Chapter 16.|Meetings With A Kiss|

h.a.r.p.e.r.’.s....p.o.v.

Once I had woken up again after my nap, Justin offered to take me to his house. He said he didn’t feel safe unless he was watching me. I was just fine with that, I didn’t want to be away from him either. I wasn’t sure why - maybe it was just the fact that he was the first person I saw after escaping from the hold of that wild animal.

In all our years being friends, we had mostly gone to my house or some park to hang out. So when I saw that he lived in what was practically a mansion, you can say I was a little more than surprised. “You live here, yet you never felt like telling me?”

He chuckled as I gaped in awe at his home. “Yeah, well I guess it just never came up in conversations.”

“But this is so amazing! I would give anything to live in a place like this!” Justin had a funny look on his face that I couldn’t describe, but I easily brushed it off. “So, are you going to give me a tour or just stand there?”

Justin smiled as he pulled me in, the tour beginning. “Now, my family aren’t the only ones who live here. Although we have the top floor to ourselves, we share it with... other members of the community. You might even recognize some of the people here from school.”

My jaw dropped open as I took in my surroundings...

“And, well, that’s the complete tour.” Justin smiled me as we ended back in the entryway where we started. I still couldn’t believe he had grown up in a place as magnificent as this.

“Son!” I looked up to see Justin’s dad, who I had vaguely gotten to know over the years. He had always been so busy with the work that he never talked much to me or my family for that matter. I had always been under the assumption that he was a workaholic.

“Dad? What do you need right now?” Justin was definitely not pleased that his father had interrupted the tour.

“Where have you been?” He then saw me and turned to Justin, accusation filling his eyes. “Abandoning your duties, I see, to spend time with her.”

The way he said her made me want to slap him. I wasn’t just some ‘random girl’. I had grown up alongside his son, and I felt like I should have gotten some respect for that.

“Dad,” Justin said carefully, obviously not wanting to let his anger spill through. “We’ll talk about this later.”

“We better. But right now, I think it’s time for your little friend to go home and for you to finish your work.”

Justin’s jaw worked as his father left, giving him a pat on his back. I didn’t want to feel his wrath, since I knew he was angry, but I couldn’t help but ask my question. “What work?”

He sighed, pinching his nose, before turning to me. “C’mon, I’ll show you the meeting room.” I followed him hesitantly, going farther into the house until we reached a room with large windows and multiple sets of french doors. “This is what my father was talking about,” he said, gesturing to a pile of papers.

My breath caught in my throat. “That much? He expects you to do all that and balance school at the same time?”

Justin shrugged like it wasn’t a big deal. “Being his only son means I have to take over the family business when I become eighteen, there is no way out. And although this seems like a lot, I want to run the company. It’s been one of my goals since I was a child.”

“So, no college, then? After this, you’re just going to stay here, running this ‘company’ working all the time like your father.”

This made him stiffen slightly. “I won’t work like my father. I am going to always do what is best for my pa-family and community, not turn into a workaholic.”

I sighed, sitting down in one of the desk chairs. “No pressure, huh?”

“Totally. So, where do you want your future to go?”

I put my head in my hands. This was one of the questions I had been trying to push away for a while now. “I-I honestly don’t know. I’ve looked into a few colleges, but I’m not sure.”

He nodded. “I know it’s probably a lot harder than what I have. I’ve practically been raised just to do this job.”

“What if you didn’t want to do it, though? What then?”

He looked surprised by my question, before answering. “Then the job would either be taken by Jeremy, or Toby would sweep in and steal it.”

“Toby lives here?” My nose curled up at the sound of my exs name, the whole situation still fresh in my mind.

“Yeah.”

The room grew silent as Justin sat down beside me. Slowly, some invisible pull tugged my eyes upward, only to meet Justin’s. Suddenly, the air in the room grows heavy and hot, and I find myself leaning in slightly, my eyes wanting to flutter close.

What I was doing, I wasn’t quite sure. I mean after all, he saw me only as his little sister-

My train of thoughts was cut off when our lips brushed against one another, before Justin captured mine with his own. Slowly, I slid my arms around his neck as he pulled me by the waist closer towards him.

We both pulled away, breathless.

Okay, so maybe he didn’t see me as his little sister after all.

And maybe I didn’t see him as my big brother either.