Irresistible Touch (A Harry Styles Fanfiction)

85: A Little Defense

"What's wrong, H? Are you jealous?" Monica has got it dead on but if I know their dynamic, neither of them will back down.

"Just curious, Monica. It's different."

Predictable.

"You do sound a little jealous," I lean on his shoulder, looking up at him through my lashes. "He might have strapped me in but I wouldn't want to be strapped to anyone but you."

"I'm not jealous. I'm glad you had a handsome instructor when you jumped off the bridge," he puffs his chest and sits back, jealousy looks odd on him. "Apparently he was so attractive that Flo thought to ask for his number." His words make the people around us laugh, something I think he was attempting to do.

Then he leans into my ear so only I'm the one who can hear him. "At least she didn't ask for yours."

We're going to have to have another conversation, I see.

"She already has my number, H," what? Did you expect me to lie to him? "Are you jealous now?"

"He is really nice," Flo finally comments. "At least for the time we were up there. It's not like it's going to go anywhere serious."

"Why not? Did he seem like a prick kiwi?" Harry rarely assumes the worst in anyone... he's definitly retroactively jealous.

"No, Harry," she says with a deadpan expression, catching on with his shift in mood. "Patrick is a perfectly nice kiwi. The issue is, I'm flying home in three days."

I reach under the table and squeeze his knee, trying to comfort him.

"Love, I'm fine. I'm glad you had a good time."

"If you say so," I smile to myself, leaving my hand on his knee as I use my free hand to continue my entree. "Just know, I only have eyes for you."

A few moments later, I feel a plump pair of lips press against my cheek followed by his nose in my hair. "Fine, I'm a little jealous. Both of your history with Flo and of that lad with his hands all over you."

I roll my eyes, "his hands were hardly all over me. Certainly not like yours were a few hours ago."

"Details, but I'll only admit it to you, Love."

I take a moment to ponder before I respond. "Good, I think I like you being a little jealous. It's a nice change of pace from sharing you with hordes of your adoring fans every other night."

He winks at me with a goofy smile before placing his hand on mine under the table and returning to his food.

"Holy– Monica, did you see this?" Flo hands Monica her phone without further explanation. They both look down at the phone and then at me and suddenly I feel self-conscious.

"What?" I chuckle in defeat. "Is it another awful headline or something?" In my peripheral vision, I see Harry turn to look at me but I don't return the glance. We haven't discussed the constant negative press around my connection to him and I have no idea how to bring it up, I'm nervous too. "If so, I don't want to see it."

"Well fuck, we might have some competition, Flo," Monica states as if I haven't said anything.

"Competition?"

"Yeah, to be your bestie! First Flo and now this?"

"Monica you're not making any sense." Frustrated, I reach for her glass of wine and take an unsatisfying sip.

"Trust us, Mia. It's the total opposite of a bad headline." Flo hands me her phone, Kendall's Instagram profile on the screen. "Look through her stories."