Harper is mine. Even if she doesn’t want to admit it, she’s mine. She’s made it obvious. But the scary thought is I’ve noticed a pattern between us. We fight more than we should, and I don’t want a toxic relationship. I don’t want this relationship to be only about sex, and we fight the rest of the time.

           My father used to tell me that the only way to fall in love with someone is through truth. And I’ve noticed Harper not being truthful a handful of times. It’s been through text messages, but still. It’s been a week since we fucked in her living room and that’s the last time I saw her. She’s been too busy…even though I believe that is a lie.

           She has a new job. She has priorities…and I am not one of them at the moment. She has a lot going on. So, I can give her credit there. But some of her texts aren’t making any sense, and I’m scared that even though I believe she is mine and she knows it, that terrifies her, and that’s why she’s pushing away.

           Why? What’s her issue? Why is she afraid to fall in love and let us be what I believe we are meant to be?

           “If I stepped back on the BDSM, would you see me?” I text her, hoping she responds again. She stopped responding last night after I told her I was going to her house. She wasn’t fucking home.

           “I’ve been busy.”

           “Where are you?” I write, growing irritable. “What are you doing right now?”

           “It doesn’t matter.” She’s quick to write back. “I’ll talk to you later. I’m busy and I can’t talk right now. You know I started my new job, and I have been swamped with work ever since I started.”

           “That doesn’t excuse the evening.”

           “I’ve been busy.”

           She’s starting to piss me off.

           “Where are you?”

           “Don’t fucking worry about it. I am busy. Goodbye. I can’t talk right now.”

           Fifteen minutes later, I am banging on her front door. “Harper. Come on!”

           The door opens and I step back as I see Loryn for the first time in weeks. “Loryn,” I say, feeling dumb and regretful. “I’m sorry if I scared you. Harper…is she home?”

           Loryn gives a warm smile. “She’s not, Noah. But you can come in. She’s out with some of her work friends. I don’t know when she’s supposed to be home. But I do know it’s not going to be too late. She has to work in the morning.”

           “Does she ever have a day off?” I ask and glance around the living room.

           She chuckles. “Noah. The other day, she worked from six in the morning to nine at night. She’s not salaried and she’s taking advantage of that. It’s Thursday, and I could be wrong, but I think if she only works four hours tomorrow, like she’s claiming she plans on doing, she will still be at fifty-six hours.”

           “Jesus, Loryn. How do we get her to slow down? I was hoping to see her one of these days.”

            “You will see her tonight.” She says as she walks toward the kitchen. “I can promise you I have no idea what time she’s coming home, but it won’t be later than nine.”

           I laugh while running my hand across the dusty bookcase. “So, first you have no idea what time, and then you claim nine. Loryn, do you know what time she’s going to be home, but she told you not to tell me?”

           Loryn shrugs her shoulders. “If I did, I wouldn’t be able to tell you. If I didn’t, I wouldn’t be able to tell you. I can just tell you to wait here and hope she shows up. And hopefully not with that douche Rory.”

           “Rory her ex?” I’m quick to question.

           She takes a drink from her glass while shaking her head. “No, a coworker who has the hots for her, but she refuses to see it. He dropped her off last night, and she was drunk. She told him not to come in, but he did. She realized what was happening and was nice to him for a few seconds, but then told him he had to leave. I was uncomfortable.”

           “Are you fucking kidding me?” I say angrily. “Let’s see him bring her home tonight.”

           She raises an eyebrow. “Maybe I shouldn’t have told you that. I don’t feel like calling the cops tonight because you murdered Rory and pissed your girlfriend off.”

           “Girlfriend?” I say, confused and amused. “What makes you call her my girlfriend?”

           “Okay.” She smiles and waves her hand at me like I’m crazy. “Like I don’t know you two aren’t dating. She might be busy, but I still hear how she talks about you. The way she gushes when I mention that there is a new text from you. She’s called you hers more than once. You two can’t fool me with those lies. I know she’s yours and vice versa.”

