Page 68 of Shattered Chords

“Someone move out?” I pointed at the red and blue poster as I walked over to him. I was so nervous that I failed to find the right words to calm my friend and ended up spouting the first thing that came to mind.

Harper nodded. “Yes. The guy in the penthouse.” Then he pulled me into a hug, which I gladly returned because they were rare.

“It’ll be okay,” I said once we broke apart. “You want me to drive?”

“Yeah.”

“Sounds good. We’ll take my car.” I squeezed his hand. “Did you lock your door?”

Awareness entered his gaze. “Not yet.” He disappeared up the stairs to the second floor, where his condo he used to share with Lucas was. The complex he lived in was a few blocks north of Ventura Boulevard. A great location on a nice and quiet tree-lined street, just a two-minute walk to the bustling strip of little shops and diners. I sometimes imagined that I’d live somewhere very similar if I didn’t have Ally. But I was a mother and I wouldn’t have my kid growing up in a place without a yard.

“Okay, let’s go,” Harper urged, descending the stairs a few moments later. He was in a hurry and skipped steps, and I remembered how awkward and clumsy he was in high school when he was still trying to figure out his growing body. He’d come a long way since then, since the days when we were both kids who thought we had our entire lives ahead of us.

Where had the time gone, I wondered suddenly as we climbed into my 4Runner and headed toward the intersection.

The hot evening curled and pulsed around us like a live being, an entity all its own. Watching. Inhaling. The street lights burned yellow and the neon signs flashed blue as we passed the stores and the restaurants where people seemed unburdened.

Harper was quiet and tense, his face still as a stone, his hands balled into tight fists. “The nerve that fucker has,” he muttered under his breath eventually, needing to somehow release his frustration.

I’d never heard him curse like that. It didn’t fit his personality and the slur was somehow almost as jarring as if I’d stepped on a piece of glass. However, I fully expected something equally vulgar to come out of Dante’s mouth when I was with him. He made even the most boring phrases sound dirty.

It struck me then. My mind had gone there willingly and I hadn’t stopped myself. I’d simply let my imagination wander.

Until next time, Camille.

No man had ever said my name the way he did. With enigmatic intent.

The memory set something off in my core and, wiggling in my seat, I shoved the feeling back down and reached for my GPS. “So...where are we going?” My voice shook.

Harper was still venting and while I didn’t mind just driving around with him until he calmed down, Ally was home alone and it was a school night, so we needed to stick to the original plan.

Sensing my apprehension, he punched in the address for me. He didn’t have to look for it, which meant he knew it by heart, and I found that notion troublesome. “Sorry. Give me a second. I’m still trying to wrap my head around it, sweets.”

“It’s okay. You have the full right to be pissed. I know I’d be.” For Harper’s sake, I tried to sound reasonably calm. One of us needed to be lucid to make sure this visit wouldn’t turn into a bigger disaster.

We drove in silence for a few minutes, following the GPS instructions, then I braved a question, “Where’s he staying right now?”

“With his brother.” Harper rolled down the window and a gust of hot, heavy air sneaked inside and danced across my cheeks and shoulders.

The road became wider, the buildings scarce. I glanced at the map and realized we were headed toward Chatsworth. My pulse raced, and not because our destination somehow mattered.

“Can I ask you something, Harper?” I said quietly.

He turned to look at me, a flicker of interest in his baby blue eyes. “Sure.”

“Objective approach,” I clarified. “Okay?”

He nodded.

“I have very conflicting feelings about Dante.”

“Oh?”

“He’s not who I thought he’d be and he seems to be getting along with Ally.”

“So you’ll go out with him?”

“He hasn’t asked me again...yet.”

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