Page 173 of Their Cruel Play
“Rebecca came to me the following week.” Luke brushes his hand over my hair. He blows out a breath. “I fucked her and then cut her loose.”
“The girls were hard on Rebecca, and we didn’t do anything to stop it.” Jack shrugs. “She got what she deserved. More than she deserved, honestly.”
“That isn’t something you’re planning with Harper.” Nico’s tone is confident.
Five sets of eyes fall on me. I meet each of their gazes before Luke holds me locked in his.
“You haven’t done anything but hide for years. The only thing you’re guilty of is being the last.” Luke’s thumb trails over my lower lip, sending sparks through me.
“The last virgin.” I blow out my breath.
“No, princess, our last.”
CHAPTER 48
The Turning Point
Eli
Harper’s eyes widen as she looks at Luke. We can only tell her we want her. We can’t make her believe it.
For a moment, it’s like she’s digesting those words and taking them in. Luke doesn’t blink, and he doesn’t elaborate. He meant what he said. There’s no one else we want. Only her.
I don’t know if she gets it. She isn’t just another girl we’ve targeted.
She’s more than that to each of us. But maybe we don’t deserve her after all the shit we’ve done. She’s not like us. She doesn’t have this horrible history we have to contend with.
Her high school life might have been spent hiding, but she also didn’t hurt anyone intentionally. We did.
And it’s coming back to hurt her. The one person we don’t want to hurt.
Her face becomes determined as she turns back to study me. She doesn’t understand how much power she has in this relationship. All the cards are in her hands. We may keep forcing her hand, but eventually she could leave us all.
And I wouldn’t blame her.
She uncurls from beside Luke and straddles my lap. I don’t move, afraid this is some sort of test or trap. I’m out of my depth.
What I did to Rebecca is just one of the horrible things I’ve done in the last few years. Do I regret doing it? I don’t. But telling this girl in front of me about it made me wish I hadn’t done it. Watching the horror unfold in her eyes was almost too hard. I want to protect her from me and the things I did.
“I don’t think what you did was right or moral.” Her dark eyes hold me captive as I await her judgment. Wait for her to draw away and not want to be with me anymore.
Who could love someone as cold and callous as me?
“I understand why you did it. I think.” Her hands grab my shirt, and I let her pull me upright. Let her draw me closer to her.
I readjust the way I’m sitting, and she gets comfortable on my lap. We’re eye to eye, chest to chest. She threads her fingers into my hair, and I lean into her touch, savoring it, worried this might be the last time.
“Our pasts will always haunt us in some way, but all we can do is learn from it.” Her vanilla scent wraps around me.
I’m tempted to kiss her. To taste her one more time before she leaves me.
“I trust you, Eli.”
My heart stops. Not comprehending the words she says. It’s not what I expected her to say.
“I trust you aren’t planning to do something like that to me.” She draws in a breath and rushes out. “I believe you want more from me than what I’ve already given you.”
I slide my hand into her hair to cradle the back of her head and rest my forehead against hers, breathing her in and letting my panic and fear subside. She trusts me. Fuck, that feels phenomenal.
