Never Been Worse (Evergreen Park, #3)

by Morgan Elizabeth

To the girls in their reputation era. The best revenge is doing better, but it’s okay to succeed out of spite.

Riggins playing guitar and singing, Beckett on drums, Reed on bass, and myself on lead guitar.

“Ava Wilde, love of my life, mother of my future children, you are going to send me into an early grave.”

Shoulders back, tits out,

I’ve spent two years watching Harper, becoming friends with her and hating that she was with a man who didn’t value the beauty, kindness, and intelligence that she has. This is my chance, and I’m going to take it.

I want to kiss her. Badly. I’ve wanted to for months.

“Then let’s get you some fries, little wife,” I say, and when she smiles wide, I know I made the right choice.

I can’t help but think it was meant to be. I’ve wanted Harper Abbott to be mine since I first saw her in that club two years ago, but she was taken then. Now she’s single, and I’d be an idiot to ignore this opportunity before me.

I need a picture for your contact. Everyone in my phone has one. It’s another lie to add to my list, but I can’t resist the desire to keep her talking to me.

“You’re running to look at nudes of my fiancée,” I growl, unexpected irritation and anger running through me.

What Leo doesn’t understand is that I don’t want to hook up with anyone. I want the woman who took my breath away when I met her two years ago, the one who has been endlessly playing through my mind ever since.

The man wants me, and not in a fake way at all.

“You’re so into me, little wife.” “I so am not,” I say, aghast. “I have to go.” He just shrugs, stepping back and opening the door to let me leave, going with my insanity. “I’ll be here whenever you’re ready to admit it.”

“Shoulders back.” “Tits out,” I continue. and then Ava gives me a soft smile, her hand on my cheek. “You were born for great things, Harper Abbott. Let’s go start your forever.”

That’s when I feel it. Butterflies. But butterflies are dangerous. Butterflies are big, fat liars, things that make you see possibilities when they are nowhere to be found.

It’s as if my body just instinctively knows how to work alongside his. I hate it.

The irony is, if she just asked, I’d tell her everything. Anything.

I’m going to make Harper Holden mine in a permanent way. Now I just need to convince her of it.

Except there’s only one damned bed. God, Ava would fucking love this, like a scene out of one of the books she reads.

Yes. You’re hot. Your husband is hot. Once you get your head out of your ass, you can be hot together. So yeah, it’s a requirement.

“That blush of yours is so fucking pretty.” The words come out so quietly, as if they’re for my ears only. His hand moves, cupping my chin and jaw, a rough thumb grazing over my bottom lip as I stare at him wide-eyed. “And you’re so fucking mine.”

“I’m not doing that either. I’m not letting my wife sleep on a couch.” “And I’m not letting my husband sleep on a couch,”

whatever. Have you used him as your spank bank material?” Ava asks bluntly. “I truly wonder how on earth you were crowned Miss Americana,” I ask, aghast.

“Okay, I really do have to go. But you know, Ava might be right. Just…give it a try. Or, better yet, give him a try. You know, if this was a movie⁠—”

“I won’t take anything I’m not freely given, Harper, so if you want to taste yourself on my lips, you’re going to have to take it,” he whispers.

I taste it there, the mix of him and me, and it’s everything, so damned perfect. I want more. I want everything with him.

Fuck it. What could it hurt to fuck my husband?

“I don’t want you the way a man wants a friend, Harper Holden. I could never be just friends with benefits with you.”

“I’m not going to let this be some itch you scratch, Harper, because this? You and me? It’s something special.”

“When you’re ready to admit this could be something more, Harper, you let me know. I’ll be waiting.” And when he leaves, I know two things for sure: One, my husband most definitely likes me. And two, I am so totally into my husband, even if it's a terrible idea.

She looks like she’s fucking enraptured by me. I do, too, but I would fully expect to see that.

I sacrificed so much for the bare minimum, and I was okay with that.”

“That wasn’t luck. When we go out as a group, you always ask what kind of soda they have. If it’s Pepsi, you’ll get water. If they have Coke, you’ll ask for Coke Zero. If they don’t have that and it’s fountain, you get a Diet Coke with ice. If it’s bottled, you’ll get water.” She stares at me, and I smile at the shock on her face. “I pay attention, little wife.”

“I kind of like it.” A small, shy smile spreads over her lips. “It’s growing on me, just like my husband.”

“My initial looks mighty fine around your neck, little wife,” I say, fingers grazing her skin as I play with the necklace between us, so close, her nervous breaths graze my lips. “I think I like having it there,” she whispers back.

Everyone knows a sweet treat can fix almost any ailment.

“Harper, baby, look at me,”

“Come on, baby. Let’s get you some sleep.”

“Gotta keep my little wife safe,”

“For me, definitely. At the time, Harper was taken. But we saw each other a lot because of mutual friends, so I kept on falling for her from afar.”

“No one has ever tested my patience the way Harper has, and I mean that in the best way possible. They say good things come to those who wait, and I’d wait forever if it meant I’d get her at the end of it all.”

“You’re one lucky girl.” “No,” Wes says with a shake of his head, standing and offering his hand to me, tugging me up and pulling me into his side. “I’m the lucky one.”

“You’re already under my skin, Harper Holden. Might as well put you there myself.”

“And you lost the privilege to speak to my wife and me the second you started to spew that bullshit. I won’t sit by and have anyone speak to her like that, to question her motives so blatantly, much less in front of me. I love this woman more than life itself, and it might be untraditional, but when has Atlas Oaks ever been traditional? You’ve had what, four divorces, Marty? Maybe you work on your own issues instead of creating them for others.”

I need to get out of the eyes of everyone around us. I need to get Harper alone.

How dare anyone speak to Harper like that? How dare anyone put that look on her face?

“I’m not going to let anyone talk about my wife like that,” I say slowly, my back still to her.

“You’re mine,” I growl, my body loosely holding her in place. She could easily escape and she’s choosing not to, choosing to stay and lift one of her own hands to my cheek like she somehow knows it might calm me. It does.

“You’re mine, Harper, so let me be the first to tell you. When you’re mine, I take care of you. That means no one talks to you like that, and no one questions you. It means I protect you. I know that’s a lot, Harper. I know you’re so stuck in the cage you created to keep yourself safe, but you need to know that’s who I am, and you need to know that’s who you are to me.

I will always remove you from any situation where you feel uncomfortable, where you are made to feel less than. Do you understand?”