"Professor, I'm sorry," Declan said, shaking his head.

Drew pulled himself off the table while the pledges avoided looking at him. It was obvious not one of them wanted to step in and help the douchebag. Declan swallowed hard to keep from saying all the things he wanted to say to Drew. He needed to fix this. For Harper.

"Normally, Mr. Cooper, I'd bring you up before the university's disciplinary committee for your actions."

Shit. Fuck. Declan stared at Professor Costa, his mouth dry as he tried to imagine losing Harper and having to explain all this shit to his father all in the same night.

"However," Professor Costa went on, "I happened to overhear what your friend was saying about Miss Warden. And while I don't condone your actions, I can't fault you for defending the young woman."

"Harper had nothing to do with this," Declan blurted. He'd love to save his own ass, but not at the cost of ruining everything she'd worked so hard for. "Drew and I have had problems before and Harper told me to let it go. The responsibility for all this is all on me."

Professor Costa raised an eyebrow and then nodded in Drew's direction. "I wouldn't say this was all your fault. Seems like you had some help. Was this one of the young men helping with service tonight?"

"No, sir. He's one of my fraternity brothers, but he had no reason to be here tonight. Except to stir up—.”

Declan bit off the rest of what he wanted to say. Pointing fingers wasn't his style. And Drew might have come to dig under Declan's skin, but Declan was the one who let him.

Professor Costa nodded. "I think I have a clear picture of what went on here."

Two of the faculty members walked over with Drew held between them. Declan almost grinned when he saw the black eye already starting to form. Then he remembered Harper's horrified face. The pleasure he got from driving his fist into Drew's face wasn't worth losing her over.

Professor Costa and his colleagues talked for a second and debated calling security or the police. Declan's heart seized and then began beating again at a gallop. If they called the cops it would end up in the crime log of the local paper. There's no way some member of the paparazzi, hell even of the reporters from a major media outlet, wouldn't pick up on the story. The last thing he needed was a headline screaming that XXXX Cooper's one and only son was following in his father's hot-tempered footsteps.

He shoulders dropped. He'd royally fucked things up. How could he fix this?

"I don't think we need to get the police involved."

Declan picked his head up to stare at Professor Costa. Was it possible this man was offering him another get out of jail free cards?

"Normally, I'd call campus security and let them deal with this matter. Mr Cooper," Professor Costa's steely gaze landed on Declan, "engaging in a physical altercation with another student is grounds for disciplinary action."

Declan nodded and swallowed hard. It would suck almost as much as watching Harper walk...no, run away from him if he had to tell his father he was being expelled from school. But he wouldn't blame Professor Costa for following school policies. Declan was the dick that decided to solve things with his fists, even after Harper asked him not to make a scene here. He'd kick his own ass if he could.

"I think this time around, if my colleagues agree, we can forgo the disciplinary committee hearing. I happened to overhear what Mr...." Professor Costa looked pointedly at Drew.

"Johnson," Drew said.

"I heard what Mr. Johnson said about Miss Warden. Warren College has very strict rules about speaking to or about women in this manner. It's important to the administration and faculty that our students feel safe on campus at all times. So while you may not have felt very safe while Mr. Cooper's fist was hitting your face," Professor Costa said, "I have a feeling that you made Miss Warden feel equally unsafe by referring to her in the manner you chose to, Mr. Johnson."

Declan's jaw slackened. Was this man for real?

Drew scowled at Professor Warden. "So what it boils down to is that the famous guy’s son is going to get away with doing as he damn well pleases. Again."

"This has nothing to do with who his father is, I assure you Mr. Johnson. And might I suggest if you continually find yourself on the receiving end of someone's fists, you consider your words more carefully before you speak."

"Whatever," Drew said.

"Thank you, Professor Costa. And again, please know, Harper had nothing to do with this. A couple of fake rumors got started about her when she first started here. Since then she's been fair game for a lot of people. I would hate to think my actions changed her standings in your class or hurt her chances..." Declan bit off his words. Harper might not want Professor Costa to be so blatantly clued in on her plans to get on his good side.

