Chapter 4 Tete a Tete
Tete a Tete
Harper
The last class of the day takes forever. Jack keeps giving me these smirks. Luke remains quiet. And the clock on the wall slowly ticks by mercilessly. Earlier, I checked with Kenz for a ride home. That’s taken care of.
I just need to get Luke’s jersey from Sidney and get ready for the game tonight. And the after party. I cross my legs against the pulsing there. It’s Friday night, so we’ll all be in Caden’s huge bed tonight.
One of them will have something they want to do with all of us, but like Jack said, we have all year. I assumed they’d dump me as soon as I gave them my virginity, but what does this year look like if they don’t? I’m not sure I can keep up this pace.
The bell finally rings, and I gather my things. Luke waits next to my desk. When I stand, he draws me against him and tips my chin up. His light blue eyes sparkle with intent, and my insides boil in response.
“Wear a skirt with my jersey, princess.” He trails his fingers over my lips. “I want to see your long legs bare.”
My breath rushes out of me as the heat liquifies my brain. When he leans down, my breath catches. His hair brushes my cheek as he touches his lips to my ear. A little shiver races through me. “I’m going to fuck you until you can’t stand.”
That should be a threat, right? My panties shouldn’t be soaked and my breasts heavy because of his words. It’s not like he’s whispering sweet nothings that make my heartbeat erratic.
Not Death. He wants to fuck me, and fuck, I want that too. The heat of his body lures me closer. He grabs my ponytail and tugs my head back. I gasp at the heat coursing through me. When he scrapes his teeth down my neck, sparks flood me.
“Keep your hair just like this.” He kisses up my throat to my jaw, and everything around us is gone. My entire focus is on what Luke does to me. When I open my eyes, his eyes fill my vision. “You good, princess?”
I swallow and try to nod, but his grip on my hair keeps me still. “Yes.”
His smile curls around me and makes me throb with need. He leans in and brushes his lips over mine. I swear my heart stops for a moment before quickening.
“Luke, we’ve got to go.” Jack’s voice penetrates the little bubble we’re in.
Luke tightens his hand in my hair. His eyes focus, suddenly serious. “Be careful, princess. Don’t underestimate Sidney.”
“They haven’t done anything—”
“Which means you’re dropping your guard.” He studies me like he doesn’t think I have what it takes to face down Sidney.
“No, it means they just didn’t want to deal with you guys.” I press my hands against his chest gently, but he doesn’t back away. He presses me closer to him, and the heat swirls hotter inside.
“I’ll look for you in the stands.” His thumb skates over my jaw.
I smile. “Good luck finding me. I sit in the nosebleed section.”
“I’ll find you.” He brushes his lips over mine, and a sigh escapes me. Every inch of me wants Luke Foster, and I’m sick of fighting what I want.
“Luke.” Caden’s voice is loud in the quiet classroom.
I pull away and glance over at Caden. His face is like stone while he studies us. A little shiver runs through me. This is the enforcer of the horsemen, staring back at me. Not the guy I thought I knew.
His green eyes capture mine. The heat is still there. That flame that never goes out burns between the two of us. I can almost feel him holding my hand and telling me about our ridiculous future. My heart clenches, and I drop my gaze to the floor.
He betrayed me. He punished me when he should have been grateful to me for protecting him. From keeping him from doing something stupid over nothing.
“Be good, princess.” Luke trails his hands down my sides, igniting sparks to ricochet within, before he takes his warmth away entirely.
I follow behind them out of the classroom. When they turn toward the exit, I head to the girl’s locker room. Penny, Nat, Vicky, and Izzy stand there, talking to Kenz.
I shake off the lust for Luke Foster that still flows heavy through me. “Hey.”
When Kenz turns, her expression gives away her disappointment. “They’re not here.”
My brow furrows. “What?”
Before I can open the locker room door, Penny steps up and touches my arm.
“So Ashley is in my last class, and because they don’t have cheer practice, Sidney wants you to meet her before the game, and she’ll trade with you then.” Penny gives me a gentle smile and drops her hand from my arm.
I don’t like this. It’s a change and they aren’t doing it through the guys. Luke’s not going to like this, but I said I can handle Sidney. So I’ll handle it.
“Worst thing that happens is you wear Jack’s jersey to the game.” Kenz shrugs.
“I guess.” And Sidney wins and wears Luke’s jersey. My stomach turns and jealous heat floods me. Fuck that.
