Chapter 56
The Arsenal
Harper
Eli holds my hand as we approach the office. I really don’t want to talk to the principal, but we know it’s the only way to appease my mom. Besides, it would be good to have another adult know.
Eli must have drawn the short straw to be the one who accompanies me. It didn’t seem appropriate to come in with all the horsemen.
Smiling encouragingly, Eli tugs open the office door to let me pass. I take a deep breath and step into the bustling office. The workers behind the counter move around almost in a dance, their movements coordinated to avoid each other.
A few students sit in the chairs playing on their phones. When we step in, they glance up. There’s slight interest in Eli before they look back down at their phones.
Guiding me up to the counter, Eli clears his throat, and a middle-aged woman glances toward him and smiles. “Eli, how can we help you today?”
His smile is warm and inviting as he leans on the counter. “Margaret, I love that color on you.”
“Thank you. I just bought it.” Her cheeks flush, and her smile widens. And this is why Eli is with me.
“You did well then.” It’s like the charm just oozes off him. “We need to speak to the principal. Is he in?”
Margaret refers to her computer screen. “Yes, let me see.” She taps on her keyboard a few times. “Okay, I can squeeze you in right after the next student comes out.”
“That would be great. Thank you, Margaret.” His smile never wavers, and his eyes never leave hers.
“You can just sit over there.” She points toward a couple of empty chairs.
I smile, but don’t say anything, afraid that I’ll break whatever spell Eli cast on her.
That’s why I said my mom wouldn’t like him.
He’s a charmer, just like Mom said my father was.
Eli guides me over to the chairs, and we take a seat.
He sits between me and the guy on his phone, who glances at us for a second.
The guy gives Eli a nod of respect before going back to his screen. Eli relaxes into the seat and holds my hand in his lap, gently tracing my knuckles.
My mind spins. How am I going to approach this with the principal? Do I tell him about the break-in? The threatened rape? Obviously, I can’t tell him everything that’s happened. But I do need to tell him about the picture.
Fuck, the picture!
“I don’t have a copy of the picture,” I whisper to Eli.
He weaves his fingers with mine on his lap. “I have a copy. Jack is still tracking down where the original came from.”
I blow out a breath. If anyone can find it, it would be Jack. Hopefully, the principal won’t want to get the cops involved. I’m over eighteen, and it’s not me in the picture. At least not fully.
The girl across from me is wearing a super short skirt and spreads her legs open. Her eyes watch Eli as she twirls her hair. She has a cocky smile on her face that I want to wipe off. Was she one of the girls Eli fucked?
She barely glances at me when she notices him holding my hand. I’m not a violent person, but part of me wants to grab her hair and tell her to stop looking at my man like he’s candy up for grabs.
Eli squeezes my hand and leans into my ear. “Calm down, kitten. She’s just jealous.”
“No, she thinks you’re available for the taking,” I whisper and glare at her.
“You want to show her I’m yours?” Eli’s lips brush my ear, sending shivers through me.
I turn so our eyes lock. His gaze drops to my lips. I’m aware of the office buzzing around me. That we’re not alone at all. But this isn’t the cafeteria or a party where we’re surrounded with kids our age.
There are adults in here. Adults that can hand out detentions or punish us in some way for PDA. Not that it’s happened in the hallway on the way to class when one of the guys backs me up against a locker.
“You know you want to, kitten. Show her what she can’t have.” His nose brushes mine.
I close the distance between our lips until we just hover there. A breath apart. My heart beats wildly in my chest. My eyes search his. His lips curve up, and I feel it more than see it. We’re too close to see each other’s lips.
There’s a challenge in his eyes. He wants to know if I’m willing to do what it takes to claim him. Fuck it, I’m going to get in so much trouble.
As soon as our lips touch, everything in the office fades away. There’s a small part of me that’s aware of the room around me, but most of me is focused on the electric buzz generated between us.
He doesn’t deepen the kiss like he normally would, but as I pull away, he follows me, keeping us connected. A throat clears, and we part. My cheeks burn, but Eli’s smile is cocky as he turns toward Margaret.
She smiles like he’s a little scamp and not the player he used to be. “He’ll see you now.”
Eli draws me up with him and leads me through the door to the office area. He knocks on the doorframe and grins.
“Mr. McGrath.”
“Mr. Jacobs, come in.” The principal stands and holds his hand out to Eli. He’s probably in his fifties, but with a nice smile and thinning hair. As they shake, Mr. McGrath looks me over, probably trying to figure out why I’m here.
Eli gestures to me. “This is my girlfriend, Harper Davidson.”
“A pleasure, young lady.” He nods in my direction and motions to the chairs across from him.
I cross my legs, waiting for Eli to start the process.
“How’s your mother?” The principal leans back in his chair and temples his fingers against his lips.
“She’s good.” Eli smirks. “How’s your wife?”
“Good. Good.” The principal leans forward and appears all business. “How can I help you today?”
Eli glances at me and the look on his face is almost upset. “Unfortunately, Harper is being cyber bullied. We thought we should alert you to it since it’s being spread around the whole school.”
Mr. McGrath gives me another look. “What kind of cyber bullying?”
“There’s a picture of me circulating. My head cropped onto someone else’s naked body.” My cheeks heat just thinking about it.
Eli lifts his phone and sets it on the desk. “We don’t know who sent it, but we want to make sure you know the situation.”
The principal takes the phone. I squirm in my chair when he seems to take too long looking at it. Finally, he passes the phone back to Eli and glances at me.
