Page 171 of Their Cruel Play
“The girls figure it will be a month before you guys do whatever you plan to make me fade into obscurity again.” My words kind of fizzle out, and I lift my gaze to Caden’s. “And then they can be with you.”
I don’t need to tell them about how those girls want them. We all know that.
“It’s not my story to tell, little nympho.” He holds my chin when I try to look away. His green eyes are intense as he meets mine. “You’re mine. If I thought any of us would do that to you, he’d be pissing blood. We’ve done fucked up shit because we were bored or because someone got out of hand. Sometimes we don’t, but usually we have a reason for the things we do.”
His hand snakes around to the back of my neck, and he rests his forehead against mine. “There was a reason for her. Not you. Never you.”
My breath catches as he searches my eyes to make sure I understand. My heart pounds. Caden may not have championed me in the beginning, but he always promised to protect me. He’s always the one talking me off the cliff. My heart pounds erratically. He sees me.
“Do you understand, Harper?”
“Yes.” The word is soft, and the warmth buzzing inside me isn’t lust. There’s something more here. Something I don’t want to explore too closely.
“Listen to what the others have to say. They won’t bullshit you, but it’s not pretty.” Caden straightens.
“I had my reasons, kitten.” Eli sits in the armchair. I didn’t even hear him come in. The others are arriving too. Jack kisses the top of my head before sitting on the other side of Caden.
Nico meets my eyes and gives me a small, acknowledging nod. Luke holds his hand out to Nico for their complicated handshake.
“Thank you for bringing this forward and not letting her dwell on it.” Luke’s words hit me hard. He knows Nico did this for me. I don’t meet Luke’s eyes as he returns his watchful gaze to me.
“I’m curious too. I’ve been out of the loop. The things you did to gain power will affect me because I’m one of you. It’s already affecting Harper. Those guys are targeting her because of something you did.”
Luke nods and reaches out for me. My gaze lifts to his. It’s not a command. Caden is comfortable, and he makes me safe. But Luke needs me. I don’t understand it, but I need him too.
Moving gently because of Luke’s side, I slide between him and Caden, resting my back on Caden and my head on Luke’s shoulder. Luke lifts my legs across his lap.
I look at Eli. It’s time. Even if it hurts. “She wouldn’t even look at you when she served us at the diner. When she didn’t answer your question, you didn’t do anything. That’s not like you.”
Eli runs his hands through his dark hair and leans his elbows on his knees. He looks up at me with his dark eyes. “Sophomore year was a shitshow from start to finish.”
My sophomore year was spent going from one dark corner to the next. That year the horsemen had their mission and started tagging girls right and left.
“Everything was fine at home until it came out that my mother had an affair. They went to counseling that year, butevery day became a fight at home. Mom blamed Dad’s work schedule. Dad blamed her for wanting too much.
“It’s nothing like the silent battle they’re waging now that they’ve decided to bury their feelings.”
I want to go to him, to comfort him, but Luke puts his hand on the outside of my hip and holds me where I am. Not sure why, but maybe this is easier if Eli’s not touching me, and I’m not touching him. For now, I’ll trust Luke. “I can’t imagine how hard that must have been for you.”
“I don’t deserve your sympathy, kitten. It doesn’t excuse that year. Just setting the stage.” Eli’s foot taps on the ground. His lips press together, and his head hangs. The urge to slide my hand into his hair is strong. To give him what comfort I can.
Caden rubs my back. “She needs the truth.”
“Fuck.” Eli stands and walks away before coming back. “Rebecca was a stuck-up cheerleader who flaunted the fact that she was so fucking pure. But it was a fucking act. She’d given at least one guy a blowjob that we knew about.”
“She played nice,” Jack says. “Nice to your face and mostly nice behind your back. But she and a few other cheerleaders decided to pick on some freshman girls. It was before we put our rule of no freshman girls in place. The cheerleaders were jealous of the attention we gave them. Called them whores and sluts and ruined their reputations. One girl ended up in the hospital after her parents found her cutting herself.”
“Was she okay?” My brow furrows. No one talks about that. What other things happened in our school that I don’t know about? I was too busy hiding myself.
Jack nods. “She got counseling and changed schools.”
“Rebecca wasn’t the ringleader. Some older girls led the charge. But Rebecca talked the most shit because of her virtue, like that gave her the right to look down on those othergirls,” Caden adds in. “Because Rebecca hadn’t given in to a horseman.”
“We made a decision to take her out. To make her a hypocrite.” Eli sits on the coffee table in front of me. “She was our first claimed girl, meaning no one else could touch her until the guy that claimed her was finished.”
I swallow down the hurt. This is the past. They’ve claimed a lot of girls over the years. Just not together. “So you claimed her?”
“No,” Luke says. “I did.”
