Chapter 42
The Ask
Harper
I wring my hands as I wait for Kenz. I don’t know how any of this is going to go. It all exploding in my face is an option.
Kenz and Brandon round the corner and her eyes light up when she sees me. She says something to him and then presses up on her toes to kiss him. When she draws away, he grabs her hand and pulls her back in for another kiss.
She laughs and presses her hand to his chest before heading my way again. When she gets closer, she sneaks a look over her shoulder. He’s waiting for it and grins before heading off to football practice.
They’ve always been a super cute couple. Kenz said they probably weren’t long term, but I could see them going the distance. I mean, if you love someone, why wouldn’t you at least try to stay with them? To give it a chance?
I rub at the squeezing of my heart. I don’t think my love is one-sided, but I might also be caught up in a lust haze with the guys. But there are definite feelings involved on both sides. I just don’t know if some of the guys will ever be able to own up to their feelings.
“Hey, H.” Kenz bumps into my shoulder, shaking me from my thoughts. “What’s the deal? I thought we were meeting the girls for coffee again.”
“Slight change of plans.” I sigh and lean against the locker. “I need to talk to Penny alone.”
“Everything okay?” Kenz’s eyes soften. “Is she causing trouble for Luke?”
I shake my head. “We just have an ask and I don’t know how she’ll take it.”
She nods. “So you need me to distract the others while you get your alone time?”
“Yeah.”
“Cool.” She jerks her head toward the doors to the outside. “Let’s hit it then.”
Kenz drives us to the coffee shop where we’re meeting the girls. When we get out, I can’t help the little shiver. Caden pressed me up against that building and told me I’m his. I didn’t understand at the time what that meant. Sure, they claimed me, but he wants to keep me.
I shake it off. These weird feelings have persisted since last night with Zach and Tanner.
Then seeing Kenz with her boyfriend of two years...
My world went from peaceful and downright boring to chaos and never-ending excitement in the course of a day.
Now I’m in love with five guys and we’re fighting to keep others from trying to tear us apart.
A little chuckle comes out of me and Kenz turns to look back at me.
Her brows draw together and she stops. “You okay, H.?”
“I don’t know.” My voice breaks. Tears choke at my throat, but I refuse to let them fall. I feel so stupid. I shouldn’t be crying.
She closes the distance between us and draws me into her arms. “Do you want to skip and go somewhere to talk?”
She rubs my back, and I lean into her warmth. I shake my head as I rest it on her shoulder.
“I’m just tired. So fucking tired of all of this.” I release my breath. Not the guys, but everything else. It’s a lot. I didn’t bring baggage to this relationship, but they brought a whole fucking storage unit worth of crap we have to deal with. They’re worth it, but it’s still a lot.
“What can I do to help? Do you need time away from the guys? More time with the guys? You want me to beat up Zach? Cause I’ll do it. I’ll castrate him for what he tried to do to you.”
I lean back and her eyes spark with fire. I snort. “Maybe we’ll save the castration for a special event?”
She grins. “Which holiday is the cut off the balls of an enemy for the friend you love holiday?”
My chest feels lighter already. “That’s a very good question. I mean, obviously not Valentine’s Day.”
“Mmm, yes, that would be cut out the heart of your enemy.” She puts her arm around my shoulder and draws me toward the coffee shop. “Say the word and we’re out of here. Okay? We’ll go throw stones at trees if we need to burn off some energy.”
I laugh. “What did the trees do to you?”
She smiles and stops before opening the door. “Serious for a moment. You’ve gone through a lot, H. You need me to step in and fight for some time with you, you let me know. We’re in this together. Even though you’re the one getting fucked by five guys on the regular.”
“Not usually all at once.” My cheeks are on fire though. Because it’s almost the weekend, and that’s when I get all of them. If we can figure out where to go. A lump settles in my stomach. Maybe not this weekend.
“Are you ready?” She grabs the door handle.
I nod. I can’t put this off. Now or never.
We walk in, and the conversation lulls slightly before picking back up. The girls have the table we’ve been sitting at. They wave and we wave back as we head to the counter.
After we place our orders, Kenz turns to me. “How do you want to do this?”
I hadn’t really thought that far ahead. I glance at the table.
“You didn’t think about it, did you?” Kenz shakes her head and grabs our drinks. “How about you ask Penny to talk privately? I’ll stay with the others to make sure no one disturbs you.”
“That sounds good.” I take my drink from her and we head over.
After the initial hey and hi part, I don’t sit down, but look at Penny.
