3. The Quiet
The Quiet
Harper
I take a long, hot shower alone while Caden attends his family dinner. I’m not ready for this week. Being strong is tiring, and it’s easier when I have my mother in my corner. Part of me wishes we could just go back to the beginning of the school year. The last day of summer.
Before they claimed me. Before they loved me.
Before all this bullshit that comes with being theirs.
At first, it was only them against me, but even then I knew others wouldn’t like this.
Maybe if I hadn’t put up a fight. Maybe if I’d just given in like everyone else before me, none of this would have happened.
No one would be after me. No one would be targeting me. All my mom and dad’s secrets would have remained buried, and I would have blissfully cruised through my senior year and went on to college.
I sigh and shut off the water, grabbing a towel. This whole thing has taken such weird turns. Especially with parents entering the fray. It doesn’t feel wrong to be in Caden’s bathroom, but it does feel a little lonely without the others.
Tucking the towel around me, I step into the bedroom and startle before I realize the figure on the couch is Jack. I cover my racing heart and release my breath.
“You scared me.” I chuckle a little, but the sound cuts off when he lifts somber blue eyes to mine. I step toward him. “Are you okay?”
“Get dressed first, sweetheart.” He runs a hand through his hair.
My heart picks up speed again, but I nod and head into the closet. I pick out comfy pajamas because we’ve had our fun this weekend and now it’s time to get serious. We’re facing off against monsters as fierce as my guys. It feels like I need a little armor.
When I come out, Jack pats the couch cushion next to him, and I sit down cross-legged facing him.
“What happened?”
“First off, I love you and while I promised not to touch another girl, Emma was hurting.”
I hold my breath.
“I touched her arm and gave her a hug.”
That’s it? I release my breath. Technically it’s touching, but comforting isn’t the same as trying to put the moves on someone.
He runs a hand through his hair. I take his other hand in mine and hold it on my lap. He’s obviously agitated by whatever he learned. I should have pressed harder to go with him, to be there for him.
“It’s okay. I’m not backing out of this relationship over a technicality.” I lift his hand to my lips and kiss it.
“Emma and I have been friends more than anything else.” His blue eyes search mine. “She was the first person I told about being bi. She was super supportive. Some of the girls were possessive, but never Emma. She wanted to explore her sexuality too. We were comfortable with each other.”
I smile encouragingly at him. “I’m glad you have a friend like her.”
He smiles, but his hand tightens in mine. “Last night at the party, she went off with a few guys, but then more joined in. It didn’t go how she expected it to.”
My eyes widen, imagining how that must have felt. The level of trust I have with my guys wouldn’t be there with those boys.
“Zach coordinated it, but didn’t participate. And she got out before it could get too far out of hand.” Jack blows out a breath. “She thought he was practicing.”
My breath catches as Jack draws me into his arms. Practicing? My heart stutters as my mind stalls. We know he has plans for me and has no issue with rape, but it really hasn’t sunk in. And to do that to Emma. For what reason? To try it out? Did he think she’d be willing to be his little experiment?
“We won’t let him hurt you, Harper,” Jack says against my neck. He inhales, and I breathe again. The scent of crisp apples fills my nose. I put my arms around his neck and hold him close.
What happened to Emma never should have happened. This kind of thing can’t happen again. Yes, maybe Emma initially said yes, but what happens when she can’t say no. When they don’t let her say no.
“How is she doing?” I ask softly, toying with the ends of his hair.
“Coping. It was a lot, but she got out of there when Hannah realized something was wrong.” Jack rests his head against mine.
“Jack?” I whisper against his shoulder. My emotions finally catch up to me. I’ve been trying to keep them down, but this is too much. Everything is too much.
“Yeah?”
“I’m not sure I can do this.” Tears choke me as they spill down my cheeks onto his shirt. It’s all too much. Emma, my mom, even Nico. Finding out they were all targeted because of our relationship.
Jack draws me in tighter against his body, and the tears just flow out of me.
“Everything’s going to work out, sweetheart.” He rubs my back in slow circles. “Your mom is safe, wherever she is. None of us will let you get hurt. They won’t be able to get to you. I won’t let them.”
“Can this part just be over?” I whisper. I don’t want Emma to be used to see if the torture they’re devising for me will work. I want my mom to be home. Nico shouldn’t have to go into surgery tomorrow.
