She glances at her phone as the show ends. Her brow furrows and she types something. Then she sighs and glances at me.
“What?” I ask as I turn off the TV.
“Mom’s stuck at work.” She curls into her chair and looks at all of us. “Seriously, I’m good. You guys can leave. It’s not like it isn’t safe in my house. I’ve been doing this since I was a kid.”
“You might have had to be alone when you were a kid, but you don’t have to now.” Eli leans back and rests his head on the back of the couch. “We can relax here just as well as at Luke’s or Caden’s house.”
“I don’t know when she’ll get home,” she warns.
“Worried we’ll be out after curfew?” Luke smirks. “Maybe we’ll all get grounded.”
She glares at him.
“Don’t sweat it.” I get her attention. “My parents and Luke’s father aren’t in town. Jack’s mom is a doctor, and Eli’s parents are too busy ignoring each other to notice he’s not home.”
Her brow furrows as she glances at Eli. Our little nympho has a soft heart.
“What would you do if we weren’t here?”
Harper
Hiding in my room probably won’t reassure them that I’m fine on my own.
“Homework.”
Caden nods. “Don’t let us stop you.”
Fuck it. It’s something to do. I go over and wipe off the kitchen table before settling in with my books. My attention is split though between my work and the guys sitting around my living room.
Jack goes outside, comes back in with his backpack, and sits across from me with a grin. He pulls out his school computer and sets it up.
“Wifi?” He lifts a dark eyebrow at me.
I smile. “David’s house. Password ismy favorite Henry Cavill is a dirty Witcher. Capital letters, no spaces.”
“Yours or your mom’s?” He grins.
“Both.” I shrug.
“Me too.” He wiggles his eyebrows.
I shake my head and refocus on my homework. After a while, Caden joins us at the table to work on his AP statistics. He asks about a problem, and then Eli comes and joins us as we all discuss the homework.
“Why are there so many cars in the driveway?” Mom stops when we all look up at her from the table. “Uh, what’s up?”
Her eyes find mine and she widens them.
“I drove to school today, and it looks like someone intentionally flattened my tire. The guys were at football practice, and Caden saw me changing it and worried something else might have been wrong with the car. So they followed me home and then worried someone might be trying to find me alone and…” I spread my arms out to indicate the guys at the table and the one in the living room. “We were just discussing our AP statistics homework.”
“O-kay.” Mom hangs her purse on the rack near the door. Her eyes linger on the empty pizza boxes in the trash. “I assume you’ve all eaten by now.”
“There’s some leftovers in the fridge,” Caden points out.
“I appreciate you boys looking out for Harper.” Pretty sure that’s not all she wants to say, but I’ll probably hear about it later. “I’m sure your parents are probably wondering where you are.”
“They know where we are,” Luke says, “but it’s late and we should head out. We just didn’t feel comfortable leaving Harper alone.”
Mom nods, still looking fairly shell-shocked to find four guys in her house. It’s hard to imagine her thinking of them as boys when they all tower over us. The guys pack up their books.
