Worth The Risk {h.s}

Chapter 18.

I was on the verge of tears by the time I'd finished talking. Harry brought his fingers to the underside of my chin and turned my face to his.

"He won't. You're seventeen, soon to be eighteen, and the judge won't give your dad custody if you don't want to stay with him. Your mom will get better soon, anyways, and he won't even have to file for custody."

Harry's eyes burned into mine and my insides heated up as his hand trailed down my side. I nodded and tried to believe Harry's encouraging words. He never failed to make me feel better. Maybe he was right.

"Okay,"

I knew my senior year of high school would be stressful but I didn't expect it to be like this. It took a lot of my energy lying to my friends, keeping secrets, and being strong for my mom, while also trying to keep our house up and running. My mom had given me a list at the hospital of what needed to be done and where to go for them. I had her card that was connected to her savings account but it was still a big load to handle. There were bills for everything. Food wasn't so much of a problem because I didn't eat that much and a lot of evenings I would eat dinner with Harry.

Besides from all of that, I had to worry about Trent outing Harry and I. It made me feel on edge at all times. I hadn't heard anything from him in a while, anyways.

"What are you thinking so hard about?" Harry asked, leaning in to kiss my neck.

"I think Trent might have stopped targeting me. He hasn't talked to me for a good while."

"That's great, but still keep an eye on him. I don't trust that kid."

"Yeah, of course,"

Harry's hand grazed my thigh and he turned to press his lips to mine. The kiss was short and sweet. He leaned back against the couch with a huff and looked down.

"Something wrong?"

"I have a hangover." Harry said. "I guess I had a few drinks too many last night. It's so unlike me, honestly."

I leaned against him and ran a hand through his messy curls. He looked good for having a hangover, but didn't he always look good? I was about to say something when he interrupted.

Harry's eyebrows shot up before he spoke. His voice came out animated and full of excitement. "I bought something for you. Wait here, I'll go get it."

"Harry!"

He jumped up from beside me and jogged to the stairs. I heard his fast footsteps go all the way up. He was just about back down when I heard his voice again.

"Close your eyes, Jess!"

He was overly excited about what he'd bought for me and it was adorable. I closed my eyes and let him know that I was ready. I heard him approach me.

"Okay, you can look now."

I opened my eyes and Harry was holding up lingerie. It was scrimpy and pale pink with lots of straps, lined with white lace at the top. It looked like it would barely land on my upper thighs if I put it on.

"And these," Harry said, grabbing a pare of matching thongs from the coffee table next to him. "Model this for me?"

"Harry, it's so pretty. I just don't. . . I've never wore anything like that before."