Page 50 of Their Wicked Secrets: Untouched, Vol 5 of 6

Fuck. I never showed up at Nico’s. He must be going out of his mind.

“Nico?” I grab Kenz’s arm. “He has to be worried about me by now.”

“My mom texted his mom to tell him we’ve got a flat, but we’ll be there as soon as the truck comes to fix it.” Kenz grins.

“I know how to change a tire. The guys know that.” Maybe Nico doesn’t? But still if he sounds the alert. He can’t drive. What if he hurts himself more to try to protect me?

Her smile falls. “It should be fine. They know you’re with me.”

I blow out a breath. “With everything going on, they don’t trust anyone outside the six of us.”

She glances my way and shrugs. “So I’ll deal with them when we get back. This is important shit that couldn’t wait, H. Your mom needs to see you.”

The only way past is through. I nod and pick up the pace with her. “Fine, let’s get this done and hope Nico didn’t get the guys out of practice to try to find me.”

Kenz winces. “Yeah, that’s not good, but I did turn your phone off in the school, so they’ll start there.”

I twist my ring. “I’ll protect you when they find us.”

Kenz wraps her arm around my shoulder and smiles. “Good. Let’s worry about that later.”

To keep it from spinning in my head, I need to hear something else. “Tell me about you and Brandon. What’s been going on?”

“Girl,” she says with a serious expression. We walk and she tells me all about Brandon. Apparently, they’re back in the honeymoon phase again. They had a good talk about what they both wanted and decided they wanted to stay together and see how things went. They’ll deal with college and long-distance next summer when it comes around.

By the time she finishes telling me way too much detail about one of the places they found to fuck, we’re approaching a small cabin. Even though it’s not the same cabin as my father’s, this all feels eerily familiar.

When the door opens, Mom steps out onto the porch. My heart stops, and then my feet are racing me into her arms. She catches me in a fierce hug and kisses the top of my head.

“I’m missed you, kid.” She holds me tight and part of me settles.

My heart pounds so hard it aches, and my throat clogs with tears. Then they start pouring down my cheeks.

“Hey, Harper,” Mom says softly. “I’m here. You’re safe. I’m safe.”

I nod, but the tears won’t stop. I was so fucking worried. She left me. She’s never left me. I didn’t know how much that cut me until this moment. I never considered she could leave me. My dad’s always been gone, but she’s been my constant.

“Come on.” She walks me into the cabin, and we sit down on a couch.

She grabs a tissue out of the box and hands it to me. I dab at my tears and blow my nose before I take in the sparse interior.

Across from us, there are a couple of armchairs. To the side, a small table with a couple of chairs. A kitchenette sits to one side, and a couple doors are on the wall on the other side.

“You don’t think they’re going to believe my mom.” Kenz sits on the edge of the chair across from us. “They’re going to kill me for this, aren’t they?”

Her worried gaze meets mine as I wipe away the rest of my tears. She means my guys. She must have been worried about that on the way here.

“I won’t let them. But we should have come up with a better plan to make sure they didn’t freak out.” I drag in a breath.

Mom stands and goes to the fridge, grabbing us both a bottle of water. From the looks of the fridge, it appears well-stocked.

“Is this where you’ve been since Sunday?” I ask. It’s been two days since she told me she was safe.

She hands Kenz a bottle and then me before sitting beside me. She sighs.

“A few places really. It’s better to move around.” Mom looks at me and then at Kenz. “Harper knows about what your mother and I do, but you don’t.”

Kenz swallows her water and sets it to the side. “Mom didn’t tell me much. Just that you two have a network of nurses.”