HARDER by Olivia Hawthorne, Olivia Long Page B

head and wove his fingers in my hair.
    All the time I’d been with Rolland had never felt this right or this real .
    That’s what it was with Caleb Harder. Everything about him just felt right, and right meant it felt like home. Like touching him was touching back down to earth and finding my place in the universe right there in his arms.
    My arms were prickled with goose bumps; from the cold or the sensations Caleb was sending through my body I didn’t know. I shivered though and he noticed, broke away and looked down at me with concern. “You’re cold, we need to get you home.”
    “I thought I was getting you home,” I smiled.
    “We’re getting each other home, Brooke,” he said and stroked my cheek with the back of his hand. “We’re caring for each other.”
    “That’s the way frien—“
    He cut me off. “Not friends, you know there’s more to this than that.”
    I drew in a long breath, looked him in the eyes, past the pain and the sadness that lingered there, and I said, “I know. So much more than friends.”
    “Good, now that we at least agree on that let’s get us home,” he smiled and pulled me towards him as he kissed the top of my head tenderly. That small gesture wasn’t erotic, but it was sensual and sent tingles through my limbs.
    Caleb Harder cared for me. That much was true.

----
    W e walked hand in hand through the park back to the van that Caleb had lent me indefinitely. I was even starting to think of it as my van, but that thought frightened me somewhat.
    How could I grow so attached to something that wasn’t mine? Then again, how could I grow so attached to somebody who wasn’t mine?
    And Caleb Harder wasn’t mine. Not yet anyhow, but there was something almost electric crackling between the two of us that promised something would happen if we let it. If the world let it.
    My hand fit too perfectly in his for this to be a coincidence. My stomach fluttered as if filled with butterflies desperately trying to fly free and declare their undying love and devotion to the man walking beside me. This was no passing fancy.
    As surely as my blood was beating through my pulsating heart, my destiny felt wrapped up with his.
    “I can drive,” he said and swiped at my hand for the keys. “I’m sobering up.”
    “I think the keyword there is sobering , not sober,” I said and jerked my hand back. “I don’t know how much you’ve had to drink. Hell, I don’t think you know how much you’ve had to drink.”
    “That is true,” he said and his good humor disappeared as he raced back inside himself. A dark shadow flickered across his handsome face and he grimaced. “I never wanted you to see me like that.”
    “But you called for me,” I said and touched his arm. “Why did you call for me?”
    “I couldn’t think of anyone else I’d rather be with,” he replied and put his hand on mine. “I’m sorry though, that you had to see that.”
    “Don’t ever apologize for showing me that you’re human,” I told him. “You are allowed to show emotions.”
    He looked at me with a surprised expression, smiled and said, “Where did you come from, Brooke?”
    It was my turn to shut down and let that darkness flicker across my face. I could feel it in my skin and see it in Caleb’s eyes. I wasn’t ready to tell him about me yet.
    “That’s not important right now,” I told him. “We need to get you home to sleep this off.”
    He looked puzzled by my response but he got in the van with me. I drove of course and by the time we made it to my modest apartment, he was nodding off in the passenger seat beside me. It had been a good call to not let him drive, he was still drunker than either one of us had thought.
    I cut the engine and stared at him for a moment, really stared at him like I hadn’t been able to when he was fully awake. It was a brief moment so I didn’t feel too creepy, but I almost caught my breath in my throat at his face.
    He was turned slightly away from me, but