You’re Mine by Penny Brooks

Chapter 35

Easton

I don't know who I want to hurt more. The person responsible for vandalizing Ryan and Sadie’s cars-assuming it's also who graffitied Harper's locker-or Blake for coming to Harper's rescue the moment she stepped foot in the parking lot.

Or fucking Harper for getting into Blake's car.

Doesn't she know his intentions are bullshit? That all he wants is to get inside her pants, and then he'll never talk to her again?

I know she enjoys the attention.

But Blake?

She deserves someone who's going to worship her body and he’s not that guy.

My thoughts are interrupted when I hear Ryan growl, “Who the fuck did this?” He's still scrubbing the paint off his windshield. “I let the first time slide, thinking maybe it was an accident and they pegged the wrong locker. But this is no accident.” He drops the rag on the ground and grabs a clean one. “And I'm ready to kill someone.”

I twirl my keys around my finger, watching Blake's Mustang drive out of the parking lot. “I don't know who it could be.” Knowing Harper's perfect, tight ass is sitting on the seat next to Blake makes my fist clench around the keyring. “But I want to find

out.”

“Who the hell did she piss off so badly?”

Since seeing the damage, the same question has been haunting me. Faces of each girl in our class has been flipping through my brain, hoping to piece this together.

“Man -" I run my hand through my hair. “I don't even have a guess.” Something by the mouth of the parking lot catches my attention. More like someone.

A smiling, bouncy Aisha. Her best friend is walking with her, Aisha’s eyes glued to me, her grin moving into a smirk.

One that I don't trust.

It can’t be her - can it?

I know she has a crazy side. We've gone to school together since we were young kids and she's the type to go after what she wants.

At the moment, that's me.

But no one knows about Harper, so why would Aisha-or anyone-be so vindictive?

I look away from the girls and turn to Ryan. “I need your notes from English class, so I can write that paper tonight.”

He finishes washing off the last of the paint. “If you wanted them that bad, you should have grabbed a cloth and helped me clean.”

“Not my car,” I remind him. “And definitely not my sister.”

: “Thanks, asshole,” he replies as I head to my car, the same row in which Aisha is

parked.

I stall, waiting for her and her friend to catch up to me, her pace increasing as she sees me waiting.

What she doesn't see is my agenda.

“Where are you headed?” she asks when she’s a few steps away. She nods at her friend. “Julie's sister scored us a bottle of vodka, want in?” "Now?"

They both laugh, Aisha saying, “What, suddenly you don't drink on school nights?”

“No, I'm just slammed with homework since I drank last night.”

Her eyes narrow. “With who? I talked to you last night you didn't mention you were drinking.”

I keep my focus on her eyes, assessing every change, every reaction. “Ryan stopped by, then Blake.”

“That's it?"

She's goading me and it's not going to work. “Who else do you think would come over?”

She shrugs. “Can't a girl wonder?”

If that's all she’s doing, then yes. But Aisha is the possessive type and she’s doing far more than just wondering.

“You girls have fun,” I tell them, and I turn toward my car.

“Are you sure I can't convince you to join us?” Aisha asks.

I shake my head. “I have a paper to write tonight.”

She walks closer to me. “You know Julie writes papers for our entire senior class. Three hundred cash and she'll have it done in an hour.”

I stop when I reach the driver's side door, thinking about Aisha’s suggestion. I've heard Julie offers that service and earns everyone A's, but I've never hired her before.

It's tempting.

Especially since homework is the furthest thing from my mind right now.

“You'll do that for me?" I ask Julie.

“Of course. Just show me the assignment and give me the cash and it'll be done before dinner time.” She looks at Aisha, words silently passing between them. “But only under one condition, you have a drink with us."

This doesn’t surprise me one bit.

“Deal,” I tell them

“You want to follow me home?" Aisha asks me.

“There's a few things I need to do first. But I'll be over later, don't you worry."

She winks at me. “Oh, I'm not.”

I get into the driver's seat and pull up to Ryan, who's inspecting the rest of his car. “Going home?”

“Nah,” he says, the anger still in his voice. “I've got this after school thing I have to do and that's going to take a few hours. Why?" “Wanted to see if you want to go to Aisha’s with me and grab a drink?” Ryan can be my excuse to leave her place early. But that's only half the reason I'm asking. The other half is that I want to know his whereabouts for the next hour.

“What time?”

"Seven."

He checks his watch. “You'll pick me up?”

"You got it,” I say, and my foot punches the gas, immediately hearing the purr of my

engine.

Since Ryan isn't going home quite yet, I head to his part of town, and I'm happy as hell when I pull up to the front of his house and there isn't a Mustang anywhere in sight.

I don't know what Blake's intentions were when he led Harper to his car, if he took her somewhere or drove her home.

I'm going to find out.

I walk up to the front door and ring the bell. Within a few seconds, Harper opens it a couple inches, looking at me through the small crack. “What are you doing here?”

Her eyes are a little watery, some black makeup is smudged beneath them, and her nose is red.

Damn it, she’s been crying.

I'm going to do everything in my power to make her feel better.

Even though I shouldn't care or give a shit or even be here to check on her.

My fingers slide through the small opening, wrapping around her curvy waist. “I came to make sure you're all right.”

“Bullshit.”

“Why don't you believe me?”

She opens the door wider. “You weren't there when I came into the parking lot, you didn't try to stop me from seeing the painted words. And you didn't offer to take me home. Funny, Blake did all those things.”

My fingers bite down on her hip. “You want me to do all of that in front of your brother? Come on, Harper ..."

She crosses her arms over her perky tits. “Now that you know I'm all right, what do you want?”

“I want to come in.”

She laughs. “Why would I let you?”

“Because we've both had a long day.” I do a quick scan of her body, my cock throbbing inside my pants. “And the only thing I want to do right now is eat your fucking pussy.”