Harper’s fingers were still shaking as they clutched the steering wheel on the way home. She wasn’t as confident as she felt back with Bryan after she fought her way out and made her smartass comment. She couldn’t even let herself be okay, laugh about it, because she wanted to get home to Zach right now.

She should have expected that he would try something with her. She should have known it would be more than just an innocent date. Harper ground her teeth together, shaking her head at her stupidity. She couldn’t believe she actually thought that it would be fine. After everything that had happened between them, there was no way it could be fine. It was like being friends with an ex; there was no way for her to do it.

Luckily, Bryan already had the charges dropped and he had tried assaulting her. Harper was pretty sure that if she went to the police, they would take her side over his, especially considering the fact that he had a tendency to flip flop.

Her grip tightened on the wheel as she made a left turn. The streets were relatively empty, which wasn’t all that surprising. Besides the one car behind Harper, nobody was really out. It was a Wednesday night, school had already started, and she was getting into a residential area. She cracked her windows just so she could feel the soft sea breeze against her hot skin. Normally, she would have closed her eyes and taken the time to relax, but considering she was driving, she chose to breathe in deeply instead. Already she could feel the positive affect the breeze had on her body: her heartbeat slowed, her muscles eased apart, and her shoulders rolled back.

It didn’t hurt that she was almost home.

Finally, she was done with Bryan.

Her lips started to curve up on their own as she imagined what she would do once she saw Zach. She was almost embarrassed at the excitement she felt, like she was back in high school and she was going on her real first date with the cute senior she’d been eyeing all year. Even though they had already been together, this felt different. It was as though Harper was finally free, and she didn’t want to waste a minute of that freedom.

Sex. She wanted to have sex with Zach, and lots of it. He was something to look at and the guy knew what to do with every inch of her flesh. Somehow, he had memorized every nuance, every flinch, every breath she took when he did something to her body and she craved more of it. She wanted his hands on her hips, his mouth on her nipples, his eyes rolled to the back of his head as she took the length of him in her mouth and slowly bobbed her head up and down. She wanted to hear her name torn from his lips like he couldn’t think of anything else to say except Harper.

Harper bit her lip as she made a soft right into her apartment complex. Her thighs were already moistening with desire and there was a familiar pelvic pulsating that she couldn’t quell at just the thought of Zach inside of her. She wanted to feel him, without protection, without any barriers. It was a fantasy she probably wouldn’t verbalize quite yet, but she wanted it nonetheless.

When she slid her car into her parking spot, a few feet away from her apartment, her fingers shook once more but for an entirely different reason. She gulped, trying to get her throat some moisture as she stepped out of the car with her purse over her shoulder and her keys already in her hand. All she saw was her door. A door that represented good sex and freedom.

She slid her key into the lock and turned. She suddenly realized she didn’t check the lot to see if Zach was still here or if he had taken off. She wouldn’t blame him if he had but she didn’t think he’d do that. Just as she opened the door, a hand grabbed her shoulder. She was so scared, she jumped and let out a little yelp.

“Harper,” a familiar voice said. “It’s just me. It’s Bryan. No need to shout.”

At that moment, Zach was at the door. In one fluid motion, he grabbed Harper by the wrist and tugged her inside so he was blocking her from Bryan’s view. Any thoughts about sex completely vanished from her thoughts. Instead, she clutched at Zach’s shirt, clenching her jaw to keep her teeth from chattering.

Why was he here? Why the fuck had Bryan followed her to her house?

“Will this never end?” she whispered to herself.

“What?”

Harper turned to Bryan. Apparently, she hadn’t said it soft enough. His eyes found hers somehow, even with Zach blocking him from view. He looked at her, genuinely confused, and that was when she felt herself snap. She refused to put up with his bullshit any longer. She refused to allow him to have such control over her emotions. She refused to be afraid of him.

“I said,” she began, her brow furrowed, her voice tight, as her eyes flashed into his, “will this ever end? Will you ever leave me alone? Can’t you just go away?”

Bryan still looked confused. “I don’t understand,” he said. He wasn’t trying to be condescending, he just lacked common sense.

“I don’t want to be with you anymore, Bryan,” she told him. “I don’t want you in my life anymore. I don’t understand why you can’t understand that. I had a restraining order put on you when we first broke up. Don’t you remember that?”

“How could I forget?” Bryan asked. “But you didn’t renew it. I thought… I thought you were finally coming around. That you were ready to give me a second chance.”

“A second chance?” Harper furrowed her brow. Now it was her turn to be confused. “Why would you think I wanted to give you a second chance? I forgot to refile the restraining order. That’s the only reason. I thought you had finally moved on with your life. I didn’t realize you needed a piece of paper to tell you I wanted nothing to do with you.”