Professor Costa stared at him a long moment, an odd look on his face, before he looked back at the table where Drew had landed after Declan knocked him off his feet. The pledges had been busy and everything had been cleaned up and cleared away. The only evidence anything out of the ordinary happened was the shiner blooming around Drew's left eye. At the sight of it, Declan offered Drew a smirking grin.

The grin faded as he realized he'd managed to stay out of fights for his entire life up until a few weeks ago. And twice now he's been driven to using his fists. Because of Harper. Shit, maybe he should have gone with his first instinct and left her alone.

But the image of her throwing herself into his arms and smiling happily up at him replayed. Having that was worth any amount of trouble being in a relationship with her might bring.

At that, he was consumed with the that he needed to get to her and somehow make this right. He'd grovel if he had to.

"Professor Costa, do you need me for anything else?"

A small smile played over the professor's mouth. "No, you can go, Mr. Cooper."

"Thanks." Declan dashed over to two of the pledges and tasked them with overseeing the rest of the evening and the clean up.

Hell, not like they needed his supervision. Without him, the night would have gone a lot more smoothly. They'd even managed to clean up his mess behind him. He had more important things to do.

He sped out to the parking lot, hoping beyond hope that Harper would be there. Maybe she didn't leave. Maybe she just ran out to get away from the drama.

A quick glance around the lot told another story, though. Her car was most definitely gone. He ran to his truck and headed towards her apartment, cursing himself as he went. He'd let her yell at him. She could even hit him if it would make her feel better.

He didn't care what she did, but whatever it was, he knew one thing--he wasn't leaving until he'd convinced her to stay with him.

Harper slammed the apartment door behind her and flicked away the remnants of tears from her cheeks. She threw her coat over the hook in the entryway and headed into the living room, coming to an abrupt stop when she caught sight of Jamie and her friend, Beth, watching a movie there. Just what she needed, an audience. She bit back a sigh.

Jamie turned and started to wave, but sat up completely after one look at Harper. She picked up the remote and paused the movie, causing Beth to whip her head around to stare at Harper, too.

Shit, she should have taken the time to wipe her face off before she came upstairs. She bit her lip, wanting nothing more than to escape into her room and not have to face down a Jamie interrogation.

Jamie stared at her a long moment before raising an eyebrow. "So, what now?"

Harper took half a step backwards, shocked at the sarcasm dripping from Jamie's words. Not that Jamie didn't have her snarky moments, but seriously? Harper walks in crying and Jamie gets a nasty attitude? And in front of someone Harper barely knew, no less. Yeah, no way Harper was putting up with that crap.

"What?" she bit out.

"Let me guess," Jamie said, "you and Declan are fighting. Again." She rolled her eyes at Beth and Harper lost it.

"Oh no, James," Harper said with every ounce of snarkiness she could dredge up, "let me guess. Instead of offering a shoulder to cry on, you're going to take this opportunity to enlighten me about every one of Declan's bad qualities and say I told you so. Again."

Jamie's eyes widened. "Excuse me if I don't like seeing my FRIEND crying over a guy every five minutes. But you're right. Why bother giving you advice if you're going to keep on going and making bad decisions anyway?"

Harper opened her mouth, but before she could get a single word out, someone knocked on the front door.

"Gee, wonder who that could be?" Jamie sneered toward the front door.

Harper's heart jumped into her throat. She didn't want to talk to Declan. She didn't want to see him. She wanted to go to her room and hide under the covers for the foreseeable future.

She looked at Jamie's scowling face. No help to be had there. It's not like after the exchange they'd just had that she could ask Jamie to answer the door for her and make up some excuse to send Declan on his way.

Another knock. Shit.

Jamie raised an eyebrow. "Aren't you going to let your boyfriend in, Harper? Or were you going to ask me to help you deal with him? Again."

