Page 5

5.

***Dylan***

H arper hurriedly swiped at her eyes and looked away. “I have nowhere else to go. I’m sorry that I have to ask you for this and I know it’s not a small deal. Trust me, if I could go anywhere else, I would. It’s not easy to stand here and beg for a place to live.”

The front door opened and a shirtless Carter jogged inside from his morning run. He pulled his earbuds from his ears and looked between me and Harper. His eyebrows slowly rose. “This looks like loads of fun.”

Silas stomped down the stairs, his hair sticking out in every direction and his face already in its resting scowl. He took the same doubletake around the kitchen that Carter had. “What’s going on?”

I gestured to Harper. “It wouldn’t be up to just me. Ask them.”

Silas held up his hands. “Don’t ask me anything.”

I had to give Harper credit. She squared her shoulders and lifted her gaze to his. “I don’t have anywhere else to go. If you guys let me stay here I’ll pay whatever Jake paid and I’ll leave as soon as I can. I know-”

“You’re kidding, right?” Silas shook his head. “No. That was easy. Don’t know why it took all of us to decide that.”

She closed her eyes and nodded. Tears leaked from the corners of her eyes but when she opened them again, she took a deep breath and tried to smile. “Okay. I’ll grab my things from upstairs. It’ll take me a little longer to get my things from the garage. If you’d rather I move my stuff out of there sooner, I can find a storage unit, I guess.”

Carter shot me a look and shifted on his feet. “You have friends who’d take you in, surely.”

I winced.

Harper glanced over at me and that fake smile on her face grew faint. “Um, yeah. You’re right. I shouldn’t have asked.”

She rushed past Silas and hurried upstairs.

Silas saw the look on my face and shook his head. “No. She’s a gold-digging pain in the ass. Why would we want her here? She’s fucking terrible.”

“She was lying. No one is going to let her live with them.” I rubbed my temples as a headache grew stronger. “If she leaves here, she’s going to be homeless. As much as I don’t like her, I don’t feel comfortable sending her to the street.”

Carter shrugged. “I don’t care. You two decide and let me know. I have to shower before I go to lunch with Casey.”

After he left I turned to see Silas scowling at me. “She’s Jake’s baggage. We have no responsibility for her, dammit. She’s an adult and she can take care of herself.”

“You’re going to send a woman in her early twenties out on the street?” I knew the way he’d come up in the system. He knew better than anyone what happened to young women left on their own without a homebase. I wasn’t comfortable making a choice that could have Harper hurt. “If you’re okay with letting her sleep on some park bench somewhere tonight, you go and tell her that she can’t stay.”

“Fuck you.” He slammed his hand down on the counter and pointed at me. “Don’t do that again. Don’t use my past to get what you want.”

“You think this is what I want? I don’t want her here anymore than you do.” I took a deep breath to calm down and lowered my voice. “Silas, I hate the idea of this but I’m not going to kick her out if she doesn’t have anywhere to go.”

He was quiet for a minute. When he looked back at me, I could tell he was relenting, very unhappily. “Fine. She needs to get the fuck out as soon as she can, though.”

I nodded. “We’re on the same page, man. I’ll go tell her.”

He shook his head. “I’ll do it.”

“You’re sure that’s a good idea?”

“If she wants to stay here, she’s going to have to deal with me. It’s best she knows what she’s getting herself into.” He backed out of the kitchen, his eyes dark. “I swear to god, when I see Jake again, I’m ramming my fist down his throat.”

He stomped up the stairs and I moved closer, hoping to hear what he was going to say, but Carter came back, already showered, eyes wide.

“You got him to agree?”

I nodded. “I’m going to have to check my food and drinks for poison for a while, probably, but he’s up there right now, laying down his begrudging acceptance and expectations.”

“Expectations?” Carter raised his eyebrows. “What is this, a play for stay situation?”

I threw my bottle at him. “Jesus, Carter.”

He laughed easily. “What? It was just a question!”