Chapter 33
Third-Party Aggression
Harper
The afternoon is more of the same. By the time I’m walking out to my car after school, I feel almost calm. The guys have appeared to back off entirely, but I haven’t quite gotten my hopes up yet.
When I get to my car, my tire is flat. I stare at it for a moment and then heave a sigh. This happens sometimes. One of my tires has a slow leak. I never remember which one it is.
I text Mom to let her know why I’m going to be late and throw my backpack in the car. Popping the trunk, I get out everything I need to change the tire.
Mom made me change my tire five times before she would let me get my license. She didn’t want me to have to rely on the kindness of strangers to get myself out of a jam.
When the tire is off, I notice a slash mark in the sidewall. Either I clipped a curb or…
I stand and look around the mostly empty lot. No one is around. But suddenly it feels like eyes are on me.
I didn’t clip a curb this morning. A smattering of cars are around the parking lot. Of course the horsemen’s cars are still here. I don’t know if they would do this to me. I don’t know what it would give them besides me being irritated.
That bound up feeling I had when the knocking happened fills my chest. Trapped and not knowing who is out to get me.
Ugh. Fuck that. I have to finish this and get home. One step at a time. I put the spare tire on and get busy. When I lower my car, I hear a stampede of footsteps running toward me.
I stand and turn to see the football team running through the other end of the parking lot. Oh, joy. I roll my damaged tire to my trunk and lift it to throw it in before returning for the tools.
Someone stops running and stares over at me. I resist the urge to hold up my middle finger at Caden. He glances at where the others have gone but then cuts across the parking lot toward me.
I don’t have any energy left to deal with these fuckers right now. I replace all the tools in their spots and close my trunk.
“What happened?” Caden glances at the spare tire before his eyes dart to my face and then my dirty hands.
“Flat.” I grab a couple of napkins from my car door and scrub my hands with them. Not that they do much for the grease.
“This happen a lot?” Caden glances over his shoulder, but the rest of the team has moved on.
“Sometimes. I have a tire with a slow leak, but this tire—” I stop. Why am I telling him any of this? We’re done. Finished. They’ve made it perfectly clear they want nothing more to do with me.
“This tire what?” Caden’s eyes meet mine. “Harper, what aren’t you telling me?”
He closes in on me, and I swear even his sweat smells delicious.
Fuck it. He’ll leave faster if I just tell him.
“There was a puncture to the sidewall. I don’t think I hit any potholes on the way to school this morning, so…” I shrug and back up against my car to get away from him. “You should get back to practice, and I need to get home.”
His face goes hard, and his eyes narrow on me. “So someone slashed your tire?”
I shrug again. “I don’t know.”
“Show me.”
“Caden—” I start.
“Harper, show me the tire.” He closes in a little more and gives me a fierce look.
Sighing, I head to my trunk. He follows closely. When I open it, he pulls out the tire as if it weighs nothing and squats down to study it. The hole is pretty obvious, so it doesn’t take him long.
He stands and searches the surrounding area like whoever’s responsible will just be standing there with a sign saying I did it. Then he lifts the tire into my trunk and closes it, taking my keys and pocketing them.
“Come on.” He grabs my arm and starts pulling me toward the school.
I plant my feet. “What? No. My tire is fixed. I’m going home. Mom is expecting me.”
He stops and crowds me, but I hold my ground. “And I’m not letting you drive home in a car someone already fucked with. Call your mom and let her know the tire was more damaged than you thought and you’re getting a ride from a friend.”
“I could just call her to come pick me up,” I throw back at him.
“Fine, but I’m not leaving you out here alone while you do and I need to get back to practice. Are you walking or am I carrying you?” He lifts his eyebrow. He’d do it too.
I glance around the empty lot.
“Fine.” Being out here alone already spooked me.
I text Mom as Caden pulls me to the football field. Mom tells me she’s still at the hospital and to grab a ride with a friend.
I sigh.
“What?” Caden stops. We’re just outside the football stadium, and I can see a group of three guys looking our way. No need to guess who they are.
“Mom’s at work.” I glance up at him. Even though it’s probably useless, I have to try again. “My tire is fixed. Give me back my keys and I can get home on the spare.”
“No, you won’t.” Caden grabs my chin and lifts my face so that I have no choice but to meet his glare. “You’ll sit on the bench like a docile little pet, or I’ll spank you worse than anything Luke will ever do to you.”
I open my mouth and then shut it. Arguing with him is pointless. Besides, the horsemen may have backed off today, but that doesn’t mean I’m not still fair game. If Caden decides to punish me, there’s not much I can do to stop him.
He takes my silence as compliance and drags me over to the bench on the side of the field. “Sit. Stay.”
I’m tempted to bark at him, but I roll my eyes and sit on the bench.
He tips my chin up, and his eyes narrow on mine. “If you leave, I will be in your bedroom tonight.”
I bite my tongue to keep from saying promises, promises.
He leaves me to join the others. They talk for a minute and glance over at me a few times, but I try my best to ignore them.
The coach blows his whistle, and the guys get back into practice.
My bag is locked in my car, so I don’t have my homework to work on.
I have my phone, but Mom is at work. Kenz is planning on meeting Brandon tonight.
I’m not about to text the user girls. I could text Tanner to give me a ride home.
He did promise to be my hero, but I don’t really need saving tonight.
Not any more than Caden has already done.
Not that I needed anyone to save me. I fixed my tire and was ready to head home.
Am I creeped out because someone probably did it on purpose? Of course. And I would have discussed it with my mom when I got home.
Now I have their attention again. Just when I believed I was free and clear.
I pull up Candy Crush and play through my lives. That’s the problem with the higher levels. It takes a while to get through some, and I fail on all five of my lives. I try to ignore the sounds of pads colliding and grunting men on the field.