Shit, damn, fuck. Harper felt like throwing something at her best friend. Preferably something hard and sharp.

She settled for a nasty look in her direction before she headed to the door to deal with Declan. She paused right before she threw the door open wide, and instead took a second to put the chain on the door.

I will not cave and let him in. I will not cave and let him in. She took a deep breath and opened the door only as wide as the chain would allow--enough to see Declan slouched in her doorway, arms braced on either side of the door. He'd rolled the sleeves of his white shirt up, leaving his forearms bare. With his arm only inches from her face, Harper's eyes lingered on the prominent veins.

Geez, even his forearms were lickable. Is there anything about this guy that isn't perfect?

That thought brought her to a screeching halt as the events of the evening came back to her. The arm she'd just admired was probably the same one he'd used to drive a punch into Drew and drop him directly on Professor Costa's table. That thought was enough to bring her to her senses.

"What do you want, Declan?"

"To see you. To apologize. Please let me in?

" His voice trailed into a plea as he stared down at her, his eyes begging her to listen to him.

God, why did she want nothing more than to throw the door open and let him in? She was an idiot, that's why. He'd practically put an end to all her plans to get Professor Costa to reconsider her for the mentorship program. And unlike him, she didn't have a wealthy family waiting in the wings to bail her out. She only had herself. But here he was with his broody, smoldering gaze trained on her and she had to fight to keep her knees from buckling. She straightened her spine. She wasn't going to be that girl.

"Fine. You apologized. Anything else?" she asked flatly.

"Harper, please. Can't we talk about thi? I know, believe me I know I messed up. But I couldn't stand there and let Drew talk about you..." He bit his words off with a curse.

"Do you think you're telling me anything I don't know, Declan? I don't have to be psychic to know that Drew was spouting off about me." She was practically yelling at this point.

A door down the hall opened and a voice called out. "Everyone okay down there?"

Harper squeezed her eyes shut. Just what she needed right now--Mrs. Beidermeir couching her nosiness in questions about her welfare.

She opened her eyes and with a hard glare at Declan, shut the door long enough to unlatch the chain and open it again. She stuck her head into the hallway. "Fine, Mrs. Beidermeir. Sorry we disturbed you."

Mrs. Beidermeir waved and then stood in her doorway for several long moments. No doubt trying to find an excuse to linger and find out what was going on down here.

"Oh for heaven's sake," Harper said under her breath. "Declan, why don't you go? I don't think we have anything left to talk about."

"You're wrong. I get you're angry.”

"Oh, you do? Thanks so much for trying to see things from my perspective. That just makes everything so much better." Harper clenched her teeth to keep from shouting. Whispered sarcasm didn't have the same impact.

"Please just hear me out. You have to at least let me tell you Professor Costa doesn't hold you responsible for any of this. I know I ruined your night, but I promise, I didn't ruin your chances with him."

How could he know that? "Did you stop in the middle of your fistfight to make sure of that?"

"There wasn't a fistfight, Harper," Declan said wearily. "There was one punch and Drew landing on the table. What you saw was all there was too see except the cleanup."

She narrowed her eyes, unsure whether to believe him or not. When she walked into the dining room earlier, Declan looked fit to be tied. And like he was ready to go another ten rounds with Drew.

He held up his hands. "I swear. That was the end of it."

Maybe some of the teachers or other brothers present had managed to put a stop to things before they got worse? She wasn't willing to forgive him based on the idea he didn't do more damage. As far as she was concerned the damage was done the moment Declan pulled back his fist. But curiosity got the better of her. "What made you stop?"

"You did."

She snorted and leaned against the doorframe. "Seriously? I had nothing to do with that fight. Or the ending of it."

He nodded. "You're right. You aren't responsible for the fight starting. That's all on me and Drew. But you are responsible for ending it. I saw the look on your face when you walked into the room and I was standing over Drew." He raked a hand through his hair. "And all I could see was the look on your face not five minutes before when we were in the kitchen. I don't think I'd ever seen you so happy. When Drew walked in and your walls came up, I hated it. You were all closed off again. You stopped me from hitting him. But when you walked away and he started running his mouth....I just couldn't take it. I didn't think. I just acted."

