“Alright,” she conceded easily.
The concert was held in Central Park and was more like a summer festival. There was a main stage and several side stages, where The Ivories were supposed to be playing. We rode right up the path behind the main stage and were stopped at the fenced in gate.
“Whoa!” A security guard said. “What are you doing?”
“Sorry,” I said, flashing my backstage pass. “I’m here with Charlie James.”
The guy didn’t say a word, opening the make-shift gate and letting us through. I slowly brought my bike toward the rear where Charlie said he’d be. I spotted Cherry first and stopped by their trailer. When I got off my bike, I helped Harper slide off the seat so her skirt wouldn’t show anything. I got a small smile for that and breathed a slight sigh of relief. She stood beside me, letting me unbuckle her helmet for her and I could feel the eyes of the band and Charlie watching us. I got the helmet off and hung it on my handle bar but when I turned around, I saw Harper shaking out her hair. The scent assaulted me, a fragrant punch to the chest, and my fingers itched to run through every single strand, to feel its silk. I caught myself and turned toward my friends and was taken completely back. The girls were talking amongst themselves, laughing and joking...but the guys. The guys were apparently struck as dumb as I had been when they caught a glimpse of Harper. Instinctively, I reached for Harper but she had already headed for Cherry, doing a little turn to show how her outfit looked on her.
I strode over to the guys and punched Josiah in the shoulder.
“What the hell, dude?” He asked, rubbing his arm.
“Can you all pick your jaws off the floor?” I asked, a little bit peeved. “Charlie? Charlie?” I snapped my fingers in his face to grab his attention.
“What? Yes?” He asked and the others laughed.
“Can you, maybe, not stare at Harper?”
He shook his head to clear it. “Oh, of course. I’m sorry, Callum. She’s extraordinary.”
“I know,” I said, sighing at the typical direction our conversations usually went. That’s when I realized that Harper was one girl Charlie couldn’t have. “Listen, Charlie. I know you and Sam are over or whatever but I’d appreciate it if you could not go after Harper. She’s....She’s...”
“Yours?” He asked, a twinkle in his eye.
The others had walked off at this point to visit with Harper, leaving us alone. “She’s not mine. No.”
“But you want her to be,” Charlie said, stating it more as a fact than posing it as a question. He leaned against The Ivories’ sleek black trailer they bought for the previous summer’s tour.
“More than anything,” I admitted out loud.
“Stop wasting time then or I can’t be responsible for my actions,” he teased.
This held me slightly on edge. “Please, I can’t joke about this with you. You have no idea how much Harper’s beginning to mean to me.”
“I apologize, Callum,” he said sincerely, throwing his arm over my shoulder in a peace offering. “I was only joshing. Honestly, I’ll stay away.” A small smile curved around his lips. “It’ll be hard but I’ll stay away.”
“Charlie!”
“What? Callum, calm down. I’m teasing you!”
I eyed Harper, my jaw clenching, making the muscles in them flex. I opened my fists, then closed them, over and over. I wanted her more than anything in this entire world.
Charlie’s hand came flitting over my face to break the trance.
“My God, Callum,” he whispered.
“What?” I asked, turning his direction.
“You’re in love with her.”
“What? No, that’s impossible. I’ve only known her two weeks,” I said, watching her intently again laughing at something Tie-Dye Tom said. They’re standing awfully close.
“That may be but you’re either most definitely in love with that creature there in that fetching skirt or there’s something between you and Tom you haven’t yet discussed with me.” I rolled my eyes but laughed. “I can’t say I blame you. I’ve never seen you like this, Callum, not even with Sam.”
My head snapped his direction again.
“You knew?”