I don’t want to smile next to my would-be rapist, who we know has raped others before me. I don’t want to do any of this.
Jack draws in a ragged breath and releases it slowly. “I’d run away with you tonight if I thought it would work out for us. We all would, in a heartbeat. But if we don’t face down these enemies, there will be more. They’ll keep taking from us until we have nothing left.”
“What if we take them down before they can take us down?” I press my face into his shoulder and then sit back on his lap to look into his eyes. “You’ve done it before.”
He rubs the wetness off my cheeks. “It took months to take down Tanner, and he wasn’t as popular as Zach.
We already have confirmation from multiple sources that he’s a predator.
You, Emma, and other girls have all had bad experiences with him.
Whatever he’s hiding, he’s hiding it well from everyone else. ”
I rest my forehead against his. “I want to skip to the good parts.”
His chuckle is sad. “Me too, sweetheart.”
“Are you staying too?” Caden’s voice draws both our attention to the door as he closes it behind him.
“No.” Jack sighs and draws my face back to his. He kisses me, making me melt for him. When he draws away, he rubs his thumb over my bottom lip. “Much as I want to stay and play. I have to go home. There are files I need to go through.”
I lower my chin and give him a fierce look. “You need a full night of sleep.”
He sighs. “I’ll try.”
“For me,” I insist.
“For you.” He kisses me and lifts me to stand before rising off the couch.
Caden draws me against him after setting down a plate on the coffee table. “You’re always welcome to join, Jack.”
Looking over the two of us, he’s obviously torn, but he groans. “I have to go.”
I frown, wishing again that we could all stay together. Weekends are going to be the best for a while.
If we make it through next weekend, which is Homecoming.
Jack closes in on me again. “I’m ready to skip to the good parts too, sweetheart.”
After kissing me far too briefly, he does the weird handshake thing with Caden before he heads out the door. I drag in a breath and lean back against Caden.
“Want some dinner?” Caden presses on the small of my back to lead me over to the couch. “I had the chef make you a plate.”
“The one that wouldn’t make you a peanut butter and jelly sandwich?” I arch an eyebrow, prepared to dislike whatever this chef made me.
Caden chuckles. “Calm down, little nympho. That guy hasn’t worked here in ages.”
He pushes the plate in front of me, and I draw in the delicious scent of rosemary and thyme on chicken and vegetables. My stomach rumbles.
Caden goes over to the mini-refrigerator in the corner of his room and gets me a soda as I dig in. He sets down the soda and pulls out his laptop and opens the group videochat.
The cameras come on one by one. All except Jack. Caden must have texted them. Eli is at his desk working on something. Luke tugs at the white tape around his hands with his teeth. His hair is damp, probably from sweat.
Nico’s comes on, and he’s in his bed.
“How’s the knee, man?” Caden asks.
“Sore. Hopefully better tomorrow.” Nico smiles. “Fuck, that looks delicious, sunshine. I’m not allowed anything else tonight. Surgery is first thing.”
My stomach rolls, but I continue to eat.
This is a standard procedure. Nothing should happen to Nico tomorrow.
He’s going in for knee surgery, not anything life-threatening.
But with all the talk about the hospital, I would feel better if my mom was there to watch over him.
Even if she wouldn’t even be near where he’s going.
“Fairly routine surgery.” Eli glances up at the monitor. “You’ll be fine. We’ll work with you to get you back into fighting form by the time fall rolls around again.”
Nico sighs. “It would have been nice to be on the winning team this year.”
“You’re still on the team.” Luke runs a hand through his wet hair, making it stand on end. “You’re just injured.”
“It may not feel the same,” Caden says, “but it wouldn’t be the same without you there.”
“How are you coping?” Nico asks, a little too gently to still be talking about football.
I swallow my bite and wipe my mouth with a napkin. “I assume you’re asking me?”
“Yes, sunshine,” Nico says. “It’s not every day your mom takes off.”
Tears clog my throat, but don’t make it up to my eyes. I choke them down, conscious of all of them watching me like hawks. I don’t have to be brave in front of them, but I want to be.
“It’s a lot,” I admit.
Caden bumps his arm against mine. “We’re here for you.”
I lean against his arm, grateful to have them all. Jack’s feed comes on and he studies me for a moment.