"But I had just warned you not to let him get to you." She couldn't help but argue with him. Her heart melted just a little at hearing his anger had been on her behalf. But seriously? She’d just told him not to let Drew get to him.

"I know. I'm sorry. I really am. If I could take it back I would. I don't know what happened. Twice now I've punched that guy. Twice." Declan paced a small square of carpet in the hallway. "I've gone my whole life without ever once getting into a fistfight. And now twice in a matter of weeks, I had no control over myself."

"You've never been in a fight before?" She couldn't keep the disbelief from her voice. Everything about Declan screamed bad boy from his clothes to his rockstar father to the gaggle of blondes he'd had hanging off his arm every time she'd spotted him on campus the last few years.

"Are you kidding me? I've told you what my father's like, Harper. He wants me to be prove to the world he's not some piece of trailer park trash. If I'd gotten into a fight as a kid and it broke in the press...hell, even if it hadn't and the kid I hit turned out to belong to one of his fans, he'd have knocked me into the next week."

"He hit you?" Her voice came out as no more than a whisper.

Declan stopped his pacing abruptly. He bent his knees a little so they were on eye level. "Not often. But after he did it once or twice, I made damn sure not to give him any more reasons to do it."

Scenes from the last few weeks of getting to know Declan played over in her head. His casual chatter with Professor Costa over his grade in Biology made it seem like it was no big deal. But he'd thrown himself into the experiment design over the last few days, making it clear it was important to him to do a good job. It hadn't really occurred to her before now to question why he wanted a good grade. Only one thing gave her pause.

"But it's not like your father's going to hit you now. You're a full grown man."

"No, now he could do much worse. He could stop paying for my education."

Harper's eyes widened. Declan always seemed like the most laid back guy in the room. But he was worried about his education?

"Would that be so terrible?"

Declan snorted. "I'm the overprivileged son of a major rock star, Harper. The campus does a good job of sheltering me. But the reality of my life...let's just say I can't go get a job flipping burgers at the nearest fast food joint."

"Why not?" She eased away from the doorframe, taking a step closer to him.

"Are you kidding? First off, my dad would have a fit if I took a job he deemed as beneath me. And even if I could get a job my dad wouldn't mind, it wouldn't take long for the paparazzi to get a hold of the story of Sean Cooper's son working. I'd get fired when my presence affected someone's ability to run their business.”

She hadn't thought of that. And while she was lucky she'd found a job that was a little different than the jobs most teenagers got, she could see how he hadn't been able to find anything like that.

"What about jobs in the industry? Couldn't your dad have hooked you up with someone who needed a gofer or someone to answer phones or something? Someone used to being around big name celebrities so it wouldn't matter who your dad was?"

"Are you kidding? My dad wouldn't let me get a job that had anything to do with his industry. He wants me as far away as possible from that side of things."

Her heart melted a little more. Looking at Declan from the outside, he had always appeared to be exactly what he said--the over privileged son of a rock star. How hard could it be to have everything your heart desired handed to you on a silver platter? But it seemed like Declan was as much under his dad's thumb as she was under her aunt's.

She reached out and rubbed a hand soothingly up and down his arm. "And what about you? Is it important to you to finish college?"

He grabbed her hand and tugged her a little closer. "Yeah, it is. I mean, I don't have to have the grades you get, but I want to do well in school. I want everyone to know I'm more than just XXXX Cooper's son."

"What about now? I mean, you're an adult. Surely there are other ways to fund your education other than relying on your dad. Something that doesn't mean you'll be behind the counter at some restaurant where you might be recognized."

He stared at her a long minute before a small smile turned up the corners of his lips. "Aren't you supposed to be mad at me?"

She pressed her lips together. "I am mad at you."

"So even pissed at me you're going to try to help me?"

