Chapter 52
The Suspects
Harper
“How many men have you been with?” The question bursts out of me as soon as Jack and I are in the shower, scrubbing each other. He focuses on my breasts while I scrub his chest with the poof.
He arches an eyebrow. His blue eyes are suspicious. “A few.”
Maybe I shouldn’t ask, but if we’re in this long term, I want to know. It’s a part of what makes Jack, Jack.
I blow out a breath. “I know how many women you’ve been with, but it seems significant that you’ve been with men too. It’s like you’re hiding that part of yourself from me.”
He inhales and searches my eyes. “Four. Not all great experiences, but definitely eye opening and made me appreciate that I’m truly bisexual.”
I soap down his abs. We’ve talked about this before, but since we’re in a relationship now, I feel like I need to make sure. I look up at him through my eyelashes. “Am I enough?”
He smirks and pulls me into a hug. Our soapy, naked bodies press against each other, lighting sparks wherever we touch. “Yes, sweetheart, you’re enough. Besides, I may not get to fuck those hard bodies out there, but watching them with you is enough to make me explode.”
“Yeah, they’re pretty awesome.” I lean into him. They’re all so different, but they’re all mine.
For a second, we just hold each other close and breathe while the water rushes over us.
Jack breaks the silence. “Lucy wants you to come over and play her Barbie game.”
I lift my head. “Your little sister?”
He smiles. “She knows I have a girlfriend and thinks you’ll be better at the game than I am.”
“Do you suck at the Barbie game, Jack?” I arch an eyebrow as I step back so we can continue to get clean.
“I suck at a lot of things, Harper. But some things require sucking.” Jack’s smirk heats my insides, but I tamp it down. We need to get back out there and figure shit out. Not fuck more. When I get back to scrubbing him, he works on cleaning me.
After a good rinsing, we towel each other off and get dressed. The others are sitting on the leather sectional. When Luke doesn’t reach out for me, I sit between Eli and Jack. Nico gives me a smile, and I return it.
“We have a few things to discuss.” Eli leans back and puts his hand on my thigh. It’s warm and comforting. “The first thing we need to discuss is this Friday’s game. It’s out of town, and that means Harper will be vulnerable while we’re at the game and on the bus.”
A shiver creeps down my spine because he’s not wrong. Mom works that night too.
“She could come to the game.” Caden leans forward with his elbows on his knees and his hands clasped. His focus is intent on me. “That makes sure she isn’t here for someone to take advantage of.”
“Penny and the girls offered to let me ride with them to the last away game.” I lean against Jack’s shoulder, just needing the comfort of being near them both. If I could, I would find a way to touch them all to ground me.
“Did they know you were grounded?” Eli turns to me.
“Yeah, I told Penny I couldn’t go because I was grounded. They texted me from the game though.” I don’t reach for my phone. The texts are there if they ask for them.
“Do we know if they knew about you being alone for the other incidents?”
My eyes widen. Eli thinks they might be involved with whoever is after me. I think back.
“They were supposedly at the away game when the knocking happened, but they knew I’d be home alone.
Kenz left shortly before the knocking began.
The tire slash could have been anyone. I only discovered it when I left school.
” I tap my finger on my lips trying to remember. Did they know about the other times?
“Penny knew when your mom was working because you were pretending to sleep over there.” Jack wraps his arm around my shoulder and rubs my arm.
“But she thought I was sleeping with you guys.” I try to think of something to eliminate them as suspects. “They didn’t know I was going to the locker room at the last game.”
“Who knew?” Nico asks.
“The girls in the bathroom who told me about it, and I texted Kenz.”
“I talked with Zoey Turner, the cheerleader in the bathroom.” Luke narrows his eyes on me. “She doesn’t strike me as the kind to sic a guy on a girl like that.”
“Why didn’t Kenz go with you?” Caden’s voice is low, and I try not to get defensive of my best friend. We’re just talking out everything. No one is casting blame.
“Brandon was playing. I told her to wait and make sure you guys didn’t miss me while I went down to the bathroom to try to wash the stench away. I texted her when I went to the school.”
“Why didn’t she go to check on you when you didn’t come back?”
My heart freezes as I look at the guys. They all have that look like they think she’s the person harassing me. No, no way.
“Kenz is my best friend. She did text me, and she went to get you guys but couldn’t get into the locker room. She told Jack.”
