Chapter 6
Six
Harper
“When is your next hockey game?” I ask Ashton.
“Why? Looking forward to showing up and cheering me on?”
I toss a fry at him. I’m seated across from Kensley, and Ashton is between us at the lunch table.
It seems like every time I go to grab lunch with Kensley, Ashton keeps showing up uninvited.
“That wasn’t my first thought,” I quip and laugh.
“Harper’s going to be cheering for Luca. Am I right?” Kensley asks, her eyes wiggling suggestively.
She still doesn’t know about the upcoming wedding, Zeke, or the new living arrangements in the works.
I’ve been keeping so much from Kensley, she’s going to absolutely hate me when she finds out I’ve been lying to her.
“Those two are something else,” Ashton says between bites of his hamburger. “I swear, the two of you are trying to make my life more difficult.”
“Why’s that?” Kensley asks. “Did Luca send you here for intel? Because if he’s avoiding Harper again—”
I love how protective Kensley is of me. “Luca and I are fine,” I say. I grab another fry from my plate and chomp on it. The food is an easy distraction from having to talk about Luca.
“Fine,” Kensley repeats. “Usually, fine is like shit is bad, but I don’t want to talk about it.”
Exactly.
Kensley doesn’t seem to give up, though. “We can go to the game, and then are you free this weekend? You ditched me last Saturday. I was hoping we could do a movie marathon of Christmas romances. ‘Tis the season.”
Inwardly, I grumble, but I force a smile. “I’m free Saturday.” I don’t elaborate on last weekend.
Ashton is watching me with too much intensity, probably wondering if I’ll break.
“What?” I ask, glaring at him.
“Gosh, Harper. You and Luca really aren’t shacking up, are you?” Kensley asks.
“Shacking up?” I raise an eyebrow at her choice of words.
Ashton smirks, enjoying the exchange between the two of us. He’s eating his burger but fully engrossed in our conversation. I wish he weren’t at the table, but short of telling him to move his ass, he doesn’t seem like he has any intention of going away anytime soon.
“Don’t you start up.” I point at him, warning him to keep his trap shut.
Apparently, my threat is enough to elicit a response from him.
“Kensley is right. You just seem really agitated. I think a good fuck would take care of that.”
“And you’re offering?” I glare at Ashton.
He puts his burger down and holds his hands up in surrender. “I’m not foolish enough to make that proposition. Your boyfriend would kill me.”
Kensley glares from Ashton to me. “So, Luca is your boyfriend. I knew you two had something going on, but you guys weren’t talking, last you told me.”
“We’re fine,” I grumble, really wanting this interrogation between my best friend and Luca’s best friend to disappear.
I glare at Ashton. “Is that why you’re joining us for lunch all the time?”
He shakes his head, not understanding my question.
“You’re Luca’s best friend.” I state the obvious. “Are you reporting back to him on anything I say?”
“I promise, I’m not reporting anything to Luca,” Ashton says. “He’s been a bit of an ass around the house. We’ve been steering clear of one another.”
“And on the ice?” I ask.
“At practice, he’s in full game mode. Nothing else seems to matter.” Ashton finishes the last bite of his burger. “How’d things go with Zeke this weekend?”
My shoulders tense as I glance from Ashton to Kensley.
Did he really have to namedrop my son?
Is he trying to fuck with me or just make sure that I lose my only friend on campus?
Kensley glances from Ashton to me. “Who’s Zeke? Is that why you ditched me this weekend? For another guy?” Her cheeks redden, and I can feel that she’s growing angry with me. “And didn’t you just say you’re dating Luca? What the hell, Harper?”
I push my tray of fries away. I’m no longer hungry.
Ashton smirks and steals one off my plate.
How juvenile of him.
“So, who is Zeke?” Kensley asks again, and I can sense her frustration.
“He’s my son,” I say, avoiding her glare.
Kensley pauses for a moment, tilts her head, and stares at me, perplexed. “You have a son,” she repeats the phrase slowly, as it sinks in. “Where is he now?” Her tone is soft, her voice a strange comfort in that she’s not freaking out at me.
At least not yet.
“He lives with my parents until next semester.”
It’s like a Band-Aid that has to be yanked off, revealing everything to her.
“What’s next semester?” Kensley asks.
“The wedding,” Ashton says, leaning back in his chair and smirking.
“Bastard,” I mutter at him. I reach for my fries and throw a fistful at him.
Ashton doesn’t even attempt to dodge them. He just lets them fall against his chest. He brushes them off, not the least bit insulted by what I’ve done.
