Page 213 of Their Cruel Play
“What do you think they’ll talk about in there?” Kenz glances at the door. She says in a deep voice, “You’re creaming them out there. They can’t seem to keep up with you, but that’s not good enough.”
I laugh. “I don’t know what kind of pep talk you could give the horsemen and their followers. Maybe, try not to send everyone to hell.”
“Not send everyone to hell. What kind of bullshit is that, sweetheart?”
I startle and turn to see Jack leaning against the locker beside me. “Why are you here?”
He holds his hand down to me. “Figured you’d want in on the fun.”
Kenz snort laughs into her hand.
“Not that kind of fun.” I bump into her shoulder. When I glance up at Jack, he smirks. I don’t think that kind of fun.
“Will you be okay out here?” I glance down the long empty hallway.
“No one is trying to get to me for revenge. Go. See what your hunky boyfriend wants you to do now.” She pushes my hip. “Just remember the last time he made you do stats for his football game.”
Jack chuckles and shakes his hand at me. “Come on. We’re waiting for you.”
I take it and he pulls me to my feet. I glance back down at Kenz.
“Go, H. I’m good out here.” She takes her phone out and opens her book app. “I’ve got a dark romance to read.”
Jack tugs my hand, and I follow him. He leads me around a corner and down another hallway to an unmarked door that a shoe props open. The outside of the door is just metal without a doorknob.
He holds his finger to his lips as he leads me into the locker room. Metal lockers shut and men’s voices fill the space, along with the scuffing of shoes.
Jack leads me through a row where the lights aren’t on and into an office. He closes the door quietly behind us as I take in the horsemen sitting in their football uniforms around the desk. It’s almost like a bad AI photo. Men in uniform at office.
Luke holds out his hand, and I go to him. He’s covered in grass stains and mud, but he takes my hand and pulls me down beside him into a chair of my own instead of his lap. They’re all sweaty and dirtied up as my gaze takes them all in.
I cross my legs and focus on what they brought me here for and not how primal they feel in this moment. Eli sits back with a smirk, watching me.
Jack opens his laptop and turns it so we all can see. There are six separate feeds. A couple are from inside my house, the kitchen and the hallway outside my bedroom. Two are from Crusty’s. Those look like legitimate security cameras and not cameras Jack planted.
The other two are security cameras from the diner.
“What are we waiting for?” I ask quietly.
Luke holds up his hand. On the screen, Penny and Izzy enter Crusty’s, while in the diner, Vicky and Nat walk into therestaurant. The cameras in my house remain empty. Mom would already be at work.
At Crusty’s, a couple of guys look up at the girls but then do something on their phones. One guy at the restaurant notices the girls as they sit in a booth. After a moment, another girl joins each of the screens.
The new girls have long brown hair and wear clothes similar to mine.
“Who are they?” I whisper.
“My sister’s friends.” Caden’s voice is quiet. “They miss Ava and were easy to convince when they found out Tanner’s harassing you too.”
I reach for his hand across the desk, and he takes it.
A girl walks through my house. Similar build and height to me.
“Wait, you left her there alone?” I startle, and the need to warn her races through me.
“That’s a college student who interns with my mom.” Jack rubs my back. “She’s amazing and anyone who decides to take her on will learn quickly that she’s not to be messed with. She has martial arts training.”
I worry my lip with my teeth as I watch the fake Harpers join the girls, and the one in my house moves into my bedroom. “Are you sure they’re safe?”
