“I don’t want you doing this,” Zach said as he watched her lean over the bathroom sink so she could slide her earring through her earlobe. He sat at the foot of her bed and Harper could feel his eyes on her through the reflection in the mirror.

“Do you think I want to do this?” she asked before she could stop herself. She pressed her lipsticked-lips together and looked away from him in the mirror. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to snap. I’m just… tense.”

“No, I get it,” he said, and stood, coming to stand behind her, wrapping his arms around her waist and pulling her against him. “That doesn’t mean I have to like this.”

“I know.” Harper locked eyes with him through the glass, leaning her back against his chest. He felt so comfortable, so safe, that she felt herself being lulled into a false sense of contentment. False because she would have to leave in the next few minutes if she didn’t want to be late for their date. “I don’t like it, either. I told him I wouldn’t do this until charges were dropped and your record was wiped clean.”

“That’s not going to happen,” Zach told her. “I was arrested. They’ll do an arrest report because they have to. They’ll say in the report that charges were dropped, but if I ever go through a background check, that will pop up.”

“Well, let’s be thankful you’re a hockey player,” Harper drawled. She gently pulled away from Zach and he immediately pulled her into a kiss. “You’re going to mess up my lipstick!” She playfully smacked him on the arm.

“Good,” he said, “I want to! Remind Bryan who you belong to.”

“Myself?” She raised a brow.

“Exactly what I was going to say,” Zach said with a nod. He eyed her up and down and clenched his jaw. “I don’t like that you’re going out in that.”

Harper looked down at her dress self-consciously. “It’s my most conservative dress,” she pointed out, and it was true. The magenta dress was scoop-necked so a hint of her collarbone was revealed. It was long-sleeved with no pattern, no other frills. The only thing about it was that it was short and tight, so her B-cups looked bigger than they already were and due to the simple black heels on her feet, her legs looked long and toned.

“I don’t care if you wore a garbage bag to this date,” Zach said, spitting out the last word like he hadn’t tasted anything more disgusting. “You’d still be too good for the guy.” He clenched his jaw and looked away. His hands gripped her waist tightly, like he didn’t want to let her go. “Do you have to do this? Do you have to go?” His blue eyes searched her face, looking for the answer he wanted rather than the answer they had.

“You know I do,” she mumbled, staring at his shirt. “It’s harder to leave if you make me feel bad about, Zach. It’s not like I wanted this.”

“No, I know, I get it.” He reached up and scooped the back of his neck with his hand. “I’m being an asshole, aren’t I?”

“Just a little.” But even Harper couldn’t get her tone to come out in a teasing way.

Zach rubbed her arms up and down. “Don’t worry, Harp,” he told her. “This will be over soon, and then we can finally move on. The charges against me are dropped. There’s nothing more that can be done.” He kissed the top of her head and simply held her for the next couple of minutes. “I can always come, if you want. Like in the back of the car – or I can bring my own car. I don’t mind either way.”

Harper laughed but shook her head. “I don’t think that’s a good idea,” she told him. “We don’t know what he has up his sleeve.”

“All the more reason for me to come,” Zach pointed out. “What if he tries anything with you? I could be there to protect you. And his history…” He clenched his jaw and looked away. “My gut is saying something is going to go wrong, Harp. Please let me do something – anything. I just want to make sure you’re okay.”

“I know, and I appreciate it,” she told him. “Really, I do. But I need to be able to handle this on my own.” She paused, her eyes dropped to his chest. “I should go.” Her eyes met his and the corner of her lip managed to curve up. “I love you, too, by the way.”

He pulled her into a passionate kiss that lasted longer than Harper expected. When she finished, she had to reapply her lipstick, but she didn’t scold him for the gesture. In fact, she appreciated it more than he could know. Zach walked her to her car and once Harper was in and her seatbelt was fastened, she rolled down the window and looked at Zach. He kissed her once again, after leaning down so he was level with her.

“Please,” he told her, “be careful. And if you need me, if you need anything at all, call me. I’ll be there.”

Harper felt herself smile. She knew Zach meant it. “I’ll see you soon,” she said and as he stepped away, she rolled up her window and started the car.

It didn’t take long to get to the luxury burger place Bryan wanted to take her to. It was located in the nearby mall, Fashion Island, just minutes from the beach. The temperature was still warm, so she had the air on in the car as she drove down Pacific Coast Highway. She hoped she would find parking easily; she wanted to get this meal with over as quickly as possible.