She licked her lips. He was right. Helping him right now was absolutely ridiculous. But she couldn't help it. She wanted to see him happy. She blew out a long, loud sigh. This was getting complicated.

Part of her was pissed at him. But part of her wanted to hear more. She felt like he was really opening up to her and for the first time she was getting to see beneath the over-confident, carefree rich boy the rest of the world got to see. There was way more to Declan than she would have ever guessed. But why did he wait until she was ready to walk away from him to share all this?

She bit her lip and stared up at him, her eyes searching his face for answers. His expression swirled with a mixture of fear and hope, and the answer to her question came to her. He was sharing all this with her now because he was afraid she would walk away from him. He knew he messed up. He wanted her forgiveness. And as much as she'd love nothing better than to tell him off after his actions put her future in jeopardy, she couldn't. She wanted to hear more. To know what made him tick. To see the fear in his eyes disappear.

"What don't you come inside?" she whispered.

His eyes widened. "Are you sure?"

"No." She took a step back. "But I'm not ready to watch you walk away.”

"You're not?"

She shook her head.

"I know I deserve to be thrown out of here on my ass, Harper. Thank you for giving me a chance to explain."

The door down the hall cracked open again and Harper twisted her lips into a grimace and grabbed Declan and yanked him inside before Mrs. B could get her head out into the hall again.

Shit. She cringed when she entered the living room dragging Declan behind her. She'd forgotten all about Jamie and Beth.

Jamie smirked at the two of them. "I see you two crazy kids made up again."

Harper rolled her eyes, but didn't bother replying. She tugged Declan towards the hallway leading to her bedroom.

"Oh, Harper, by the way, how did things go with your aunt this afternoon?"

Harper froze and turned slowly on her heel to find Jamie smirking at her. Her whole body felt brittle and breakable. Jamie was pissed at her. Maybe she even had a good reason to be with Harper running hot and cold with Declan and running to Jamie every single time. But this was too much. She'd flat out told Jamie she didn't want to tell Declan about her aunt. Why would she break Harper's trust?

As Harper stared at her, not sure what to say, the smirk slid off Jamie's face. Her mouth opened and closed once and then again.

But Harper wasn't about to stand there and listen to anything Jamie had to say anyway. She knew she was a pain in the ass and Jamie must be frustrated giving the same advice over and over again and then having to be the shoulder Harper cried on every time things went wrong with Declan. Maybe she'd just come to depend too much on Jamie. And really, Harper couldn't blame her for getting mad. Why should Jamie have to put up with all the crap that came with being Harper's only friend?

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean--" Jamie started.

Harper cut her off before she could get another word out. "Don't worry about it, James. I've obviously become too much of a pain in the ass for you to deal with. Or, you know, for you to keep my secrets anymore. I guess I was wrong to share all that with you."

"Harper, no." Jamie jumped to her feet. "I was just mad."

"It's fine. You're entitled. I know I've been the queen of all drama the last few weeks. I guess it's asking too much for you to keep putting up with it." She gave Jamie a cold smile. "Don't worry. If you'll give me a few weeks, I'll get out of your hair. I just need a little time to find someplace else to live."

"Oh my god, you're totally overreacting, Harper. I'm sorry I said that. But seriously, no need to go off the deep end," Jamie said.

"I guess overreacting is my thing lately. Don't worry, Jamie. I accept your apology. I just think maybe we need some space from each other for a while." Harper's heart clenched in her chest even as the words left her mouth. Part of her brain scrambled to find a way to take them back. Jamie had been her best friend since the day they started at Warren College. Hell, her only real friend since the day she left the home she'd shared with her father to move in with her aunt. How had they gotten to this point?

"You know what? Fine. If you need space, I'll give you space." Jamie looked over to where a wide-eyed Beth sat watching the exchange. "Beth, let's go watch the rest of this at your place."

Beth jumped up and scrambled into her jacket, and in less than a minute she and Jamie were walking out, the front door slamming behind them.

