Harper's Rules 1 & 2

Chapter 17: Harper

"So... Who was he?" Li finally asked me once she shut our dorm behind us.

A slight smile quirked up the corners of my lips, which were dried out and slightly stiff from the pool's chlorine. The sag in the rest of my body reflected how thirty freestyle laps had been exactly what the non-vagina parts of my body needed. Even though Kieran used the lane next to mine, he kept a respectful distance and worked on his own swims. As I'd hoisted myself out of the pool, he had asked for my number again but settled for an 'I'll see you around.'

Li spent most of her time swimming on the other side of me, at a much slower pace, and at one point joked I was part mermaid. I definitely caught a few curious glances that she shot at Kieran. She was beyond shy though and at one point even submerged herself underwater when he'd taken a slight break, leaned his elbows back on the pool edge, and glanced in her direction.

My roommate, which still felt weird at this point, and I left once the pool became crowded and turned into a party scene. A few other athletically built guys jumped into Kieran's lane and traded bro hand slaps and grunts, I rolled my eyes and assumed that they were his teammates.

By the time Li and I collected our shit at our table, the pool had turned into a lovefest of eye-patch sized bikini-clad girls that served up a visual buffet of silicon funbags in our abandoned lap lane. With the wrinkled up nose Li displayed on our way out, she definitely agreed with me that our fun at the pool had ended.

The early evening sun set out the windows of our quiet room, where I picked up my phone from where I'd left it on my desk before we'd gone to the pool. With a slight turn of my chin over my shoulder, I replied honestly to Li, "Kieran Meade. Just a guy I knew in high school. He was friends with my best friend's brother, not really my friend."

"That guy?" She pointed one of her index fingers at my phone.

"No, thankfully not that guy." My relaxed mood from the pool dissolved quickly when I scrolled through the messages, which included three missed calls. "Excuse me."

I dialed the first missed call and Dad's tired voice answered on the second ring, "Hey Harps."

My butt sank down on my awfully uncomfortable desk chair and I hugged one knee into my chest. "Dad, you alright?"

At my greeting, Li silently excused herself with a hand wave, grabbed her shower caddy, and stepped into the bathroom.

"Fine, just a long ride back," Dad confessed before my ear crackled with static from his sigh. "To a very quiet house."

"You can call me anytime," I reminded him and examined the worn polish on my right hand's nails.

Mental note, manicure tonight.

A quick glance down between my legs reminded me of another much-needed aesthetic upgrade.

After I find and schedule some ladyscaping.

"I've thought about what you said and..." Dad paused for a moment as his voice strained, then coughed quietly. "I'm going out with Grace."

My spine stiffened at those five words and I sat upright. A tiny thrill rushed through me and spread a huge smile on my lips, which spread and spread until my cheeks felt pinched. "You asked her out already? That's great."

"No." Dad chuckled quietly. "But I called her on the ride home and she asked if I wanted to come to Brody's home game opener at his new school."

"Oh..." The excitement in me fizzled right out. "I guess that's a start, but seriously?"

"It's not as easy when you have kids but I'm..." I felt the warmth that flowed into his voice and almost had a fangirl moment. "Looking forward to it."

Although, at the speed he's going, he'll be dead before he makes a real move.