Chapter 37 Chapter 37 Harper 55 vouchers Ella , Zoey and I came to the animal shelter for a different kind of fun . We'd had enough of partying and drinking . There was a tiny golden retriever pup nibbling at the ends of my hair as I tried to scoop him into my lap . " So , how does it feel without Maddox in town ? " Ella asked , laughing at the soft little growl the beagle pup in her arms made . " Yeah ! " Zoey leaned towards me with wide eyes , her black dress covered in white fur from her tiny husky . " Now that you can't be with him in less than thirty minutes and do whatever you want to each other , how does it feel ? " I looked at both of them in disbelief , but giggled when my golden retriever licked my cheek . " You two can't be serious right now . And why are we talking about this here ? " " Come on . It's not like there's anyone else around , so how does it feel without him ? " Ella wiggled her eyebrows . " Why are you making it sound like I haven't seen him in months ? It's only been two days . " " Well , yeah , but still , how does it feel ? " The tiny husky wriggled in Zoey's arms . I sighed . " You're both reading too much into this . " " What else do you expect after what you did ? " Ella's eyes narrowed as she pulled her beagle away from her shirt before he chewed a hole through it . " You spent two weeks not seeing him and he spent that night paying attention to everyone else , only for the two of you to end up in bed together ! " " Look , one thing just led to another and that's it . He's now hours away and- " " Aha ! " Zoey yelled a little too loudly , scaring the puppies . " OMG I'm so sorry my lovelies . " She looked around at each one of them , then back at me . " There , you said it . You miss him . " My eyes narrowed . " None of those words came out of my mouth . " Ella smirked at me . " You didn't have to say anything directly . We can tell ." " I understand that the two of you just want to see me move on , but it's not going to happen like this ." I gently scratched my golden retriever's ears . " Now that I think about it , you're right . " Zoey huffed . " Looking at the way things are going right now , it's not enough . We're going out with the Barclay twins this evening and they know all about Maddox . Maybe they can tell us something about him that you don't yet know , like what he likes and stuff like that ." " There's no need for that . " I firmly shook my head , bringing my face real close to the golden retriever so our noses could touch . " Look , I've told you several times that what I have with Maddox is nothing serious . " 16:04 Tue , Sep 16 Chapter 37 EX 55 vouchers " Oh , yeah ? " Ella rolled her eyes dismissively . " It's always so funny to me that you keep saying that and yet you two fucked like animals . " " Yeah and doesn't he text you like ... all the time ? " I leaned back against the wall , letting the golden retriever curl into my lap . " Don't the two of you . Text me all the time as well ? " They glanced at each other , then back at me . " Good point ! " they said in unison . " Don't get mad at me for saying this ," Zoey paused , setting her husky down and throwing a squeaky toy , " but maybe you should actually stop sleeping with him ." " What ? Why ? " My voice was loud . Ella tilted her head with a smirk . " Is that your way of saying you want to keep doing it ? " I blinked rapidly . " That's not what I meant . Anyway , what were you trying to say , Zocy ? " " I just feel like the more you keep doing this , the harder it'll be for you to move on . You keep saying there's nothing between you two , but for how long will you stay this way ? " " Weren't you the same ones hyping me up to enjoy the fun with him while it lasts ? " " That was before we saw how you act around Grayson . " Ella scratched under the beagle's chin . " We just want to see you happy . " " Ooh , How about Dean ? " Zoey suggested . " Not this again . " I huffed . " He's just a friend and doesn't give off that vibe . We're getting to know each other and I don't think it'll ever be anything more than that ." " That's how it starts and then before you know it , you're ripping each other's clothes off ! Today might be the day since you're going on a date with him . " " We're just grabbing some dinner together at a fast food restaurant and that's it . " My tone was dismissive . " So ... you're stuck with Maddox ? " Zoey held up her beagle's paws to make him wave . " You make it sound like it's a bad thing . " I shot her a playful glare . " Looks like someone likes being stuck with Maddox ," they teased me . I tried to shut them up , but they just wouldn't stop . I eventually gave up and let them say it for as long as they felt like it . I might've felt the same way about Maddox back when he was just Tiffany's brother to me and things changed between us , but I wanted to keep things as they were with Dean . It wasn't every guy that came into my life that I was going to sleep with . 