Harper's Rules 1 & 2

Chapter 63: Harper

Both Jake and I were exhausted after our vertical-sixty-nine attempt. Practically lifeless, my knees wobbled as I rolled out of his bed, secured my clothes, and left. Even though I'd comfortably napped in his bed while he was at practice, I still wanted my exit on my terms and had separately driven over to his house.

Fatigue dragged my limbs in temptation that I stayed overnight but I ignored the wistful look in Jake's eyes when I left his room. Still mildly pissed at him and honestly in a birthday mindfuck, I only waved a hand behind me.

If Jake was surprised that I hadn't kissed him goodbye like I'd previously done, then he showed no signs of it. Instead, his eyes half-closed before I'd shut the door, so I locked it behind me for him.

The glowered bitch-face expressions and curious-roommate looks downstairs blurred out of my view as I left as quickly as possible. Once in my car, the Adam and Eve bags on my passenger's seat pulled a smile across my lips.

I can't remember the last time I had a birthday that didn't completely suck balls.

The anger that knotted in my chest from the way Jake had brought up my birthday dissolved the more distance I put between us, and was slowly replaced with a warmer, glowing sensation. I still couldn't believe that Jake had given me a few replacement dildos, let alone shopped for them. The fact he'd taken which ones I liked seriously and how he'd used one on me like he'd studied a fucking manual blew more than my mind.

Orgasms aside, I couldn't push aside the reality that today was not just my birthday but the tenth anniversary of when my mother had left. I prided myself on being emotionally unaffected but that shit hurt.

Tears blurred the night view of the streets I was gratefully familiar with and my breath turned ragged and uneven. My hands wrenched and unwrenched around the steering wheel so tightly that I was surprised I hadn't yanked it off by the time I parked it in my usual lot walking distance from Reiber.

My phone, which I'd shut off at Jake's, buzzed with multiple messages. I barely read through the ones that flashed over my screen because they mostly read, 'I know it's your birthday and you hate it but I'm going to wish you a happy one anyways' bullshit. The only response I had was turned it off and jammed it into my back pocket, but it rang when I got halfway up the sidewalk to Rieber.

Normally I would've ignored a call like all the messages but answered it when I saw the ID. "Mrs. H?"

"Harper! Hi," she rushed out. "I'm sorry, I know it's late and you have class tomorrow morning."

"It's fine." I clenched my other hand tighter as the gift bags bounced against my right thigh. "I'm uhh... just taking a walk."

"Right, well Jake called me today," she offered like those words explained anything. My eyebrows scrunched together when she added, "And so did your dad."

Mental note, improve the males in my life. The fuck are they calling Mrs. H for?

"So, I just wanted to let you know about Saturday's plans."

"Saturday's plans?" My reflection in the glass entrance doors showed my lack of enthusiasm. With a hard yank on the door, I added, "If you need me to pick you up from the airport tomorrow, I'm in class until noon. But just text me the flight info and I'll see what I can do."

"Actually, my flight gets in at eight am on Saturday morning."

My not-morning person's shoulders sagged at that idea. "Yeah, I can do that."

Her voice practically dripped with excitement, "Sounds good, so we can get a jump start on what I've got planned for the day."

Fuck, what now?