“I’m glad you brought this to our attention.” Mr. McGrath clears his throat. “We take bullying very seriously, including cyber bullying. If you’ll forward the information you already have regarding this incident to my email, I’ll look into it.”
“Already done.” Eli leans back. He seems to be getting more comfortable instead of getting up to leave. I’m ready to leave.
“Do you know who might have done this?” Mr. McGrath glances at me again, and I cross my arms over my chest. I didn’t realize how uncomfortable it would be after he saw that image. It’s not even my body, but it’s still like he can see me, imagine me naked.
“There are a few people who have been causing trouble lately for us.” Eli takes my hand and squeezes it. “Tanner Lewis and Zach Gray are the ones who come to mind, but it could also be Sidney Brown or one of her people.”
Mr. McGrath nods. “I see. We’ll keep an eye out. If anyone has this picture on their phone, we’ll be sure to make them delete it and give them detention. And you take care, Ms. Davidson.”
I feel like I should say something. “Thank you.”
Eli pulls me up with him and shakes the principal’s hand again. Eli’s arm wraps around my waist as he leads me through the outer office. When the girl from before gives him a flirty smile, he smirks and turns me into him before sliding his hand into my hair and kissing me.
An open mouth, devouring kiss in front of everyone. My insides tangle in embarrassment and need, even as I rejoice in the possessive claim of it.
He draws away and gives me a soft smile that he doesn’t give to anyone else. When he propels me out of the office, I turn and deliver a smug smile to the other girl.
Her eyes narrow, but the doors close on her. I immediately forget her as we head to the cafeteria.
“If we had time, I’d drag you into a closet and fuck you so hard.” His words are dark and gritty in my ear, creating a throbbing need between my thighs.
“Promises, promises.” My gaze collides with his. I swear I can see the internal war over the closet or the cafeteria inside him.
When the cafeteria doors open, we step inside. The noise is almost overwhelming today. Kind of wish he’d chosen the closet. Everyone must be excited about the game or the party tonight. The party we’re not attending.
I breathe a sigh of relief as we pass by Sidney’s and Zach’s table. Sidney leans against Zach like he’s her one and only. How much of it is an act? Does she actually want him as much as she wanted Luke? Has she finally given up on Luke?
She narrows her eyes, and even though she’s still smiling there’s hate there. Yeah, she’s not over Luke. Or maybe just not over the fact I have him.
Eli pulls out the chair next to Jack for me, and we both sit down.
“How’d it go?” Luke asks Eli but looks at me.
“The usual. They’ll look into it. McGrath will probably add the pic to his spank bank.” Eli’s hand rests on my back.
I can’t help the look of disgust that crosses my face at the thought of the principal using that image to get off. Jack slides his hand over my jeans-covered thigh and squeezes.
“I can delete it from his personal computer tonight, sweetheart.” Jack’s eyes sparkle with his smile.
I kiss him. “Thank you.”
He squeezes my thigh and leaves his hand there. Caden passes me a lunch tray.
“Thank you. I’m starving.” I grin and pick up my fork.
“Tonight, you and MacKenzie will ride to the game with Coach Turner.” Jack watches me stuff a forkful of pasta into my mouth. “You’re going to be runners for the team.”
“Okay?” I’m not sure what that will entail. “What does a runner do?”
“You’ll deliver messages to the quarterback or whoever the coach needs you to deliver information to.” Jack takes a bite of his sandwich.
My gaze jerks to Luke’s and he smirks. Yeah, that could cause problems. Luke all hot and sweaty, leaning in close so I can tell him what the coach wants him to do.
I focus on my lunch. It’s the only way the guys trust I’ll get there in one piece so that’s the way it will be.
“Eli?” Penny and Natalie stand behind us a little away, wringing their hands.
He arches an eyebrow and gestures for them to come closer. For a second, it feels like the entire cafeteria holds its breath, waiting to see what’s going to happen.
Then the noise fills back in and makes it impossible to hear what the girls are saying to Eli. If they’re supposed to be turncoats, how is this helpful? Shouldn’t they have found a place in private to talk to him?
My gaze lands on Nico, who’s watching the girls with Eli before he realizes he has my attention. His face clears and he smiles. “Good?”
I force a smile and nod. I don’t know if I’m good though. All these moving pieces are kind of hard to keep juggling. They don’t trust these girls to get me to the game tonight, but they’re trusting them to get information for us.
Eli nods, and the girls move away. When Penny waves at me, I wave back with a friendly smile. I don’t know who to trust anymore. I trust Kenz, but the guys don’t.
The guys have my trust because we’re doing this thing where we trust each other. But there’s this little niggle of doubt still deep inside that was instilled from years of watching them. They prove that doubt wrong every day though.
Every night I spend in their arms. Every kiss. Every touch. Things are shifting between us, and I’m afraid this won’t be something I can walk away from unscarred.
I clear my throat and draw Eli’s attention. His eyes meet mine.
“What did the girls want?”
Eli leans in and brushes the hair away from my ear. Tingles ripple from his touch.
“Just a check in, kitten.” His lips brush my ear with every word. “They’re going to the party tonight. We need eyes and ears.”
I swallow down the blooming heat inside me. “Do you trust them?”
Because they want something. Everyone wants something.
“No, kitten.” He kisses my cheekbone beside my ear. “But I have other priorities tonight. Want to play a game later?”
He shifts back so I can see his dark eyes. A game? Fuck, my panties dampen.
“Is your period over, kitten?” His finger rubs my lower lip.
My lips part, and I’m tempted to take his finger into my mouth. Instead, I nod.
His eyes brighten and he smirks. “Good. Wear your collar tonight.”