16:04 Tue , Sep 16 Chapter 37 : 36 55 vouchers Dean and I were on our way home and had decided to walk since it wasn't too far from my place . I had lost count of the number of times he had made me laugh . I could still feel my ribs hurt . He had so many stories to tell me and each one of them kept me intrigued . " Damn , " I said , when I finally composed myself to stop laughing . " I didn't think you had it in you like that ." " Yup , that's what most people think at first glance , until they actually get to know me and I prefer it that way ." He grinned . While he'd managed to grab my attention most of the time while we had dinner , my attention split each time Maddox sent me some nasty texts that were for my eyes only . I still had to play it cool around Dean so he wouldn't think I had little interest in being with him at that moment . It was for this reason that I barely replied . A few seconds away from my doorstep , Dean said , " I haven't had this much fun in a long time . How about we watch a movie Friday evening ? " I smiled politely . " I'd love to , but I already have plans . " I'd been counting down to Friday so I could spend time with Grayson ever since he'd told me he wanted us to spend time together . Nodding in understanding , he said , " How about Saturday ? " " I'll be visiting my aunt and might be with her all day . How's Sunday ? " " I like the sound of that . " He chuckled . " I really had a good time , even though the steak was a bit too salty . " I giggled . " Me too ." " I hope this won't get you in trouble with Maddox . " I still smiled , but my eyes narrowed . " Why would that happen ? " " I saw the pictures and videos from his birthday party . You two seemed very ... close . " " We're just friends ." " Of course you are ." He scoffed as he began to walk away . " Good night , Harper ." He glanced back and smiled at me , not stopping in his tracks for even a second . As I watched him turn at the corner , I remembered what Zoey and Ella had said to me about sleeping with him , but I still felt the same way at that moment . I didn't see myself in bed with him . He was just a friend and I wanted to keep things that way . I finally made it inside the house , changing into something more comfortable and replying to Maddox's text at the same time . 16:04 Tue , Sep 16 Chapter 37 I had texted Grayson a few hours earlier , but he hadn't yet replied . He usually did that to me . His message thread was right below Maddox's and it hurt every time I was replying to him . 36 55 vouchers Each time I looked at his message thread , my gaze dropped to Grayson's name , wondering when he'd read my text and reply . I was just about to open another text from Maddox when Grayson finally read my message and as soon as I spotted those three bubbles floating , I held my breath in anticipation . I had only sent him a greeting , but the fact that he was replying made my heart flutter . I hated it , but I just couldn't help it . Then , my heart shattered when the bubbles disappeared , like he had just deleted whatever he was typing . I stared at the screen , hoping to see the bubbles again , but nothing happened . I pressed my lips together in disappointment and tossed my phone next to me , telling myself not to get my hopes up ever again . As soon as my phone began to ring , my first thought was that Grayson had decided to give me a call instead of texting , but when I looked at the caller ID , I felt stupid because it was Maddox . Why did I keep doing that to myself when it came to Grayson ? I shut him out , wanting to distract myself . I thought Maddox wanted to take it up a notch with everything sexy we'd been talking about . It was for this reason that when I picked up , my voice was already a little flirtatious . " Looks like someone just couldn't wait . " " What's the name of the company you work for ? " I frowned . " Why are you asking me that now ? " " Just tell me the company name ." His voice was urgent . " DataSphere Solutions . " " Fuck , " he said under his breath . " What's wrong ? " 16:04 Tue , Sep 16 Discover our latest featured short drama reel. Watch now and enjoy the story!