“Can we talk?” I try not to let my hands shake.
She nods and stands. I gesture to a more secluded corner of the shop and she follows with her drink. When we sit, she lets out a breath.
“I didn’t know if you’d ever want to talk to me again after that dinner. At least, not alone.” Penny’s eyes are hopeful as she meets mine. “I know it looked bad, but I couldn’t tell anyone or I would have.”
I nod. Now isn’t the time to rehash all this. “We need a favor.”
She straightens. “We?”
“The guys and I.” I look down at my coffee. “There’s a lot you know and a lot you don’t—”
“I don’t need to know everything to help.” Penny sighs. “My father isn’t a good man. I’ve known that since I met him when I was a little girl. He didn’t want me then, and he doesn’t want me now. He’s using me. So, if you need help with anything, I’m here for you guys.”
I clear my throat, but still don’t know how to ask this.
“Luke is family.” She leans forward. “He’s my blood, and that means something to me. I don’t have a lot of family. I’ve always wished he knew about me so I could have an actual relationship with someone who mattered. It’s hard when you have a single mom.”
That hits me in a place I can understand. A mom on her own. A dad who left and hasn’t so much as said a word to us since. Penny and I have somewhat similar circumstances.
I lean my elbows on the table and focus on her eyes. “We have a lot of things to go through and need help. We’ve found someone we think can help us, but it comes at a price.”
“Okay,” she says slowly. “What does this have to do with me?”
“You said you don’t have a date for Homecoming?” This feels so icky to me, but it’s not a bad price to pay for what Will might be able to help us with.
Her brow furrows. “No, I’ve been inundated with guys asking though.”
“William Frank can help us go through files. His only price is that you go to Homecoming with him.”
She sucks in a breath.
I hurry on before she says anything, “You don’t have to do anything but attend with him. Dinner first in public, and then the dance and that’s it. Nothing else. No more touching except dancing.”
She sits straight in her chair as she looks at me in a daze. “What?”
“Jack offered Will anything to help. The only thing Will wanted was to take you to the Homecoming dance.” I shrug. “He didn’t ask for more than that. Jack figured it would be better coming from me than one of them. We’re not asking you to date him, kiss him, or even like him.”
“Why me?” Her eyes narrow in thought.
“I don’t know the answer to that.” I peel the sticker on my coffee. “You said he liked you in middle school?”
“And I helped humiliate him.” Her eyes widen. “Do you think that’s his plan? To humiliate me the way I laughed at him over that valentine?”
“I don’t know.” And that’s the part that sucks. “Could be. Honestly. Or maybe the guy just wants an opportunity to try again?”
If I had to guess based on this school, revenge is the most likely scenario.
“What do you need him to do?” Her lips are tight, but she wears an almost resigned expression.
This is where Luke and I got into an argument. He didn’t want to trust her with anything. But if we need her help, we have to trust her with something. Jack agreed with me. But only some information.
We don’t know where her loyalties lie with her father. Or if his money is enough to buy her loyalty.
“We have some files that are encrypted. Jack is working on them, but you’ve seen how tired he’s been.” My throat chokes up because I know what he’s doing is important, but I don’t want him to burn out because of it. “He needs help. Will Frank can help him.”
Not that we trust Will either. He helped Sidney break into my place. That was apparently for money. At least, that’s what he told Jack.
Penny’s gaze falls on her coffee and she sighs. “It’s not like I want to go with anyone else, but I don’t like not knowing why.”
“You’re his partner in art. Has he said anything?” My partner sucked until Caden showed up.
She shakes her head and lifts her gaze. Determination fills her face. “I’ll do it. But I want to go with you guys, so he doesn’t try anything weird.”
I nod. “That seems fair, but I’ll have to run it by the guys. They may make other arrangements for you to make sure we’re both protected at all times. Would that be okay as long as someone else was with you two?”
I don’t know if the guys would want to be responsible for Penny when we know something is planned for us.
“Yeah, I just don’t want to be alone with the guy, even if it’s in a car on the way to the dance and home. I don’t trust him.”
“We’ll work something out.” We don’t really trust either of them anyway, so best to keep an eye on them. She’s been helpful, but she also used me to get closer to Luke. I can’t forget that. I may understand it, but part of her reason to reach out to me was to get closer to him.
“Has Luke said anything about me?” Her voice grows small as she plays with her cup.
“We’ve had a lot on our plate.” It’s an excuse, but it’s true. “I haven’t had a lot of alone time with Luke since you moved in.”
