Page 115

Caden

This fucking quarry. We spent so much time out here as kids. Riding our bikes as far as they would take us. Doing stupid shit that we’re lucky never got us injured or killed. It’s a lot of ground and mostly white rock.

I’d prefer to take Harper somewhere I can protect her better.

Lock her away in a castle somewhere. I’ll be her dragon. No one will touch her again. That’s what I need right now. I need her safely tucked away where only we can find her.

I also understand she needs space. But fuck, this is a lot of space to cover. It’s also not a popular spot with anyone but us.

“There’s nothing out here.” I kick a rock, and it skitters over the edge of the ravine and plummets to the bottom, hitting the rock wall as it descends. The sound echoes.

“We don’t know if our dads might have thought they could find something out here after we came.” Luke looks about one wrong word away from pulverizing someone. He’s a stick of dynamite waiting to blow.

He puts on a mask for Harper. We all are right now. She needs safety, not men on the verge of combustion.

We’re tense. We should be. Even knowing what we knew, Zach fucking Gray outsmarted us. Maybe it was wrong not to trust our usual players, to get help. But someone was in his or Tanner’s pocket.

There wasn’t time to ferret them out. And after Ethan’s little naked dance, no one would have stepped forward to say they did it. That they were the ones who told Zach about our traps. Or to tell us they were the ones who helped him get to our girl.

I’m so done with this shit.

So fucking done.

I want to go scorched earth on the school. Just burn the whole thing down and start over. But there’s nowhere I can keep her protected because I can’t trap her in a castle.

“Fuck it.” Eli turns to me.

I give him a look like what the fuck, man.

“I can’t take this anymore.” Eli runs his hand through his hair. “I’m going to fucking explode.”

Luke rubs his knuckles and looks back in the direction we left Harper with Jack and Nico. Any other day, I would have joined them in the grassy area and played with my little nympho until she was begging me to bury my cock in that sweet, tight cunt.

Fuck, I need that too, but she needs care and gentleness. She may not remember being attacked except for Friday night, but I know she was. I don’t want to be the one to trigger her memories either.

But today... I need to be near her. I need to fight. I’m not good company.

“Fuck it.” I’m with Eli. I turn to Luke and hold my hands out to my sides. “Hit me.”

“What?” Luke asks.

“We were meant to fight for our girl.” I move over to a smooth rock and set my phone and keys on it. “We were going to charge into that place and beat Zach’s and Tanner’s asses for daring to touch our girl. We were going to save her and Jack. Instead, we got derailed by the fucking DEA. Which, thank god they were there, but also, we got cut off at the knees. So we should fucking fight each other. Like at the matches.”

“He’s right.” Eli walks over and puts his things next to mine. “I’m a keg waiting to go off, and I don’t want to go off on Harper. This energy is too dangerous for her right now. And she’s not the one I want to hurt.”

No, it’s not her that needs punishment this time. It’s us. We failed her.

The muscle twitches in Luke’s clenched jaw as he stares in the direction of the trees. He’s considering it.

“So we’re going to beat each other up and say what to Harper?” he asks.

“We had some aggression to work out and didn’t want to bring it to her. She can kiss it better afterwards.” I run my hand through my hair and take off my shirt. “They took Jack and Harper and all we could do was chase after them. Always fucking behind them. Almost too late.”

My mouth presses tightly, but I need to say it.

“I need to be punished.”

Eli cocks an eyebrow but nods. “Ten minutes each. No face punches.”