Harper sank down to the couch, dropping her head into her hands.

"Hey." The cushion sank as Declan's weight settled beside her. He ran a hand down her back. "It's okay. It's all going to be okay."

Her breath stuttered out of her as she fought to hold back tears. The night had started off so well. How had it turned to crap so quickly? She pulled in one more shuddering breath before lifting her head to look at Declan. One drama at a time.

"Maybe you should just go, Declan. I don't think I can take much more tonight."

He shifted closer to her and moved his arm around her back. "No way. I know you're still mad at me. And I'll do anything to fix it. But I don't want to leave you alone when you're this upset. Please let me be here for you."

Her lips parted as she stared at him. She wanted nothing more than to crawl into his lap and let him ease away all her worries.

But he was one of her worries. Maybe she should just let him say what he wanted to say so she could finally put an end to this night and crawl into bed and hide from the world.

"Okay. Want to start by telling me why I should forgive you for ruining one of the best nights I've had since college started?"

Declan licked his bottom lip and slid his arm around to take Harper's hand. He fiddled with her fingers, staring down at them as curled and uncurled his fingers around hers.

He cleared his throat. "I'm sorry. I honestly can't think of any good reason you should forgive me. But I hope you know I would never do anything to hurt you."

"And things ended right after I left?"

He looked up at her and nodded, looking as earnest as a choir boy.

"I swear that was the end of it. The only reason I didn't get here sooner was I stopped to talk to Professor Costa."

Harper froze, terror gripping her stomach in a cold fist. She didn't know if she wanted to hear what Professor Costa had to say after that display.

"Harper, he wasn't mad."

Her eyes flew to his, her lips forming the word "what," but unable to get the words past her suddenly dry lips.

"He wasn't mad. He heard Drew talking shit about you. I don't think he was thrilled I chose to resolve things with my fists, and I'm sure he'll get his pound of flesh from both of us, but he let Drew and I go without disciplinary action. And he told me flat out he didn't hold you responsible for my behavior."

"Really?" Her question came out on a breathless whisper. Was it possible Declan and Drew hadn't ruined her plans?

"Really." Drew held up a hand, two fingers pointed up in the Boy Scout's promise.

She rolled her eyes, but heaved out a breath as she fell back into the couch cushions. "So maybe there's still hope for me getting into Costa's program?"

Declan fell back next to her, scissoring his fingers through hers. "Definitely. I get the impression he's been pretty impressed with you the last week or so."

She turned her head to find him looking down at her, their faces close. The warmth of his body sank into her all along her side where they touched. She raked her teeth over her bottom lip. "But is a week of good impressions enough? I mean, I probably should have been making this kind of effort the last two years."

He shrugged. "I don't know. But from the way he talked, I wouldn't be surprised to hear you're back in the running."

A grin stole across her face. "So maybe our plans are actually working?"

His lips twisted into his usual smirk. "With my help, there's no way he can turn you down."

She elbowed him playfully in the ribs. "If knocking someone into Professor Costa's dinner is your idea of help, buddy, I could probably do better without it."

"Buddy?" His eyebrow arched up.

"Yes. Buddy." She gave him a firm nod.

He slid his hands around to her ribs and flexed them. "Are you sure you want to call me buddy?"

She nodded again. "Yup."

He started moving his fingers, hitting one of her most ticklish spots right below her ribs. She snatched for his hands, but he continued to tickle her. "Want to change your mind?"

She giggled and squirmed to try to get out from under his hands, but to no avail. "Oh, I'm so sure," she panted out between breathless giggles. "Are you sure you want to keep up the tickle torture when you're barely back in my good graces?"

His fingers froze. "I'm back in your good graces?" His voice was low and growly and made her feel squishy deep in her belly.

Her giggles came to an abrupt stop and she stared at him, his face hovering so close to hers. Her mouth opened once and then closed. She swallowed. Hard. "I-I guess I understand how it happened."

