CHAPTER 1
The Last
Harper
My high school motto: Stay undertheirradar.
The guys who will one day rule the world. Gods who choose to walk amongst us. Giant walking assholes who exploit everyone’s weaknesses.
Eli Jacobs, Jack Hill, Caden Ross, and the worst of them all, Luke Foster.
Of course, they’re all completely gorgeous with a long line of willing female victims to service their every need. They have it all. Money, looks, sex, and smarts. They rule our school. If someone doesn’t cave to their will, they have the power to make that person’s life hell.
Their nickname on and off the football field is the four horsemen.
Yup, like the apocalypse. Is it odd? Yes. But everyone accepts it. And the guys own it.
They destroy anyone in their path. Their drive and determination took the Sherman High School Mustangs to their first State Championship in twenty years. And their second. And their third. No one doubts this year will mark their fourth.
We’re seniors now. One more year to avoid them and then off to college where the horsemen are just a footnote in my history.
It’s not normal for an almost eighteen-year-old girl to play a game of hide and seek with four guys who don’t know they’re playing. But this town and this school make them powerful in a way that isn’t normal.
I’ve always been a little bit of a loner. I have a single mom. Don’t really remember my dad. Had one friend who moved away when we were in sixth grade. I got lucky when MacKenzie Campbell moved here and decided I’d be her friend back in middle school. It was around that time the popular boys were gaining more followers and power.
Until freshman year, I was your typical wallflower. Happy to sit back and watch other people live their lives. I thought in high school things would be different. We’d all be small fish in a much bigger pond.
Kenz and I even went to the cafeteria back then to eat. Until two weeks into freshman year. No one knows the whole story, but it’s been gossiped about over the years. Apparently this junior cheerleader, who was queen bee, used her supposed virginity to pit Luke, Jack, Caden, and Eli against each other.
That’s the theory at least. I mean, I was there and still don’t know what she was thinking.
The guys were all at their own table. Even as freshmen, they were the center of attention. The table of cheerleaders were to their left and to their right the other football players. They made waves bringing in wins when even the varsity players had already lost their first two games.
In walked Kylie Elias in a short skirt and a top that showed off her breasts. Her blond hair was perfectly styled in soft waves and her blue eyes were narrowed on the horsemen’s table. Her heels clicked on the linoleum floor as she made her way to the table.
When she sat in the seat between Eli and Jack, she leaned in to talk to Eli privately. Luke’s cold blue eyes locked on her. He cleared his throat loudly, and Jack let out a laugh that captured everyone’s attention. The hum of conversation died down to a murmur.
“What do you want, Kylie?” Luke asked, and you could hear a pin drop.
I held my breath, waiting.
“Fuck off, Luke. I’m talking to Eli.” She turned her head away from him, and even I knew that was a mistake. But I watched the horsemen in middle school and knew to keep a low profile. Back then they weren’t quite who they are now.
Luke laughed, and so did the other horsemen. It sends chills down my back even remembering it.
“What did she ask?” Luke turned to Eli, who smirked.
“She wants her panties back.”
Laughter lit the air in small bursts from around the cafeteria. Kylie’s face turned red and she slid her hands over the hem of her skirt. She stood up and put her hands on her hips.
“Well?” She held out her hand to Eli with an expectant look, choosing to brazen it out.
The guys all stood and reached into their pockets. Each of them pulled out a pair of lacy thong panties. They walked around the table and placed them in her hand. When Eli added his, he smirked in her face.
“Looks like you’ve lost more than your fair share of panties to us.”
“That’s not all she lost.” Luke winked at her and leaned back in his chair like a king.
