Page 203 of Their Cruel Play
I open the door and step into his office, closing it behind me. He sits at his desk with a pen in his hand. Whatever he was doing, he stops.
He watches me with curiosity. “How can I help you, Jack?”
Smirking, I sit in the chair across from him. “See, that’s what I like about you. Willing to help.”
“I’ve got a game to help strategize for, plus a bunch of paperwork to catch up on. So if this is a social visit...”
“Right to the point then.” I drop my smile. “There’s been some shit happening to my girl.”
He flinches when I saymy girl. Maybe he’s not truly over what we had, even if it was brief. But there’s no one else I can trust. He’s not interested in me like that anymore, not when he has a career to think about.
“What kind of sh— stuff?”
I grin at the correction. We didn’t talk about how much to tell him. “Just prank stuff, but it’s gotten out of hand. We want to keep her safe, but can’t do that while we’re playing the game.”
“Is that why Caden missed the last half?” Narrowing his eyes, Darius leans his elbows on the desk and clasps his hands together. “And why I had to release Zach Gray from the laundry room the other day? Somehow the door got wedged shut after gym class. I found him after the next period.”
I resist the urge to smile. It wasn’t enough after he terrorized our girl but locking him in was almost too easy. Zach’s a fucking arrogant bastard.
“That’s crazy about Zach. Maybe you guys need to double check the safety of those laundry rooms. About Caden, I’m not at liberty to discuss that at the moment.” We don’t need him pulling at the loose threads and unraveling everything before we catch whoever is after Harper. We need the rest of the guys on the team to think we haven’t caught on. “Let’s just say we don’t want our girl to get hurt.”
“So what does that have to do with me, Jack?” He arches an eyebrow.
“You sometimes drive to the away games. Could you make sure Harper gets there and back? Otherwise, Caden might try to smuggle her onto the bus.” He would too.
“You want me to drive a student to an away game?” He leans back in his chair and glares at me. “What the hell, Jack? Not everyone knows I’m gay, so driving a female student to the game could definitely look suspicious and get me in trouble.”
I pause for a few seconds to consider that. “Okay, well, what if it’s two female students?”
Putting MacKenzie in the car shouldn’t be that big of a deal. Harper trusts her, and she wouldn’t be alone with MacKenzie or Darius.
“What excuse am I supposed to give the coach for bringing two females to an away game?” Darius scrubs his hand down his face, and I know I have him.
“What if Harper helps out? She could be your runner.” That way she’s on the field with us, and we’ll know exactly where she is.
Darius leans forward again. “If I do this for you, what’s in it for me?”
Yeah, I kind of figured it’d come to this. “We aren’t going to hook up if that’s?—”
“Fuck. No, Jack. I’m not that hard up.” His hand runs through his curls. Honestly, I would have been surprised if that had been his ask. It’s not like he should be hurting for company.
“Then what do you want? Because honestly, I’m confused.”
Darius sighs. “I need someone to volunteer to help with the flag football team at the grade school.”
I laugh. He brought that up a few times this week during practice, but no one volunteered. It’s an inner-city school that honestly could use the help. “Seriously?”
“Yeah, I need someone to help, or the team won’t be able to play.” He leans forward. “These kids could use a healthy choice and being an athlete could change their lives for the better. Even if they don’t go pro, the game teaches teamwork and discipline.”
This is an every-weekend type of thing, which is why no one volunteered. Before Harper, I might have, but I don’t want to miss time with her. But if Coach Turner is willing to help keep her safe when we can’t...
“Fine. You have a deal, but Harper and MacKenzie ride with you to all the away games.”
He nods and holds out his hand to shake mine. “Practice is seven a.m. Saturday morning.”
Fuck.
CHAPTER 56
