Page 72 of Their Cruel Play
It’s okay because my dad wants the same thing. We don’t let much slip to our fathers, just enough to keep them off our backs.
Once again, I park farther away so his dad won’t see the car.
“We’re going up the back way. We need to be quiet and make sure his father doesn’t hear us if he’s home.”
Nico nods. We’ve clued him in on our family shit. Luke treads lightly when his father is home and mostly stays with one of us to get out of the house when he can.
We move quietly to the back door, and I let us in with the keypad. The back stairway is right off the kitchen, and we make it to Luke’s room without seeing anyone else.
His door isn’t locked, so we go in and close it behind us before turning on the light.
“Fuck, turn it off.” Luke’s voice comes from the bed with a groan.
Nico switches off the light, but I move to the desk and click on the lamp there. The light doesn’t reach the bed, but it gives us some visibility. Luke is on his back in his jeans with no shirt on. He has an ice pack on his side.
“What the fuck happened?” Rage burns through me. Someone attacked Luke.
His light eyes meet mine, but he shakes his head and drops it back to the pillow.
“Found your phone.” I toss it on the bed next to him. “Outside Zach Gray’s house.”
“They weren’t there.” Luke covers his eyes with his arm. “My phone dropped in the bushes and it was too dark to see it. I came home to grab my spare phone, but my father was still here.”
My lips press together. There’s not a lot either of us can do about our fathers except keep getting bigger and stronger. At least my dad never lays a hand on me. He’d have to be around to do that.
“Is she okay?” The words are so soft I almost don’t hear them.
“She’s freaking out that you might be dead in a ditch.” Nico sits in the chair in the corner. “Why didn’t you call or text?”
Luke shakes his head and turns his face away from Nico.
“He took it?” I ask, but I know the answer. His father takes his spare phone sometimes. Rage boils into an inferno withinme. It’s a fucking power play. Control his son. Learn who he’s been texting and what he’s involved with.
Luke nods.
I open the group chat, which is hidden on Luke’s backup phone.
Me:
Wipe Luke’s backup phone. He’s at his house.
Jack:
Done
“It’s wiped.” I lean against the wall. “How do you want us to handle this? By this, I mean Harper. She’s going to know.”
“Fuck,” Luke says sharply.
This isn’t the first time Mr. Foster has beaten Luke. It probably won’t be the last. He usually makes sure to only hit his body. Can’t have Luke showing up to school with a shiner.
“Did he hit you in the head?”
Luke shakes his head. “When I confronted him about my phone, he knocked me down and kicked me in the ribs. My head hit the doorframe.”
I clench my fists but keep my voice neutral. “Concussion?”
“No, just a headache.”