Luckily, by the time Harper got to the mall, it was still relatively early. The lots were still almost full due to the fact that it was a Friday night, but she pulled into a spot without looking very long. Since she opted to go for practical heels instead of sexy ones, her walk to the restaurant was easier and swift. The minute she stepped through the doors, Bryan stood up from his seat and flagged her down.

The Burger Place was a ritzy, overpriced burger shack located in the wealthiest mall in Southern California. It was sleek – with white furniture and cloth napkins instead of paper – but in the end, it was still a burger shack. There was no official dress code, but for whatever reason, people dressed up to eat here at night, even though it was quite common to see surfers in board shorts and flip flops munching artesian fries during the afternoon. It was one of Harper’s favorite places to eat simply because all burgers came with thousand island dressing, and theirs was homemade. It also didn’t hurt that each burger was organic.

When she reached the table, Bryan pulled her into a hug. Harper stiffened but didn’t hug him back. Bryan didn’t seem to notice as he pulled out Harper’s chair for her.

“Get whatever you want,” he instructed. “I already ordered a strawberry lemonade for you. I know how much you love their strawberry lemonade.”

Harper wanted to take a shower. She hated that Bryan touched her so intimately, and more than that, she hated that she let him. She wanted this over with as quickly as possible. Instead of looking through the menu, she decided to get her regular – a cheeseburger with no tomatoes, grilled onion, and extra sauce with sweet potato fries. Her eyes glanced around the restaurant. The problem was, because this place was relatively small, it was already packed, which meant there might be a delay in service.

She was just glad Bryan already had a table and put in drink orders.

Dinner went as well as it could go. She kept conversation at a minimum by giving him short, one-word answers. When the food came, she tried to eat it as quickly as possible, despite the fact that the dress was so tight her stomach might bulge from the bloat she was no doubt going to acquire. When she finished her lemonade, she politely declined a refill and didn’t ask for water. At the offer of desert, she immediately declined and asked for the check. And when the check came, she made sure to pay it herself.

“I was going to pay,” Bryan said, once the waiter disappeared.

Harper furrowed her brow. “There’s no reason for you to pay,” she told him. “This isn’t a date.”

Bryan pressed his lips together but didn’t argue. “At least let me walk you to your car,” he said.

“That’s okay,” she replied. “I’m a big girl and can take care of myself.”

“I insist.”

Harper restrained herself from rolling her eyes. Why was it that he couldn’t just take her word for it? Apparently having a vagina made her helpless.

When they exited the restaurant, Bryan kept on her like he was her shadow. She pressed her lips together to keep from arguing with him; there was no point in making a scene. As the night grew darker, more and more people showed up to the mall, and it wasn’t long before finding a parking spot was impossible. At least there were more people around. That should mean that Bryan wouldn’t try anything stupid.

After they got to Harper’s car, she whirled around. “Okay,” she said. “You walked me to my car. You can go now.”

“What?” Bryan asked. “No hug?”

“I’m going.”

That fear started to seep into her, familiar and unrelenting. She needed to get away from him now before he could use that fear and manipulate into what he wanted. It was one of the reasons she had stayed with him so long – his skill in manipulation, at twisting words and changing his stories just so so they weren’t lies but they weren’t truths. The fear indicated that he was ready to do it again. Her instincts were never wrong, and she would just give in so the fear would disappear, go away, at least, temporarily.

But she couldn’t keep giving in just to ease the fear. She’d always be living with the fear and nothing would get better. She would never progress.

Something had to change. She needed to change.

Harper turned to the driver’s side of her car so she could unlock the door. Almost immediately, she was hit with the realization that she shouldn’t have turned her back, that it was vulnerable and he was unpredictable, and that was the worst combination there could be. Bryan lunged for her, grabbing her arm and spinning her around. The look on his face was hard to describe, but it was almost as though he were trying to inflict his will on her, and the fact that she was not giving him what he wanted enraged him. He leaned in, like he was going to force a kiss on her whether she wanted one or not. Before he could do so, Harper lifted her thigh and kneed him in the crotch. He let out a howl of pain.

“You bitch!” he snapped, his hands immediately releasing her so they could clutch his groin.

Harper didn’t even flinch at the profanity. She didn’t wait for him to drop before she slid into the car, started the engine, and pulled out. Harper refused to look at Bryan, refused to see where he was and what he was doing.