Harper took a deep breath in and turned over in bed. She knew it was morning, not because she saw it, but because she sensed it… the way someone senses they should probably be getting up and starting their day. So she squinted past her eyelids reluctantly. Yesterday when she got up, Jason was already gone and preparing for their day. And all Harper wanted to do was lounge around with her lover. When her eyes adjusted to the new light, Jason was still in bed to her delight. He was on his side, looking at her… actually staring. And had it been anyone else, the way he was looking at her might’ve been creepy. But it just seemed like he admired her so much, that she couldn’t even bring herself to be freaked out.

“What?” She whispered, covering her eyes with her hands. She figured he was staring because her hair was a wreck, or she had some drool on the corner of her mouth.

“This is my favorite part of you,” Jason reached forward and touched the dip at the base of her neck. He scooted in closer and pressed his lips to it gently. “It’s so sexy,”

Harper grinned and set her hand on the back of Jason’s head, scratching through his hair, “suprasternal notch. Supra, meaning above. Sternal referring to the sternum. So quite literally, the notch above the sternum.”

He tucked his hand behind her neck and kissed her, “how did someone as smart as you get involved with someone as dense as me?”

She hid her face in the pillow, “stop, you’re making me blush.” Harper giggled and peeked back at him, “just kidding, keep going.”

They laughed together and Jason wrapped his arms around her waist. “Not to sound presumptuous, but I want to go with you when you go back to California this year.”

Harper shook her head and squinted her eyes, confused, “I’m not going back to California.” Now Jason was the one that looked confused. “Jason, I don’t have the same relationship with my family that you have with yours. No warm welcomes, no proud moments on the walls… If it wasn’t for the fact that my dad was using my old room to store some of his case files, I’m sure they wouldn’t even realize I was gone.”

Jason pouted and brushed her hair away from her face, “I’m sure that’s not true.”

She stared at him but said nothing. It wasn’t worth the fight, or the argument, or whatever it would turn into. Truth was, Jason didn’t really know what he was talking about. And she couldn't blame him for that. He had lived a blessed life, where he and his brother weren’t compared to each other; where their parents’ love for them was separate but equal. So Harper didn’t fight him on this too extensively. She took his reaction as the end of the conversation and leaned forward to kiss him again and bit his lower lip gently. In a few days, they’d be heading to Alberta for the wedding, and Jason insisted that since he had basically dragged her to Canada to be his plus one, the least he could do was buy her a new dress. She wasn’t one to disagree, and knew that they’d be on the hunt for a dress today.

Jason turned over onto his back, inadvertently bringing Harper with him. She set her head on his chest and placed her hand on his stomach, absently listening to the easy rhythm of his breath. For a moment, she almost thought she’d be able to sleep for a little while longer like that. But Jason took a sharp breath in, and she knew he was about to ask her something else. She kept waiting and he seemed hesitant to bring something potentially confrontational up. Harper lifted her head and looked up at him, nearly breaking out in a fit of laughter as Jason tried to figure out how to formulate what he was going to say next.

“You don’t really talk about them much,”

It was the one part of her life that she actively focused on not talking about, so of course Jason would be curious about it. But there was only so much she could say before he would start to see things as red flags in their new relationship. This left her in an awkward situation. If she said too much, it could scare him away. And if she said nothing and avoided the conversation, it could still drive him away.

“I don’t know what you’re looking for?” Harper questioned softly, trying to figure out how she could dance around these topics.

Jason squeezed her hips and cocked his head to the side. “I don’t know…” Even though he said that, Harper understood that he knew exactly what he wanted to get. “What are their names?”

“Lucas and Emily,”

It was evident that he was hoping she’d say something else, but when she didn’t, Jason relented to confessing about what he really wanted to know. “On our first date you said that you were the smart one and Sasha was the pretty one, and it’s bothered me since.”

Harper grinned softly. It was endearing that he cared so greatly about something so insignificant. Or seemingly insignificant. When she really stopped to think about it, Harper knew that the labels put on her and her sister as children had really defined their lives. As the smart one, Harper indulged herself into school, making sure she studied endlessly to bring home good grades. It was her life’s purpose and therefore left little time for making romantic or meaningful relationships with others, which was why up until recently, she had been a virgin. And for Sasha as the pretty one, the purpose had always been to form romantic and meaningful relationships with others. Harper couldn't remember a time in adolescence where Sasha had been single. It was as though their parents were tying to pawn their daughters off on different things. They hoped Harper would be pawned off on a career, and Sasha on a man.

“Do you really believe that?” Jason asked, breaking Harper’s train of thought.