“Still feeling weepy, sweetheart?”
“No. I’m better now that you guys are here.” I breathe in, wishing they were all here in the room with me. It’s easy to forget everything going on when it’s just the six of us.
“Where are you on college applications, kitten?” Eli looks up, and it’s like he’s looking right at me.
“They’re coming along.”
They haven’t been a huge priority with everything else going on.
But I have worked on them with the guys.
My spine tingles at the awareness they’re all waiting for me to say more.
I answered their question. Sure, my answer was short and vague, but it’s not my fault they decided to apply to a gazillion universities before they met me.
When everyone just waits for me to elaborate, I blow out a breath. “It’s a really long list. It’s not realistic to apply to all of them. Can’t we narrow them down a little?”
I hold my fingers up and squish my thumb and finger together.
“We want to make sure we all get in to at least one university together.” Eli leans forward. “That includes you, kitten.”
My insides glow warm. This weekend was a preview of what college might be like. Going to school together, living together, working together. Building a future. It’s something to focus on. “There are a few more applications I need to finish.”
“What about your essays?” Luke asks. “Do you need more guidance on those?”
“If I do, I’ll put them in the online file.” It’s so weird that they want me to go to college with them, but not weird at the same time. Instead of looking forward to college because it will be an escape from this town, now I get to look forward to growing and learning with these five guys.
“What about homework?” Caden plucks at the strap of my pajama top.
“All caught up.” I glance at him, and he smirks.
“College applications first, kitten.” Eli’s tone draws my attention back to him. “We have plenty of time to play.”
My body aches from last night and this morning with how much we played, and not all in a good way. I get my laptop out and pull up the browser to work on applications again. My webcam turns on and Jack winks at me before focusing on his second screen.
After a while, I’m resting against Caden’s shoulder while working on another essay.
I haven’t even started on my additional scholarship essays yet.
Some of the weight of school falls back on me.
What if my grades suffer and I’m not able to get into a good school with them? Will they leave me behind?
What if my mom doesn’t come back? I can’t just hang out as a ghost in Caden’s bedroom for the rest of the school year.
Where would I go? Kenz’s mom would take me in, but I can’t imagine her being cool with me having sleepovers with my boyfriends.
Mom will come back, but what if she decides we need to run?
She wouldn’t leave me behind, but how can I leave my guys? Even if it would be safer?
Luke clears his throat, making me glance up. Caden sets his laptop on the coffee table again and places mine beside it.
“What’s happening, little nympho?” He tips me upright and then draws me onto his lap, straddling him. His green eyes search mine with concern. He touches my neck, and my pulse thrums wildly against his fingers. “What do you need?”
I shrug, because I don’t know what can fix any of this. It seems hopeless.
“You did say that Sunday you’d decide who would win the boyfriend of the week award.” Jack’s voice makes me turn.
“I’m holding you to the group date, sunshine, but it can be after Homecoming.” Nico smiles.
“Yeah, who did the best this week, kitten?”
Caden turns me to sit on his lap, so I can see everyone waiting for me to judge. I draw in a breath and let the worries slip away for now. This is something I can focus on.
“Is this really going to be a thing?” I arch an eyebrow.
“Of course, princess.” Luke flashes me a smirk. “We need to know who’s being the best so we can beat them next week.”
“Hey, I could win twice in a row.” Nico gives me a fake pout and gestures toward his knee. “After all, I got hurt.”
“At least this week none of us did anything to make Harper angry.” Eli winks at me. “I did enjoy sleeping with her, and we’re definitely still taking our night with her. Jack and I.”
Luke shakes his head. While I worked on college applications, he went and took a shower. He sits in the chair, leaning back like he doesn’t have a care in the world. I can’t imagine having just one of these guys or even a few of them. I love that they all support me and want me.
But the one who made the biggest stride forward this week is...
“Luke.”
His eyes widen like he honestly didn’t think I’d choose him.
I lean forward, and Caden holds my hips steady. “It takes a lot of courage to be the first to say I love you. And I know you haven’t always had love in your life. You respected my mom enough to admit it to her freely, without anyone forcing you.”
Tears fill my eyes, but they aren’t choking me this time. I didn’t know how much knowing they loved me would change everything. “You all really have been the best this week. I’ve needed you, and you showed up. I love you all.”