Total pages in book: 100
Estimated words: 100612 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 503(@200wpm)___ 402(@250wpm)___ 335(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 100612 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 503(@200wpm)___ 402(@250wpm)___ 335(@300wpm)
“This is the senior prank. I didn’t choose it.” His sigh is long and heavy. “If I get caught I’m in deep shit.”
I roll my eyes. “Obviously you’re in deep shit no matter what.”
I mean, it’s not as if I’m going to let him off the ground so he can walk off home free after causing me such grief. Not a chance.
“Then why won’t you let me up? What do you even care if I get in trouble?”
I lean down so he can hear what I’m about to say, good and loud.
“Listen, Easton. If I let you up, my mother—who is standing at that kitchen window putting dinner dishes away—will glance up, take one look at you, probably lose her effing shit, and call the cops.”
If I move any farther to the right, the floodlights are going to activate—three of them strategically placed around the property—making it as bright as the Parker Lane football field.
“What are we gonna do?” he whispers.
We?
And why does he suddenly sound…scared?
For a brief moment I feel kind of sorry for the guy—he is a guy, after all, and we all know teenage boys aren’t known for their quick wit and fortitude. Their common sense and decision-making are subpar at best, inferior to girls until at least the age of forty.
I give my hair a toss, feeling superior.
“We? I didn’t realize we were a duo.” I don’t think so, buddy. “This isn’t High School Musical, Easton—we are not in this together.”
I smirk at my quip, quoting a movie I used to watch over and over again as a kid. How clever was that comeback?!
Easton frowns. “Harper. Just let me up.”
I melt a little at the sound of my name. “So what would happen if you get caught?”
“I’ll get kicked off the hockey team for sure.” He sounds dejected and regretful.
I nod. “Yup, sounds about right. What else?”
“My parents will kill me. I’ll probably lose my scholarship to Michigan.” He begins listing the consequences of his actions. “I’ll have to go to a community college and pay tuition, if I can even get accepted anywhere after committing, like, three crimes in one night.”
“Hmm,” I hum. “Must be having some regrets now, hey?”
He looks murderous as he stares up at me from the ground.
“I hate you so bad right now,” he hisses.
Well.
He’s about to hate me even more.
Chapter 5
Easton
“You hate me?” Harper repeats. “That’s a bit harsh, don’t you think?” Her tongue clicks inside her mouth—a mouth I actually thought was pretty when I saw her smearing on lip gloss yesterday, pursing them in the small heart-shaped mirror that hangs inside her locker. “How do you know I don’t hate you?”
God. If only she knew Maddie Miller isn’t the only girl I used to have feelings for. There was a time sophomore year when I had a huge crush on Harper, too. But whatever.
That was then; this is now.
I’m a new person.
A criminal.
“Fine. I’m sorry. I don’t hate you.” She sounds disgruntled as she lets the admission drag off her tongue. “I might not understand you, but I certainly don’t hate you.”
Harper actually has the balls to tap her impatient foot against my chest, keeping me hostage. I hold still so she doesn’t alert her mother to what’s going on at the back of their property.
I turn my head and can see her mom puttering in the kitchen, illuminated by the overhead light, wiping down the table.
“Please,” I beg. “I’ll do whatever you want. Just let me go.”
She tilts her head, shining her light in my face. “Whatever I want? Anything at all?”
“Yes.” No.
She’s scaring me. How is she so in control of this situation?
“First answer me this, Easton: Why are you doing this? It’s not worth it. Why would you risk getting yourself kicked off the hockey team to pull a prank?”
“Because I lost a dare.”
She doesn’t respond to that. “And?”
And…“I lost a dare.” I shrug. “What more do you need to know?”
Harper lets out a frustrated puff of air. “Why are guys so…so…dumb? Honestly. You wouldn’t find a girl in this position. You could have just refused to do it, but look at you, lying in the dirt with a rhino head on.”
“That isn’t helping my situation.”
She hums, thinking.
Hums some more, tapping her foot on my chest.
When Harper stops humming, she gives me her full attention, bending down so I can get a look of her face. Her pert nose. Upturned lips.
Shit.
“I won’t rat you out on one condition.”
She stands over my body, lording over me with her fucking phone and her fucking attitude and that sassy smile as if she were wielding actual weapons. Where does she get the nerve?
“What!” I can’t stand it. “Spit it out!”
She is next-level annoying.
No wonder I fixate on someone uncomplicated like Maddie and not haughty like Harper. Sheesh. She’d shred my balls and put them in her purse if I let her.