Chapter 71


    Harper


    “Easton.” I nudge his bare shoulder, silently marveling at the muscle I feel there. He’s firm -hard all


    over. If I had more time, I’d spend it exploring his naked body with my mouth. My tongue. My hands


    and my fingers.


    But we don’t have the time. My parents should be home from work any minute while we’re still in my


    bed.


    Naked.


    “Wha?” he asks, his voice muffled against the pillow.


    Within minutes of us having sex, he copsed next to me and fell asleep. Like…who does that?


    Easton, I guess. Any other time I would’ve found it adorable, but I wanted to talk more about ke and


    what Easton and my brother discovered in his car. I wanted to stare at those photos some more and


    really look at them. I also wanted to ask him about that look he and Ryan shared earlier, when they


    didn’t say anything.


    What’s their n? And how can I convince him he can’t just go beat ke up over this?


    They’re friends. They need to work it out.


    There’s also that tiny, niggling feeling in the back of my mind that tells me ke didn’t do this at all.


    Aisha did.


    Unfortunately, I can’t seem to convince Easton that she’s evil enough toe for me. Why does he


    always protect her? Or write her off? It’s so annoying.


    Why won’t he believe me?


    Shoving my worry aside, I focus on waking Easton up and getting him out of my bed.


    “My parents are going to be home soon,” I whisper, then let myself speak louder. “You should go.”


    N?velDrama.Org ? 2024.


    He sits up, running a hand through his hair, his biceps bulging,pletely distracting me. “Kicking me


    out?”


    Thezy grin on his face is a heart stopper. But I refuse to be swayed by it.


    Dipping over the side of the bed, I reach for his shirt and toss it at him, smacking him in the face. “Yep.”


    His smile fades, the shirt falling in hisp. “Damn. Ruthless, babe.”


    I smile sweetly at him before I lean in and drop a kiss on his lips. “Not in the mood to get caught naked


    in bed with my boyfriend, babe.”


    “True, true.” He nods, pulling his T-shirt on before he reaches for the rest of his clothes.


    He gets dressed in a hurry, as do I, until we’re both fully clothed and I’m raking my fingers through my


    messy hair while he checks his phone, a frown on his face.


    “What’s wrong?”


    He nces up, smiling faintly. “Ah, nothing.”


    Uh huh. I don’t believe him. He’s keeping secrets from me, and I don’t like it.


    At all.


    We head out of my room and down the stairs, and I notice how quiet the house is. Where’s Ryan and


    Sadie? Did they actually leave?


    Sadie must hate me. I just ditched her for Easton, afterining to her that Easton ditched me for


    Ryan.


    Sometimes, I’m a shit friend. I’ll call herter and apologize. I need to get my head out of my ass and


    be a better friend to her. She’s been so good to me, always rushing to my defense.


    But she’s also keeping her own secrets…


    Pausing at the front door, Easton turns toward me, his expression soft, his hair still sex rumpled. He’s


    absolutely adorable and he’s watching me with dopey eyes, like he’s high


    or something.


    Not on drugs. More like he’s high on me.


    “We need to do that more often.” He kisses me, his lips soft. Lingering. “I like making you beg.”


    My cheeks go hot and I press my fingers against his lips. “Shush. We can’t talk about that now.”


    “Your parents aren’t home yet.” I drop my fingers and he delivers another scorching kiss. “Stop


    worrying.”


    “Easton, you should go.” | clear my throat and reach around him, hip checking him so | can open the


    door without him in the way. “We’ll talkter?”


    He frowns, looking me up and down, as if he doesn’t know what to do with me. “Sure. I’ll text you after


    dinner.”


    “Sounds good.” I don’t like the confused way he’s staring at me so I give him another kiss to soften my


    sudden harshness. “Bye.”


    “Hey.” He grabs my shoulders, his expression serious as he studies me. “You do realize ke did that


    to your garage door, right? It wasn’t Aisha.”


    Inod, my smile serene. “You’re right. I know you are.”


    The relief on his face is obvious. “Right. Yeah. Okay, babe. See youter.”


    “See you tomorrow.” I open the door wider, watching as he heads for his car, noticing that Ryan’s car is


    here…


    But Sadie’s is gone.


    I’m pretty sure they’re together. The house is way too quiet.


    Once Easton is gone, I go back up to my room, passing by Ryan’s partially open bedroom door. I push


    it open wider to find the room empty, just as I suspected.


    Hmm. My best friend is definitely hooking up with my brother, yet they’re both not talking.


    At all.


    So frustrating.


    I curl up in bed, pulling the covers over me and contemte everything that’s happened today, yet


    coming back to the same thing every time.


    The confrontation with Aisha. How mean she was, how utterly vile. That girl doesn’t know when to quit,


    and I’m proud of the way I stood up to her, even though I couldn’t stop shaking.


    She never backed down either. That’s why it’s so easy to imagine her getting off on writing the word


    whore on our garage door. Trying to scare me and infuriate my brother.


    That bitch deserves to suffer for what she’s put me through. What she’s put all of us through


    ke though? I just don’t see it. Nope, I can’t. He’s one of Ryan’s absolute best friends Why would he


    target me?


    It makes no sense.


    Maybe he had the spray paint for another reason. People use ck spray paint all the time, right? Just


    because they have some in the car doesn’t make them a vandalizer or whatever.


    I need to get to the bottom of this-and I don’t want to do it with Easton either. He’s not listening to me.


    He’s positive it’s ke. Ryan feels the same way. They’re both so freaking frustrating. The more I think


    about it…


    The madder I be.