CLANDESTINE | HS |

FOURTEEN

Harry

I can't focus.

Truly there's not even a way for me to tell the last time it was so all over the place.

Sitting in front of a desk that wasn't mine, stacks of papers falling over each other, my mind was stuck on the text message displayed across my screen.

The picture of a brunette woman with a wide smile on her face looked back at me. Typing out a response, a smile pulls on the corner of my lips as I shake my head from side to side.

Harry
You and that fucking sweater...

In the picture, Logan stands in front of her sink with her toothbrush in her mouth, both eyes crossed, and that fucking Yale Law sweater covering her body.

Still beautiful, so damn beautiful.

I'd long since given up pretending that she wasn't.

Honestly I was tired of pretending like she wasn't exactly what I wanted. Sending that first text was a risk, one that seems to have paid off in my favor. Now my eyes just stayed glued to my phone like I was in high school, desperate to hear from the person on the other end of the line.

Logan
Careful, you're starting to sound a little jealous.

Harry
What if I am?

Logan
Of a sweater?

Harry
Something like that.

Logan
You can't see me, but I'm rolling my eyes right now.

Logan
SO. HARD.

My laugh was light as I sent the middle finger emoji as a response. "Brat—"

"Styles."

At the sound of my last name, I place the phone on top of the desk just in time to see Ronald Turner walk into the room.

We had been working hours upon hours to try and correct the mess this project had been left in, so much so that our time had already been extended by a week.

Normally that wouldn't ever bother me before. I'd been in jobs that required me to stay for a month before, one more week wasn't going to kill me.

The difference between those trips compared to this one?

With this one there was someone I felt like I wanted to get home to see— someone I wasn't sure if it was alright to admit that I missed.

"Good morning." Reaching for the coffee cup extended between us, I relish in the bitter taste of it against my tongue. "Thank you."

"Of course." He nods as a couple other people make their way into the office. "Today we plan on doing a walkthrough to gauge where we stand. If everything seems on track for what we have projected so far, there shouldn't be a need for any more extensions."

"I'm happy to hear it." I smile. "Not that I wouldn't love to stay— Milwaulkee is great."

A couple of the men on the crew laugh as I reach for my safety glasses as Ronald speaks. "But it's not home."

"It's not home." I agree, following them as we make our way over to the structure.

"So, do you have someone back home?" Looking over, Tanner looks at me as we walk. "I know if my wife and I were apart I'd probably go crazy."