“It’s late. You should take Harper back to campus, and I’ll see you next weekend. When is your next game?” Dante asks.
“Thursday night.” I wish it were Friday or Saturday, so that I wouldn’t have to spend another minute under his roof.
Dante’s eyes tighten, and he nods. “Good. Then you’ll come on Friday after your classes are finished.”
“I have practice Sunday,” I remind him.
“You’ll leave before the hockey team even notices that you were away.”
Somehow, I doubt that. Ashton will know, and surely Liam will notice. And that’s assuming Ashton doesn’t throw a party at our place, which he’s known to do.
“Say goodbye to your mother before you leave,” Dante reminds me.
“Let me grab Harper’s clothes from the laundry,” I say. “Then we’ll be on our way.”
Within fifteen minutes, we’re back in the car, heading back to campus.
“Thanks for the ride,” Harper says, glancing at me. She reaches for my hand on the steering wheel, and I oblige.
She’s been quiet since we left.
Too quiet if you ask me.
“You really didn’t have to drive me all the way back home and then have to go back?—”
“I’m not going back,” I say, glancing at her for a brief moment. “And you still need to study. Any chance you brought the notes for class?”
“You told me not to bring it with me,” Harper says and untangles her hand from mine. She shifts in her seat.
“I can’t tell if you’re mad at me,” I say.
Her leg bounces restlessly. The girl can’t seem to sit still in the front seat. “I’m mad at myself, and I don’t want you getting into trouble with your dad. You can’t just avoid going back there because he has men?—”
I rest my hand on her knee, trying to calm her. “Dante spoke with me before we left. He told me not to worry about staying this weekend, but I’ll be there starting Friday through Sunday.”
“Oh.” She exhales a soft breath.
“Is that relief or more concern?” I ask.
“Can’t it be both? I’m glad you don’t have to go back there tonight, but I really don’t like the idea of you going there at all…”
“I know,” I say. It’s not like this is the future I envisioned for myself, either, but I’m doing it for her and, now, for Zeke as well.
Silence fills the space between us, and I squeeze her thigh before returning my hand to the steering wheel. “Any chance you remember any concepts from our economics quiz?”
“Supply and demand curves,” Harper says.
“Oh, that’s an easy one.”
Harper laughs. “I know, that’s why I remember it. That’s the only concept I grasped, and it’s because you and I went over it a couple of weeks ago. The rest—” she gestures from her head to the window, “flew right out the moment it was explained.”
“Okay, when we get back to campus, you’ll come over and study with me for an hour or two before I drop you off for the night.”
Harper is silent.
“Does that sound okay to you?” I ask.
Her silence has me concerned.
