Page 179 of Their Cruel Play
“I have five very effective weapons.” I smile, thinking about the guys.
“Still, you have to be alone sometimes.” She shakes her head. “I’m not letting you out of my sight from now on.”
Closing the locker, I turn to lean next to her, bumping her shoulder with mine. “I’m glad I have you.”
She grins. “Come on. Let’s get out of this house of horrors.”
We walk together to her car. The parking lot is busy with everyone trying to leave. So many faces I recognize but don’t actually know. Yes, I’m finally not hiding, but I still feel isolated just with five new additions to my isolation.
If I don’t count Penny and the girls.
“How are you and Brandon?” I ask and pull my seatbelt on.
She smiles. “Still loving every minute we get to spend together. We’ve been talking about after high school and what colleges we want to go to. It sounds like we might be doing long distance, but it’s so far off I’m not thinking about it.”
“The guys have me applying to a bunch of schools.” I lean my head back as we start the familiar drive to my house. “They want me to go where they go.”
“Yeah?” Kenz turns surprised eyes my way. “I thought they just wanted you for the year.”
Shrugging, I glance at my chipped nail polish. I’ve been picking at it all day. It was better than seeing the boys in school undressing me with their eyes.
“That’s a huge step, H.” Kenz turns down my road.
“I know. They’ve kind of taken over my life, but I don’t think I mind.” I turn my head her way. “I mean, my life was pretty low key before this year.”
Nodding, she pulls into my driveway and turns off the car. “I can’t imagine deciding my college based on where Brandon goes. I love him, but we’re still kids and have so much growing up to do. I wouldn’t want to regret my decision.”
“Understandable, but my criteria for college wasn’t that great to begin with. Affordable and far away from the horsemen while staying close-ish to Mom.” I blow out a breath. “If we’re still together, I get to go to a school with five guys I kind of like and keep having amazing sex. But if we’re apart, I still get to go to a better school than I was picking for myself.”
Kenz grins. “Amazing sex?”
My cheeks flush. “Definitely.”
She shakes her head. “Man, if I’d known, I would have gotten you a boyfriend years ago and stayed available.”
I laugh. “No you wouldn’t have. You would have been snatched up as a snack the second you were available.”
We both get out of the car and go into the house. Mom comes down the stairs as I hang up my backpack.
“Just the girls today?”
Kenz smiles. “Hi, Ms. D.”
“Kenz.” Mom stops at the island and looks me over. “You good, kid?”
“I’m good, but someone decided to share a photoshopped picture of me. My head, someone else’s naked body. We don’t know who did it.”
Her eyebrows pinch. “Is it on the internet?”
I shake my head and reach into the fridge to get Kenz and me a soda.
“The guys made sure it was taken down.” I hand Kenz her soda and open mine. “Someone’s just trying to send a message.”
“I don’t like this, Harper.” Mom sinks onto one of the stools. “Maybe we need to think about homeschooling like you wanted at the beginning of the year.”
“The guys keep her safe.” Kenz’s eyes are wide. “I don’t think it would be better if Harper was on her own all day.”
“I don’t know.” Mom’s worried eyes lock with mine. “Too many fucking coincidences.”
