Chapter 41 - KNIGHT
KNIGHT
Okay, I’ve done a lot of stupid shit in my life, but this about takes the cake.
I’m not the type of man who gets nervous, yet here I am, standing outside Harper’s apartment shitting bricks. If she were ever going to beat my ass, then today would be the day.
She was released from the hospital a little over a week ago and is doing great.
She’s been taking her meds and has gone to regular therapy sessions with Dr. Preston trying to get to the bottom of her episodes and discover what helped to manifest such violent hallucinations.
She hasn’t had an episode since, and seeing the way her eyes light up instead of being clouded by fear only confirms that I did the right thing.
I hated betraying her trust like that, forcing her into a psych hold wasn’t done without thought, and seeing the way she looked at me with such profound betrayal gutted me, but now that she’s come out the other end and is actively getting the help she needs to put this behind her and move forward, it all seems worth it.
On the plus side, the extra few days in the hospital did wonders for her healing body.
Her injuries from being jumped in that alley have dramatically faded, leaving only slight yellowing, which I’m sure will continue to fade over the next few days.
She’s still a little sore from her internal injuries, but for the most part, she’s doing a lot better.
Though the second I walk into that apartment and she figures out what’s about to go down, that’s going to change.
Things have been different between us. It’s as though she’s waiting for me to run for the hills, but that’s not about to happen.
I meant every fucking word when I told her that if she’s burning, I’ll step right into the fire.
They’re not words that I say lightly, and they’re sure as fuck not words that I just say to anybody.
Harper-Rayn Madden is fucking end game for me, and I don’t give a shit what she has to say about it. Fuck her bullshit non-exclusive relationship. She’s mine, and it’s about time she acknowledges it.
After knocking on her door, I take a step back and wait a few moments for her to spy on me through the little peephole before finally deciding that she will grace me with her presence.
The door opens, and I stare down at my girl with her long black hair that’s been thrown up into a lopsided messy bun.
She’s wearing a dirty hoodie that comes halfway down her shins while holding a tub of leftover Chinese food and a fork dangling from her mouth.
I step into the small apartment, glancing down at the Chinese food, trying to remember which day she ordered this, because I know damn well it wasn’t from last night or even the night before that. “Did you even bother to reheat that shit?”
She shakes her head and pulls the fork out of her mouth. “That just seems like a waste of time.”
“I really don’t know how you’ve managed to keep yourself alive all these years.”
“If I had to guess, it was those awful college years, living off ramen and beans,” she says, whipping around and making her way back to her couch and getting comfortable. “I built a tolerance. I’ve got an iron stomach now. No form of food poisoning is gonna bring me down.”
A stupid grin pulls across my face as I follow her to the couch. I take the offending Chinese container off of her hand and lean down, bracing my palms on either side of her thighs. “Listen, I’m going to need you to waltz that fine ass into the shower while I start packing up your things.”
“Eh?” she grunts, her face twisting with confusion. “You’re gonna pack up my what now?”
“All your things, doll,” I say. “I’m moving you into my place.”
Harper laughs and shoves her hand against my chest, forcing me away.
“The fuck you are,” she says. “I don’t need some over-the-top, bossy, alphahole babysitting me at all hours of the day just because he’s scared that I could fall off the bandwagon at any given point and take a trip straight back to Crazyville. ”
“This isn’t a negotiation, Harper,” I tell her. “I haven’t come to discuss it with you. I’m telling you. Your little pain-in-the-ass self is going to get in the shower, and then you’re going to help me pack up all your shit, and then you’re moving in to my place.”
“Oh, I see where we went wrong. I didn’t realize your little caveman act came fully equipped with a tiny pea-sized brain.
That’s awesome, but obviously you’re missing the key component of this conversation.
Let me make this a little clearer for you,” she says getting to her feet and making a show of clearing her throat.
“If you touch even one thing that belongs to me and try to remove it from my home, I’m going to tear you straight through the center, starting from the asshole.
And if that was also too hard to understand, then allow me to dumb it down. I’M NOT FUCKING MOVING IN WITH YOU.”
