shoe.
âYeah,â I say. âIf youâd just let me clean you off without freaking out, you wouldnât have lost your shoe.â
She glares at me and then takes a few hops. And thatâs when she loses her balance and her bare foot steps right into a puddle.
âOh God,â I say, mostly because I canât resist. âNow youâre definitely going to get flesh-eating bacteria. It probably lives in that stagnant water.â
âNo, it doesnât!â She pulls her foot out of the water like itâs radioactive, and starts to sort of hobble toward the car.
âOh, no way,â I say, rushing to catch up with her. âYou are not getting into my car with a dirty foot.â
âYouâve got to be kidding,â she says. âWith all those straw wrappers you have on the floor? Now youâre worried about a little bit of dirt?â
Iâm insulted that sheâs insinuating Iâm a slob. Yeah, maybe there are a few random straw wrappers on the floor of my car. But a few straw wrappers do not a slob make.
âRelax,â Harper says. âIâm not going to mess up your precious car.â
Sheâs still hopping on one leg, a little faster now, and I have a flash of her slipping and falling and cracking her head on the pavement. I run to catch up with her.
âLet me help you,â I say, putting my arm around her waist.
She tries to push me away. âIâm okay.â
âPlease,â I say, and tighten my grip. âThe last time you tried to push me away, your shoe ended up in a puddle.â
âGood point,â she grumbles. Her one sandaled foot slips on the pavement and she leans into me to keep from falling. As she does, her hair brushes against my cheek, and Iâm surprised at how soft it is. She smells like flowers and coconut.
I lead her over to my car and open the door for her, then sit her down and finish wiping her foot off with the towel. Then I clean off her wet shoe and hand it back to her, before tossing the towel into the backseat.
âThanks,â she says as she slips her sandal back on. She sounds shy, and her hair is falling over her face, making her look pretty adorable.
âYouâre welcome.â
She scrunches up her lips and pushes them over to the side, like sheâs thinking about something. The light is shiningthrough the windshield, illuminating her face, and I think that maybe Iâm going to have to kiss her. Which is weird. Because sheâs way too nice for me to kiss.
Then why did you bring her here with you? Why were you thinking about her all day?
âSo whatâs the deal with you and Jackson?â she asks. She bends her legs and sort of pulls them against her chest, folding herself into my car sideways.
Iâm still thinking about what it would be like to kiss her, so I move away and lean against the car, making it harder for me to see her.
âWhat do you mean?â
âI mean, why was there all that tension?â
âThere wasnât tension.â
âFine.â She shrugs. âYou donât have to tell me if you donât want to.â
âI donât not want to tell you. Itâs just that thereâs nothing to tell.â
She sighs. âYouâre secretive, I get it. Obviously something very painful happened and you donât want to get into it. Itâs not a big deal, Penn. Iâm not, like, offended or anything.â
I glance down at her, wondering if sheâs joking. âYouâve got to be kidding me.â
âNo.â
I shake my head. âLook, Jackson and I used to be friends. And now weâre not anymore. Thereâs nothing to tell.â Thereâs a lot more to tell. But Iâm not going to talk about it withHarper. I donât talk about it with anyone. Not Jackson. Not even myself. And so thereâs no way Iâm going to talk about it with some girl I just met. Even if she is hot
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