“What changed?” I urged. “Living together?”
“No,” Harry sighed. “I think we had to live together after we realized what had changed.”
I waited.
“That bus accident which killed the rest of our team,” he said, lowering his voice. “None of us was quite the same after that.”
“I imagine not!”
“No,” Harry sighed. “It’s not just that we lost friends…our personalities changed.” He must have read the perplexed look on my face. “Graham, for example. He was always serious, somewhat of a downer, but after the accident, he was downright emo. Fatalistic. Almost paranoid.”
“Brain injury or PTSD?” I suggested, but Harry shook his head, his loose, blond waves going everywhere. His blue-green eyes met mine, and I noticed for the first time how much they looked like the ocean.
“Nothing like that. We’ve all had tests, been to therapists… It’s just like our most dominant traits became magnified after the accident.” There was something endearing about Harry, something simplistic and open.
This man has no secrets.
I felt myself being drawn to him, my knee touching his, but he didn’t move. “What about you?” I asked lightly. “What’s your superpower now?”
Harry shrugged and grinned, his dazzling-white teeth sending a thrill through me.
“Not sure,” he replied. “I’ve always kind of been easygoing. I just believe in living each day to its fullest. There’s no point in worrying about the future until you get there, you know?”
I nodded, biting on my lower lip, and I saw his eyes travel toward it. My heart skipped a beat, and a small warning in my brain told me that it was inappropriate to act on this, but Harry was the only one who was showing me any kindness today.
Dan certainly seemed to have lost interest in me, just like the others.
I don’t have to justify my reasons for this, I told myself, moving my head toward him. He met me halfway and pulled me onto his lap so that I straddled him on the chair.
We grinned at each other through our kiss, and his hands instantly slid up my spine to splay across my back, drawing our faces together in a mesh of tongues and lips.
Instantly, I felt the rise in his crotch, and I pressed down on him, grinding my hips to his.
“You’re so beautiful,” he murmured in my ear. “I thought so since the moment I laid eyes on you.” His breath caused the hairs on my arms to raise, and when his lips closed around my lobes, I exhaled in a rush of breath. “I’m so glad you chose me,” he continued, and I felt a flash of guilt. Harry’s hands cupped my breasts as his mouth moved along the curve of my neck.
“Harry,” I breathed. “I…I need to tell you something.”
“Hmm?” He didn’t slow his kisses.
“Dan and I were together last night.”
His body went rigid, and he pulled his head back to look at me. “What?”
I nodded and shrugged. “I don’t think it meant anything to him, but I thought you should—”
I didn’t get a chance to finish my thought as I was picked up by my waist and dropped onto the kitchen table, next to the dirty dishes. In shock, I watched as he stalked out of the room without so much as a backward glance, leaving me in a state of sheer consternation.
It took me several minutes for me to move from my spot atop the table. I didn’t know what to do with myself, so I slowly began to collect the dishes as I tried to make sense of what had happened.
What’s the big deal? It’s not like Dan and I were married or even dating. In a day, I’ll be out of here, and they won’t even remember who I am.
I thought of what Alex had said about men being the more emotional creatures, and I shook my head in disbelief. This was ridiculous. We were all adults. This wasn’t 1948.
Carefully, I piled the dishes into the sink, scraping the uneaten food into the garbage and rinsing them off before clearing off the rest of the table. A part of me wanted to run after Harry and demand he explain himself, but I didn’t. I remembered that he was the easy-going one.
A glance out the window told me that the snow wasn’t letting up, but I wondered if there wasn’t a way for me to get back to my team.
I just traded one awkward hell for another, I thought with some bitterness.
As I started to dry the dishes, I heard loud voices, and I paused, my brow furrowing. I couldn’t make out what was being said, but I could hear the unmistakable anger. Tossing the dishrag aside, I rushed toward the office and paused to listen.
“…so stupid?” Graham was growling. “You don’t care about us at all, do you?”
“Shut up, Graham,” Dan barked. “Of course I do.”