When You Least Expect It

3

Chapter 3

Harry asked me to meet him later in the evening at his house, so I took my bike and peddled to the wealthier side of town.

I threw my bike on the freshly cut lawn and made my way up the pebble driveway. Harry's house made a statement

It had balconies, a pool, glass doors, double story rooms that were ridiculously huge — the American dream. Dad often liked to tell me he dreamed of being a child in that type of house.

Standing at the entrance, gazing at my phone, the door eventually swung open. Harry, holding a vodka bottle, greeted me with a vanishing grin. "Hey, Max." He straightened up and cleared his throat. "What're you doing here?"

"You invited me, remember?" I looked over his shoulder. The house was trashed. "I thought you said you were home alone."

"Yeah, that was a couple of hours ago." Harry causally shrugged. "I got tired of waiting for you."

"Well, I'm here now."

Pushing past him, I entered the house filled with the stench of cheap cigars and stale beer. Harry's rowdy friends occupied the sofa, oblivious to my arrival.

Bones was passing a joint between his friends when his blue eyes fell on me. "Max, hey." He spoke in that usual gruff voice of his, puffing out his chest. Bones had to sound like a 'real man' to show off in front of his stoner friends. "Finally decided to take us up on our offer?"

I flashed him a toothy smile. "Not today, buddy."

Harry looked lost. "What's the offer?"

Bones mumbled something, chuckling, and returned to his beer and card game. Taking Harry's hand, I led him upstairs. "Let's go to your room," I whispered, casting a sultry smile.

Someone shouted behind us, "Make sure you use protection!"

The paintings on the wall seemed to almost follow me with their eyes. When we went to Harry's room, he told me to take off my shoes. "My mother just finished cleaning the carpets."

"Done." I slipped out of my shoes and set them beside his nightstand. I collapsed on his bouncy bed and rubbed the spot next to me. "Come sit."

His room was uncomfortably large, so it took him a long time to cross the distance between the wooden door and his bed. He sunk down beside me, clearing his throat, as if he couldn't think of anything to say. In the meantime, I was looking around his room. He always had his room pristine and proper like a hotel foyer that's just staged for sale. I'd always been afraid to sit in case I wrinkled the fabric or stained it with the paint on my hands and clothes.

That had happened once, and since then, his hotshot, lawyer mom had sadly not taken a liking to me.

"Um, Max..." Harry pushed a hand through his dark, shaggy hair. It used to be a light brown, but it was dyed darker for unknown reasons. "What're you doing here?"

I popped open the first button on my blouse.

His eyes, much like the color of caramel, flickered down to my fingers, which were daintily toying with the buttons on my shirt. I nudged his knee with my hand, whispering, "I was thinking we could hang out."