18. Readiness Check
Readiness Check
Luke
I stand in Nico’s bedroom as Harper and MacKenzie explain what happened after school. Where they went and what exactly they did. I’m angry but my anger isn’t directed at them.
My glare lingers on Eli for deciding to tackle this on his own. He yelled at me for doing the same shit with Zach’s house. This would have been far worse than anything that could have happened to me.
Eli huffs out a breath. His dark eyes meet mine. “Look. Coach wouldn’t have let us all go, and it would have alerted whatever disloyal prick that’s on the football team something is happening, which we also don’t want to do. So quit giving me the murder glare.”
“We can’t go off on our own.” It’s as simple as that.
“Yeah, well, I didn’t.” Eli rubs his hands together almost self-consciously. “I had Nico on with me the whole time.”
“On the fucking phone.” Caden runs his hand through his hair. “We can’t be stupid about this.”
Eli straightens. “If it had been you, you would have gone. Any of us would have, because it’s Harper.”
Her little inhale alerts me.
I glance at Harper on the chair next to MacKenzie. She’s pale. Fuck. Crossing the room, I pull her up and wrap my arms around her. MacKenzie looks uncomfortable. Good.
“This isn’t about you, princess,” I say softly.
“It certainly sounds like it’s about me.” Her hands touch my sides, and she rests her head against my chest.
“It’s about playing this smart,” Eli says. “We can’t be sure we aren’t being listened to every minute of the day.” Eli steps forward to put a hand on Harper’s back. He meets my eyes. “We need to figure out how to communicate shit without revealing everything to our enemies.”
“I’m on Eli’s side. I would have gone.” Jack sits next to Nico on the bed. Caden and he did a sweep of Nico’s room, and then we put all our phones in a guest bedroom. Better safe than sorry.
“Do you even know what day it is?” Caden asks sarcastically. “When was the last time you slept?”
Black smudges line the underside of Jack’s blue eyes. He’s burning out. I get it, and if I could help more, I would.
“Do you guys want me to leave?” MacKenzie clears her throat. “Because while it’s fascinating to watch the infighting, Harper wasn’t in any danger. I was taking her to her mom. We were discreet, and I had backup to make sure no one followed us. Trust me, our mothers are bad asses.”
Harper chuckles slightly at that, and I draw back to tip her chin up. Her eyes are happier than I’ve seen them in a while. Her mom is coming back, and that’s taken a weight off her. I brush my thumb across her cheek.
“She’s not wrong. Our moms are bad asses.” Harper’s fingers press into my sides. Her dark eyes search mine.
If I could connect us so we never had to be apart, I would. But that’s not how the real world works. I need to make sure we’re all still standing when this shit is over with. All of us. My gaze strays to MacKenzie. Including the people Harper cares the most about.
I lift my gaze to Eli’s. “No more stupid shit. You called me out for doing the same thing. We stay together. We’re more solid together.”
“Jack needs to sleep more.” Harper turns to look at him and leans back against me. “You aren’t doing any of us good if you don’t get sleep.”
Jack smirks. “Plenty of time to sleep later, sweetheart.”
“She’s right.” I wrap my arm across her stomach.
Jack’s gaze collides with mine, and he winces.
“You can’t keep going like this. You were crap at practice, and you’ll end up making sloppy mistakes.
Possibly getting hurt. On the field or off.
Make a fucking schedule and stick to it.
Need us to look over shit, tell us. We’re good for it. ”
“I can help some.” MacKenzie raises her hand, and we all look at her. She straightens instead of cowering. “I mean, I’m not a tech genius like Jack, but I’m decent with a computer. Show me what to do, and I can figure out anything.”
Harper looks at Jack. “You might not trust her, but I do. I’m sure you’ve all dug into her background. Did you find any red flags?”
Jack shakes his head. “We need more eyes, and if it means I can increase my sleep from three hours a night to five, why not?”
I rest my chin on Harper’s head and try to figure out how to get out of dinner tonight.
“Sidney.” As if he’s reading my thoughts, Eli lifts his gaze to mine. He knows what I’m going to have to do.
Whatever it takes to get it through her brain that nothing she does will win me. I was never hers. I’ll never be hers. There’s nothing she can do to get between me and Harper. Harper sighs against me.
Her hand covers mine. “Do you want me to come with you?”
After practice, Jack, Caden, and I discussed this. “No, princess. It’s better if you’re far away from this. I don’t want to risk her focusing her attention on you. Especially in front of my father.”
“I’ll take you to my place, little nympho.” Caden brushes his knuckles against her jaw. “Jack will come with, and we’ll watch the cameras like it’s a movie. I’ll even make you popcorn.”
Harper sighs.
“That leaves me as backup?” Eli arches an eyebrow.
“Yeah.” I run a hand through my hair. “I can’t trust her not to find a way past everything. Penny seems to be on my side, but I’d rather be safe than sorry. If Sidney’s goal is to make it look like we’re still together, then she’ll make her move tonight.”
