I catch the back of her neck and rest my forehead against hers. “I didn’t until you gave me yours.”
She draws in a breath like she’s savoring this moment. When her eyes meet mine, she says softly, “I love you.”
I take one more moment to savor her before stepping away and letting her lead the way back in to her room. Caden holds her bag open, and she drops her toiletries in it.
“Thank you.” She’s distracted, so I grab her laptop and add it to the bag. Caden’s worried eyes follow her as she goes to her dresser and pulls out something. When she turns, she holds up her collar.
Caden chuckles as she adds it to the bag. But we know things aren’t going to be all fun and games tonight. It’s just after noon, but Eli’s family cabin is about an hour and a half from the city.
There are risks even going there, but we decided to pick Jack’s and Eli’s cars to take us since they are the least likely to be tracked by parents. Jack showed me his texts with Caden.Caden’s face when he came in, told me how well he took the video camera planted in his room.
We can’t be sure we all aren’t being tracked, but Jack’s dad doesn’t seem to be involved that we know of. The only ones mentioned in the phone call Nico overheard were Caden and mine.
We head down the stairs and silently the others join us to head to the cars. All our stuff is already split between the two cars. I draw Harper to Eli’s. Jack and Caden help Nico into Jack’s.
I’m tempted to be a dick and sit in the back next to Harper the whole way, but I get in the front next to Eli. He probably would have understood, but she’s with us and that’s enough for now.
“Can we talk about something?” Harper asks when she’s settled in the back.
“What do you want to talk about, kitten?” Eli glances in the rearview mirror at her.
She shrugs and looks out the window. “Something unimportant. Something stupid. Anything, really.”
“When we were fourteen, we decided to go biking up in the hills.” I start the story about the time Jack, Caden, Eli, and I got lost in the winding trails above the city. Eli interjects every now and then.
Harper relaxes into the seat, but she twists our ring on her finger. Her brow is furrowed. I long to smooth it out with my thumbs. Her gaze remains out the window, but I keep the story going. How we figured out the way back and managed to get home before dark.
How worried Jack’s dad had been. She doesn’t ask about the other parents. She’s well-versed in the amount of attention they give us. But she lets out a little huff of air.
When we hit the interstate, she falls asleep.
“It’s creepy to watch a woman sleep,” Eli says softly with a mocking tone.
“You’re just jealous you can’t see her from where you are.” I turn back to face the front, but part of me wants to keep an eye on Harper, like she’ll disappear if we don’t.
Eli grunts, but glances in the rearview mirror. She’s tucked into a corner. We slept some last night. I was worried about getting her back to her bed before her mom found out she was in mine.
I don’t regret a moment though. Part of me just wants this part of our lives over so we can always be together, but we have to get to the next leg of our journey first.
“She’s safe for now.” Eli’s voice is low. “We can protect her from Zach.”
“Probably, but what about the others?” Our fathers and whatever their plan is hangs over our heads like a guillotine waiting to drop.
Eli shakes his head. “Maybe it’s time to bring adults into it.”
I run a hand through my hair. “Which adults do you want to trust? The ones in my father’s pocket? The only reason we gained power is because of who our fathers are.”
It drives me crazy to think they set us up for all of this. What if Jennifer was right about our fathers pushing us toward Harper? What if everything we have is because of their machinations?
Who are we without the power they wield?
“We can’t do all of this on our own, Luke. We can’t always have eyes on Harper. Not trustworthy ones.” Eli stares at the road stretching ahead of us. “We can’t let anyone get to her. Homecoming is coming up.”
This week is going to be a fucking mess. There’s a fair and a parade plus alumni back from all over the place. We’ll be put into the spotlight over and over again and Harper will be forcedto take the arm of her would-be rapist. That asshole we should have dealt with from the start.
“Zach.” I turn and Eli meets my gaze, his eyes burn. “It’s time. Whatever it takes. No matter the consequences, I want him gone.”
I glance back at Harper, who’s still asleep.
