“It’s not like Tanner Lewis is an honest guy.” Eli taps his finger on the island where he sits. “We all know he’s after one thing.”
Nico shakes his head. “Not all of us know. Who the fuck is Tanner Lewis?”
Fuck, it’s my story to tell. “He’s a liar and a cheat.”
Harper’s startled gaze meets mine. So fucking innocent. If he’d ever had the chance to taste Harper, he never would have left her the way she is. She would be broken, because he doesn’t leave innocents whole.
“How do you know Tanner?” I ask Harper.
“He’s in my art class. He needed to sit close to the board and Kenz was gone, so he sat next to me for a class.” She licks her lips, and a little of that mutinous side of her sparks. “He said you guys did the same thing to his sister, and that’s why he missed the first week. He helped her settle into her new school.”
Jack scoffs. “Mia Lewis begged us to plow her, and she most definitely was not a virgin when it happened.”
Harper turns to Jack. “He said you all?—”
“Nah, little nympho. Last year, she wanted to see what it was like with two guys. There was no coercion at all. She came to us.”
She returns her gaze to mine, more confused than before. “But then why did she transfer?”
“She got into a fancy art high school.” I lift my hand and brush a strand of hair behind her ear. A shiver works over her.
“He said you guys got him kicked off the football team and made him a social pariah.” She rubs her thumb over my hand. Is she even aware she’s doing it?
“Did you let him touch you, princess?” Luke steps closer. His energy is darker than usual. “Did you let him taste you?”
“No.” She straightens and looks offended. “I barely know him. Fuck, he offered to be my boyfriend, and even I know he’d only be doing it to get revenge on you guys. I’m sorry, but I value myself more than being someone’s revenge plot.”
Luke studies her like he can see into her, but it’s not him she needs to hear about. A rock settles in my stomach.
“Tanner targeted my little sister.” I take the ice off my hand and hold hers.
“What?” Harper’s brows draw together.
Standing, I pull her up and lead her into the living room. I sit in a large chair and draw her down onto my lap. “If I’m doing story time, I’m getting comfortable.”
She curls into my side as the others come into the room and find seats. When she leans her head against my shoulder, something settles deep inside me. Some missing piece I might never have known was gone if I hadn’t met her.
“Ava was fourteen, just before her first year in high school, when we were rising juniors.” I clear my throat. The memories weigh on me like lead, dragging me underwater. “She was here for the summer before her first year of high school. Mom insisted she go away to a boarding school.”
That house used to feel alive with her in it. Mom and Dad were home more often as well. It was almost like we were a family. Even with as cold as Dad is, it still felt better than the empty halls.
Harper takes my hand and her fingers massage it. I inhale. “She had a group of friends over, and the football team were all hanging out at my house.”
I never should have had them over, but the girls were all kids. I didn’t figure anyone would mess with them.
“My little sister was a kid to me. Fuck, all freshmen look like kids. It’s one of the reasons we made them off limits. It was different when we were the same age and fucking around. But once we were older, there were plenty of other more acceptable women to go after.”
Her dark eyes lift to mine, and all I see is forever in them. A lifetime of this girl, and children running around, filling the house with noise and love. That’s what I see in Harper’s eyes. Something few of us have. The capacity to love. A future bright and filled with laughter. Even for dark boys like us.
“What happened?” she asks softly, like she’s almost afraid to know.
“Tanner brought his sister. Other girls were there too. Cheerleaders and some popular girls. Mia flirted all day with each of us. She wanted us to take her inside, which at that point we didn’t. It seemed prettyfucked up to fuck a girl when her brother was a few feet away, so we passed.”
She raises an eyebrow.
“We do have standards and rules, sweetheart.” Jack draws her attention to him. “It doesn’t mean we wouldn’t fuck her. We were being respectful because her brother was there. Mia Lewis is hot just like her brother. That’s a sandwich I would totally be the meat in, if he wasn’t such a douchebag.”
“Seriously?” Luke shakes his head.
