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Two weeks had flown by since the night that Adam and I got into it at the bar. Thankfully, for my sanity, he’s done what I asked and stayed out of my way. I haven’t had too many instances where we had to be in the same place at the same time. And Liv managed to get some extra time off work, letting her travel with us while Evan spent time with Jackson.

Liv was being such a saint, staying by my side when I knew she and Liam were starting something. I wasn’t blind. Anyone could see the looks they gave each other whenever they thought no one was looking.

Which is how Liv and I ended up spending the weeklong break at Liam’s place in London.

Liv and Liam were out on their first official date, and I was curled up on the couch with a good, long book and a glass of red wine. I had every intention of spending the time away from the tour with my nose stuck in a book, sweatpants on, and my hair in a messy bun on top of my head. (Which was why, when Liv asked me to come with her, I had agreed. I could be a book-reading hermit anywhere.) I was smack dab in the middle of my newest book purchase when I heard the door shut and a familiar rough voice call out.

“Payne? You home, mate?”

Bracing myself as I heard the footsteps coming up the stairs towards the living room, I tried to smooth my wild hair down just enough to look presentable. I hadn’t put make-up on in days and at this point, I wasn’t even sure if I had remembered deodorant this morning. I saw the top of his curls before he saw me.

“Hey stranger.” I said softly. Harry and I hadn’t spent much time around each other since our almost naked evening a few weeks back. I wasn’t actively avoiding him, but I hadn’t been seeking him out either.

“Logan.” He stopped halfway up the last couple of steps. It was apparent that Liam hadn’t mentioned I was staying with him. “This is a pleasant surprise.” His smile showed his dimples as he made his way into the room and took a seat at the end of the couch by my sock covered feet.

“Did you need Liam?”

“Oh, I did. But now I seem to remember he may have mentioned having a date this evening.”

“He and Liv left about an hour ago. I’m not sure what they’re doing but you could probably text him.” I pushed a piece of stray hair out of my face.

“It’s not a big deal.” He grabbed my wine glass off the coffee table and took a drink. “Good.” He took another drink. “What do you think of the whole Liv and Liam thing?”

I glared at him as he set my wine glass back on the table. I didn’t mind, but he could have asked.

“I think that he seems to make her happy and I want to see her happy. She’s been through a lot these last couple of months. What do you think of the whole Liv and Liam thing?”

He didn’t answer. He left the couch and the living room, banging around in the other room before returning with a wine glass of his own. I smiled at him, realizing that I was going to have some company for at least a little while. Folding the edge of the page I was on in my book, I closed the front cover and laid the book on the end table for later.

“I think what I know of Liv is good, but I don’t know her that well and from what you’ve said, she comes with a lot of baggage. Liam is like a brother to me. I just hope she doesn’t hurt him.”

“I don’t think it’s serious at this point. I mean, are any of you even in a place to be in a serious relationship? You’re always gone, you have girls throwing themselves at you all the time, you’re constantly partying. Wouldn’t a relationship put a damper on all that?” I picked up my wine glass, desperate for something to hold to keep my hands busy.

“I can’t speak for any of the other guys, but that’s not all there is in life for me.” His eyes held mine. “I don’t have a fuck buddy in every city. Some of the guys do, but I don’t.”

I couldn’t explain the elated feeling that settled in my chest at his admission.

“So what was I?” It was a question I’d been struggling with ever since Adam had accused me of using them both. Harry tilted his head to the side slightly, taking a swig of wine before leaning forward with his elbows resting on his knees. His white shirt stretched tight against his biceps, the outline of several of his tattoos visible.

“You’re someone that I’m not done with yet.”

“Excuse me?”

“The physical chemistry between us is obvious. The second you’re in the room, all I can think about is getting my hands on you. But I never intended for that to be all we were. If you’d stop avoiding me every chance you got, I would have told you that already.”

“I haven’t been avoiding you.” He gave me a look that said he clearly didn’t believe me. “Not this time at least! But you’ve been spending a lot of time with the Madison Lee guys. And I have been avoiding Adam.”

“Eh?”

“Adam and I have history. A lot of old, rocky, gut wrenching history and I just cannot deal with him. Nor do I want to talk about him.” I pulled my knees up to my chest, hugging them close to my body. I was glad that we were talking, I just didn’t want to talk about him. “I wasn’t avoiding you.”

“Well,” he said. “That’s good to know.” He took another drink before pointing to my book on the table behind me. “Was I interrupting something?”

“Oh no, not really.” I shook my head, tucking another rouge piece of hair behind my ear. He got up suddenly, held up a finger to signal that he’d be right back, and ran down the stairs right as I heard the chime of my text message notification go off.



I was laughing as Harry came back into the room, a book under his arm and his usual tight black jeans traded for a pair of grey sweatpants. When he pulled a pair of wire rimmed glasses out of his hand, slipped them onto his nose, and pulled his hair up into a bun that rivaled mine, I was confident he had never looked better. Resuming his place at the other end of the couch, he tangled his legs up with mine before opening his book and settling in against the couch cushions.

I picked up my book and tried to concentrate on the words in front of me. But the only thing I could think was that whatever this was, whatever Harry I was getting tonight was the one that would be able to take me down without trying too hard. This Harry scared me so much more than the one who was only concerned with getting in my pants and then finding another girl to conqueor.

We stayed there silently reading until Liv and Liam returned an hour or so later. We heard the front door slam shut, the sound of their voices floating upstairs where we were still lounging. Liam came up first, his hands over his eyes.

“Are you decent?” I could hear Liv giggle behind him.

“You told him?!” I shouted towards her. She was usually so good at keeping her mouth shut, I didn’t think I needed to mention that I wanted to keep this quiet.

“Oh, Logan.” Liam uncovered his eyes, walked towards us, and took a seat on the loveseat facing the couch. I saw Liv walk behind him, their fingers intertwined. I guess their first date had been a success. Liam pulled Liv’s knees onto his lap before turning back towards me. “We all saw what was going on at the meet & greet the other day.”

I squeaked. Harry choked on the drink of wine he’d just taken. Liv looked from Liam to me to Harry.

“Meet & greet?” She asked, confused. “What happened at the meet & greet?”

I refused to answer. Harry refused to answer. We both sat, glaring at Liam.

“Guys, come on. Tell me. What happened?”

“Logan was pretending to look for something in her bag while Harry felt her up under the autograph table.” He turned towards Liv, a gleam in his eye. “While fans were lining up just twenty feet away, Harry was getting some.”

Liv’s head jerked to look at us. “You didn’t tell me that!” She whined. “You said you almost slept with him. You didn’t say anything about public foreplay. That’s a whole other ballgame, Logan!”

I sighed and closed my eyes.

“I’m not talking about this.” Closing my book, I untangled my legs from Harry’s and stood. “Thanks for hanging out with me tonight.” I leaned down and kissed him softly on the cheek. It was obvious he hadn’t shaved that day, and the scruff did nothing to quiet his natural attractiveness. “Liv. Liam. See you guys in the morning.”

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Notes

I am so, so sorry about the long time between updates! Things have been so crazy around here. I'm working on the next chapter now so that I can hopefully update another chapter VERY soon (in attempts to make up for it)!

Reviews/ratings are so welcome! :)