Chapter 5
WARREN
Idrop the weights at my feet and blow out a harsh breath. My muscles burn, and sweat drips down my back and forehead, but I feel lighter and more at ease now. Shaking out my limbs, I contemplate running on the treadmill to tire myself out.
Lately, all I’ve been able to do is work out. The idea of having sex with another chick… it makes me feel nauseous. It also makes me angry as hell because that means Harper is sinking her little claws into my skin and worming her way into my brain.
My best prick of a friend drops his own weights, and I can feel him watching me.
“What the fuck?” I growl.
“You’ve been acting weird. Is something going on?
” Parker asks, “Anything you want to talk about?” He sits down on one of the nearby benches.
Who is he? Doctor Phil? He gets a girlfriend, and suddenly he’s grown a heart?
Yeah, no. I don’t want to talk about all the fucked up feelings that are barely contained beneath my skin.
“Nothing is going on, just been stressed. You know how my dad gets about my grades and keeping up appearances.” I shove a hand through my sweaty mop of hair. I’m not lying, not really. My dad does ride my ass about my grades. Keeping up appearances? Not so much.
Parker tilts his head to the side, “Right…” He scoffs. “You know you can’t lie to me. I know you too well. Out with it, who pissed in your cheerios?”
“No one,” I can feel the frustration that I just burned off, building again. Like a steaming pot, I’m close to boiling over all over again.
“Dude, that chick from the party…” Easton comes walking over to us. The guy can be a total douchebag, and he’s a bigger asshole than even I am, and that speaks volumes.
“What girl?” I ask, entertaining the idea of a conversation. Anything is better than being forced to spill my guts to Parker.
“Yeah, what girl?” Parker perks up his interest in the subject, annoying me further.
Easton rolls his eyes, “The chick that gave you a bj in the bathroom. The hooker.” He’s looking at me like I’m an idiot, and I’m half-tempted to punch him in his stupid face.
Then I realized what he just called Harper, and I clench my hand into a fist, my teeth grinding so hard I swear they’re seconds away from shattering.
“What did you just call her?” I seethe, not even attempting to hide my anger.
“The hooker. What’s her name? Hannah or Harper?” His brow furrows in confusion, probably not understanding why I’m reacting the way I am. Well, I don’t understand either.
I don’t care about girls. They’re nice to look at and to fuck, but that’s as far as my feelings go for them. I use them as a place to put my dick, so why the fuck am I getting territorial and pissed over someone calling Harper a whore?
Because she’s yours, and nobody fucks with what’s yours.
A voice inside my head says. Easton continues without question, “Apparently, after you walked out of the bathroom, James walked in. She asked him if he wanted a blow job, and James being James, said yeah. She sucked him off right there. He said it was the best blow job he’s ever had for twenty bucks. ” He laughs like it’s so funny.
“I’m pretty sure I saw this chick working the pole across town. I swear I’ve seen her there, at the Night Shift. So, next time I’m there, I’m going to see what a twenty can get me.”
I don’t know what sets me off then. Like a wildfire spreading out of control, I lash out.
Grabbing Easton by the throat, I shove him against the wall, my lip curls back, and I can feel the dark venom filling my veins.
Even if she isn’t mine, she won’t be anyone else’s either.
I’ll be the one to break her, to hurt her, to make her bleed.
“Don’t even think about touching her. She’s mine…” I basically spit the words at him before I can stop myself. Mine? She’s not mine. She’s not anything, just some stupid girl I had a crush on when we were kids. His gaze widens before it simply turns into confusion. Fuck, I’m confused myself.
Releasing him with a shove, knowing that this is not his fault.
It’s hers, it’s all her fault. I whirl around and grab my towel off the bench beside Parker.
I’m beyond agitated now, enraged even. I knew she slept around, did shit with other guys, but I guess knowing about it and hearing it are two different things.
“What the fuck was that?” Parker’s voice meets my ears, and I feel him trailing behind me as I exit the weight room.
“Don’t make it into something more than it is, and it won’t be anything,” I answer without turning around.
I need to go back to my apartment and change, but more than that, I need to talk to Harper.
She’s the reason for this burning rage… and she needs to be the one I dispense it on.
