Chapter 48
The Secrets
Caden
Lockers slam shut as everyone gets ready to take off to the post-game party. Spirits are high since we won, but subdued since Nico got hurt. His text says he and Harper are at her house now.
Jack catches my attention as he pulls on his shirt. That snide little comment from Zach shouldn’t have thrown me off, but it did. The purpose of it probably was to make us doubt each other. Zach assumes no one knew. That’s what he was hoping.
No one’s asked Jack yet, but that time is coming.
We don’t keep secrets from each other. I lace my shoes and stand.
Eli winces as he moves his shoulder around in circles. “That fucker needs to learn a lesson.”
The same guy who took out Nico turned his sights on Eli. Fucking Ethan Parker was the slowest fucker out there, always letting that guy run past him. But Parker took off fast from the locker room. It’s the fastest anyone’s seen him move tonight.
I wanted to teach him a lesson about how to effectively block someone, but it will have to wait until practice. If that was payback for his little dance at the party, we’re going to have other issues.
Nico is out for the rest of the year because Ethan didn’t do his job.
Luke comes back from the shower, scrubbing the towel over his head. His bruises from his father were healing, but they look darker from the couple hits he took tonight.
“Told Penny to get a ride to the party with MacKenzie.” Luke opens his locker and pulls out his clothes. “We need to check on Nico.”
Knee injuries are a bitch. Used to take people out of the game permanently. Now, hopefully, he’ll recover. But not this year. We just have to lean heavier on Eli.
There are still too many people in the locker room. This new normal of not being able to talk wherever we are sucks. But we can’t risk it.
We finish getting dressed and grab our bags to head to the cars.
“Will I see you guys in the morning?” Coach Turner calls as we pass his office.
“Yes, sir,” I reply.
“Good.” He grins at us. “We’re going to run drills and do a scrimmage.”
Eli stops in the doorway. “Harper’s still good to do stats?”
Coach Turner nods. He glances over all of us. “You figure out why those guys were talking about Harper in gym class?”
“Do you remember anything more useful than they were a bunch of athletic white boys?” Jack puts his hand on Eli’s shoulder and smirks.
“Definitely basketball players.” Coach Turner shakes his head. “They were back at it on Thursday. Talking about some field and Walker.”
I meet Jack’s gaze. Walker has a farm out west of town. Don’t know what the fuck they were talking about.
“If you think of anything else, let me know.” Jack glances at the others. “We’re out of here.”
“Good game, guys.”
We all give him an acknowledging nod and head toward the parking lot. When Jack moves toward Luke’s car, I shake my head.
“Jack, you’re with me.” I walk to my car.
Jack shrugs and follows me, getting in the front seat. Eli and Luke get into Luke’s car.
I don’t say anything as I start the engine and pull out of the parking lot.
“We don’t keep secrets,” I mutter.
Jack doesn’t say anything.
“What the fuck was Zach talking about?” I try to keep the anger out of my voice.
Jack sighs. “You want me to out every bi-curious guy in our school? That’s not happening.”
“He outed himself, so spill.”
“It was at a house party.” Jack rubs the back of his neck.
“Someone from another school brought Zach. When they brought out spin the bottle, Zach joined in. We kissed. I didn’t think anything of it, but later he cornered me and said he wanted to figure something out.
We kissed a few more times. End of story. ”
“This asshole went after Harper.” My hands tighten on the steering wheel. “He fucking trapped her and threatened to rape her. You didn’t think that was a good enough reason to tell us you and him hooked up.”
“Hold up.” Jack narrows his eyes. “We didn’t hookup. Fuck, it was a couple of kisses and don’t try to tell me that should have been on the list to Harper, because we both know all of us have kissed more girls than were on our fucked lists.”
“He tried to rape her.” My voice fills the car. And I haven’t been able to do a thing about it. That asshole walks around like he still fucking owns the school when he should be cowering in a corner broken.
“You don’t think I know that. That it doesn’t weigh on me. But I’m not about to out every bi-curious asshole at our school. Not even to you.” Jack runs a hand through his hair. “It doesn’t matter. The only reason he brought it up would be to drive a fucking wedge between me and you guys and her.”
