This Love

Chapter 52

HARRY STYLES

"Okay, wait...he is seriously fit," Hailey's friend mumbles in the living room, probably thinking I can't hear her as I unload the groceries into the refrigerator.

"Stop, ew," Hailey mutters back. "He's basically like my dad now."

My little amused smirk vanishes as I absorb that new information. I didn't realize she was looking at me like I was her dad, but what else would she look at me as if she had started seeing Scarlett as her mum? Still, it's bizarre to hear out loud.

"You're so lucky," Molly sighs. "I wish I had an older sister to live with."

When Hailey doesn't respond, I can only assume she's thinking that she's not lucky at all. Sure, she's lucky to have Scarlett as a sister, but I'm guessing she'd trade living with her if it meant her parents were normal, good people.

"Alright, I'm ready to go," Scarlett comes jogging down the stairs in a pair of shorts and a relaxed white long-sleeve shirt. Her hair is in a messy bun, and I know that's her way of trying to look like she didn't put any effort into her appearance.

"Have fun," Hailey waves from the couch.

Scarlett gives her and Molly a warning look from the couch. "Here's the deal. You can invite a few more friends over, but if we come home to find the place crawling with gross little teenagers, I'll call the cops and tell them that I've never seen you in my life. Second, do not touch the bourbon or the tequila, only the vodka, and don't smoke anything. I don't trust you not to burn the place down."

Molly is grinning from ear to ear as she nudges Hailey like she wanted to make sure she also heard all of that. I laugh when Hailey rolls her eyes. "We got it."

"Good," Scarlett turns to me. "Ready?"

I nod and smile down at her red cowboy boots. "You look really cute."

Her face screws up as she locks her arms around my neck. "Don't call me cute, H, c'mon."

"Why not?" I scoff and hold her waist as I take a few steps toward the stairs. "You call me cute all the time."

"Yeah, but that's because you are," she smiles with her head cocked to the side. "But for me, you can use sexy, beautiful, gorgeous, stunning, fit–"

"Right, as if I've never used any of those before," I roll my eyes as she laughs and squeezes my cheeks together before kissing me.

On our way down the stairs, she yelled out to Hailey to remind her of the rules before we locked the two girls inside the house and hoped for the best. The only reason I'm not worried is because I'm pretty confident that Hailey knows that we trust her not to go too overboard with her friends in the house, and I don't think she wants to do anything to jeopardize that. Besides, she's not a bad kid. Scar and I learned that pretty early on.

And despite Scarlett's threat, she's smiling for no apparent reason as she rolls the top down on her car as we sit inside it. Considering we're on our way to celebrate Renée's birthday, I'm not sure why she's so chipper.

"You seem to be in a suspiciously good mood today," I narrow my eyes at her as I buckle up.

Her smile only grows while she lights a cigarette for herself. "Look at this weather. How could anyone be upset when there isn't a single cloud in the sky?"

That's one thing I quickly learned about Scarlett within the first six months of us seeing each other—the woman's mood is directly affected by the weather. Sometimes she likes the rain if we have nowhere to go, but more often than not, she's more snappy and moody in the winter and she's bubbly and smiley in the summer. I love her both ways, but I always prefer to see her with a smile.