It takes everything I have not to tell them to leave me the fuck alone so I can go after her and feel what that gorgeous blonde hair feels like running through my fingers.
To my left is the same group of women that interrupted Harper and me earlier, and I try and fight the scowl that threatens to take over my features.
“Do you want another drink… or something to… eat?” a brunette with huge tits asks as she pushes herself against me. I know what she’s offering is not food and I couldn’t be less interested. I take a long swig of my water as my eyes raise to hers.
“No, I’m good. Thanks, though.” I didn’t even want to be here tonight. It’s our only day off this week and Cam decided it would be a good idea to do a “team bonding exercise” which is just us hanging out and trying to get laid. That’s not me. My idea of a good time does not consist of coming to a bar with a bunch of cleat chasers, trying to fend off advances. All I want to do is go find the girl who insulted my game and made me fantasize about what she would look like on her knees.
“You sure, sugar?” she whispers, her hand sliding strategically up my thigh and getting dangerously close to my zipper.
My hand grips hers before it can go any further and from the blazing look in her eye, I know she thinks this is her shot. She leans forward just as I push her hand away.
“Darlin’, if I wanted what you were offering, we would already be fucking in a bathroom stall.”
She gasps and I berate myself for a split second, thinking it was too crude, but at a certain point you just get fed up with the advances, and right now I’m fed up.
“Geez, I didn’t think you were the asshole of the bunch…”
At those words, I see a flash of blonde across the room and I look over only to see Harper walking toward the front doors. God, she’s stunning. Even in jeans and a flowy top, she outshines all of these women by a million.
As if she hears my thought, Harper’s gaze meets mine and the room seems to tilt on its axis. The smirk on her lips has me getting off my stool, ready to go after her. However, the illusion is shattered when another perfectly manicured hand lands on my chest.
This can’t be happening.
What, are they multiplying?
I look down for a split second to remove the hand from my chest, the eyes of a pleading woman having no effect on me whatsoever. I shake my head, lifting her hand off my body and making sure she gets the point of never touching me again.
She just rolls her eyes, muttering, “You had your chance,” before telling her girlfriends to follow.
Once they’re out of sight, my head lifts and my eyes search the room for that blonde hair I’ve come to crave, but I see nothing. My eyes scan the entire bar, hoping by some miracle that she’s waiting for my eyes to meet hers once again, but this isn’t one of my mother’s sappy romance novels.
She’s gone.
“Why does it look like someone killed your dog?” King asks with a slap to my shoulder. I chuckle despite my souring attitude, shuffling off his embrace. “What happened to blondie? Now that one would have been fun to crack…” I usually find King amusing. He’s a twelve-year-old stuck in a twenty-seven-year-old body. But right now? Right now, he’s getting on my last nerve.
“Fuck off, King,” I growl, pinning him with a hard glare. “You don’t get to talk about her like that. Have some fucking respect.” By the look on his face, I can tell he knows what’s happening and he’s smart enough to mind his own business. For now. I’m not one to stake claim to anything, especially a woman, but Harper is a game changer. I know she is.
“Sorry, man, didn’t realize she meant anything to you.”
I’ve been surrounded by women my entire career, and I can say for a fact that none of them have made me feel a fraction of what Harper did in the span of ten minutes.
“Maybe she does,” I whisper to myself, cringing when I realize King probably heard every word.
“Are you telling me that the Josh Anderson has a thing for someone? And that someone wants absolutely nothing to do with him?”
“How do you know she wants nothing to do with me? Did she say something to you?” God, it’s like I’m back in high school. King shakes his head.
“Not about you specifically. But when I was hitting on her…”
I growl, hating the idea of him even being near her.
“Calm down there, big guy, nothing happened.”
I don’t know why I feel a sense of relief wash over me, but it does.
“When I was hitting on her, she told me she doesn’t date baseball players.”
That’s oddly specific. I must look extremely confused because King starts laughing.
“Right? I thought the same thing, but she told me it was one of the reasons she wasn’t interested.”
“One of the reasons? What was the other one?”
“I was too good-looking for her.”
I roll my eyes, knowing for a fact that is not the real reason. I turn, getting the bartender’s attention and paying my bill as well as Harper’s since she forgot. I don’t mind, I would have paid for her drinks all night if she stayed and talked to me.
“I gotta go,” I say as King smiles and waves another group of women over to the bar.
“You serious? You let one chick ruin your night…”
“She didn’t ruin my night. If you had listened to me before we left tonight, you would know that I didn’t even want to come tonight.”
“Pussy. You’re just sulking because a girl turned you down.”
“She turned you down first.”
A burst of laughter comes from him and he slaps me on the back