I could get Sidney’s cell number to coordinate with her. I lift my gaze to the girls standing around me. “Do any of you have Sidney’s number?”
They look at each other while shaking their heads. Fuck. I know one person who will definitely have it, and I hate that I have to ask.
But this isn’t these girls’ problem. This whole thing wasn’t their problem. They helped me, and I’ve been grateful to have them. I haven’t had a group like this before.
I give them all a smile. “Thank you so much for helping this week. It means a lot that I can count on you.”
“We’ll save you a seat at the game.” Penny goes up on her tiptoes and squeals softly. She grabs both my hands and squeezes them to her chest. “And tonight, we get to party together. I can’t wait.”
Her eyes already have a dreamy quality to them. A little twist forms in my gut. They didn’t do this for me. These girls want what I have.
They want Jack to pull them into a closet and seduce them.
They want Caden to press them up against the side of a building and kiss them until they can’t breathe.
They want Eli to mix pleasure and pain into something so fucking spectacular that they crave it.
They want Nico to be soft and playful with them, but rough when he needs them.
And they especially want Luke, to be held in his arms like they’re the only thing that matters, to consume his thoughts until he can’t help but fuck them.
Blowing out my breath, I can’t imagine the guys with anyone else, but it’s not inconceivable. I can barely keep up with them.
But it would mean we’re finished. My heart stalls in my chest. Not long ago that’s all I wanted. To be released from them. Now?
My eyes widen. Oh, shit. I don’t want to be released.
“You ready to go, H.?” Kenz takes my hand and tugs me toward the exit.
“See you tonight!” The girls are chatting excitedly. They’re all cute and pretty and girly. They might jump at the chance to be with any of my guys.
My guys. Fuck. They aren’t mine. Not permanently. They’re just using me. But they are mine for now.
“Hey.” Kenz’s voice is soft as we get to her car. “Do you want to ride with me to the game?”
“Sure.” I mean, the guys will bring me to whatever party afterwards, so it would be better if I left my car at home. But first, I have to figure out how Sidney wants to do this trade.
Luke
My phone buzzes and I glance at it. Harper’s name flashes across my screen. No one else looks at their phone. Curious. I unlock my phone.
Harper:
Do you have Sidney’s phone number?
I don’t stop to think. I just call her. She answers.
“What’s going on?” I can feel their eyes on me, but I don’t look at anyone, waiting for Harper to answer me.
“Penny said Ashley said we’d do the exchange before the game instead of after school. I don’t have Sidney’s number to confirm where she wants to meet. So, I figured you’d have it.” Her voice trails off toward the end.
Fucking Sidney. I should have figured something like this would go down. She’s changing the terms again. Making it so my girl is all alone with no backup.
“I’ll deal with it.” As much as I want to see Harper in my jersey, I won’t put her at risk. I don’t know what game Sidney is playing. For all we know, she’s the one helping terrorize Harper.
“Kenz will be with me. I’ll be fine. If I have her number, we can arrange somewhere public to exchange.” She blows out a breath. “You can’t fix all my problems.”
Just the ones I create. Jack catches my gaze. Fuck, maybe he’s right, and she needs to feel more like part of us than a pet. I don’t like this though.
“Fine. I’ll text her number, but I need you to check in.” I wait.
“Okay.” Her voice is a little begrudging, but it’s better than outright defiance.
“You ride with me tonight, princess.” I lift my gaze to the others around the table. We’re in my house in the kitchen. We needed a place with no interruptions.
No one says anything as they meet my eyes. Good. Tonight she’s mine.
“I’ll text.” She disconnects the call.
I take a moment to send her Sidney’s number before I call it.
“What?” Sidney’s voice is a little belligerent, but also a little hopeful. “Your pet not doing it for you?”
I release my breath. “What will you offer me?”
“For what?”
“For changing the terms again.” My hand fists on the table. This girl is making my life difficult, and I’d love to return the favor. “If she’s not wearing my jersey tonight, I will make your life hell.”
Sidney laughs. “As long as she shows for the trade. Maybe she doesn’t want to wear your jersey. Maybe she’ll finally grow a backbone and tell you all to fuck off.”
I disconnect the call. I made my point. Setting the phone down, I return to my friends.
“She good?” Eli’s dark eyes narrow.
He’s talking about Harper. Her reaching out to me will be a thing. Just like last night, sleeping with her will become a thing, like it did the last time.
“Sidney changed the terms again. The exchange is happening before the game.” I run a hand through my hair. “I don’t trust them.”