           “Trust me, Loryn. I’d love to call her my girlfriend. But she’s made it clear we are just exclusive.”

           She giggles while looking dumbfounded. “Isn’t that the same thing?”

           “I don’t know,” I say playfully. “Ask your friend. She’s the one who is making this difficult.”

           Loryn sits on the couch, returning her hand to her bowl of popcorn she must have been eating before I interrupted her currently paused movie.

           “Harper is difficult.” She says and tosses a piece of popcorn into her mouth. “Trust me. I’ve been best friends with the girl since my brain let me begin to remember. If you want a relationship with her, even for you being who you are, it’s going to take grit and dedication when it comes to her. Did she ever tell you she’s bipolar? Like, not bad enough to where there’s concern but she has bipolar similarities. The psychologist doesn’t find a need to put her on meds, but they honestly are not far from slapping her on some.”

           I lean my arms onto the kitchen table, inclining and accepting what Loryn is telling me. “Well, Loryn. That makes sense. She and I have been sleeping together off and on for the past almost two months now. And my first thought when she stopped talking to me was that she was bipolar. It was mostly just a joke in my head, but now I realize it is reality.”

           “Oh, trust me.” She chuckles again. “Last night when that douche bag, Rory brought her home she was against even looking at him, and then that turned to ‘I’m partially drunk and he looks like a meal’ and I had to stop her so God damn fast. She would never sleep with another when she was with someone. And trust me when I say her heart is yours, whether she wants to admit it or not. But there was that…that…inkling inside of her where that bipolar part of her came out and tried convincing her otherwise.”

           I exhale a quick breath through my nose from the amusement radiating in me. “She almost slept with him?’

           “No.” She says sternly. “You heard me wrong. Her bipolar disorder was kicking in, and she could have slept with him. She is friends with him, and she is drunk. Nothing happened between them. But he was trying to get her to…well…you know. And like I said when you first got here, she’s the one who kicked him out.”

           I’m getting confused.

           “But what’s the reasoning as to why she hasn’t spoken to me in the past week? She’s been dodging me and refusing to take my calls. Are you sure she’s not into this…Rory?”

           “God no.” She’s quick to say. “Trust me. She’s not interested in sex unless it’s with you. She’s been busy. She hasn’t lied to you about that. I’m not going to sound like a broken record, but she’s been working more than you and I combined. She enjoys this new job.”

           The sound of a car door shutting grabs mine and Loryn’s attention. I flash my eyebrows and stand up. “That must be her.”

           “Please, Noah.” Loryn pleads. “Don’t beat his ass. He’s an idiot and a little creepy. But he’s not going to force himself on her. She told him she has someone she’s…ugh! I hate saying this part. She told him she was somewhat seeing someone. That means he is well aware she’s single, but not single. Just, for the sake of Harper, play nice.”

           Every part of my body is sending power straight to my fist. I have no right even considering hurting this man. But I can scare him. I mean, Harper is mine. He’s fucking nuts if he thinks he even has a chance.

           “I won’t try,” I say, heading toward the front door. “But there is never a guarantee.”

           “Noah!” She says pleadingly, and I can hear her shuffling to get off the couch. “Don’t fucking hurt him. Just please be a good person.”

           “I am,” I say as the front door opens before I get to it.

           Harper's eyes widen, she freezes in place, and her flushed face tells me it’s obvious she’s been drinking. “Noah? What are you doing here?”

           I scoff with disbelief. “That’s a dumb question considering you’ve been dodging me all week.”

           A tall, muscular male follows behind her. His shitty brown eyes and shaggy reddish hair make me want to snicker and throw a punch just because he looks like a douche. But I’ll play nice for a moment.

           “Who’s the driver?” I ask and watch as his eyes narrow with anger.

           She’s still frozen in place. “Why are you here?”