All Chapters of Curvy and Off-limits: Chapter 21 - Chapter 30

Declan's POVI watched Mason's hand touch her arm from across the quad and made myself stay exactly where I was standing. That took more effort than I want to admit. Every instinct in my body wanted to close that distance, wanted to put myself between them the way I've apparently made a habit of doing since long before I ever let myself understand why. I didn't move. I stood there and watched her nod along to whatever he was saying, watched the careful way she held herself, shoulders slightly curled inward, arms crossed loose over her stomach.She does that when she's lying. I have done it since freshan, since long before I ever had a reason to be paying attention to something so sure. Arms crossed, weight shifted onto her back foot, chin tilted just slightly down. A tell she's never noticed she has, one I spent two years collecting without ever asking myself why I bothered memorizing it.I know that about her. I know a lot of things about her that I have no business knowing.I know

Harper's POVTheodore cornered us both in the kitchen Saturday morning with a request that felt suspiciously like an ambush."I need someone to pick up the centerpieces for the gala." He said it casually, not looking up from his coffee though I caught the intentional way he said it to the room instead of to either of us. "The florist closes at four and I've got calls straight through. Declan, you're free today.""I've got practice.""Not until three." Theodore glanced at his watch like the schedule was already settled in his head. "Harper, you're not busy either, are you?"I opened my mouth to invent an excuse and found none ready in time. "I have a paper due Monday.""Plenty of time for that after." He finally looked up, something almost too innocent in his expression for a man I was certain didn't miss much. "It's one errand. You'll be back in an hour."Declan and I exchanged a look across the kitchen. It’s the first real eye contact we'd managed since the kiss. We are both clearly

Harper's POVI barely gotten my knee elevated on a pillow, an ice pack long since gone lukewarm against my skin when a knock sounded at my door. Three knocks, nothing like Blair's rapid-fire tapping or the staff's polite double-tap before entering. I knew who it was before I even called out.Great, I thought, shoving my book under the blanket on reflex. Because what I really need right now is an audience for the humiliating spectacle of me hobbling around like a newborn deer."It's open." My voice came out flatter than I intended, still annoyed from the day and processing everything sitting unresolved between us since the flower shop.The door swung open and there he was. Declan was wearing a dark t-shirt, hair still damp from a shower, a small white tube held loosely in one hand like he wasn't entirely sure he was allowed to be holding it in the first place."Heard you hurt your knee.""From who?" I frowned, shifting up against my headboard, wincing when the movement pulled at the sw

Declan's POVThe warehouse smelled the same way it always did. All sweat and concrete dust and the faint metallic tang of blood that never fully scrubbed out of the mats no matter how many times they hosed them down. Underneath the exposed pipes and the single row of industrial lights, forty or so people packed the perimeter of the ring, money already changing hands in low murmurs before the first fight had even started.Nobody here knows my name. That's the whole point.They know Ghost. Have known Ghost for two years now, ever since I first walked into this place my sophomore year with nothing but restless energy. The need to hit something that wouldn't hit back with words instead of fists. I earned the name early. How I never celebrated a win the way the other regulars did, no chest thumping, no shouting into the crowd. Just controlled breathing and a walk back to the corner like the outcome had never really been in question.Two years of Friday nights nobody in my actual life kno

Harper's POVThe party was already in full swing by the time Blair and I arrived. Hayes' living room packed wall to wall with people celebrating Friday's win against Ridgemont like it had personally solved several of their individual problems. I scanned the room out of habit, some traitorous part of me looking for a specific face that wasn't there."He's not coming." Blair said it before I fully finished the thought, reading me a little too easily these days. "Cole said he's still sore from the game. Wanted to ice everything and sleep it off.""I wasn't looking for him.""Sure you weren't." She grabbed two cups off the counter, handing me one without asking whether I wanted it. "Come on. Let's find somewhere that isn't directly under a speaker."We barely settled onto a couch in the den when Vanessa appeared, trailing a cluster of girls behind her like an entourage, already announcing plans for a game before she'd even fully entered the room. "Truth or dare, everyone. Living room, f