He offered a soft smile, warm and oh-so-different from his signature smirk. "So you can forgive me? You're not going to end this?"

His voice was almost hoarse with concern. Did it matter so much to him that she stay with him? How could she mean that much to him?

"I don't get why it's so important to you," she whispered.

He moved a hand to the side of her head, trailing his fingertips down her cheek. "Oh, sweetheart, don't you know how I feel about you? I think you've been under my skin since the first time we met."

She shook her head slowly against the cushions, wide eyes firmly trained on him. "I-I don't understand. We just started...dating, or whatever."

He laughed at her. Laughed. "You know as well as I do, we didn't JUST anything. We've been dancing around this for the last two years."

She blinked at him as her mind played over the last few years. The pull she felt for him the first time he came up and introduced himself to her and Jamie when they were moving into the dorms freshman year. She hadn't wanted to feel anything for him. He reminded her of the over confident, rich boys from her high school. The ones who said nasty things about her to their friends, but tried to sweet talk her out of her panties any time they got her alone.

But there was something about Declan. Jamie hadn't had to try too hard to convince her to accept the invitation to the frat party that night.

But that night was exactly what had always stood between them. She wondered too many times to count what would have happened if Caitlyn Capshaw hadn't turned up at that party on that particular night.

And what were the chances of that happening? Caitlyn didn't even go here. From what Harper heard, the other girl decided not to go to college. Her parents were financing an apartment for her in town and enough money to travel around the world. But whenever Caitlyn was in town, she'd show up on campus for a party here and there. Once more reason Harper had avoided parties and bars since that very first one.

But Declan had already told her, more than once, why he stayed away from her after Caitlyn spread her venomous rumors. And if she were honest with herself, she knew what he said was true.

As often as her gaze had sought him out on campus, she also could have sworn when she looked at him that he had just turned his own eyes way from her.

He was right. There had been something between them for the last two years. And she was done letting Caitlyn Capshaw's ugly rumors rule her life.

She reached up and placed her hands on Declan's cheeks. "You're right. I've had feelings for you since the first time you came up to me in the quad. To hell with Caitlyn Capshaw."

He smiled and leaned in and kissed her her. His lips brushing hers softly, once, twice, before pushing harder, his lips demanding more from her. Demanding everything.

She kissed him back with everything she had. She poured every bit of longing she'd felt for him for two long years into the kiss. Her tongue slipped from between her lips, stroking his bottom lip. He groaned and she pulled back smiling, a feeling of feminine power surging through her at the evidence of the effect she had on him.

One corner of his mouth tilted up in response. But instead of dipping his head forward and continuing the kiss as she hoped, he sat up from the reclining postion the tickling and kissing had left them in, pulling her with him.

She pouted at him. "I was enjoying that!"

He laughed and smoothed a hand over her hair. "Believe me, so was eye, baby. So was I."

"Then why stop?"

His lips pressed together and the amusement fled from his eyes. She braced herself.

"I don't want you to regret anything. We barely talked about what happened tonight between us. And we didn't talk at all about what went down with Jamie."

She dropped her head forward onto his chest and sucked in a breath.

He used a finger under her chin to lift her head up, his eyes going back and forth over her face as if he could read her thoughts with a look.

"I hate to interrupt things. Especially to talk about things that upset you. But, Harper," his hand slid tenderly over her cheek before smoothing her hair back from her face, "when we pick up where we left off, I don't want all this stuff between us. I don't want it to be a distraction to keep you from thinking about what's upseting you."

"You're not a distraction, Declan," she said softly. "I wanted that. It had nothing to do with putting off dealing with all my other problems."

"I know, baby." He pulled her in close, tucking her head under his chin and rubbing a hand up and down her back. "But I think we need to deal with the other stuff. It's going to weigh on you otherwise."

Was this guy for real? Harper slid her arms around his waist and squeezed. "Thank you."

He pulled back just enough that he could look down at her, his eyebrows pushing together. "For what?"

