Page 78 of Their Cruel Play
“Do you want the long or short story?” I sink against her warmth and let the warm water relax me. She moves with me to rest against the tub.
She’s not going anywhere. She’s here. My breath eases.
“I just want the truth.” Her fingers trail along my arms on the sides of the tub.
My jaw clenches. Everything inside me says to keep it to myself. That telling her will weaken me. But she deserves to hear everything.
I run my hand along her leg. Water droplets run down her smooth skin. “Hearing what happened to you in that locker room wound me up. I was going to work out, but then Sidney texted me.”
“Why didn’t you use me?” Her voice is quiet in the room.
“Use you?” I twist to look back at her. Not sure what she means. The movement pulls a little at my muscle, but it confirms it’s mostly bruising.
She shrugs. Her cheeks flush pink. “To work out your anger.”
“Fuck, Harper. You were struggling through your own issues, and I don’t want touseyou. At least not just for release.” I brush a strand of her hair behind her ear. “You deserve so much more. I couldn’t have done that to you, princess.”
She searches my eyes. Whatever she finds in them settles her. Her eyes soften as she caresses my neck. “What happened next?”
Returning to lean into her, I tell her about finding the cheerleader and what she told me. “There was still time before I needed to be at your place, so I decided to see if I could find anything useful at Zach’s. I didn’t realize my phone had dropped somewhere until I couldn’t find it. It was too dark to see it.”
Her hands massage the knots in my shoulders. Someone like her taking care of me is new. Someone soft who has every reason not to want to take care of me. I blow out a breath as I relax back against her.
Caden and the guys have helped me in the past when my father took it too far. But nothing is like her soft touch. I take her free hand and run my fingers over hers. She makes me feel things I’ve never felt before.
“I went home to get my spare phone. Figured we could go back later to find the other. But my spare wasn’t where I keep it.” My body tenses. It wasn’t hard to guess what happened to it. “I knew my dad had found it. He likes to spy on me, and probably after realizing I was with you, he wanted to find out more.”
Her arms wrap around my chest, and she puts her cheek against my shoulder, holding me tight like she could protect me. Everything about her is new to me and my heart beats a little harder. I don’t want her to see me as weak but not telling her isn’t an option anymore.
Not if I want her to trust me. Not if I want her to tell me her truths.
“I confronted him in his office. He read everything we said to each other. The group chats aren’t on that phone, so he didn’t have that.” I clench my fists, remembering him mocking me.
He didn’t know what he was talking about, but he thought I’d gone soft for Harper. He’s right, but I can’t let him know that. I can’t let him know how much she means to me. He’ll find a way to drive her from me if he thinks she has any hold over me. Or worse, use her to keep me in line.
“He was angry you and I were together. He told me to break it off.”
She gasps but doesn’t release me.
I grab her hands with mine and hold them against my chest. “I told him to fuck off. He doesn’t like it when I talk back. He shoved me until I fell to the floor, and he kicked my side.”
Warm wetness that isn’t the bathwater drops on my back. I don’t need her tears, but I’ll take them. Maybe her tears will cleanse me.
“He can’t get away with that.” Her lips move against my skin, sending sparks through me.
“He’s been getting away with it my entire life.” It’s the truth. It doesn’t hurt any less. But I’m mostly numb to it. “He doesn’t do it often and hasn’t for a while. As long as I follow his rules, he lets me do my own thing.”
It’s only when I fight back that he takes me down.
I scoot forward in the water and draw her out from behind me. We shift in the water until she’s straddling my lap. My backrests where hers was. A tear escapes her eye, and I brush it away with my thumb.
“You’re not crying for Death, are you, princess?” I attempt a smile, but I don’t like seeing her cry. Not over me. Not this. It’s just part of my life.
“No.” She cups my cheeks. “I’m crying for the little boy who grew up with a monster for a parent. He shouldn’t get away with it.”
“He’s wealthy, and I’m a boy. I play sports and obviously roughhouse with the other boys. Of course, I’m going to be bruised.” The words flow out of me just like the lies flow out of him.
“Why doesn’t he want you to be with me? Has he ever cared who you were with before?” Her eyes search mine.
