Breakthrough

Chapter 22

Chapter 22

HARPER

After Sebastian and I's late night escapades in the pool, I had retreated back to the apartment feeling like my head was in the clouds and my heart was going to burst out of my chest. Lennox had fallen asleep by the time I had gotten back to the room, so I couldn't indulge what the fuck had happened while I was downstairs. Not that I was ready to do so, because my mind was still reeling and lips were still tingling since Sebastian was one hell of a kisser.

The two of us had agreed that whatever this was was something we both wanted to pursue, and when I woke up the next morning, I was still in a state of disbelief knowing that Sebastian liked me. Despite our differences in the past and our feuding families, he wanted to be with me.

"You know I don't give a shit about what my family thinks, Harp," Sebastian had said last night after we got out of the pool, sitting on the edge with our feet dangling in the water and towels draped over our shoulders. He turned his head to meet my gaze. "The only thing that matters is that I like you; I wanna be with you so I—I want us to give this a shot."

His words had brought that fluttering in my stomach back, feeling the blush spread across my cheeks once more after hearing him admit his feelings for me, finding the whole situation kind of surreal. I mean, who the hell would've thought Sebastian Hartford and I would end up liking each other in more than a friendship way—and even that had been a stretch at the time.

Sitting at the table, I kept nudging Lennox in the ribs, trying to get her to stop being so obviously giddy. She was acting all hyper because the first thing I had done when we woke up this morning was tell her about last night, and I had to practically smother her with a pillow so she wouldn't start screaming. She was that extra. Now, she couldn't contain her excitement, and while I appreciate the sentiment, she needed to not do this in front of my family.

As Aunt Nora placed a stack of pancakes on the table where the rest of us were sitting and chattering, Mom had been sifting through the fridge, before shutting the door and directing her gaze at me. Her blue-green eyes narrowed as she asked, "Where are the eggs?"

I set down the glass of mango juice, confused, "What?"

She let out an impatient huff, resting her hands on her hips as she quirked an eyebrow. "The eggs," Mom repeated matter-of-factly. "They were on the list, didn't you see?"

My lips pressed together, realizing that I very well must've just not seen the item on the list she had given me, because I didn't get any eggs from the store when I went yesterday. Crap, how could I have just forgotten eggs? Not only was that, like, one of the most basic things to get while grocery shopping, but I also because Mom ate eggs for breakfast every day. Scrambled eggs, to be exact. It was kind of weird; some people can't start their day without coffee, Mom can't start hers without eggs.

At the sight of my guilty expression, annoyance flickered across Mom's face as she let out a frustrated sigh, shaking her head at me as a glare marred her features. "There weren't even that many things on the list, Harper, how do you just forget eggs?" she demanded, sounding exasperated and just plain irritated. Oh, fuck me.

Layla glanced up from her bowl of cereal, her gaze meeting mine as her expression softened, realizing that I was going to be on the receiving end of Mom's ridicule once more. "I'm sorry, Mom," I apologized with a small sigh, biting the inside of my cheek. "I guess I just didn't read the list properly."

Mom's jaw clenched and I could tell that she was trying to smother her desire of yelling at me in front of everyone. Nobody else was really paying too much attention to the exchange, which I was totally okay with because then it would just be embarrassing getting yelled at in front of everyone. Focusing my eyes on my own bowl of Coco Puffs in front of me, I didn't dare look at my mother, knowing her harsh glare would make me want to chew off my nails. As far as glares go, Mom's was ruthless, and it scared the shit out of me.