I cross my arms over my chest and watch her. “Are you done with your little tantrum?”
Her eyes widen like saucers. “The fuck did you just say to me?”
“Goddamn,” I growl, stepping into her and capturing her waist, holding her so damn tight. “I love it when you’re feisty like this.”
Harper tries to push me away, but I step into her again, forcing her back until her knees hit the edge of the couch and she has no choice but to drop her perfect hoodie-covered ass back down to the cushion.
I cage her in just as I had before, holding her hostage as I capture her stare with mine.
“Let’s get one thing straight,” I tell her, my voice dropping.
“I’m not moving you into my place because I think you need a fulltime babysitter, I’m moving you in because the thought of not waking up to you in my bed every fucking day guts me.
I’m moving you in because I need you in my space.
I need to breathe the same fucking air that you breathe.
I need you there because I fucking love you. ”
Her eyes widen, her chest rising and falling with quick, labored breaths. “You what?”
I lean in, skimming my lips over hers as I take her chin, making sure she hears every goddamn word. “You heard me, doll. I fucking love you.”
Tears well in her eyes, but she doesn’t dare blink them away as she shakes her head, staring at me as though she can’t comprehend the words that just came flying out of my mouth.
“How could you possibly love someone like me? I’m broken.
I need meds just to keep me from going insane. How could you want somebody like me?”
“You’re not understanding, doll,” I tell her, letting her see right through to my soul as I bare it all for her. “You are my divinity. You are my God-given eternal peace. I’m not giving you up for anything.”
I can almost sense the way her heart races in tandem with mine, and as she takes a breath, she lifts her hand to my chest. Her watery eyes remain locked on mine, searching them as if trying to catch me in an elaborate scheme. “You really mean that?”
I nod as a small smirk kicks up the corner of my lips. “This is the part where you finally admit that you’re desperately in love with me too and send your bullshit exclusivity terms to the deepest pits of Hell.”
Her jaw drops, and she has the audacity to get sheepish, though I suppose now isn’t the time to remind her that she doesn’t need to be shy with me, especially after all the things I’ve done to her body.
“I . . . uhhhh . . . might have some certain feelings for . . . perhaps you, my forbidden step-uncle, that may or may not be something a little more than like.”
“Something a little more than like?”
“Mm-hmm,” she says, holding up her fingers to show just how little.
I lean in even closer, her gaze captivated by mine, and as my lips hover just an inch from hers, she sucks in a breath.
She’s just as affected by my proximity as I am hers.
“Tell me what I want to hear, Morticia. Say the words that you and I both know are tormenting that pretty little brain of yours.”
She lets out a sigh, her hand snaking up around the back of my neck, and I can’t help but reach down and scoop her off the couch, her legs locking around my waist. Her arms loop over my shoulders as her bright green gaze rests on mine.
Those eyes are like a perfect window right through to her soul.
“I don’t know how you’ve done it, Knight Slater, but I am shamelessly and irrevocably in love with you. ”
“There,” I say, as a goofy-as-fuck smile pulls across my lips. “That wasn’t so hard, was it?”
Harper rolls her eyes and closes the gap, pressing her lips to mine. “Shut up,” she says, her words muffled against my lips as she kisses me. “But that doesn’t mean I’m about to move in with you.”
“Yeah, Morticia. You are.”
She pulls back, her gaze hardening. “The fuck I am.”
“I told you, this isn’t a negotiation. I’m packing your ass up and bringing you home where you belong,” I tell her. “Fight me on it all you want, but at the end of the day, it’s my bed you’ll be sleeping in whether you like it or not.”
“Or what?” she grunts, shoving out of my arms and forcing me to put her back on her feet. “You’ll kidnap me?”
The smirk that pulls across my face answers her question before I even have the chance to open my mouth. “If you really need clarification on that, then you don’t know me well enough.”
She scoffs. “That’s part of the problem. I barely know you at all.”
I’m not often caught off guard, but at that, I pull back and stare at her. Sure, she might not know what high school I went to or who I lost my virginity to, but I’ve never let anybody in the way I have with her. “What the fuck are you talking about? You know me.”