Page 170

Harper

Nothing happened. It’s been a week since Zach got put on house arrest, and it’s already Friday night again and another football game. This time it’s an away game, and nothing’s happened. Zach’s been on house arrest for a week and he’s just sitting at home watching Netflix.

After everything we’ve been through, it seems so fucking anticlimactic. Like, where’s the menace? The terror we were worried about being rained down on us. Instead, nothing.

Which I’m all for. But that doesn’t stop me from looking over my shoulder every day this week.

Tonight, I’m on the sidelines of the game, having ridden with Coach Turner and Kenz. She’s once again being a runner for the team. Penny and her crew, including Will, are in the stands.

Ashley, Emma, Hannah, and the rest of the cheerleaders are on the track behind me, yelling for our team.

The week has been school and homework and college essays. Dinners with the guys or my mom and Jack’s parents and Lucy. Sleeping in the basement, snuggled up against Jack and someone else.

Is this the new normal?

How long will we be sleeping in the basement? Is Zach just waiting for an opportunity? For us to let our guard down?

Nico comes over to stand next to me, but he doesn’t say anything. He got in trouble the first quarter when he distracted me from doing my job, so he’s been staying away. But we’re in a timeout and the guys are huddled with the coaches.

“We’re talking about skipping the party tonight.”

I glance up at Nico’s voice. “Why? Shouldn’t we go make an appearance and let everyone know we’re doing fine?”

That’s the other thing we’ve been doing. Being seen. Being accessible.

Nico chuckles. “Maybe if you didn’t look two seconds from a mental breakdown. You doing okay, sunshine?”

Fuck, I hate being asked if I’m okay. It seems like that’s all people want to know about me anymore. How am I doing? Am I okay?

“You want to throat punch me right now, don’t you?” Nico’s holding back his laughter.

“Not going to lie. A little bit.” I glance up at him through my lashes. “It’s just that I’m so sick of being asked if I’m okay. I feel like I have some terminal disease. If everyone keeps asking me that, I’m not going to be okay.”

He smirks. “Fine, but you’ll tell me if you’re not?”

I arch an eyebrow. But I’m not mad at him. I’m just frustrated at everything. “So we’re not going to the party?”

“Nah, we were thinking of maybe playing a game instead.” He flashes me a cocky smile.

My insides warm, and my mouth opens in a little surprised oh. “What kind of game?”

“Anything where you end up naked.” Nico winks at me, and my whole body flushes with heat.

“Lee, back to the bench.” The coach is far enough away he didn’t hear what we said to each other, but heat still creeps into my cheeks like I’ve done something wrong.

“Later,” he says before returning to the bench. He has a brace, but his knee has been getting stronger by the day. He has even more physical therapy, which I usually go to with him since the others are all at football practice.

While I love having everyone at Jack’s, it also means there’s nothing happening in the basement at night. We still have a random moment here and there at school, but there are more teachers monitoring the hallways like they’re waiting for something to happen too. So, it’s been a while since we’ve played, especially all together.

Eli catches my eyes from near the water cooler and smirks at me. Skipping the party seems like the better idea already.

Penny

“Dad came home on Saturday,” I say into the phone and pause at the top of the stairs. It’s Sunday. So far living here has been fine. Yes, my dad was out of town, but Will stayed with me. I had my girls over, and we reconnected. Zach is on house arrest. Tanner is on house arrest too, since he’s recovering from his wounds and is no longer at risk of dying from infection. Will has access to camera feeds for both of their houses to make sure they don’t try anything.

There’s an FBI van that hangs out occasionally near the house.

Everything seems fine. School is normal, and art is better now that Will and I are actual partners. Our project is moving along nicely.