Page 89 of Dead Girls Don’t Forget

“Because you’re closed off. You have a red flag the size of a billboard over your head. Emotionally unavailable. He was probably waiting for you to come around.”

He started pacing, each turn sharper than the last.

I took a breath. I hadn’t thought about it like that, but he had a point. I knew I had issues.

“Harper.” He stopped pacing and stood in front of me, close but not touching. “We haven’t talked about this.” He gestured between us. “We haven’t said what it is.”

He went quiet. Somehow that felt more naked than if he had been loud.

“What do you want it to be?” I asked.

He looked at me for a long beat. “I want you. Just you. Not casual. Not something you get to decide later. Now.”

“Okay.”

His brows pulled together. “Okay?”

“Yes. Okay.”

The breath he let out was rough. His hand curled around the back of my neck and he pressed his forehead to mine.

“I needed to hear you say it.”

“I don’t want anyone else.”

His head lifted. His eyes were sharp. “So we’re exclusive?”

“Yeah.”

His mouth twitched. “Boyfriend, girlfriend?”

I tilted my head. “I thought you already were my boyfriend.”

A dark, satisfied sound rumbled in his throat. He wrapped his arms around my waist and pulled me in.

“Yeah,” he said into my hair. “I am.”

Jackson pulled me closer, one hand splayed across my lower back. “I’m telling the guys and Lia tonight. Then I’m coming to get you.”

The words settled deep in my chest. No hesitation. No games.

“Okay.”

He kissed the top of my head, then my temple, then the corner of my mouth like he couldn’t help himself.

“Stay the night. I want you in my bed.”

I nodded, and we headed back toward the team area with our fingers still locked together. He carried the cactus Janet had given me in his free hand, holding it carefully, like it mattered. The second we reached the others my phone buzzed against my hip. I dug it out.

Blake: Call me when you get bored of him.

I locked the screen and shoved the phone back into my bag without answering.

“Who was that?” Jackson asked.

"No one important.”

He didn’t push. Just looked at me a second longer than he needed to.