My lips press together as I consider his words. It’s like Zach’s crew is trying to pick us off one by one.
I gnaw on that for a moment. “Do you have those videos from the house Zach’s crew met at?”
“Change of subject, but I’ll take it. Yeah, I went back and added one with a power source in case they decided to meet there again.” He huffs out a breath. “Now all I need is hours to review everything we have.”
“You have us at Eli’s. We’ll all crank through the evidence faster than if you had to sit and watch it all.” I pull up on the curb beside Harper’s house. There’s an unfamiliar car in the driveway.
“I was hoping for some playtime too,” Jack mutters.
Grinning, I turn off the engine and turn to him. “We’ll get playtime, but we need to get ahead of whatever Zach has planned for Homecoming.”
Before he can get out, I grab the back of his neck and press my forehead against his. “If you’ve got any other secrets that will bite us in the ass, you need to tell me.”
He blows out a breath. “Nah, man. Still not going to out someone unless it has anything to do with this. Zach only mentioned it because he wanted to be a dick. Most guys keep that shit on the downlow.”
“We have to be able to rely on each other.” I release him as Luke parks behind us. “No more secrets.”
Harper
I swallow as my house is suddenly filled with my boyfriends, my mother, and my English teacher. Mom pours two glasses and hands one to Mr. Wick.
“So, you two a thing?” Caden asks with an arched eyebrow and a small smirk.
The guys look at Mr. Wick warily. They don’t know what my mom just asked me. I don’t know if she’s going to bring that back up and how any of us are going to handle it.
“We know each other from high school.” Mom gestures with her head toward the living room where Nico is. “Let’s clear some stuff up, guys.”
“I should probably—” Mr. Wick gestures to the door. That would probably make this easier.
“No.” Mom grabs his hand and drags him into the living room. “You kicked a hornet’s nest. Let’s see what comes out.”
Luke touches my hand and I meet his eyes. This is so weird.
When he steps away, I draw in a deep breath as the guys grab kitchen chairs to bring into the living room for everyone. Eli stops next to me and wraps his hand around my waist, holding me against him for a second.
He rests his head against mine.
“It’ll be okay, kitten.” His words are for me only.
I nod and resist the urge to curl into him. Rest my head against his chest and ride this out from the protection of his arms. Lifting my gaze to his dark eyes, I smile, trying to reassure both of us that this will be fine.
I sit on the couch next to Nico’s feet again and turn my attention to my mom. Is she going to ask them if they coerced me into a relationship? What would they even say to that? Would they tell her the truth or lie?
We didn’t start out in a typical fashion. My cheeks heat remembering the spanking in the cafeteria. Luke wanting to see the marks on my ass cheek in the bathroom. The first time I got naked for them. The look in each of their eyes. The desire. The longing.
How, even though I didn’t want to, it was too easy to want each of them. How quickly I fell for all of them.
Jack sits next to me on the couch and draws me into his side. Zach’s words still cling to me. I won’t let them fester, but we haven’t had time to talk about them. Knowing Zach, I’m sure whatever he was talking about is meant to pull us apart.
Which is exactly what Mr. Wick is doing but through my mother. The only one who supports us and actually helps us. This can’t be a coincidence.
Especially after the night Sidney broke in and Mom came home early from work. Maybe this is plan B.
Mom sits in the armchair and crosses her legs. Her elbows rest on the curved arms and her fingers curl around the lowball glass of amber liquid. Her gaze stays on Mr. Wick.
“Here’s the thing...” She takes a drink and leans forward to set the glass on the coffee table. “When David called Harper and I in, he told me some interesting things about the five of you. Mostly the four of you, but Nico seems to have fallen in line with whatever you boys are up to.”
I don’t think as I grab Jack’s hand. I’d touch all of them if I could. When our fingers entwine, I draw from his strength because I don’t know how my mom is going to play this.
“Harper is a good daughter and a good student and none of that has changed.” Her eyes narrow on Mr. Wick slightly.
