His Naughty Lessons-Chapter 211: Get Away From Him!

** Eli **

Ugh, why was Harper here? This was hours earlier than when she was supposed to show up for the evening, and Eli could only imagine that the sight of him being shoved up against the wall by her brother was not the type of scene that she eagerly came to see.

"You’re not supposed to be here, Harp," Tyler uttered the same thought in Eli’s stead, though obviously for a different reason. The guy took a step back, finally releasing the collar clutched tight in his grip, probably to create a more civil conversation environment suitable for his innocent little sister.

Eli rubbed his neck with a quiet sigh. No doubt that this shirt was as ruined as he was tonight.

"Neither are you!" Harper exclaimed in reply. Her eyes darted between the two men, questions and concern written all over her face. "Aren’t you going to be late for your flight? What’s going on here?" ƒreewebηoveℓ.com

"I’m not taking that flight anymore." With one last withering glare at his no-longer-friend, Tyler turned to pick up his suitcase from the living room. "I’m still leaving this place though," he said to Harper, "and you’re coming with me. We need to talk."

"We can talk right here." His sister wasn’t buying his bossiness. Instead, she hurried into the foyer, and Eli’s heart stopped for a moment when she cupped his cheeks, searching his face up and down with so much worry in her eyes. "Are you alright?" she asked. "Don’t tell me you actually let him beat you."

He liked how she said "let" Tyler beat him, like she trusted him with all the control over this stupid situation.

"Harper, get away from that asshole."

Behind her, Tyler was fuming. Even more so than before, now that he saw the two of them so close with his own eyes. "I don’t know what kind of fake promises he has made to you, but don’t believe them. You have no idea what he’s like with women. Come, let’s go and we can take all the time you want to talk about it."

Clutching his suitcase in one hand, he reached over with the other and tried to pull Harper away. However, to his obvious surprise, Harper swatted his hand away, returning him only a hard glare that matched his own from a moment ago.

"Stop talking to me like you’re my dad! And even if you were Dad, it’s not like I have to listen to you anymore as an adult." Harper raised her chin and stood firmly between the two men, shielding Eli behind her. "Geez, everyone else was right. I didn’t know you could be so unreasonably judgemental! Did you even try to listen to everything he had to say before getting so angry and violent?"

This time, Eli’s heart completely melted at the protectiveness exuding from every pore of her existence. Not that it was the proudest moment of his life to be shielded like a coward behind a girl’s back ... but he could never imagine until now that seeing Harper’s delicate small frame in front of him could make him feel so safe, so cherished. So loved.

... Right. Maybe Tyler had indeed banged his head a little too hard, if he was somehow thinking about "loved" while he was making the siblings fight each other because of his stupidity.

"Harper." He placed a hand softly on her shoulder and tried to explain, although it immediately earned him a pair of bulging red eyes shooting daggers at the place where he touched her. "What happened today was ... complicated. Tyler isn’t being unreasonable, he’s just worried about you. You probably should really go with him ... Especially since he’ll need a new place to stay for tonight."

Harper huffed, not moving aside the slightest bit. "He can go find a hotel and take care of himself. I am staying with my boyfriend."

The dagger-shooting eyes that had barely calmed down a percentile blazed again. "Don’t be ridiculous. Did you actually check how many girlfriends he has right now before calling him that? You’re not staying here—"

"You are the one being ridiculous!" Harper finally raised her voice this time, in a manner of real anger that Eli had rarely seen before. "I don’t need you to tell me what to do about my personal life, Tyler. This is my place and I’m free to stay for as long as I want." She dangled the keyfob from her fingers for her brother to see. "You, on the other hand, should leave and go calm down somewhere else. Stop saying things you don’t know are true, and come back to talk to us when you’re actually willing to listen!"

"..."

The sight of Harper being seriously pissed was probably as surprising to Tyler as it was to Eli. For the next few moments, her brother simply stood there, and the siblings stared at each other in unsettling silence.

Whereas at the same time, Eli stared at Harper’s back in a wonderstruck daze.

He had always known that this sweet girl had a tough side to her, but seeing it like this was ... so powerful and overwhelming that he felt carried away by a sense of awe. Despite the high tension all around them, Eli couldn’t help but swoon at the assertive sharpness in her tone, and he lost himself for a second in starry-eyed amazement when she said "this is my place"—

Then he blinked and realized that Tyler was jabbing a finger in his direction, too furious to even speak. The guy let out a muffled curse before finally giving in to his sister, storming out of the door with a loud bang.

Harper let out a deep sigh when the door slammed shut. "What a mess ... I swear I’ve never seen Tyler like this!" She turned back, rubbing her temples. "What did you actually tell him to make him so—"

The rest of her words turned into a surprised gasp when Eli pulled her into a tight hug.