The Harper Family: It's a Relationship Thing (Wattpad Version)

Falling

Jordin

After our quick meal, I took Mercedes home so she could change her clothes for work. While sitting on the couch waiting for her, I scanned her apartment. She had pictures on her walls and photographs of her family around the apartment.

"So, what's the deal with your ex?" I asked, rubbing my palms together.

Mercedes came out of her bedroom dressed in her uniform and picked up her coat. "My ex doesn't take no for an answer."

I stood up and turned to her.

"He thinks I will crawl back to him if he begs me. I spent four years of my life on someone who threw it away for a hookup in a bathroom."

"I can't say I haven't hooked up in a bathroom."

Mercedes arched her brow.

"It wasn't my first choice." I rolled my eyes.

"Remind me never to let you near a bathroom."

I shrugged. It's not like I want to lie to Mercedes, but I have a past. "You don't seem bothered about my past."

"I didn't know you. Why should it bother me?"

"Some girls have an issue with it."

"We all have pasts. Mine comes with a lying, cheating ex."

"Good to know."

Mercedes grabbed her purse, and we headed out. I drove her to the Charleston and walked with her inside. While she got to work, I slid on a barstool and waited.

*****
Mercedes

Customers entered the bar and sat down. As I served them, I noticed a woman saunter to Jordin. Jordin flagged me down.

I approached Jordin. "Can I help you, sir?"

"I need a refill."

"A whiskey?"

"No, this." Jordin rose from his seat, leaned over the bar, and pulled me into a passionate kiss.

When we broke from the kiss, the woman turned on her heels and sat at an empty table with a scowl on her face.

Jordin sat back down in his seat. "Thanks."

"For what?"

"Saving me from a desperate woman. But I also wanted to kiss you again."

I leaned on the bar. "Why's that?"

"I want people to know you're mine, and I'm yours."

My cheeks heated as my lips curled upward. Then I studied Jordin and saw him as a fifteen-year-old boy filled with hope, innocence, and fear. What did that woman do to him?

"What?" Jordin's question broke me from my thoughts.

"You deserve happiness."

Jordin knitted his brow and creased his forehead.

"What that woman said, you didn't deserve it. It's her loss because she missed out on an amazing person."

Jordin's brows lifted in surprise as I smiled. His lips curved upward.

It takes one person to tear someone down. But it takes another to build them up. Jordin needed reassurance like the kids at the center.

******
Jordin

Mercedes filled a glass with pop and placed it in front of me. I drank it while she worked. I kept watching to ensure no one got out of hand with her.

When Mercedes's shift ended, I drove her home and walked her to her door. "Are you working this weekend?"