“At half-time. You were gone for almost half the game, kitten.” Eli’s voice is soft, but his eyes are cold and calculating. Fuck, they can’t punish her.
“She was with me the night someone broke in.” I straighten. My mind races to try to find some way to disprove her as a suspect. “Why would she slash my tire?”
“That was the day we ignored you.” Caden rubs his jaw. “She could have used it to get you back into our good graces.”
“Brandon was the one who told us about him and Kenz fucking.” Jack puts his hands up in surrender when I glare at him.
“She knows pretty much everything about you, Harper.” Luke watches me carefully. “It might be too perfect though. Have we ever done anything to her?”
Jack shakes his head. “She’s been with Brandon for a few years, so she dropped off our radar.”
“She knew you were home alone with her that night. She could have called whoever broke in and potentially left a window open so he could get in.” Nico’s words ring in my ear.
“Stop!” I have to move, because I don’t want it to make sense. Standing, I pace the room. “No. Fuck, no. Kenz is my friend. She wouldn’t do that to me. Never.”
I stop and glare at each of them in turn.
“Kenz wouldn’t do that to me.” I feel it resonate in my bones. We’re best friends. She’s never cared about the horsemen. “She doesn’t care about you guys. Don’t you think I would know if my best friend was betraying me?”
“You didn’t know Nico was a horseman,” Jack helpfully points out.
“We were kids,” I spit out, wrapping my arms around my waist. Tears burn the backs of my eyes. “Kenz and I have been friends for years. I’m not going to accuse my best friend of trying to have me raped or hurt me in any way. So stop.”
Caden comes up behind me. His arms slide around my waist, drawing me back into his warmth. “Okay.”
I spin in his arms and search his eyes, trying to figure out what okay means.
“We’ll believe you and leave her alone. But we still have to look into everyone, little nympho. Even if it hurts.”
I rest my head against his steady heart and release the tension from my body. “She’s my only friend.”
The words are soft, but they’re so true. For years, it was just me and her. I needed someone and she was there. She’s the last person I would ever suspect of being involved in whatever scheme I’m wrapped up in.
“She seemed genuinely surprised by the guy in Harper’s room.” Luke’s eyes are soft when they meet mine. “I don’t think she was expecting it.”
My heart beats a little faster and louder and gratitude flows over me. Caden tightens his hold on me like he’s afraid I’ll leave him to hug Luke. He’s not wrong. The impulse is there.
Instead, I mouth thank you to Luke, and he gives me a slight nod.
“Then back to Penny and her crew.” Eli’s voice is a little disappointed. I can see where he might think Kenz is the one, but she’s not. She can’t be.
I ease back from Caden and rub at the pain in my chest.
She can’t be.
Eli
I get it. I’d be upset if someone told me Luke was the one causing all the problems in my life. But then I would look at him more closely.
Sighing, Harper resumes her seat next to me and Jack. Her fingers tangle with mine. I could be stupid like the others and let her convince me not to look into her best friend because Harper believes she’s loyal.
But if I thought for one second one of these guys was involved in whatever is happening, I’d look into them too. Not because I don’t trust them, but because they’re capable of it. I meet Jack’s eyes over Harper’s head, and he gives me a slight nod. We’re on the same page.
Good.
“The clinger girls would have motive and opportunity.” I squeeze Harper’s hand, and she gives a small smile. “They want what you have and would benefit the most from us breaking up.”
“Do we know if they have any connections to Zach?” Nico asks.
Jack clears his throat. “Isabelle Baker dated Zach’s older brother until he left for college.”
I glance at Harper. She shrugs.
“They approached me after you claimed me. They seem friendly enough, but even Kenz said most people will have a motive for approaching me now. Theirs seems to be popularity. Kenz also said they all had steady boyfriends before this school year, and now that they’re single they want to fuck horsemen. ”
I shake my head and lift my hand to her jaw. Her eyes soften as she meets mine. “They’re using you to get to us. That doesn’t mean they want revenge on us, but eliminating you would make it easier for them.”
She arches an eyebrow. “Eliminating me?”
“Getting you out of the picture.” My thumb trails over her soft skin. Most girls I’m rough with, but Harper makes me want to slow down and savor her softness.
“What about Sidney and Ashley?” she asks. “They also think they’ll benefit from eliminating me.”
“We’re looking into them.” Jack trails his fingertips down Harper’s neck, sending a little shiver through her. “It’d be nice if we could shorten the list of suspects.”