At least Caden put me at the end they aren’t currently doing drills on. I look around, curious if whoever is out for me is still watching. None of this started until the horsemen claimed me, but it doesn’t make sense.
I mean, they could still be two separate incidents. The prank and the car tire. Someone punishing me for having the horsemen’s focus on me. Because that’s my fault. I scoff. Or maybe someone punishing me to get the horsemen’s attention.
Some of the guys run sprints while Luke throws to Eli and another guy. The other guy doesn’t seem that good. He almost drops the ball twice and fumbles it another two times.
When Luke catches me watching, I decide staring up at the sky is a much better way to pass the time. I lie down on the bench and stare at the endless blue sky. A cloud would make this so much better.
“Wake up.” A hand nudges my hip. I go to roll away from the offending hand and meet with only air. My heart flips. My eyes pop open to see the ground rushing my way, but then I realize I’m floating there and an arm is banded around my waist. “Didn’t know you were so accident-prone.”
Jack. I lower my feet to the ground and stabilize myself before he releases me.
“I fell asleep.” Wow, way to state the obvious. I shake my head, vaguely remembering staring at the empty blue sky.
“Apparently.” Jack sits on the bench and looks up at me. He pats the space next to him. He’s still in his practice gear, covered in grass stains. His black hair is plastered against his head.
Not fully alert, I drop onto the bench and realize no one else is out here with us. “Practice over?”
“Yes. Caden didn’t want to leave you alone, but Coach wouldn’t let him bring you into the locker room, even with you asleep.” Jack smiles warily.
I nod. That makes sense. “I’m fine. You can go get changed.”
“Not happening.” He shakes his head. “I know about the tire.”
“It’s probably nothing. Just a horsemen groupie who wants me to leave her men alone.” Ha, joke’s on her. They already left me alone. My gaze focuses on the parking lot. Even though the sun is still trying to shine, the parking lot lights have turned on, creating more shadows.
“We don’t like that you’ve been targeted twice now.” Jack’s voice is stilted.
“Me neither, but they probably aren’t related. Friday night at eleven o’clock equals bored kids wandering around trying to not be bored. The tire? Maybe I didn’t notice the damage and a week of not driving on it made it worse.”
I don’t know if I even believe my story, but it sounds good.
I sigh. “Caden wouldn’t let me just go home, so I’m here. He has my keys. I’ll wait until you guys are done if you want to go in.”
His hand covers mine on the bench. Warmth spreads through me from his touch.
“I’m not leaving you alone, Harper.”
I blow out a breath. I want to rail at him about how they left me alone all day today, so obviously I’m not a priority, but now that I’m a damsel in distress they want to swoop in and fix everything?
And they aren’t using their nicknames for me. It’s Harper this and Harper that. So obviously they’ve decided they’ve had enough of me. I don’t bother looking at him as I let the disappointment settle in my chest.
After five minutes of silence, Jack says, “I like this time of day. That space between night and day when you can see both the sun and the moon in the sky. It’s too bright for stars, but the lights come on because it’s almost dark.
It’s this time in between where things aren’t quite ready to end and not quite ready to begin. ”
“Twilight,” I murmur and notice he’s still holding my hand. I try to pull it away, but he tightens his hold on me. I turn to him to ask him to let go.
“I figure that’s where you are.” Jack squeezes my hand. He stares at the sky in the distance. “Stuck in the twilight. Not quite what you used to be and not quite who you could be. I guess that’s most of us in high school. You don’t have to be afraid of the change.”
He turns his face toward mine, and I focus on his dark blue eyes, so close to the color of the sky at twilight.
“You don’t have to stay the way you were, but I understand if you don’t want to be what we want you to be.” Jack shrugs and looks up at the sky.
“What do you want me to be?” My words are quiet. I’m almost afraid to break this peace between us.
“Free.” His eyes meet mine and I can feel this swelling in my chest.
“Go get changed.” Luke’s voice shatters whatever moment Jack and I were having.
Jack squeezes my hand before releasing it and stands. For a moment, he and Luke just look at each other, as if they’re communicating without words. Finally Jack walks off to the locker room, leaving me with Luke.
I fold my hands in my lap as he sits beside me. His hair is wet and standing all over the place. He’s back in the jeans and t-shirt he wore to school today.
Something sparks inside me just being near him. I take a deep breath and blow it out because I’m not talking to this asshole.
He watches me, but he doesn’t say anything or move. Just sits.
It’s unnerving. I’m almost willing to take my chance with whoever fucked with my car over Luke Foster.
He licks his thumb and rubs it against my cheek.
“What the hell?” I try to move away, but he grips my arm with his other hand.
“You have grease on your cheek.” He moves his thumb back to wipe at it.
“You’re using your spit to clean my face?” I give him an incredulous look. That’s something moms do to toddlers.
He smirks and whips off his shirt with one hand before using the inside to wipe at my cheek. He cocks an eyebrow at me. “Better?”
Swallowing, I try to keep my eyes from dipping down to his shredded body. His seductive scent is basically pressed to my face and unavoidable. My insides soften before I can lock that shit down.
I push his shirt away from me. “I’m good. Thanks.”
“So touchy.” He chuckles low and dark, tugging at that part of me that really wants whatever Luke is selling. At least he puts his shirt back on.
Yup, I’m done. I stand and walk toward the parking lot.
“It’s getting dark over there, princess,” he calls out.
I stop at the nickname. My heart beats a little harder. I turn around, but the world darkens around us, leaving him in shadow. I can’t see his eyes or face to make out what he’s thinking. Not that I ever know what Luke thinks.
“Let’s get you home.”
I lift my head at Caden’s voice. I’m so confused right now.