Caden slides his hand up my thigh under my skirt, and I almost jump out of my skin. He gives me a crooked smile when I give him a chastising look.
“I like Harper’s clothes.” He squeezes my thigh. “I prefer them off more though.”
My face feels like it’s burning along with my insides. The server clears his throat.Jeezus.
“Three pies?”
The guys direct the distribution, and I take a couple pieces of my favorite BBQ chicken. At least Caden’s hand and mouth arenow occupied. I definitely don’t need him telling Kenz about this morning.
The talk moves on to Friday night’s game, which I’m grounded from still.
“You’re going to miss the first home game?” Jack asks. “Surely your mother will understand the importance of you being there.”
“Which is?” I ask doubtfully.
“To cheer us on to victory.” Jack winks.
“I’m sure you’ll have plenty of girls screaming your names on Friday night and don’t need one more.” I take a bite of pizza and lift my eyes to lock with Luke’s.
He’s got that devious thinking look he gets sometimes. That’s not usually good for me. I swallow my bite of pizza and drink some of my soda. He’s making me nervous, but what’s new?
He’s Luke Foster. He makes everyone nervous. But he’s working something out, and I probably won’t like it. I’m sure he’ll tell me soon enough.
CHAPTER 38
The Ceasefire
Caden
We get done with practice and hurry to get cleaned up to go to Harper’s for dinner and cake.
“Are you sure we don’t have a girlfriend?” I ask Jack. “We’re not getting laid and we’re having dinner with her parent.”
Jack slaps me on the back. “Dude, you’re not wrong.”
“I’m working on that.” Luke sits on the bench to tie his shoes.
“Which part?” I ask.
“The laid part.” He makes sure his laces are tight. “But not tonight. It’s her birthday, so tomorrow.”
That sounds ominous. I smile. “I like it when you fight dirty.”
“She’s at least back to normal again. Let’s not push too hard.” Eli shuts his locker and picks up his backpack.
Jack shudders. “I didn’t like the Harper we got when we pushed too hard.”
“It was just an act to get us to back down.” Luke stands. “She found out she doesn’t like the results of that. Harper likes having our attention. All of our attention. So let’s give it to her.”
I chuckle. “I’ve been trying to give her all my attention, but you won’t let me go past kissing.”
Luke meets my eyes. “I have a plan. We’ll be respectable, nice boys so her mom doesn’t see a need to ground Harper anymore.”
“Still not convinced she’s really grounded,” I point out. Ms. Davidson didn’t confirm or deny it, but who grounds a senior for coming home late after school?
Luke slaps me on the shoulder. “Come on.”
We leave the locker room and head to Harper’s house, parking on the street this time. I stop to check Harper’s other tires on her car and there’s no sign of a flat or anything.