"For being here for me." She squeezed him again. "For WANTING to be here for me. I can't remember the last time someone besides Jamie had my back."

As the last words left her mouth, a sob started working its way up her throat. Had she told Jamie she was going to move out? What had she been thinking? Jamie might have been more snotty than necessary about everything, but on her best day, Jamie was snarky. After hearing Harper waffle so often about Declan, she probably wanted to say a lot worse than what she actually did. Jamie wasn't known for pulling punches.

And that was one of the things Harper always loved about her. She never for a minute feared that Jamie would spread rumors behind her back. If Jamie had something to say, she said it. If she heard a rumor, she came right to Harper to question it.

"Did I really tell Jamie I was going to move out?"

Declan hugged her closer. "It's okay. I'm sure she knows you didn't mean it."

"I meant it when I said it. And maybe we do need some space. I just don't get it. I mean, I know she was upset about what happened at the party between you and I freshman year. But if I can get over it, why can't she?"

"Maybe because we've had misunderstandings every other day since we started this?" he asked gently.

She shoved away from him. "You think she's right? Have I been expecting too much from her?"

He snatched her back to him. "No, baby. I think you've had a lot going on and Jamie might have been feeling pretty helpless about helping you."

Harper thought over what he said. It was true. Jamie was a problem fixer. She wasn't one to plan or over think things. When something needed to be done, she didn't wait around to see if it would get better on its own. She rolled up her sleeves and got to work."

"It doesn't help that Jamie's default setting is snark," Declan added. "I don't think she means for things to come out the way they do sometimes."

Harper snorted. That was true. "I need to fix things. But I hate that she seems so opposed to me being with you. She's going to have to ease up on that. I don't want to lose her friendship, but if I can't talk to her about you, where does that leave us?"

"You talk to her about me?" he teased.

She rolled her eyes at him. "Hopefully, I'll be sharing a whole lot less in the future. But the last few weeks have been a little confusing. To say the least."

He laughed and hugged her. "I agree. Let's hope things are about to get a lot smoother for us."

"We've made it through fist fights and rumors and two years of unrequited...something. I think we're due a little smooth sailing."

"Unrequited something, huh? Would you care to elaborate on that something?" His fingers toyed with the button at the top of her blouse.

She slapped at his hand. "No. I'm going to leave it at that."

"So are you feeling better?" Declan asked as he placed a few nibbling kisses on her jaw. "Because, if we've gotten all this cleared up, we could always go back to what we were doing earlier.”

"Mmm, you know, Mr. Cooper, every once in a while you have a good idea."

"Yeah?" He leaned down and brushed his lips against hers and then pressed a feather-light kiss on the corner of her mouth. "How's that for an idea?"

She giggled. "That's another good one."

He left a trail a nibbling kisses down her jawline, back towards her ear. His warm breath dancing over skin caused goose bumps to rise all over her body. A small moan escaped her.

"I don't think I even need to ask if you thought that was a good idea." His voice was low and throaty and caused ripples of pleasure across her suddenly-sensitized skin.

She looked up at him from under her lashes. "Any other ideas you want to share with me?"

He grinned and started to move his lips towards hers, but stopped when he was just inches away. The laughter left his face, and hesitated a brief second before he asked, "What about your aunt?"

Harper froze and her eyes flew to his. "What--what about my aunt?"

Declan leaned closer, but she pulled her head back from him.

"Hey, I didn't mean to pry. I just thought she might be an unresolved issue. You got pissed when Jamie brought her up..."

Harper sighed and sat up straight, smoothing both hands over her hair. Her aunt. How to explain her complicated relationship with her aunt to Declan. Did she even want to explain it to Declan? She scraped her teeth over her lower lip while she contemplated him.

"Whatever it is, Harper, you can tell me." He took her hand and ran his thumb over her knuckles. "I already told you some about my fucked up family. I doubt anything you could say would shock me."

She sighed. He was right. Plus he already knew most of the worst of it.

"Fine. I'll tell you about my aunt."