“Slide in,” he commands her.
She does, and he slides in next to her while I sit across from her. She clasps her hands on the table in front of her and stares at the napkin holder like it’s a show she needs to watch.
I pull out a napkin and hand it to her. She looks at me for a second and then takes the napkin and sets it on her lap. Then she returns to staring at the napkin holder again.
I do the same thing. Grab one and hand it to her. She glances at me before setting it before her. We go through the motions two more times before she sighs and looks at me as she puts the napkin in front of her.
I give her a smile. Luke and Eli arrive with drinks and pass them out. Harper focuses on her drink instead.
“Nothing?” Eli asks.
I shake my head. I notice Caden’s arm move, pretty sure he just put his hand on Harper’s thigh. No reaction.
Caden grunts and then glares at Luke, who sits next to me.
Luke leans back and studies Harper like he’s trying to dissect her. She takes a drink of her soda and stares off into the distance.
We could just talk around her, but this all feels odd. Even when she ignored us before, she was engaged. Now she’s like a lump we’re carting around.
No one wants to fuck a lump.
“Did you order Harper the hottest wings they have?” I ask Luke.
“Figured she’d want them plain like her current behavior.” Luke narrows his eyes at her. “Embarrassed the spanking turned you on, princess?”
She lifts her face and stares at Luke blankly. “No.”
“Probably should have done it in the locker room. Apparently she likes an audience.” Eli smirks as we all watch her for any fucking reaction at all.
She shrugs and starts folding her straw wrapper.
“I guess we could start every day like this.” Luke rubs the corner of his mouth. “There are more pleasant ways to start a day, but if she’s going to be sullen, then maybe spankings are the way to go.”
Again she lifts her face but doesn’t say anything.
Luke shakes his head like he doesn’t know what to do with her. We still have a few minutes before they bring out the wings, but no one talks.
“You owe me a kiss, little nympho.” Caden looks at Harper. “You ready to pay up?”
She nods.
Caden lifts her and puts her on the table in front of him, rattling the glasses. She puts her hands on his shoulders as she looks down at him with those empty eyes.
He leans in and presses his lips to hers. She doesn’t do anything, just sits there. Yup, glad I didn’t do that.
“I can do this the whole lunch until you respond, little nympho.” Caden pulls her onto his lap. “The bet was for a no-holds-barred kiss. Do I need to punish you for not complying?”
Harper
I want to glare at Caden for pulling this crap, but I manage to keep my face as placid as a lake. “You do what you have to do.”
They’ve all been seriously quiet. Normally, they talk around me, but it’s like I’m sucking all the energy out of the group. Good. Fuck them.
Caden draws me in against him, but he’s not hard. That surprises me. I figured that was just a standard for being a horseman. Or maybe I’m being effective and he doesn’t want a limp little doll he can easily control.
Maybe this will go better than I thought. Maybe a few days of this and they’ll be done with me as a lost cause. I can go back to my normal life without the horsemen in it.
A twinge strikes my heart, but I ignore it.