She focused back on him and adjusted her head on his chest. “I believe that we are on a fabulous vacation and ruining it by talking about nonsense. Let’s enjoy Canada, and we can talk about them another time.” As Jason was about to say something else, probably still stuck on the family subject, Harper intercepted him with a kiss. “Wouldn’t you rather be focused on being inside me?” She managed to wiggle partially on top of Jason.

His hands drifted to her ass and squeezed it as she situated herself on him. He could play by her rules. And he would. All he wanted was to make her happy, and maybe that was just the honeymoon phase of their new relationship. Why rock the boat if you didn’t have to? Why bring up something that could lead to an argument, when you could just lay in bed and be there with each other? Harper distracted him with a well-timed kiss and Jason was content to let the matter go.

She straddled his body and kissed her way down from his lips, to his jaw, and then his neck. For someone who feared she’d never really be able to be intimate with someone on any level, Harper found it rather easy to be so with Jason. She didn’t know what it was about him that made it so simple. In the short time she’d known and spent time with him, there wasn’t one specific thing that made her think ‘that’s it. That's what makes it easy’. Although part of her did believe it had something to do with the beach. That first day.

Harper remembered disliking him, vehemently. He had been loud and rowdy, and she believed him to be like a child. And then he helped her in from the storm… and subsequently followed her to a coffee shop. Still, as much as that weirded her out, Harper tried to find the charm in that. He could’ve gone home, or at the very least stayed with his friend. But instead he chose to find her. And every decision they’d made since had brought them to this point; of lying on a king sized bed in a hotel room in Montreal.

Jason let out a gentle moan and rolled his hips up against Harper’s. She planted one last kiss on his neck and then pushed up, returning to her sitting position. This turned Jason’s moan into an exasperated groan, and Harper smiled as she rolled off of him and stood up. “It’s time for dress hunting,” she smirked.

He reached for her wrist and pulled her back to him. Jason kissed her quickly and then smiled against her lips, “blow me.”

She pulled back just far enough to look down at Jason. Well she had avoided that for as long as humanly possible. That was one thing she was still unexperienced with. Of course at some point she knew Jason would ask or suggest it… she wasn’t going to bring it up. “I’ve never…”

Jason smiled and moved his hand from her wrist to her hip as she sat on the edge of the bed beside him. “I figured. You don’t have to, I just…”

He trailed off and Harper stared at him. “I don’t want to hurt you,”

“You’re not going to. Just don’t bite,” he giggled and squeezed her hip. With her hesitation, he patted her hip and sat up in bed. “Alright, get ready. We’ll go dress hunting,”

As Jason made a move to get up, Harper stopped him by placing her hand on the side of his neck, “I’m sorry.”

He cupped her face and placed his lips on her forehead, “Harper Malone, I am not angry with you. And I won’t be angry even if you decide to never blow me.” He waited for a moment, then amended, “I hope that’s not the case, but if it is, then it is.” Jason stood up and flicked his hand forward as he strode into the bathroom, “let’s find you a dress.”

---

Harper thought this experience would destroy her. Not the going to the wedding with a very new boyfriend part, but the going shopping with a very new boyfriend part. She feared he’d grow bored after an hour or so, and Harper knew herself. This wasn’t going to be a short trip. She wasn’t a superficial person, didn't need to go shopping all that much, but she was also her own worst enemy. She could criticize and cut herself down to no end, and if she had to, Harper would spend the better half of the day looking for the dress that would fit her just right.

Luckily, Jason seemed content to just watch her go. Most men would’ve found a bench to sit on while their woman searched endlessly for something perfect, but Jason followed her around the stores, dutifully carrying the dresses she took off the racks in order to try on. He didn’t complain once, and dare Harper say he even looked like he was enjoying himself as he watched get excited over her finds.

Time began to get away from her. With each new dress she tried on, Harper felt like she was never going to find a dress. Jason asked over and over again to have her come out of the dressing room so he could take a look at her, but with each new try, Harper found a reason not to come out; the dress made her hips look to big, she didn't like the plunging neckline, her ass looked invisible… so each time, she returned to Jason’s sight once again dressed in her everyday clothes.

They decided to try one last place in Montreal before calling it for the day. It wasn't necessary for her to find a dress today, but it would take the pressure off by the time they headed for Alberta in a few days. The boutique was small, which Harper knew that meant the prices would be astronomical; so she wasn't expecting much. She pulled a few dresses off the rack, not even bothering to look at the price tags. Based on the way the dresses hung on the hangers, she didn’t have high hopes for these designer brands.