Eli grunts and nods. “They’re not happy. Ashley keeps giving me the stink eye.”
“How exclusive were you guys with those girls?” Nico taps his foot under the table, like he’s nervous about something.
“Not at all.” I take him in. His hair is disheveled from him running his hand through it.
“Were they exclusive to you?” He meets my eyes.
“No. You good, man?”
“Yeah. Just this whole thing is fucked up.” Nico straightens. “Someone tried to attack Harper last night.”
“We don’t know what his end game was.” Eli is always the last to make assumptions.
“He wasn’t there for cuddles like Luke.” Jack smirks.
“Fuck off,” I grumble. I needed her to sleep last night. “She’s ours.”
“Someone on the team is involved. At least providing information, if nothing else.” Caden cracks his knuckles. “Whoever is targeting her knows too damned much.”
“That would make sense. The guys knew about Grant Perkins.” Eli’s mind is already turning it over. If anyone will figure it out, it will be Eli.
“Only a select, trusted few knew.” It makes sense though.
“We need to find out who’s fucking the cheerleaders now.” Eli blows out a breath. “They could have their claws in any of those guys. For good pussy, a guy could give up information and not even realize it.”
“You’re not wrong.” Nico shoves back. “Are we going to discuss Harper?”
My eyes narrow on him. What’s this about? “About?”
“Boundaries.” Eli speaks up.
“I didn’t fuck her last night.” This fucking shit again? “It wasn’t an option. We agreed to let her be.”
Jack rubs his finger over his lip, hiding his smile. “She’s not sore anymore.”
Good, because I’m doing what they’ve all done and will fuck her in my jersey. But first I need to deal with this.
“What boundaries would you like, Eli? Should Jack have not fucked her? Should I not sleep with her? Should we discuss your pleasure in biting her lip?” I lift my gaze to his.
My words are all steady with no hint of aggression in them.
“Maybe you should be the only one to fuck her hard when she’s still in pain? ”
Eli narrows his eyes. We don’t keep shit from each other. That’s why this works. But he acts like I’m taking fucking advantage.
“We have a fucking traitor on the team, and you two are bitching about who’s sticking their dick where?
” Caden stands. “Someone is targeting Harper, besides Tanner. Maybe you two can pull your heads out of your asses long enough to stop bickering about her pussy and worry about the girl it’s attached to. ”
He pounds his fist on the table. “This is about us. Not her. They’re coming at her because of us.”
“They attack her when we leave her vulnerable.” Jack leans back. His eyes are calculating, the same way he gets when he’s working on his computer, sliding into someone’s private shit. “The away game. When we ignored her. Last night. They know when we aren’t protecting her.”
“When you ignored her?” Nico leans his elbows on the table.
Fuck. He wasn’t here then. I fill him in on what he missed, mostly from that first couple of weeks.
Spanking Harper in the cafeteria. Our decision to keep her.
The negotiation to seal the deal. Her pretending to be grounded.
The day she decided to not react and our decision to show her what it feels like until she had a flat tire.
Then we couldn’t ignore her and wouldn’t let her ignore us anymore. After we made her admit she wasn’t grounded, he was there in the mix.
“So is this what every year has been like?” Nico shakes his head.
“No,” Caden bites out. “Harper’s special.”
No one denies his claim. No one says yeah, she’s—fuck, was—the last virgin. She’s more than that, and we all fucking know it. We want her for more.
Nico nods. “How do we protect her?”
“We figure out who’s targeting her.” I push my hand through my hair. “But it’s not like we’ve been making friends all these years.”
We’ve never stolen a guy’s chick, but they’ve strayed to us. We created a culture of respect and demanded it. But we also had to take care of problems for other students.
“We need to bring her in fully.” Jack’s voice is steady and his gaze meets all of ours. “No us versus her. Only us.”
“If she’ll let us.” Eli chuckles. “Pretty sure we’re all on her shit list right now.”
“Maybe you are.” I smirk. She wants me as much as I want her. I could have taken her in that classroom, and she would have begged me for more.
“Trust. She needs to trust us, and we need to trust her.” Jack turns to Caden. “This petty shit needs to stop. She tried to protect you, and you repaid her by punishing her. She cares about you.”
Caden presses his lips together. This won’t be easy for him. Especially with what happened to his sister. He couldn’t protect his sister because he didn’t know.
“Focus that hate on destroying Tanner Lewis.” I clap him on the shoulder. “Tonight we’ll see what we can find out at the party.”