“How was I supposed to know that, Harp?” Bryan asked.

Zach took a looming step forward. “Don’t call her that,” he snapped. Bryan didn’t argue.

“You’re clueless, Bryan,” Harper continued. “Sometimes I wonder if you’re pretending to be this dense or if it’s actually genuine. You’re selfish. All you care about is yourself.” She crossed her arms over her chest. “That’s why I broke up with you in the first place. You were a bad boyfriend, even before you put your hands on my throat. You were selfish and critical and nothing I did was ever good enough for you. When I finally kicked you out of my life, I felt like a weight had been lifted. When you came back, I worried I would never get that feeling again. Until I realized that you don’t control me, Bryan. Me and you are over.”

Bryan’s brow was so low, it nearly inhibited his eyes from seeing.

“I shouldn’t have gone out with you,” she continued. As she spoke, she walked around from Zach’s protective posturing so she stood next to Zach rather than behind him. This way, she wasn’t hiding. Not anymore. “You don’t get to control me. You don’t get to manipulate situations where I am forced to bend to your will. You are nothing and nobody to me. You don’t matter. Not to me. And I hope, I truly hope, you find a girl you don’t have to bend to your will in order to get your way. But she isn’t me.”

“Harper,” Bryan began but she cut him off.

“I’m not done,” she said, her nose wrinkling. “You aren’t allowed in my life anymore. I don’t want to see you, hear you. I don’t want to breathe the same air as you do. If you ever come back to my home or harass my boyfriend or even look at people I care about, I will call the cops and report what happened in the car.”

There was a moment of silence, similar to the feeling when a fire sucked all of the oxygen out of a room. Tension grew thicker, like a cloud getting ready to drop an unexpected burst of rain.

Harper felt Zach shift beside her. From the corner of her eye, she noticed him clenching his jaw, trying to control his temper. She had to hand it to the guy; he was really good at controlling his temper. Much better than she was. She could learn a lot from him.

“What happened in the car?” Zach asked, turning his stony stare to Harper. His voice was low, barely above a whisper, and tight. He was reserving judgment before he decided how to react.

Harper kept her eyes on Bryan and perked her brow, challenging him. “Why don’t you tell him, Bryan,” she said, her eyes hard, unflinching. “You didn’t do anything wrong, right? So you should have no problem telling Zach what you did.”

Bryan didn’t even bother opening his mouth. It wouldn’t have mattered anyway. He couldn’t even look at Zach. In all honesty, Harper couldn’t blame him. If she were in his shoes, she wouldn’t be able to look at Zach, either. He looked at her with such fire, such hate, that Harper felt her insides wretch at the sight of it. But it didn’t bother her anymore. She didn’t care what he felt about her.

When it was clear Bryan was going to remain silent, Harper turned her head to look at Zach.

“He insisted that he walk me to my car even though I told him no multiple times,” she said. She wasn’t ashamed at what happened. This wasn’t her fault. “He followed me to the car anyway. Before I could even let myself in, he grabbed me and pushed me against the car, trying to kiss me, so I kneed him in the crotch, pushed him away, got in the car, and left. I didn’t realize he had followed me here or else I would have called you and told you.”

Zach was silent for a moment. Then, without hesitation, he reached back and socked Bryan in the face. Bryan was so surprised, his head snapped back and he landed on the pavement of the doorway hard.

“I don’t care who sees me and I don’t care who you tell,” Zach snarled, leaning toward him so he could look into Bryan’s eyes with ease. “If you come here again, I will make you understand what it’s like to feel pain. You think you’re hurt now? You have no idea what I could do to you.”

Harper put a supportive hand on Zach’s back. She wasn’t going to pull him away, nor was she going to tell him what to do. This was Zach’s thing. He could handle it.

“Harper,” Bryan said, his voice strained, controlled.

“You don’t get to talk to her,” Zach snapped, his lips pulled back into a snarl. “You don’t even get to look at her. You lost that right.”

“I’m sorry, Harper,” Bryan continued, not even bothering to respond to Zach. His eyes seemed sincere but Harper would not be fooled by him again.

“I am serious, Bryan,” Harper told him. “I really do hope you find someone who can live up to your expectations.” She turned to Zach and rubbed his back in an imploring way. Without using her words, she wanted Zach to stand up and leave him be. Somehow, he understood her silent command. Bryan was still on his back in front of her apartment when she looked back down at him. “You should go, Bryan. You aren’t wanted here.”

With that, she shut the door, on Bryan and on her past.