer were funny roommate memes and open communication.
His business was booming and now with Hal taking on some shifts, he wasn’t overworking himself. He’d been by his parents’ house, so his mom wouldn’t be calling him to make sure he was alive every few hours. And his dad stopped pestering him about joining the family construction company when Milo put his foot down last summer and told his dad construction wasn’t his future. There’d been a little tension between the two after, though all seemed to be well now. But if it wasn’t any of those things, what could it be?
“Harper?”
She pushed thoughts of Milo to the back of her mind and glanced up at her date. She felt her eyes widen, and she immediately forced them to neutral position.
“That’s me,” she said, wondering who this guy was because he definitely was not the guy in the picture. Unless he grew a beard, lost a tooth and gained forty pounds overnight. “Jim?”
“That’s me.” He didn’t take his seat like she expected. He rounded the table and wrapped her in an awkward hug. Heat radiated off him but not in a sexy attractive way, but in more of a being stuck in a humid basement kind of way. She patted his back twice and he finally let go. He stepped away, the tablecloth hooked on his belt and Harper dove for the red cloth before disaster ensued.
She sighed in relief when he noticed and unhooked the material from his belt. He took his seat and held his hand up and snapped at the waitress.Oh no, he didn’t. Harper’s teeth clenched. She’d waitressed long enough to know every sort of asshole, and a finger snapper was at the top of the list.
The waitress, a petite woman with blonde hair and brown eyes, came over to the table, and Harper shot her an apologetic smile. Jim on the other hand didn’t even look the poor girl in the eye. “Whisky neat.”
“Would you like anything?” the waitress asked her.
