Saving Us (The Billionaire Brothers of NY Duology #1)

20. Harper

CHAPTER 20

Harper

“ O h, think again! I’m not going to let you catch me!” I screamed over my shoulder to Gage. His go-kart was about to bump into mine as my pedal was pushed to the floor in a fruitless attempt to speed away from him. His laughter rang out above the roar of the engines as he pulled around the side of me, racing by. “You bastard!” I yelled at him as he sped past.

“Just keep up, babe, you and I are still beating the two slow pokes behind us,” he yelled back.

We’d been competing as teams, and this was the tiebreaker. Gage and Jared weren’t lying when they said they were competitive. But I fell into the trap of it with them as the day went on.

Delia and Jared were dealt two dud cars on this last run, and I was okay with that as Gage and I rounded the last turn of the course. We raced past the line as our time ran out, and our friends hadn’t even made it to the last curve. Their frustration was clear on their faces as they pulled their karts into the line to park.

“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me,” Jared complained. “This doesn’t count, man. We had the worst cars out there.”

“Hey, ya get what ya get, man,” Gage countered.

Delia was chuckling as she stood from her car, her and I walking away from what we knew would now become a heated discussion between the best friends.

They were literally talking like little kids.

But I loved it. I loved seeing how they got along and the love they had for each other. It showed me a side of Gage I was unfamiliar with, and I liked what I was seeing. He was laid back today. Away from work, he was able to kick back and have fun.

“He really likes you,” Delia said, interrupting my thoughts as we made our way to the exit. “I’ve been around for a while. Long enough to see him with others, and he’s different with you.”

Her words struck me, but I wasn’t exactly sure how to respond to them, so I remained quiet as she and I walked through the gate.

“I mean in a good way,” she continued, in tune with my silence. “Such a good way.”

She took my arm in hers as we walked toward the towering roller coasters on the boardwalk. The sun was low in the sky, soon to set, as we made our way to the pier. Delia’s small laugh as she continued talking made me look her way.

“Gage is not your typical guy when it comes to girls,” she said.

“Oh really, in what way?” She had piqued my interest.

But just then, the guys came swooping in behind us. I’d have to wait to find out what she meant.

“Let’s go, you two!” Gage hollered. “We need to get in line for the Cyclone again before it gets any longer.” He grabbed my hand, pulling me along, Jared doing the same with Delia. The four of us ran to the queue for the ride like teenagers, laughing and out of breath. Once we came to a stop, Gage pulled me into his arms as he leaned against the metal railing.

“Having fun?” he whispered against my ear.

Nodding, I pulled away to answer him. “I’m having the best time. Today has been amazing.”

His finger came to the side of my face, the tip touching the center of my cheek. “It must be a good day if it brought out your dimple,” he said. “I love seeing it. It makes me happy when you’re happy.”

And that was just another example of what he’d been doing lately to make me think this could be…real.

Not just real, but long-term and real.

The guy who came across as Mr. Grumpy in the beginning was nothing but Mr. Softy in the end.

The entire day had been perfect. From him planning it, to us spending time on the beach, go-karts, and now the rides. We ate every imaginable bad food they offered, my favorite being cotton candy. The remnants of it were still stuck to the beds of my fingernails.

But day turned into night, and everything was shutting down. It was time for us to catch a train back home. The train was already coming as we got to the station, so we were booking it.

“Shit, are we gonna make it?” Delia squealed as we struggled to swipe our cards at the turnstile.

The four of us made it through and onto the train just in the nick of time. But as the doors were about to close, my eye caught sight of something under a bench. I made a move to exit the train but thought better of it.

“What is it, Harper?” Gage asked as we found some seats.

“Oh, nothing,”

But he kept looking at me.

“I, um saw something I would have liked to grab for a planter, that’s all. It looked like something I’ve been looking for.”

He sat back against the window, peering back toward the station we just left.

“What was it?” he asked.

Shaking my head, I really didn’t want to tell him. But his persistent eyes told me he wasn’t going to let it go. “It looked like one of those old metal lunch boxes, ya know, from when we were kids.”

“Oh yeah,” he said. “I never had one, but I remember some kids did.”

We both fell silent after that, his arm coming around my shoulder. I knew I was tired from our day, and I was fully prepared to fall asleep against him for the hour ride.

Which I did. And it was a blissful sleep.

Waking up in my own bed without Gage felt weird the next morning. But I had to be in the shop, and he had an early meeting, so we’d decided it was best. But it was odd to miss him already.

Running for the door, because of course I was running late, I almost tripped on a box in the hall. Looking down, I was surprised to see a bunch of beautiful, puffy pink peonies sticking out of the small brown box. Bringing it inside, I realized there was something else in the box with the flowers. Lifting it out, I was stunned.

It was a rusted, dented Marvel lunch box.

I was pretty sure it was the exact one from the Coney Island station I saw last night.

How the heck?

But I didn’t have time to process any of it. I made sure the flowers had enough water and got myself to the shop.

As the bell alerted Fiona I’d arrived, she came from the back room.

“Morning.” But the word was exaggerated, dragged out, as if she had something on her mind.

Something to say.

“Morning?” I responded, the question clear in my voice.

And we both stood, standing across from one another, as if in a standoff. One waiting on the other.

I gave in.

“Okay, what’s going on?” I asked.

Her conspiratorial grin was aggravating as she started walking away from me.

“Uh-uh, not so fast. You don’t get to act like this and just ignore me,” I told her.

“Well,” she started. She’d stopped her retreat and turned to face me, her silly grin still plastered on her face. “I had a visitor not too long ago, thought you might have some news for me, that’s all.”

Holy shit.

He came here for the flowers?

“A visitor?” I tried to play dumb, but the grin that formed on my face, I just couldn’t hide it.

“Yep, a visitor. For pink peonies. And he texted me to come in early, can you believe that?”

But she wasn’t mad. Not in the least. On the contrary, her smile rivaled mine.

My steps felt as if I were floating as I started making my way to the wooden table, not sure how I was going to work. My mind couldn’t focus.

“Oh, and Harper,” Fiona said as she was heading to the back room. “I think you can close your eyes with this one now. He seems like a keeper.”