“Wait. You’re getting married? Is it to Luca? Is Luca the father?” Kensley asks, trying to wrap her head around the announcement.
“Luca isn’t the father, but, yes, we’re engaged,” I say quite calmly.
“Give me your hand,” she says and yanks my arm across the table, disappointment etched on her face. “No ring?”
How is Kensley so calm about the news of the engagement? I had expected her to scream at me, to tell me that I was making the biggest mistake of my life.
“It’s not like we’re rolling around in cash,” I joke and withdraw my hand from hers, placing it back into my lap. “His mom offered to buy us wedding bands, as a gift.”
“That’s nice,” Kensley says slowly, like her brain is wrapping around the entire scenario. “What about your parents? And your son? And I have so many freaking questions, Harper.”
Ashton doesn’t say a word; he just watches and listens. I’m not sure what Luca told him, if anything, about last weekend when we went to visit his parents and had dinner with both of our families.
“My parents aren’t exactly on board, and since the news of the engagement, they’re pushing Zeke back on me.”
“Well, he is your son,” Kensley says. “Wait. How old is he?”
“Two,” I say and sigh, retrieving my phone from my pocket. I flip through my pictures and reveal a photo of Zeke with a huge, toothy grin. In the picture, he’s trying to reach for my phone, and rather close-up, with his face near the camera lens.
“Gosh, he’s adorable. Makes my uterus hurt,” Kensley says with a laugh.
Ashton snorts and then holds out his hand, wanting to see the photo that I showed Kensley. “He’s actually cute,” Ashton says, sounding quite surprised.
“Thanks?” I laugh and put my phone back into my pocket.
“He’s a handful. Mom stayed home after I gave birth, while I finished up high school and got my diploma.
She agreed to help me raise him while I went to college.
Long story, but I try to visit him on weekends when I don’t have to study.
When I don’t see him, I have video calls with him, so he remembers who I am. ”
“I’m sure he knows who you are,” Kensley says and smiles weakly. “I really wish you’d have trusted me to tell me sooner about your son, but I’m sure that was a huge secret to carry.”
The truth is, I didn’t want Zeke to be a secret, but it had been my parents’ idea. They’d wanted me to keep it quiet in high school. I’d been homeschooled the minute my parents discovered I was pregnant and then, after Zeke was born, the following year, I returned to high school.
I suppose they were trying to give me a normal life.
At least that’s what I’d thought, but I think it had more to do with my education, them wanting to make sure that I focused and got accepted on a scholarship to college. Because neither of them could afford the cost of my tuition.
“Wait, is that why you and Luca are fighting? Is it about Zeke?” Kensley doesn’t miss a beat.
“Yeah,” I say and glance at Ashton, hoping he’ll confirm the story for Kensley, because her learning about the mafia is clearly off-limits.
Ashton folds his arms across his chest. “He was pissed you lied to him.”
He’s still upset, but I don’t bother to mention that to Kensley or Ashton.
Because if he hates me forever, our upcoming wedding will never happen. And when it does, it won’t make the least bit of sense to anyone.
“And he’s forgiven me,” I say.
But I’m not sure that he has forgiven me completely.
Ashton’s eyes flicker, like he knows that I’m lying, but he doesn’t say anything aloud.
Luca has been civil to me when we’re in class. We’re returned to our study dates for economics, so that I can keep up my grades up for my scholarship, but the quiet moments that we shared, they don’t seem to be there anymore.
Except when we’re both stuck pretending.
And I could live with that if I have to, because at least pretending with Luca is better than anything happening to Zeke.
Those threats from the Ricci family still linger and scare me. I can’t help but glance over my shoulder when I’m alone at night, wondering if someone will jump out of the shadows and grab me. Hurt me.
But the real fear comes from what I can’t see or do anything about.
Zeke is with my mother, and I can’t protect him while he’s not with me.
Maybe bringing him on campus next semester is the best option, because at least I’ll be able to look after him and make sure he’s safe.
Kensley and I arrive early to the Narwhals’ home game. We’re both sporting jerseys for the team and seated in the front row.
I’m doing this for him.
I want Luca to realize how much I truly care about him, and that means attending his games.
At least tonight, there’s no sign of Quinn, and pretty soon, I won’t have to deal with her at all. I look forward to moving in with the boys, and while I know it won’t be easy, at least Nova will be there too.
I spent the week finding out about the daycare on campus and how it’s open to students during class hours, which is great. I signed up Zeke to enroll next semester while I’m in class and studying.
“Go, Ashton!” Kensley shouts as he snatches the puck from the Wolverines.
I glance at her, curious if she’s crushing on him. “Ashton?”