“What has changed this year is her clothing choice and the guys she’s seeing.
I trust my daughter to talk to me if something was wrong.
But Mr. Wick says you boys have made it difficult for people to come forward in the past.”
Luke looks at each of us. His gaze settles on me and I straighten. He seems to be waiting for something. Maybe he’s waiting for me to speak up. This is my parent after all.
“I’m not sure what you mean.” My gaze meets my mom’s. She arches an eyebrow at me, but I don’t drop my gaze this time.
Mr. Wick crosses his ankle over his knee and leans back in the chair, watching all of us.
“Since the beginning of the school year, there were multiple instances that looked as if Harper needed help because of the boys. The boys manhandle Harper frequently. In the hallways. In class. But it’s not unheard of regarding these particular boys.
Several of the staff members, as well as other students, are afraid to report them.
I thought you should know who you’re dealing with. ”
Mr. Wick takes a drink.
“Why didn’t you say something weeks ago?” Eli tips his head with a quizzical brow. “At the beginning of school? Isn’t that when you noticed her needing assistance? Why wait until now?”
I swallow because he’s right, but my mom’s eyes narrow. Does she think he’s admitting guilt?
Eli does have a point. He arches an eyebrow at my look of censure, but leans back in his chair and nods to give me the floor. I look at Mr. Wick and squeeze Jack’s hand.
“I appreciate that you believe you’re helping, Mr. Wick, but we’re good.
I’m not sure what you thought you saw, but the beginnings of any relationship are often a struggle.
Especially in high school. I think what all of us are wondering is why you feel the need to escalate to my mother at this point? ”
If he’d done it that first week, would it have made any difference? Would this all have gone away? Jack squeezes my hand and smiles down at me.
Mr. Wick sighs.
Mom leans back in her chair and taps the side of her glass.
She takes in Mr. Wick with a slightly curious look.
“They have a point. Harper came to me after the first day of school begging to be homeschooled, but then that was it. There was the pretend she was grounded thing. But if four guys were suddenly interested in me, I might have done the same thing at her age. But that was it.”
Mr. Wick pulls on his collar. “You’re okay with your daughter being with five boys?”
Mom blows out a breath. “Would you rather me lock her in her room? Judge her for following her heart? We knew each other in high school, David. You don’t know who I am or who I’ve become over these years.
It’s been fun reminiscing and getting to know who you are now.
But when it comes to Harper, I still trust her. ”
My throat feels thick and tears press at the back of my eyes. My mom’s faith in me seems unshakable.
David puts his glass on the coffee table and leans his elbows on his knees.
He pushes his glasses up his nose before looking at each of the guys.
“I won’t pretend you boys are normal students.
Everyone in that school gives you preferential treatment because of who your parents are and because you’ve put our high school on the map for football. ”
His gaze settles on me. “You’ve never paid attention to Harper before this year. She seemed to be handling it, but honestly, I thought Jenn should know who her daughter is dealing with. That you boys may be using her daughter.”
“First, we’re not boys.” Luke doesn’t straighten, but the air of authority he speaks with makes Mr. Wick take notice. “Second, Harper is old enough to make her own decisions.”
Mr. Wick’s smile is fake. “That’s just it though. Was any of this her decision? Or did you decide she was yours?”
My heart thumps hard in my chest. What does he know? And how does he know?
“Which one got to you?” My mom’s voice is soft, but her gaze is steady. “Whose father thought you needed to speak as someone I might know and trust?”
Everyone’s attention goes to my mom.
“I’m not stupid, David.”
“I never thought you were—”
“We both know their parents are powerful and you wouldn’t cross them without permission.”
I suck in a breath. “What?”
Neither Mom nor Mr. Wick look at me. “Or was it all of them? Could you imagine their horror in finding out their boys actually care about a girl like Harper? Someone they know they can’t control?
I don’t believe for one minute you’re doing this out of the goodness of your heart, because we both know that hearts only last so long in this town. ”
My mom swallows, but she lifts her glass and takes a sip. “So, who got to you?”