She made off for the dressing room with Jason right behind her. He took a seat on one of the benches while he waited for her to try on her choices and make a decision. Harper was disappointed with the first dress, mostly because she couldn't figure out the proper way to put it on. There were straps everywhere and pieces of fabric that didn’t seem to belong, so midway through her entanglement, she decided against the enigma of a dress. The second dress wasn’t bad, she looked good in it, but when she glanced at the price tag, she immediately decided it wasn’t worth that much. Harper pulled on the last dress, tugging it into place, and nearly melted. This was it. The day of searching had quickly become a success. The knee-length, off the shoulder dress with a slit up the leg was perfect. Plus it was in a soft pink, a color she knew Jason had a dress shirt in.

Pulling open the door to the dressing room, she stepped out to show Jason. As soon as he saw her, he stood up from the bench, eyes fixated on her body. “I think I found the dress,” Harper murmured, closing the gap between them. “Do you like it?”

Jason was quick to nod, chewing on his lower lip as his eyes continued to dance over her body, “yeah. You look stunning,” he flicked his eyes up to hers. “It’s not gonna be fair to the bride.” Before she had a chance to respond, Jason leaned in and kissed her lips slowly, cupping his hand around her jaw delicately.

Now Harper took a moment to check the tag, and what she saw nearly killed her. She had never been one to spend an absurd amount of money on clothing, so the number on the tag almost gave her a heart attack. Her expression must’ve been telling because Jason brushed the tag out of her hand to get her attention off of it.

“Get changed and we’ll get this wrapped up,”

“Jason, it’s too much…”

He looked down at her with furrowed eyebrows. It hadn’t even been the tiniest thought in his mind that spending money on her would be a problem. Girls liked that, didn’t they? They liked to be pampered and showered with love, gifts, and attention. “No, it’s fine. I want to buy it for you,”

She shook her head and ran her hands over the dress, “that was before the dress I found was more than one month of my salary. You can’t,”

“All the more reason to,” he nudged her towards the dressing room. “You deserve to be spoiled,” he brushed Harper’s hair to one side of her neck, and kissed the other. His hands wandered over her hips, frustrated by the fact that their public setting kept him from touching more. She looked drop dead gorgeous in the dress, and all Jason wanted was to see how gorgeous she looked while he stripped her out of it.

Harper relented and went back into the dressing room to change. Jason thought he had won, and he was beyond ecstatic to buy her something he believed she was more than deserving of. But when she came back out, the dress with slung over her arm, and when Jason reached to take it, Harper pulled it away from him and walked towards the register. He followed close behind her, taking out his wallet on the walk over. She set the dress on the counter and smiled at the girl behind it as she rung it up. When the price popped up on the digital screen, Harper’s heart dropped a little more. Despite it, she was midway through pulling out her wallet when Jason handed forward his credit card.

“Jase, stop.” Harper looked at the woman behind the counter, “please don’t run that card.”

The poor woman looked nervous and confused, just wanting to make the sale for her own benefit. She didn’t care who paid, so long as someone did.

“Go ahead,” Jason reassured.

“No, please.”

“Do you like the Montreal Canadiens?” Jason asked, leaning on the counter towards the woman.

“You can’t bribe her with hockey tickets!” While Harper was about to go on a rant, Jason subtly nodded his head towards the woman, who then swiped his card. “You don’t need to buy me stuff. I’m a self-sufficient woman; I can take care of myself.”

Jason smiled, “I completely agree with you. You’ve been taking care of yourself for years. I just want to get you a gift because I care about you and I want to make you happy. And if buying you one expensive dress does that, then I want to buy that one expensive dress.”

Harper crossed her arms over her chest, “then you have to let me buy a fancy dinner or something.”

“Okay,” he mocked. He knew that somewhere deep down, Harper realized he’d never let her do that either.

As they walked out of the boutique that day and got back into his dad’s truck, Harper looked over at Jason. Nothing had seemed to rattle him, and if anything, his expression was one of the calmest ones she’d ever seen. She really did love the dress and was happy that she actually got to own it. And she was equally excited about getting to wear it at a wedding where she’d be accompanying Jason. But another part of her was really dissatisfied that he had bought it. It would’ve been rough and not her smartest purchase, but her teaching salary would’ve covered it. She wasn’t destitute. And she hoped Jason wouldn’t make a habit out of doing this.

Notes

This has taken me so long! It's not even that I'm so busy, it's the uninspired reality of post-grad life... Not to depress anyone or anything. Hopefully I'll be getting back into the swing of this story soon!