Harper’s fingers weave into mine, and her head tips back against my chest. “Do what you have to. I’m not going anywhere.”
MacKenzie stands up. “Penny’s going to be at this thing too?”
“Yes.” I watch MacKenzie. Harper trusts her, and for that reason, I’ll give her the benefit of the doubt. But she took our girl off the map without any problems. She could be helping us or lulling us into a state where we give her our trust and she takes advantage of it.
“You don’t know what Sidney wants from this.” MacKenzie steps forward more. “We all know Sidney wants power. You assume she’s doing this to get Luke back, but what if it’s to get more players off the board?”
Her gaze goes pointedly to Nico.
Eli releases a breath and meets my eyes. We hadn’t thought about how she could make us vulnerable. It could be about getting me away from the group.
“I swear I’ll sit in a room and only move when one of you tell me to.” MacKenzie holds her hands up. “Sidney isn’t a friend of mine. Penny is barely a friend. The only one I’m looking out for is Harper. And if she loves you guys, then I need to look out for you too.”
“Why?” I ask.
She looks at all of our stony faces and sighs. “Why are you friends with these guys?”
I arch an eyebrow.
“Do you know how hard it is to fit in as a girl changing schools? Every clique is already formed by sixth grade. No one wants to take a chance on a new girl. But Harper did.” MacKenzie turns to look at Harper.
“Probably for the same reason you guys cling to her. She accepts me for who I am. I don’t have to go out of my way to impress her, and she’s the most loyal friend I’ve ever had.
I wouldn’t waste that on any scheme, especially if that scheme was meant to hurt her. ”
“You don’t want to be popular?” Eli asks.
MacKenzie’s laugh is short and abrupt. “Hell, no. Fuck. There can’t be anything worse than being a popular girl in high school.
Having to deal with all the fighting and power-hungry frenemies?
The disloyal bitches? The thirsty boys? No, thank you.
I’ll stick to Harper. I know who she is and why she’s my friend.
She’s not my friend for any other reason than she likes me and I’m fun to hang out with. ”
Harper relaxes back against my chest. Her sweet vanilla scent rises to my nose. I can understand the draw.
“I’ve been trying to help Harper. She means everything to me.
She asked me if I’d follow Brandon to college, and that answer was easy, but not having Harper next year will be hard.
” MacKenzie reaches out and Harper takes her hand.
“So let me help you make sure my best friend is safe. I can help tonight and look into things. Loop me in because I’m already in this. ”
Harper looks up at me and there are tears in her eyes. Not sad ones though. I glance at the others before returning my gaze to Kenz. “You can help, but that doesn’t mean we trust you.”
She laughs. “The world would have to be ending for that to happen.”
I lead the way into my room. Eli walks in and sits at my desk, unlocking my computer. Kenz stops at the door, but I wave her in.
She doesn’t look at me like she’s starving for me. No, she looks like she’d rather be anywhere but here. I get it though. If Eli gets distracted because Penny is being attacked, then I’m on my own. It’s better to have numbers, where someone can alert the others.
I hold up my hand when Kenz tries to say something. She tightens her lips and nods. My room is most likely bugged and possibly has some recording device in it. Eli gestures to the couch, and Kenz sits on it.
Eli moves to sit on the arm of the couch and waits for me. I grab some clothes and change in the bathroom. Jack gave me a little pin with a camera in it. I attach it to my shirt next to a button and fix my hair in the mirror.
I don’t know what’s going to happen tonight, but I know I’ll just be creating another enemy. So far, Sidney has played what she would call nice, because there was that lingering hope of getting me back. But that delusion ends tonight. One way or another.
I walk out into my bedroom and Eli nods. His phone is in his hand as he makes sure the camera is transmitting and shows everything. I clear my throat and it echoes on his phone.
Fuck, this is a nightmare waiting to happen.
Giggles sound in the hallway. Penny and Sidney. We need to work on taking Sidney down and installing Ashley. She may not be any easier to control, but at least she’s rational when it comes to Eli. Sidney has taken this too far.
Kenz’s knuckles are white as she clasps her hands. Good, she’s nervous. That means she’s not in on whatever is going down. Or she’s meant to take out Eli and realizes how futile that would be.
Fuck. Maybe it was a bad idea to include her, but she’s right. Too many chess pieces. If it was just me, I’d be okay. But Penny could end up a target. And if Penny ends up hurt, Harper will feel that.
Maybe I get what Penny told me. Being unwanted or used as a pawn, it makes me hold tighter to Harper because like Kenz said, she’s not out to use me. And maybe I want to have family that I can rely on occasionally without them asking for something in return.
All I know is I want to come out of this dinner tonight unscathed.
Eli gives me a thumbs up, and so does Kenz.
Fuck, I’m not ready for this, but I straighten and walk out of my bedroom and down the hallway and stairs. I don’t catch up with the girls, but that’s a good thing.
I need the time to get into the right headspace, because I’m going into battle with my father and Sidney. And I’m going to win.