Buck, Jett, and Axel snickered.
“Enough with all of this. Tell me the truth, what is going on?”
No one said a word.
“Hey, Draven,” Joanne said.
Harper turned to see the blonde cheerleader at their table. She stood so close to Draven.
Any laughter the guys had vanished. They looked pissed off.
“So, I was thinking you could take me out on a date tonight.”
“Be warned, boys. She’s thinking. It could end badly for all of us,” Buck said.
They all started to laugh, and Harper stared at her food, trying not to laugh. The cafeteria had gone quiet at Joanne’s approach.
Harper wondered what they were all thinking. She glanced over at Draven and saw him watching her. Biting her lip, she didn’t look away, even as Joanne tried to step closer to him.
The tension mounted.
“So, how about seven, my place? I’ll make it worth your while.” She went to reach out and touch him.
They all stood. Draven grabbed Harper’s hand, and she had no choice but to stand also.
“Fuck off,” Draven said. “No one wants your used-up pussy. Go and serve the football team.”
With that, he pulled her along and made sure everyone saw that he was holding her hand.
She got a little thrill at that, especially when Axel, Buck, and Jett moved up behind them.
****
“You want to tell me why my lawyer has taken a case in the city.”
“It’s good for his career,” Draven said.
He sat in his father’s office. He wanted nothing more than to check the time to see how long he’d been sitting here. It wasn’t like Alan was even paying him any attention. He had a woman behind his desk, servicing his cock.
Knowing how many women he liked to fuck, it made him wonder about the cook and whether or not he’d even seen emotion on his father’s face as he fucked her. Clearly not, otherwise he wouldn’t have someone else servicing his cock.
“I got a call from Ben Carnes’s dad today.”
Draven smirked. “What about it?”
“He asked if I was going to pay compensation for his boy being thrown through a window.”
“He tripped and fell.”
“I was told it was over a girl.”
Draven shrugged.
“Does this have anything to do with that Harper girl? The one I hear you’re around all the time.”
It shouldn’t have surprised him that his dad had a spy at school.
To take over the Barries name, he needed a son that was fierce, loyal, and independent.
“What goes on in my life isn’t your problem.”
“True, and I have to say for most of the pussy you’ve had in your life, Draven. I wouldn’t care. Women in our world know the score. I remember Harper as a child.” Draven tensed up. “Sweet little thing, if I remember from the few times I saw her around town, but like all bitches, they have a price. What I do know is she’s not part of this world, Draven. She’s not even close to it. You continue with her, it’ll be a big fucking mistake.”
“You’ve got nothing to worry about.” He wasn’t going to let Harper go, not even with his dad’s warning.
“I’m not worried about me. If you’re taking this girl on, the four of you, which is what I know you’re all about, then you better make sure she knows to keep her fucking mouth shut if she knows what’s good for her. Be warned, Draven, I’m watching this play out. Her mother didn’t have a fucking spine, and look what happened to her.”
With that, he waved his hand, telling him to go.
He wasn’t even out of the office door before the woman servicing his father was spread out on the desk. Draven guessed that was how he dealt with everything. Fucking every single woman within reach.
His mother was, as always, sitting on the stairs, drinking from her bottle of vodka.
“He’s a sick bastard, and you’re growing up to be the same. Using girls like they’re trash. All of them can do better than you. All this town is going to burn for turning a blind eye to what you do.”
Ignoring her rants, he left his home. Driving to Harper’s place, he took his car even though it was a ten-minute walk away. Axel’s car was already there, and he headed inside.
The music was clearly Axel’s choice. Draven entered the sitting room and saw his boys had already trashed the place.
“Come on, Harper, live a little.” Axel took her hands away from her ears and started to dance with her.
She wouldn’t budge. “This is horrible. Absolutely horrible.”
Buck rolled his eyes and turned it onto the latest love song. She lowered her hands and sighed. “Ah, peace.”
Seconds later the head-banging rock music played.
She groaned. “I need an aspirin.”
She walked away, and Buck turned the music down.
“How are things with the old man?” Buck asked.
“Fine. He knows about her.” He nodded his head in the direction she was going.