Page 31 of Stopping Short

“Not wanting to feel an emotion won't make it go away, Boots.”

“How do you know?”

“Because I’ve been trying to do it my entire life. I’ve never once succeeded.”

She covers her mouth as she yawns and I know it’s time for me to go to bed. She’s still exhausted and I know as soon as my head hits the pillow, I’ll be out as well. My body is operating purely on adrenaline right now.

“Get some sleep.” I press a soft kiss to her temple before standing. “Come get me if you need anything, Harper. Even if you’re just scared and don’t want to be alone.”

Chapter 21

Harper

As soon as Jackson goes to his room, I shut the bedroom door and strip out of my clothes. He showed me where he keeps the towels and the shower is already stocked with shampoo and conditioner. He even has body wash and lotion. They all smell amazing too.

Logically, I know I’ve already taken a shower today, but after finding Evan in my room, I feel gross. Then having to pack up my entire life, I know I got sweaty. I don’t want to lay on the clean sheets when I'm sweaty.

After adjusting the water temperature, I climb under the spray and let the hot water run down my face. My composure crumbles now that no one is here to witness it. Not that I’ve kept it together well today anyway. Tears mix with the water and wash down the drain. I feel like all I’ve done is cry today. I'm a mess and I hate every second of it.

When I get out of the shower, my face is red from the hot water and my breakdown. I stare at myself in the mirror as I use my fingers to comb through my wet strands. I should’ve brought my brush in from the car and my toothbrush.

I tug open a cabinet, hoping I can at least find toothpaste. I'm not against brushing my teeth with my finger. I find a brand-new toothbrush, toothpaste, and a new hairbrush that’s still in the package. I reach for it, but hesitate. I feel weird using all of this, but I'm more than willing to replace them. I'm not sure why he even has these things stocked in here.

Maybe he has women staying at his house a lot.

The thought rushes through my mind, but I shake my head. There’s no way. Jackson isn’t like that. He’s always been the sweetest guy, I doubt he’s had a string of women come and stay here overnight.

Once I'm finished brushing my teeth and hair, I take the clothes he gave me and slip them on. I lift the neck of the t-shirt to my nose and breathe in deeply. It smells like him. The fabric is so soft and I know this must be a shirt he’s worn often.

This shirt might just make it into my bag when it’s time for me to leave. I'm never giving it back to him.

I climb into bed and scroll through social media. As tired as I am, I'm not ready to fall asleep yet. My mind keeps spinning with all the possibilities of what Evan might have planned.

I still don’t understand the massive change in him. We went from dating and never declaring our love, or really even acting like a couple, to him proposing. He was caught kissing another woman, then was begging me to take him back and get married. It’s not adding up. None of it makes sense.

Even him entering my house without calling or texting first doesn’t add up. None of this is like the Evan I’ve known for the past few years. Something happened and I'm not sure I want to know what.

I jump as noise from Jackson’s room startles me. I'm so on edge. Constantly waiting for someone or something to pop out and scare me.

This is stupid. Evan’s five hours away from here. There’s no way he followed us here and he probably doesn’t even know I left Pittsburgh yet… but what if…

I nibble on my bottom lip, trying to decide what to do. I don’t want to be in this room alone, but what else am I supposed to do? I'm sure Jackson wouldn’t like the idea of me sleeping in his room.

I jump as something scrapes on the bedroom window. I leap out of bed and into the hallway. Glancing back in the room, I look to see if there’s anything, but the shades are shut and I can’t see out.

My heart is hammering against my ribs and fear is coursing through my body. As much as I want to act like I'm not scared, I'm terrified.

I tiptoe towards Jackson’s room and peek in the open door. He’s lying in bed with one arm tucked behind his head, showing off his muscles. He isn’t wearing a shirt and the sheets are pooled around his waist. He’s watching something on his TV and I feel dumb for even coming to find him.

“Harper?” He asks softly, his gaze finding me like he knew exactly where I was. He sits up a little higher in bed. “Is everything ok?”

“Yeah… I'm just being stupid.”

“Come here.” He motions for me to come in and I quickly obey. I don’t want to be alone. “What’s going on, sweetheart?”

“I don’t know,” I whisper. “I'm so jumpy. Something scratched my window and I nearly jumped out of my skin.”

“There’s a tree outside of that window. One of the branches hits the window when the wind blows. I'm sorry, I didn’t think of that. I need to cut it but I haven’t had time. I’ll make sure to get it done tomorrow.” He frowns and runs a hand through his hair.