She nods. “I’m glad he’s there. The house is large and creepy. I don’t really know my father that well, so it’s like living with a stranger.”
“That makes sense.” I swallow back how her father is a vile evil man who abuses his only son. Luke doesn’t want her to know. I don’t think he wants anyone to know.
“They announce Homecoming court tomorrow.” Penny shifts in her chair and meets my gaze. “What are you going to do if your guys are on it and you’re not?”
I shake my head. “I’m not worried about that for today.”
Besides, pretty sure my name is going to end up in that box if Ashley was telling the truth. If not, Eli will call off whatever arrangements he’s made for her.
I really don’t want to be part of the court and everything that goes with it. That seems like an even bigger nightmare than the guys noticing me and claiming me. But I won’t have a choice if it’s already a done deal.
Luke
The locker room is steamy and noisy after practice. Jack mentioned needing fool’s errands to stop the others from getting suspicious. One more thing we have to come up with.
“Why don’t we pick up Harper for dinner?” Jack smiles as he looks at his phone. “She got Penny to say yes.”
I grunt, because if Penny refused, I would have had to bully her into it.
My sister doesn’t interest me. The fact we’re related means absolutely nothing to me.
I’d always been glad to be an only child.
Having a sibling would have meant my father would have more control over me or them.
He could have pitted us against each other.
“We could get sandwiches and drive to the point.” Nico rubs a towel over his black hair.
“Too many witnesses.” Caden grumbles. He’s been in a bad mood since his sister and parents arrived in town. “I’d rather find somewhere private to play with her.”
Our usual hangouts are his basement or mine and mostly because our parents are absent. Now with my dad and Caden’s folks in town, we don’t have anywhere to go to be alone. This weekend is going to be a concern if we don’t figure shit out.
Eli sits on the bench, tying his shoe. “What about my family’s place? It’s only an hour away. Maybe not tonight, but this weekend.”
“Doesn’t your father use that most of the time?” Jack leans against the lockers and looks down toward the other players still getting their shit together.
Eli shrugs. “My parents are back on a coexist but ignore each other kick. Dad’s got work this weekend. He let me know he plans on coming to my game and wants to see if we can talk.”
“Fucking parents.” Caden drops his bag with a thud. “Why haven’t mine left yet? That’s what they fucking do. They leave.”
“Maybe they’re worried about Ava?” Nico tugs on his shirt.
“Or maybe they’re worried about the same shit your dad and Luke’s are.” Caden growls.
It’s not unreasonable. At the time of Sean Davidson’s disappearance, our fathers worked together.
Caden’s, mine, and Nico’s. The others aren’t as entangled with the businesses.
Jack’s dad stays at home and Eli’s dad keeps to himself.
He works but doesn’t bring it home. Whatever he does, he keeps it quiet.
“You guys ready for tomorrow’s game?” Assistant Coach Turner stands at the end of the lockers. “You all look like you need a good night’s sleep. You were dragging ass out there today.”
“We’ll be fine.” I bite out.
He raises an eyebrow at my tone, but lets it go. “You good for tag football on Saturday morning, Jack?”
“Yeah.”
“I’ll be there too.” Caden’s eyes narrow on the coach.
“Harper will be on the sidelines again at the game.” I’m not making it a question that he can say no to. I need to make sure she’s safe during the game.
“She did a good job at stats last time.” Coach Turner nods. “As long as you guys stay focused, she can help out.”
I wasn’t asking but fuck, I can’t rock the boat. We have the game tomorrow and then maybe Eli’s place for the weekend. If not a party or two to get more intel.
“You guys okay?” Coach Turner hasn’t left and his question makes my hackles rise.
“Yeah, man.” Jack steps forward and walks past the coach. “We’re doing fine and don’t need a babysitter. We’ll get our sleep and eat our Wheaties and kill the competition tomorrow night. Do you need anything else?”
Coach Turner’s eyes narrow on him, but he shakes his head. “As long as you don’t fuck up Friday, we’re good.”
“We’re good then.” Eli steps next to Jack. “We’ll see you tomorrow and on Saturday.”
Fuck, are we all committing to that? Because I love waking up with a sleeping Harper in my arms.
Coach Turner nods his head and strolls away.
“Is he going to be a problem?” I lift my gaze to Jack.
Jack glances after the coach but shakes his head. “I think this is more a caring about the players thing than a me thing. We have been dragging ass this week.”
There’s grumbles of agreement. “Then we should all go to bed early tonight and not see our girl except on webcam.”