Silence Reveals Hidden Answers’ by Michael Anderson novel Chapter 17

Chapter 17

Jennifer Marie.

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Not only did I survive Nisha’s glare tonight, I somehow managed to make Harvey… unstubborn himself. I want to text Tinka and scream, but I definitely can’t tell her how I did it.

My hair is twisted into a messy bun as I stare at myself in the mirror, still not believing I’m the same girl who did that. I should’ve been in the shower an hour ago, but my mind keeps replaying everything.

I did that.

To Harvey. My best friend who is now dangerous to the core. Completely my type. And somehow still him.

I groan, slap my own cheek lightly like that might reset my brain, and finally step into the shower. Bra off. Underwear off. A blast of perfectly warm water hits me, and I close my eyes, tilting my head back as the water coats my skin.

I squeeze body wash onto my loofah and start scrubbing. As I’m rinsing off my face with my eyes tightly closed, something heavy and wrong plops onto the top of my head.

The water is still rushing down. I can’t see, just feel. I reach a soapy hand up to my head. It’s… slimy. Wet and wrong. I don’t spend two seconds guessing. I shriek and slap at it. The whole weight of it slides down at once, landing with a wet thwap on the shower floor between my feet.

Coiled on the white tile is a snake. A gross, green, living snake.

“АННННННН!!!!”

I scream and with no dignity kick at it out of the shower towards the sink area!

“Thate snakes.” I choke half–crying. “I hate snakes, I hate snakes-”

I scream again with all my might and the bathroom door flies open. Harvey barges in like he’s ready to fight a demon. Then he stops. Because I’m standing there, soaked in bubbles, naked and for half a second, it’s like he forgets why he came in and what the emergency was.

“A….” I point so that Harvey will get back his focus. “A snake!”

I see Harvey’s eyes snap to where my hand is pointing and his instinct takes over before fear ever can. He doesn’t even look for a weapon. He just goes.

I stand there frozen with water still pouring over my

shoulders.

He bends down, then straightens. Harvey looks back at me over his shoulder and I watch his expression shift from predator to something… exasperated? Amused?

“Baby, it’s fake.”

“No, it’s not,” I say immediately, wrapping my arms around myself. My voice shakes. “It was on the shower. It dropped on my head.”

Harvey reaches for a towel without turning around and holds it out behind him. I grab it fast, pressing it to my chest before daring to look again.

He bends, picks the rubbery green thing up, and holds it between two fingers.

“It’s fake,” he repeats. “Someone is playing a prank on you.”

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Chapter 17

I still flinch back. Fake or not, the thing is a nightmare.

“Just… just take it out.”

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He leaves the bathroom with it, and only then do I realize I’m shaking. I suck in a breath I didn’t know I was holding and close my eyes hard.

And then it hits me.

Harvey came in here. While I was completely naked.

“Ah!” This time, the gasp is for an entirely different reason. I lock the bathroom door, drop the towel, and get back under the spray to rinse off the last of the suds..

My hands are still trembling. My heart won’t slow down. It feels like since we got to Italy, these wildly intense, embarrassing moments will never stop happening. I finally shut off the water and wrap myself in a fluffy robe, dab at my hair with a towel.

In the mirror, my reflection is flushed but as I stare at myself, a weird calm starts to settle over the panic. The fake snake. Harvey bursting in. Him seeing me like that… it feels like the universe is throwing down a cue for me. Like fate has set up all these insane things and they’re all pointing to one thing.

Is this it? Is this the moment Jen the Virgin finally… isn’t?

A knock sounds on the door.

“Jen,” Harvey says. “Are you alright?”

I open my mouth to answer and stop. I don’t want him to leave; I don’t want this moment to end, even though I don’t know what it means yet.

“Yeah.” I smooth my damp hair even though it’s pointless. “I’m coming.”

“It could be Emily. She mentioned she had a list of pranks she wanted to use on everyone. I’m sorry. I’ll tell her to stop. I brought you food… I’ll let you rest.”

No, He’s leaving.

“Harvey, wait!” I blurt, then immediately glance at myself once more in the mirror before I pull the door open. I look up at him. Tall. The handsome prince of my chaos.

“I’m still scared.” I pout.

“It was a toy-”

“It landed on my head while my eyes were shut. Why don’t you… help me look around? In case Emily set up more pranks.”

He studies me for a second, then a small smile tugs at his mouth.

“Alright. I’ll check the bed. Pillows, maybe.”

He walks past me into the room and I follow, trying to subtly fix my hair. He goes to the massive bed and leans over to lift the pillows, one by one. My eyes are glued to the way his shoulders flex under his shirt, tattoos shifting with the muscle in his back.

There’s nothing there. My brain jumps cause now I have to think of something else.

“Maybe we should check the-”

“Enough. You’re trying to get me to take your virginity tonight.”

15:07 Tue, Feb 3

Chapter 17

MW

30

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My face burns. “I didn’t say that.”

“Oh.” He tilts his head slightly. “I get it. You don’t know what it feels like. I can see why you’d be impatient. If I were you, I probably would be too.”

I frown at him. So….Harvey has slept with someone before. Of course he has. Who am I kidding? Looking like that, with that aura… he’s probably been with a lot of women.

“Forget it then.” I roll my eyes and turn away.

“No. Come here.”

I freeze. Why does his voice do that to me?

“Jen,” he says again, softer now. “Come here.”

Oh. Oh. I didn’t think this through. At all. My mind starts running with a hundred thoughts… did I shave, did I even put lotion on-

Harvey doesn’t call my name a third time. I feel him behind me instead as his hands settle on my waist. His breath brushes my ear as we both look into the mirror in front of us.

“Hmmm.” His voice is a low vibration against my back. Slowly, I tilt my head to look up at him over my shoulder. My lashes flutter, and he kisses me.

I gasp against his mouth. Tasting Harvey again is…how does he taste like mint and something darker? How does he kiss like he’s claiming and worshipping at the same time?

He’s so careful with it. I can tell there’s a passion he’s been holding back. He sucks my bottom lip, his tongue coaxes my mouth open, and my legs go completely weak. Every single reason I swore I wasn’t ready evaporates under that kiss.

He pulls away by an inch and I’m already panting.

I feel his fingers on the tie of my robe. The knot loosens and I become nervous that Harvey is gonna to see me.

“No. Don’t look away. Eyes on me.” Harvey’s voice is a rough command.

I obey. I stare straight into his shadowed eyes, watching as he lowers his head. His warm mouth finds my breast, closes over the peak and sucks hard. He takes the fullness of my tits from soft to hard, until I’m trembling.

He lets it go with a soft pop and brings that same mouth back to mine, kissing me deeply as his hands slide the robe completely off my shoulders. It pools at my feet and leaves me naked.

“Harvey,” I breathe against his lips, “I’m nervous.”

He doesn’t answer with words. Harvey pulls his own shirt off over his head and I stare at his chest. I watch, mesmerized, as his hands….those capable, dangerous hands tremble slightly when he unfastens his pants. He kicks them aside and comes back to me.

He kisses me again, hungry and deep. Then he stops, just to look at my face, as if memorizing it. He kisses me once more, then stops again, his forehead rests against mine.

It’s like he can’t believe it’s me. And in this moment, with his skin against mine, I can’t believe it’s him, either.

Harvey’s hand is on my waist as we move backward toward the bed.

The bed meets my body, and he makes sure my head lands softly against the pillow. He leaves for just a second to turn off the light then comes back to settle over me again.

15:07 Tue, Feb 3

Chapter 17

MW

My breathing hasn’t slowed.

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