Shine On

“What do you think of Melody?” Harper asked back at the hotel. The question had been on her mind since they dropped Melody back at their apartment. She couldn’t help but wonder.

“Sorry?” Rupert questioned as he peaked his head out of the bathroom door. Harper glanced over from her spot on the bed; it appeared as if he had just gotten out of the shower. Harper bit her lip to keep her jaw from dropping when she saw that he was shirtless.

“Um...” She tried to recollect her train of thought. “Did you like Melody?”

He walked out of the bathroom with a pair of jeans on and nothing else. His hair was still dripping from his shower. A corner of Harper’s mouth went up at the sight of him.

“Yeah. She was cool.” He answered. She nodded and switched her attention back to her laptop. He crawled onto the bed ad sat next to her. He smelled like soap and coconut. “There’s more to that question, isn’t there?” He asked suspiciously.

Harper sighed as her closed her laptop. “I guess I kind of meant to ask if were you attracted to her.” She said nervously. She looked down as she played with her fingers. A part of her was scared to hear his answer, the other part was afraid of his reaction to her even asking the question.

Almost immediately, he answered, “No.”

The answer surprised her. She looked back at him with raised eyebrows. “Really?”

He chuckled. “Well, yeah. Why are you so surprised?” Noticing Harper fidgeting with her fingers, Rupert took her hands in his.

“Because most guys are attracted to Melody at one time or another.”

“She’s really not my type.”

“What is then?” She asked curiously.

“Honestly?” He asked raising his eyebrows. She nodded in return. “You.” Usually, Harper’s first thought would be that it was just a cheesy line he was using to get what he wanted from her. But he sounded so sincere.

She looked at him with a blank expression. She had no idea what to say in return. After all of the time they spent together, all the nights they shared, all the kisses, she should have believed that he was telling the truth. But one question swam around in her mind, “You could probably have any girl you wanted, why me?”

Rupert touched the side of Harper’s face gently. His face was serious as his blue eyes watched her green ones intently. “Because I don’t fancy any other girl.”

Harper’s heart skipping a beat yet again. Her happiness overwhelmed her. For the first time she could remember, she felt good about herself. She opened her mouth to say something back, but before she could express words, Rupert’s lips crashed into hers. Harper’s heart instantly started racing. His hand moved from the side of her face to the back of her neck, then to the middle of her back. She wrapped her arms around his neck pulling him closer to her. His lips pressed against hers firmly. He lifted her up and moved her closer to the top of the bed, his lips remaining on hers. Harper felt as if her heart was going to beat out of her chest at any moment. She laid down on the bed as he positioned himself over her. The kiss slowly grew more intense. The feeling of his body on hers was warm and electrifying. He was cautious and gentle. Once in a while, he would stop kissing her and move back to make sure everything was okay. Harper would always say yes and pull him closer to her. The kiss broke abruptly. Rupert smiled at her before giving her a small peck on her nose. As he cleared the bed of her laptop and random items of clothing, Harper propped herself up on her elbows and watched him. She knew that most girls wooed over guys with blonde hair and six packs, but then again, she wasn’t like most girls. He looked so perfect to her. She couldn’t help but grin at him. He finished moving everything and noticed her watching him. He smiled at her in return as he climbed back onto the bed. Instead of going back on top of her as she wanted him to do, he laid down next to her resting on one elbow and faced her. She laid down as well and moved closer so the side of her was touching him. He moved her shirt up a bit so her belly button was showing, then rested his free hand on her stomach faintly moving it back and forth. The butterflies were in her stomach once again.

“Does your mate always act like that?” Rupert asked softly.

“Yeah. She tends to flirt with anyone’s who’s single and has a dick.” Harper blatantly explained. Rupert laughed pretty hard at Harper’s explanation. “It’s sad, but true.”

“Only one of those reasons is right...kind of.” He replied bashfully.

Harper gasped and put her hand on her head. “Why didn’t you tell me you’re not a guy, Rupe?”

He gave a big belly laugh that was so infectious, it made Harper laugh even harder than he was. They couldn’t stop laughing. It felt like it went on forever since Harper’s stomach started to hurt. Every time they tried to stop, they would look at each other and start laughing all over again.

“I can’t stop!” She squeaked. Rupert leaned in and kissed Harper lightly on her lips. They smiled mid-kiss and their laughing finally ceased. “Thank you.” She whispered when the kiss ended. They laid on the bed together in silence. Harper lightly drummed her fingers on Rupert’s hand that was still on her stomach. The only time he removed it was when he moved a bit of hair away from her face. “So...” Harper began nervously. Her voice was low and shaky. “You’re not...um...single?”

“Well...yeah. I kind of am.” Rupert replied as he got off of the bed and went to look through his suitcase. Harper propped herself up on her elbows to watch him again. He picked out a random band t-shirt and put it on.

“Then why did you say ‘only one of those reasons is right kind of’?” She asked attempting to mimic his voice and his accent.

Rupert laughed at her amusing attempt. “That was quite good.” He climbed back into bed and laid down next to her with his heads behind his head.

“Of course it was, but don’t change the subject!” She said punching his side playfully. He didn’t answer right away. Somehow Harper could see that he knew this would drive her nuts. He looked over at her with raised eyebrows and a smirk on his face, then licked his lips. “Rupe!” She cried out.

“Alright!” He answered with a chuckle. He turned over on his side to face Harper. She did the same. He had a thoughtful expression on his face. He watched her intently for a minute, his eyes remained steadily on hers, before giving her an answer. “I’m not really available to anyone else.”

Harper raised an eyebrow and gave a tiny smile. “So if a girl were to ask you out on a date right now, you would say ‘oh hell no’? Or is it ‘oh bloody hell no’?”

He dissolved into laughter once again which naturally made Harper laugh too. She couldn’t remember the last time she laughed this much in a short amount of time. “If she wasn’t you, then my answer would be exactly that.”

Harper’s face lit up. She could feel her heart skipping multiple beats. She grinned at him profusely and he did the same back to her. Oh how she adored his smile. She adored all of him. He wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her close to him. He kissed her tenderly for quite some time until Harper grinned. His lips were still on hers when he smiled as well. She couldn’t help herself, she was incredibly happy.