“I should go home.” I shove everything into my backpack and grab my phone to text my mom. She’ll understand.
They haven’t texted in a few minutes. What does that mean? Maybe they’ve given up. This could be my chance to escape. Mygaze goes to the doorknob and I hold my breath, waiting to see if it turns.
“Harper, you can’t avoid them forever.” Kenz puts her hands flat on the table. “Just play along at school. They won’t do anything right away, right? We’ll have time to figure something out.”
“I’m already fucking hiding from them and it’s not even halfway through the first day. I don’t know what punishment means either, and I don’t think I want to find out.” Pulling on my backpack, I head to the door. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”
I yank open the door and freeze. The four of them stand in the doorway, looking down on me. Jeezus, they’re a lot. Tall, attractive?—
My heart skips. Yeah, that might be the worst part. They’re attractive. All of them. And a part of me doesn’t really want to fight that hard against them. It’s a small part, and I’ll beat that horny bitch into the ground over time.
“Found you.” Jack smirks.
I take a step back, but Luke grabs my arm. His hand is warm and firm on my bare skin. My eyes find Kenz, who looks pale. Earlier, Ms. Sullivan left the room for parts unknown. No one can help me.
“Not so fast, unicorn.” Luke draws me forward into the circle of them.
Their heat engulfs my body, and the haunting combination of their colognes wreaks havoc on my system. Individually, they all smell great, but together it blends into something tantalizing and alluring, making me want to dive into their warmth.
Shit. No. Calm down, horny bitch.
“What did I say?” Luke brings his face down so we’re eye to eye.
“Not so fast?” Fuck, I know it’s the wrong thing to say, but what can I do? Admit I hid from them. That I’m afraid of them. That their attention is too much.
Caden and Jack chuckle, but the sound is far from reassuring. More like hyenas before they pounce on their prey.
Luke’s eyes have an evil glint as he straightens. He doesn’t release my arm but tugs me along with him as the group of them falls in step surrounding me. Like I’m their prisoner being led to my execution. Don’t I get a last request?
“Is this really necessary?” I manage to get out around the lump in my throat.
“Yes,” Eli says from behind me.
Glad that clears everything up. I try to glance back toward the art room and swear I see Kenz following us. I don’t want her to get dragged into this.
Luke still holds my arm, but surprisingly, it isn’t tight enough to bruise. I don’t bother trying to drag my heels. With four men built for football, it wouldn’t take much to be thrown over one of their shoulders, and I definitely don’t want to show them or anyone else my panties today.
They’re quiet as we move through the hallways toward the loud cafeteria. The noise escalates as we draw near, but as the horsemen step into the room, a hush falls over the crowd in a wave.
Eli, Caden, and Jack fall back, and I see them take up position by the doors. Luke makes a hand gesture to one of the other football players, who goes up to the teacher on duty. Within a minute, the two leave the cafeteria, and the doors all close.
The kitchen is closed since lunch is almost over. Holy fuck, it’s only students in here and not a friendly face among them. Not that I know many of them personally. The instinct to runflows through me. Even though it would be pointless. It would add to my humiliation, so I tamp it down.
Luke drags me up onto a table in the center of the room. Eli jumps up to stand next to him, but Jack and Caden stand in the back near the doors.
I’m amazed the table holds our weight, but it wouldn’t dare give out while the horsemen are on it.
My knees literally shake and I can’t catch my breath. These guys can do anything to me. In front of all these students. Not one of them will help me.
Sure, I can report it after the fact, but right now, in this moment, the horsemen have complete control and that’s terrifying.
“You all know Harper, right?” Luke’s voice deepens and resonates throughout the entire room.
Some people mumble. I’m sure I’ve had classes with at least some of these students, but hiding from the horsemen means not making a lot of friends. The fewer people who knew me, the easier it was to slip under their radar.
“From now on, she’s ours.” Eli’s voice carries in the large room. “That means you don’t do anything with her. No talking. No touching. Pretend this is a huge game of cooties and you don’t want to get them from her.”
I can’t help my glare at him. I do not have cooties, and who are they to say what I can and can’t do?