Her appearing back in my life is causing mass chaos, and I need to end this, get her the fuck away before something bad happens.
“Dude!” He grabs onto my shoulder, pulling me backward at the same time. I spin around, ready to punch one of my best friends in the face. Like a fly that won’t go away, he just keeps annoying me.
“I said to fucking leave it.” My nostrils flare… I’m going to explode, shatter and all because of that brown hair, hazel-eyed girl.
Parker’s gaze flicks from my face and down to my fists and back up again. He’s not scared. He can take a punch or five, but that’s not the point. I don’t want to punch him. I want to ignore these feelings. This anger and madness.
“You’ve never stuck up for a girl. You’ve also never looked at me like you are right now, so unless you want to throw down, I suggest you tell me what the fuck is going on?”
“I’m not in the mood for this.” I shrug his hand off. “And I don’t want to fight with you. Just leave it alone.” I do my best to remain calm, but all the perfect ingredients for a storm are brewing inside of me, and I know it will soon be unleashed, bringing down everything in my path.
Parker shakes his head, “Sure, just ignore it. Seems like it’s working well for you.”
“I don’t want to talk about her. Not with you or anyone else.”
“Who is she? Is she that girl from the lunchroom? The one you looked like you could kill with a single glance?” I forgot about that day. He had seen her too and even asked about her. I told him she was a ghost, and that’s exactly what she is. A ghost that haunts my every thought.
Leaning into his face, so I can prove a point, I sneer, “She is no one. Now. Leave. It. Alone. I’m not you Parker. I won’t ever fall at my knees for her like you did Willow. What she did to me, there is no coming back from that.”
Something flickers in Parker’s eyes, his jaw tightens, and he takes a step back.
“Okay, if you don’t want to talk about it, then whatever…”
I damn near sigh in relief. Any more talk about Harper and my brain might explode. It’s bad enough that she’s everywhere I look. I don’t have to torment myself further by saying her name out loud.
“Let’s get some grub. I’m fucking starving.” I let the tension ease out of me.
“Okay, let me text Willow and tell her we’re going to lunch.” Parker pulls out his cell. I roll my eyes, but I understand. I’m happy for him. He found love and happiness after all the darkness. Too bad my story won’t end the same.
After what I heard about Harper earlier, I think it’s time I shake things up a bit. I think it’s time that I make it known that she’s mine to take from, mine to fuck, mine to hurt and break.
It takes a shit-ton of patience, but I somehow manage to keep myself busy waiting for Harper to be released from her last class. I can’t help but check her out as she slips from the auditorium and down the long hall toward the double doors that lead outside.
I could have asked Parker to figure out what dorms Harper lives in, but he has been bothering me enough about her. So, I’m doing the next best thing… following her like a creep. Making sure I stay far enough behind her not to seem suspicious, I walk with her, never taking my eyes off of her.
Surprisingly, she passes all the dorms and starts to walk off the campus.
As soon as I realize she is walking in the direction of the neighborhood, I caught her in the other night, my irritation grows.
She said she was staying with a girlfriend, but I had my doubts right away.
Does she have a boyfriend here? If she does, I’ll kill him, then I’ll fuck her right in front of his body just to drive the point home.
With every step I take, the anger in my gut festers. I can’t stop thinking about her having a boyfriend or even a fuck buddy. My lip curls all on its own, my body vibrating with energy.
We walk for about fifteen minutes before we make it to the same building I saw her run into the other night.
She unlocks the front door and slips inside.
Bolting forward, I grip onto the edge of the door before it can close all the way.
Startled by my presence, she twists around with her fist raised up in the air, her gaze hard.
Pushing inside, I snicker, “Who are you gonna hurt with those?”
“Seriously, Warren? Didn’t I tell you to leave me alone?
” Turning away from me, she starts walking up the stairs, her feet stomping on each step.
Letting my gaze wander, I can see that the whole place is falling apart, and Jesus fucking Christ, it smells like a urinal in here.
How does anyone live here? I feel dirty just stepping in this place.
“Good thing I don’t care what you want.” I follow her without another word.
I need to see where she is going and who the fuck she is staying with.
The impulse is too strong. I want to know everything, but especially why the fuck she is staying here when she has a scholarship and should be in the dorms.