Chapter 35

After Harper’s fall, I decide to give him some space so that I don’t say or do anything to upset him. I have to let him do this on his own, and trying to help is only making him feel like he’s going to need help forever. I don’t want him to resent me for pushing too hard. I love Harper, and all I want is what's best for him, even if that means backing off.

I honestly don’t blame him for getting mad at me. For a while, we all pushed Harper away, so he was on his own for a while. It doesn’t matter whose fault it was. He was alone and had to adjust to being on his own. Now, we’ve welcomed him back, but that doesn’t change the fact that, for that bit of time, he needed us and we weren’t there. He learned not to need us, and it’s something I’m sure he holds on to because when he goes to New York, he’s going to be on his own again, and we’ll be here with each other, starting a family.

It upsets me a bit to think that he’ll miss us or crave what he had. I don’t want him to feel unwanted in any way, but it’s inevitable. If the baby were his, he’d be needed all the time. It makes me wonder if he was really okay with finding out he wasn’t the father or if he was trying to save face.

Since I'm taking a step back from Harper, I focus on getting some work done in Jasper’s office for the upcoming week. With me working fewer hours, I don’t get as much done, and I know that puts Jasper behind a bit, even if he won’t say anything. While in his office, I sit at the computer, typing up a few work emails that I’ve neglected. I have my headphones in, listening to music, so I don’t hear someone behind me until a hand touches my shoulder. I expect it to be Jasper, but when I turn around, I’m shocked to see Lea.

Her bright smile beams down at me, and I nearly throw myself into her arms.

“Oh my God! What are you doing here?!” I shout, bouncing in her arms.

“Mom and I just got back in. She wanted to come here immediately to check on Harper. We’ve been so worried about him these past few weeks. Service was awful overseas.” Lea rolls her eyes.

“So that’s why I haven’t received any daily texts or tweet replies.”

“Correct. I’ve been miserable.”

I’m busting to tell her about the baby since no one has told Davina or Lea—we made everyone swear not to. We all wanted to wait for them to get back to share the news. Now, I can barely contain the words.

“I’ve missed you so much. Things have been crazy around here.”

“I know. Things must be so hard with Harper hurt. We almost flew back as soon as Jasper told us, but Jasper assured us that he was fine and said to worry about the charity. It drove Mom insane. How have you been? Like, just you.”

Sighing, I look at my feet and back at her.

“Well, I got sick a while back.”

“Oh yeah, Jasper said something about stomach ulcers. How’s that going?” She places both of her hands on the sides of my stomach.

“Better.” I shrug.

“Are you sure? You seem really bloated. Is that something to worry about?” Lea frowns with concern, and it takes everything not to laugh. I guess now is as good a time as ever.

“Well, it’s not bloating. It’s a baby.”

Lea looks at me in confusion before her eyes grow big and she can no longer contain her excitement. She starts jumping up and down with tears pooling in her eyes.

“What the fuck?! How pregnant are you?”

“About 14 weeks. It’s still super early; we wanted to wait for you and Davina to get back before we told you.”

“I’m going to be the rich cool aunt!” She yanks me into a hug, and I laugh against her shoulder.

As we’re sharing a moment, I hear a pair of heels clacking closer to the room.

“Did you miss Eden that much?” Davina laughs as Lea finally releases me. Davina sees that Lea is crying and looks at me.

“What’s going on? What’s wrong?”

“Oh, nothing is wrong. I’m just pregnant.” I shrug, and Davina’s hands fly to her mouth in shock.

Jasper appears behind her as she turns around to hug him. We all take turns hugging one another as Davina begins planning the baby shower and the baby’s first birthday. Now that she knows, I’m probably going to hear from her every single day.

Lea and Davina stick around for the rest of the day, catching us up on their travels while we catch them up on the craziness that’s been going on around here. I expect Harper to come down to join us, but he decides not to. I fight the urge to go up and talk to him, but I’m giving him space. I don’t want him to think I’m angry with him or being spiteful, because I’m neither of those things. If he wants help or wants me around, then he’s going to have to ask for it.

It feels weird not having him around with us though. I can only imagine what he must be thinking upstairs.

Interrupting my thoughts, Jasper comes to where we’re sitting with a glass of water.

“Can you take this upstairs to Harper? He needs to take his medication and requested purified water. Such a diva.” Jasper rolls his eyes.

“Yeah, sure.” I take the glass and excuse myself, heading up to Harper’s room.

When I knock on the door, I don’t hear him say anything, which makes me worry. I open the door, and my mouth falls open at the sight of Harper jacking off. A soft gasp escapes my lips, causing him to open his eyes. The moment he sees me, his hand slows but doesn’t stop.

“I brought you water,” I say softly, taking a few steps into the room.

Harper doesn’t say anything as I walk to the nightstand, setting the glass down. His eyes follow me every step, and it’s honestly setting me on fire.

“Don’t you have something to say about this?”

“What do you expect me to say or do?” I raise an eyebrow.

“You can help me out. Use that pretty mouth of yours.” He smirks, giving his girth a long, firm stroke.

“Hmm, that would be nice, wouldn’t it? I could help you relieve some tension. I could make you feel good.” I step up to the end of the bed, staring straight down at his member. It makes my mouth water, and all I want is to climb onto the bed and show him just how helpful I can be.

“Yes, baby. Come here.”

I start to climb onto the bed, but I stop with a devious smirk on my lips.

“I would, but I don’t want to help you if you don’t need it. You seem perfectly capable of getting yourself off.”

“Eden, don’t do this.”

“Do what? I’m helping you regain your independence, Harper. Just think of this as a part of therapy. I’m helping you help yourself.” I head towards the door as Harper curses to himself.

Leaving him alone, I close the door and spend a moment standing in the hallway, trying to pull myself together. I didn’t know it would be so hard to turn him down like that. All I wanted was to mount him. However, Harper and Jasper taught me a certain lesson with their creative ways of getting their points across. Now I’m doing the same. Hopefully, Harper sees it that way.

When I get back downstairs, I take a seat, and when I look at Jasper, he is staring at me.

“Is Harper okay?”

“He’s handling things just fine.” My cheeks warm at my words, and when my cheeks turn red, Jasper gives me a funny look.

“Okay. Should I go check on him?”

“Nope. He just wants to be alone. He’s tense and doesn’t want company.” I nod with a fake concerned expression, and when the words click for Jasper, he fights back a laugh.

Suddenly, my phone dings in my pocket. Digging it out, I see a text from Harper. I expect him to curse me out with a bunch of emojis, but instead, I’m met with a picture of his dick, his juices running down the side. Glancing around the table, I see that Davina and Lea are oblivious to my flushed cheeks, but when my eyes flash to Jasper, his dark eyes greet me.

I think it’s time for Davina and Lea to leave…now.