Invisible to My First Love (Harper and Maddox) novel Chapter 101

Chapter 101

Chapter 101

Maddox

It was just as I thought, Harper had quickly become comfortable around my uncle and that was in only a few minutes of meeting him. She laughed at everything he said, her eyes constantly crinkling at the corners.

By the time we started heading towards the dining room, he had already told her two stories about his travels, one about almost buying an elephant by mistake in Thailand. She giggled so hard she had to hold onto the side of her torso like her rib hurt.

When she caught me closely watching her, I smiled and gestured to her that she had nothing to worry about from the beginning.

We made it to the dining room and Uncle Sebastian’s chair screeched as he pulled it out to take a seat.

Seeing him already so comfortable made me rush over to Harper so I could get to pull out a chair for her before she did it on her own.

Smoothly pulling it out, I nodded for her to sit down.

“Thanks, babe,” she said with a soft smile, one that managed to get under my skin.

The word babe shouldn’t have meant anything as it was all part of the act. But somehow, it hit a certain spot in my chest.

Pressing my lips together so I don’t smile, I took the seat beside her while my uncle sat across from us.

The lids came off the serving trays and he leaned forward with a dramatic inhale.

“Well, I’m not saying I’ll fight anyone for these leftovers,” he said, “but I’m also not saying I won’t!”

She chuckled loudly as she tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear and I just watched her for a few seconds, taking in the view of her side profile.

When I finally looked over at my uncle, he was already watching me with a smile. It was the kind that said he knew exactly what was going on with me.

I cleared my throat, pretending not to understand, but we both knew he’d read me perfectly. The truth was that he was the first person who knew how different Harper was.

When he took the first bite of the steak, he groaned like he just tasted heaven.

“Now this,” he said, pointing at his plate with his fork, “is better than the steak they serve at La Table Blanche.”

She leaned forward. “Where’s that?” she asked, her tone filled with curiosity.

“In Paris,” he said with a chuckle. “Maddox definitely needs to take you there someday.”

She laughed softly, but my chest tightened in a good way. I liked the sound of that too much.

I stopped chewing the piece of steak in my mouth as the question caught me off guard. I didn’t even have to look at Harper to know she was remembering the same things I was, like me being that cocky idiot who thought teasing her was harmless fun. She was the girl with messy braids, face full of acne and those baggy clothes. She was an easy target for jokes.

I finally glanced at her and she was holding her wine glass, her lips pressed together as if thinking about how to respond. When our eyes met, she gave me a faint nod and a reassuring smile that she was going to handle it.

“We barely spoke to each other back then,” she said smoothly as she turned to my uncle. “At that time, he was just Tiffany’s brother.”

He chuckled with amusement. “And now, he’s a lot more than that.”

“Yup.” She sighed. “I had no idea that such a day would come.”

He laughed before making a joke and she joined in with a genuine laugh. I should’ve been part of it, but my mind was somewhere else. I was lost in the memory of how I used to look at her back then.

Now watching her sit right next to me as the best version of herself I’d seen so far as she was so confident and radiant, I couldn’t stop thinking about my younger self and what a fool I was.

I didn’t even realize I had zoned out until my uncle’s voice pulled me back.

In a teasing tone as he looked at Harper, he said, “I knew you meant something special to my nephew the moment I saw how determined he was to make things right with you at his birthday party.”

She forced a smile as she was caught off guard. “Make things right?” she repeated, looking between us. “What do you mean?”

My heart pounded hard in my chest as I felt a sudden rush of panic. He leaned back, clearly unaware of what he had just done. Her eyes were still on me and now filled with curiosity, but I couldn’t meet them. My mind raced as I told myself to say something, anything that didn’t sound like an admission. Shit.