Page 65 of Their Cruel Play
“We’ll help Harper with the dishes.” Nico stands and brings his plate to the sink.
“Harper, come upstairs for a minute.” Mom gestures with her head.
I glance at Nico.
“We’ve got it.” He nods.
“I’ll be right back.” I follow Mom upstairs. What does she want to talk about?
When we go into her bedroom, I sit on the edge of her bed, expecting the worst.
“Are you going to a party tonight?” She goes into her bathroom and yells to be heard.
“Probably.” I don’t know. We really didn’t discuss it, but it’s likely. It is Saturday night.
“I shouldn’t ask this because I’m not sure I want to know.”
My muscles turn to stone, waiting for the question I don’t want to answer.
“Are you spending the night with them? One of them? All of them? You know what? I don’t want to know.” Mom comes outand grabs her scrubs for tonight. Her dark eyes catch mine. “But with all the weird things going on, you’re safe, right?”
Swallowing, I nod. “Yes, I’m safe.”
“You’ll tell me if something changes and you aren’t safe?” She cocks her eyebrow.
“Always.” My heart beat eases a little. “I know you worry about me, but they...” I blow out a breath. “They care about me. They’ve taken responsibility for me.”
Her lips pinch together. “We joked about you dating the football team?—”
“It’s not that, Mom. It’s not about just being with anyone because I can.” I sigh. “It’s about them. All of them. They each make me feel differently but it’s all good. They don’t want me to choose, and I don’t think I could if I tried.”
I clasp my hands in my lap. “I’m young, and yes, this might not make sense in the future, but right now, it does.”
She smiles softly. “Okay, but if you need me, I’m here. Anything you need to talk about. I will hold my judgement and listen because I can tell those boys care about you and you care about them.”
I nod.
“Okay, make sure they load the dishwasher correctly.” She shoos me out of her room.
When I go downstairs, they’re all working together to clean the kitchen. Caden has a washcloth and wipes down the table. Jack washes the pots while Eli dries. Nico loads the dishwasher and points out where to put things to Eli.
Leaning in the door frame, I just watch them for a few minutes. The time to back out of this is long past. They won’t give me up for someone new or old. They’re mine and I’m theirs.
But I’m missing one. I pull my phone out and check my texts. The Penny crowd has texted asking about parties tonight, but nothing from Luke.
“He’ll catch up to us, little nympho.” Caden tips my chin up. And I search his gaze for the answers.
“Where is he?” Someone has to know. We spent the afternoon acting like kids again. Hanging out. Laughing. Having fun.
No pressure for more.
Caden tightens his lips. “He said he had an errand to run. He may have gone home.”
“Or?” I blow out a breath.
“His father riles him up, so he might have gone to burn off energy.” Caden looks over his shoulder at the others.
“Doing what?” I’m not sure I want to know. But it better not be a who. My insides tumble over themselves.
