Harper's Rules 1 & 2

Chapter 42: Harper

"Proving my theory you can't break the lofted beds." My eyes shifted over her shoulder, where I knew the second voice's owner had hidden himself. "Hey Friendzone."

"Harper." Kieran's blonde hair stuck up and out in multiple directions, his cheeks were just as pink and lips as swollen as Li's. "Didn't hear you finish, sorry."

"I'll be quick," I promised and snatched up my clothes from where I'd set them on my desk chair. "Quicker than you'd better be, Meade. And thanks for not making me hear you finish."

"Not. Funny," Li grumbled quietly as she scaled down the side of her bed, followed by Kieran, who landed the last two steps with a jump that thumped onto the floors.

"I thought you were getting dinner." I glanced between the two of them. "Or..."

My voice faded out since I'd long forgotten what Li mentioned her plans actually were. I hadn't gotten much further than how happy I was for her that she also had a Thursday night date.

And hers is real, for the record folks.

"We are." Her dark brown eyes darted between me and Kieran faster than her tennis table game. "We were just... uhh..."

My eyebrows raised tension high in my forehead as my eyes swept over their clothes, rumpled in all the right places. Li's shirt was rolled up at the waist, the collar half crooked on her shoulders, and her pants hitched up so high I would've thought she prepared for a flood, while Kieran's wrinkled T-shirt looked like it'd lost a fight with... well, anything really.

A soft snort escaped through my lips. "Eating in bed?"

Didn't say eating food either.

"No." Li gave me a hard stare that clearly read, 'Stop embarrassing me,' so I just hugged my clothes to the damp towel on my stomach. "Sorry, we got a little carried away."

She says that like it's a bad thing.

Since a change of subject was needed for all three of us, I pointed my finger at tonight's addition to Li's wall decor, Kieran's 'personal,' helmet-less poster with his arms crossed over his puffed up chest, broad grin, and position next to his last year's stats. "Big improvement, Meade."

He flashed me a similar pearly-white grin, leaned over, and nearly melted my ice-cold heart with his next move. My lips curled up when he leaned over and pressed a cutesy-dutesy 'mwah' kiss onto the top of Li's head. "One at time."

"Couldn't agree more," I mumbled and walked back to the bathroom, where I'd almost gotten out of earshot when Kieran prompted the last question I wanted to answer.

"So... How's Harrison?"

At those three words, my throat tightened up and I swore I swallowed my tongue. Correction, I wished I'd swallowed my tongue so I avoided my answer to that question. Since no part of me wanted to lie to Li, I paused and lifted my shoulders up a microinch. "Awww, do you miss your bestie, Kieran?"

Li and I both straightened up taller as a thick, awkward silence filled our room, which already felt smaller with the addition of Kieran's tall, muscular frame. The green in his eyes darkened to a dull jade color as he clamped his mouth shut and set his square jaw. When he finally unlocked it and spoke, his voice bordered the angriest tone I'd ever heard from the mellow guy.

"No."

"Kieran, what happened?" Li's soft voice spoke up and asked the same question that burned in the back of my mind.

"Not the kind of guy I want to be friends with anymore," was all he offered, so I shot him a narrow-eyed look and waited for further explanation. Thankfully, Li looked at him with the same curiosity that kept my eyes locked on Kieran's furrowed expression. Although, honestly, hers was probably more concern about him while I just wanted to know what the fuck had happened between two guys who'd been best friends for seven years.