He didn’t say a word until I was done.
“You’re willing to throw your career away, everything you’ve done, for her?” He leaned forward in his chair, eyed me. We’d known each other for years. Hell, he’d saved me. It was a dick move for me to trash all that he’d done for me. But it wasn’t for me. It was for Harper.
“Fuck yeah.”
He nodded, pushed his chair back and stood. “Okay. But this shit is bigger than you can handle on your own.”
“Gray—” I began, but he cut me off with his hand going up.
“No one fucks with our women. I get that.”
Yeah, he definitely did.
“But you going after Harper’s brother solo is suicide. If Mommy and Daddy got him out of what he did, they’ll find a way to toss your ass in jail. Not going to happen. You worked too hard to give that shit up. You’re not going back to that shit and for a good reason. But that asshole’s going down. We just need some help.”
“We?”
He narrowed his eyes. “We. What? You thought I’d toss you out on your ass? Tell you you’re blowing your career for pussy?”
I pushed off the door at that, narrowed my eyes.
“Not going to happen. You get a girl, you hold on as fucking tight as you can. She got shit going on? You deal with it for her. Yeah?”
I sighed, nodded. “Yeah.”
I couldn’t help the smile. Gray didn’t back down from a fight, not even one like this far outside the ring. I shouldn’t have even thought that shit about him.
“I know just the guy,” he said then glanced at the clock. “Normal people aren’t up at this hour. Give me a few.”
I left him, for once skipping my training for climbing back in bed. I had a reason, and he knew it. Just for today. That’s all he’d give me. That’s all I needed for her to know I wasn’t going anywhere.
Took the steps two at a time back to my apartment, stripped and slid back in bed, pulling Harper close. She stirred then rolled over, still in the circle of my arms. Dawn cast her in a soft light, and I could see the smile on her lips, her sleepy eyes. Her hair was a mess and fuck did she look beautiful.
“Morning,” I whispered.
She kissed my chest then pushed off me and climbed from the bed.
“Where you going?” I wasn’t letting her leave if that was her intention.
“Bathroom. Got an extra toothbrush?”
I cracked a smile, relieved. “Under the sink,” I called as she shut the door behind her. I tucked my hands behind my head, stared up at the ceiling.
When she came back out, I held up my hand. “Wait.”
She stopped halfway back to the bed. “What?”
“Gotta look my fill.” I took in every inch of her. Those perfect upturned breasts, narrow waist. Long, muscular legs. She was gorgeous, and she had no fucking idea.
And she was mine. All mine. No one had ever seen her like this before. Bare. Exposed. Real.
She rolled her eyes, did a little spin and then came over to me, her cheeks a pretty pink. I pulled back the sheet and blankets, and she climbed back in but straddled my waist. My hands automatically went to her hips. Settled.
“Where’d you go?”
My fingers slid along her hips, her ass. “Talked to Gray.”
“You don’t need to train this morning?” She cocked her head, and her hair slid over her shoulder, the strands brushing her pink nipple.