Page 22 of Their Cruel Play
The color guard girls were in the locker room and saw where I went. I would have passed by them on my way out, so maybe they’ll come check on me?
Ha, that’s wishful thinking. They don’t give a shit if I’m stuck in here. Even if they haven’t already returned to the game.
Maybe this was a really elaborate plan to trap me. To what end though? Play a prank on the horsemen’s whore. Oh no, I have to sit and play my game until someone comes and lets me out.
Oh, darn.
I sit back on the table and pull out my phone, staring at the no signal. Okay, so I can do a quick sweep around the room to see if I can find a signal. Hopping down, I go around the entire room holding my phone at every angle. I even check the other doors. One is a linen closet and the other is a utility closet.
Once that’s been double checked and all hope is firmly gone, I pull off the jersey again and put it in the dryer. No reason to wear a wet jersey when I don’t have to.
Kenz knows where I am. When I don’t show up, she’ll come looking. It’s not like I’m alone.
I return to my station on the table and play a few more rounds of my game until I’ve used all my lives. I go across to the dryer and tug on Luke’s jersey. Yawning, I decide to check the door again. When I turn and straighten my skirt, the door opens.
“Thank—” The words die on my tongue as a guy dressed all in black including a ski mask enters the room and closes the door. My feet unstick from the floor, and I rush to the linen closet and close myself inside.
My heart is pounding as I brace my feet on the doorframe and hold the doorknob like my life depends on it, putting all my weight on it. The doorknob turns but he doesn’t open it.
Something metallic taps on the door a few times like he’s knocking with it.
“Come on out, Harper. We don’t want to hurt you. We just want to talk.” The male voice is calm and reassuring, like he’s trying to talk a cat down out of a tree.
“Yeah, most pleasant conversations start with someone wearing a mask.” I don’t release the door or give up my stance.
“We can wait you out, darling.” The table groans under the weight of my assailant. “It’s not even half time yet.”
What’s with thewe? One guy came in.
“Okay, so you can come back later,” I suggest.
He chuckles, and that doesn’t give me a lot of hope here. My body remains tense and in position for five long minutes. This is stupid.
I blow out a breath. “You know, if you want to talk to me, I’m kind of a captive audience.”
“We both know I didn’t come here to talk.”
Yeah, not what I was hoping to hear.
Even paying attention to his voice, I can’t figure out who he is. Granted, my experience with other people is fairly limited in high school. Even now, being the horsemen’s just means I’m getting to know them better, not other people.
“You could just come out, and we can get this over with,” he suggests.
“What exactly are we getting over?” I feel like if I keep him talking, eventually someone will come and realize a guy is in the girl’s locker room. Right?
“Your virginity. What those assholes want from you, I figure I’d do them a favor and warm you up.”
Holy shit, what the fuck? “You know that’s rape, right?”
“You’re just their property. Consider me your hero to get out of their clasps.”
“You’ve got to be kidding me.” I can’t stop the words coming out of my mouth. “You really think I’d prefer you to rape me over being their pet for a year?”
“Look, I get it. You probably want it to be special. I can be nice about it. I could probably even give you an orgasm for your trouble.”
“Who the fuck are you?” I glare at the door. There’s no way I’m releasing this doorknob.
“Someone with a grudge against the so-called kings of our school. I imagine you and I have a lot in common if we sit down and talk. After all, they’re experts at manipulation.”
