Page 35

When the door opens, Victoria stands to the side and I spot my girl standing just down the hallway. She looks surprised to see me, and I rush over to her and collapse at her feet before I grab her into my arms in the tightest bear hug anyone has ever given another person.

“Stop, dude, I can’t breathe,” she says, that sassiness that’s always present back in her voice.

She called me dude . That’s got to count for something.

I pull back, and that’s when the fury edges out the relief. I wrap my hands around her tiny shoulders and get my face right up in hers. “Don’t you ever run away again, do you hear me?”

“I’m sorry,” she whispers.

“And I thought I told you to stay away from Hartley,” I snarl.

“You did, and I’m sorry but I really—”

“No buts , kid. When I ask you not to do something, or when I ask you to do something for that matter, your job is to listen. You understand me?”

Her eyes fall to the ground. “Yes.”

“And here of all places?” I blow out a breath as I try to regain my calm. I shouldn’t talk shit about Hartley. I know this, but she just makes me so fucking heated in every sense of the word.

The door opens and Ms. Miller walks in. She’s carrying a brown paper bag, and her brows pinch together as she takes in the scene in front of her.

“Harper, uh, came to visit and didn’t tell her dad,” Victoria whispers to her roommate in a quick summary of why we’re here.

“Oh, um, hi there Harper. Mr. Woods.” She nods at the two of us and sets her brown paper bag down on the counter, and the way it clinks as she sets it down tells me she’s got liquor in there.

She shares a long look with Victoria before she glances at me, and then she looks at Harper. “Hey Harper, can I show you something out on the balcony?” she asks.

No. No no no. I don’t want to be alone with Hartley, but Miller is forcing our hand here.

She takes Harper outside and shuts the door, and Victoria glances at me and opens her mouth to speak, but I speak first.

“What was that look Miller gave you before she took Harper outside?” I demand.

“Look, I know you’re both going through a hard time, and I know you don’t like me, but I’m an adult she trusts, so maybe you can just pretend for her sake. She came here because she was upset with you.”

“It’s not that I don’t like you,” I growl, figuring we’ll get to the whole Harper was upset with me thing in a minute. “To be clear, I don’t, but the issue here is that I want you but I can’t have you.”

Her jaw slackens as if she’s not quite sure how to respond to that, and if my kid wasn’t outside on the balcony right now, I’d take Hartley right here up against the front door and fuck her until she couldn’t see straight.

Jesus.

There’s passion and desire firing off between the two of us, this strange sort of lust I’m not sure I’ve felt before, and I know it’s not just me. I know it’s not—it can’t be, not when it’s this strong. But we’re both fighting against it for different reasons.

“You want me?” she finally asks. “I thought you hated me.”

“I do.”

She looks confused, and I’m confused, too—this whole wanting her but hating her thing has me on edge, and so I clap back with words intended to hurt.

“It’s fine. I have a little black book filled with names I can call, and not a single one of them will reject me like you have.”

They do their job. Her face falls a little, but she pulls it together. She nods. “That kiss last night never should have happened.”

“Oh, now you want to talk about the kiss? Fuck off. You’re right. It shouldn’t have, and it told me everything I needed to know.”

“That you want me but can’t have me?” she correctly guesses.

But I’m too stubborn to let her have the win.

I shake my head. “No. That even a one and done wouldn’t be worth it with you.”

I’m not sure why I say it other than because I want to keep twisting that knife and hurting her more, but I feel like shit when I see the effect of my words.

The truth is I’m not sure I’d be able to keep it to a one and done with her…but it’s a truth I will never admit to her.

She does look hurt, and I’m about to apologize when she says, “I’m worth way more than what you could give me. The way you treat women is disgusting, and I feel sorry for your little girl that she’s going to grow up thinking what you do is okay when it’s not. She’s welcome back here any time, but you are not.” She snarls a little as she says it, and goddammit why do I find that so fucking sexy? My eyes dart to her lips.

Why does the way she snags her lip between her teeth make me want to walk over and help myself to a taste? Why does the way she has her arms crossed over her chest so she’s pushing up her tits make me want to bury my face in her cleavage and breathe her in for the rest of eternity? Fuck .

If I had a swear jar for my thoughts, Harper would be rich.

I shake off those thoughts.

“We’re sort of a package deal,” I say dryly. “But don’t worry, she won’t be coming back here again. Not now that I know you’re way too good for me.” I roll my eyes at her.

“Oh fuck you,” she says.

“Real professional way to talk to a parent of a student,” I shoot back.

“Maybe if you had a better relationship with her, she wouldn’t have come running here in the first place.”

She hits where it hurts, and I press my lips together without another retort, head to the balcony where Miller is showing my kid the bright lights of the strip that they can see far off in the distance, grab her hand, and take her home without looking back at Hartley again.

I can’t do it.

I’m not sure what other weapons we’ll use to hurt each other when we both know all the harm we’re doing is purely because we’re both denying the strong pull we both feel. But we’re also both adamant it’ll never happen.