Page 68 of Their Cruel Play
The freshman stops and gestures toward the pool house. When I walk in, the music is low and there are voices talking that stop as the door closes behind me.
When I round the corner, sitting around a table are three guys and a girl. The guys I know are on the JV football team. Logan is the quarterback. Carter is the receiver, while Reeves is Logan’s Caden.
The girl sits back in her chair. She’s blond with dark eyes. Her hair is parted in the middle with two ponytails on either side of her head, tendrils falling on either side of her face. She doesn’t cower before me or preen to get my attention, just stares at me.
“Luke.” Logan leans back from the table. “How can we help you?”
Carter pulls over another chair across from Logan and gestures to it for me.
I sit down and take in these four. From what Harper was told, these are the rising horsemen. They probably go by a different name, but they’re the next power for the vacuum we’ll leave behind when we graduate.
“Your girl talked to mine.”
Carter chuckles. “Zoey isn’t our girl. She’s one of us.”
“Apologies.” It doesn’t surprise me. She’s not on a lap and she’s not holding any of their hands. She’s her own person. Zoey is clearly not owned.
“Don’t sweat it.” Zoey leans in. “I get it. You only see girls as good for one thing, but that’s not what we’re about.”
I give her a nod. “I just want to make sure you weren’t part of the trap for Harper.”
She shakes her head. “I didn’t know what they had planned. I figured the skunking was the main point. Made sense Sidney wanted you to smell her when you fucked your girl.”
“It would be something Sidney would do.” I nod. “But things are different. I’ve got people coming at my girl from all angles. Do you guys know anything about that?”
They all meet each other’s eyes, like they’re communicating without words. I can see what Zoey told Harper. It’s the way the Horsemen have always been. We don’t just attack. We think it through. We use our allies wisely.
Logan clears his throat. “There are rumors and vague notions going around. Some guys wanted to get back at you by going after your girl.”
“That’s the thing. What did we do to Zach Gray? As far as we know, we don’t have any beef with his crew, and he shouldn’t have any with ours.”
Zoey laughs. “You guys really don’t think with anything beside your dicks, do you?”
I arch an eyebrow. Most people don’t speak to me like that.
“Zach Gray wants your position. He tried a power play. It’s why he’s with Sidney. She’s queen fucking bee. He wants the loyalty and the pussy. But if he took your girl before you could, he would have been?—”
“A rapist.” The word bites out of my mouth. We didn’t give her much choice, but had she completely locked us out of her life, we would have dealt. Not violently taken something she didn’t want to give.
Do I regret taking pleasure from her when she fought us? That self-reflection will have to wait for another time.
“True, but he would have gotten one over on you.” Zoey shakes her head. “His methods aren’t good for the school. Someone should put him back in his place. And Sidney needs to fall.”
Her guys nod, and I can’t help but agree with her. If he’s willing to go that far to prove he’s on top, he needs to know he’s never going to reach it. And if Sidney was part of it, she can’t be allowed to continue her reign.
I glance at my phone and know I have a little time before I have to get to Harper’s house. Just enough time to look into one more thing.
Harper
The music is loud as we walk into Jason’s house. I still don’t know who Jason is, but apparently his party is the party to be at tonight.
“I texted him.” Caden leans down to say into my ear. Him being Luke, who has neither called nor texted any of us.
I’m torn between anger and worry. He skipped dinner with my mom. That’s not a good sign that he’s in this, but what if he’s being held up by something worse than him just being a dick?
I blow out a breath and focus on my surroundings. The whole house is filled with teenagers. The inside is dimly lit. We passed a lot of people on the front lawn, but there are even more people in here. I’m not sure why the police haven’t been called, but Jason’s family seems wealthy. Maybe they know a cop.
Eli keeps his hand on my hip, pulling me in close to his side. Caden clears the way for us, while Jack and Nico protect us from the back.
