Chapter 48 TYLER
“Hey, are you and Harper good?” Peter’s voice filtered into my ear as I tried to focus on the math equation in front of me.
He’d moved from the opposite row to sit behind me so he could nudge me with his pen. Fortunately, we’d reconciled—if not, I’d have reported his nuisance behavior to Mr. Nelson sitting in front of the class.
Finally giving in to his persistence, I leaned back in my seat, keeping my voice barely above a whisper.
“What do you think?”
“Shit. So you all weren’t pretending when you ran into each other?”
I stole a quick glance at him, my brows knitting. “The fuck would we be pretending for?”
“You guys have been close and all. I thought you put on the show so rumors wouldn’t circulate about you two… you know.”
I tried to keep my expression neutral, pausing to wait out Mr. Nelson’s stare before responding as the man turned away.
“I wouldn’t give a shit if the school wanted to gossip their heads off about me and Harper. Now would you please let me focus?”
“No,” Peter hissed. “Meet me in the locker room in five.”
He didn’t give me a chance to argue before he shot to his feet, a hand raised. “Excuse me, sir. Nature calls.”
Mr. Nelson seemed like he wanted to be anywhere else as he rolled his eyes and gestured for him to leave.
I felt tempted to keep him waiting, but the math problem wasn’t something I wanted to wrestle with, especially not when my real distraction was less than two meters away.
Mumbling my excuse, I didn’t wait for permission and shouldered the classroom door open.
Peter was waiting in the hallway instead of the locker room like he’d said.
“Okay, come on, bro. Tell me what happened.”
I walked past him and he fell into step beside me, eyes burning into the side of my face, waiting expectantly.
“I think you’d be more interested in learning that I’d almost hooked up with Racquel,” I said.
When I didn’t feel his breathing beside me, I stopped in my tracks, sighing as I turned to face him. He’d remained rooted to the spot.
“I’d had too much to drink, and Harper was fucking with my head and I—” I trailed off, already feeling disgusted at myself.
“Just to be sure I heard you right—you said almost, right?”
I nodded, shoving my hand into my jumper, waiting for his judgment.
His hand slapped his chest, his head falling forward as he let out a breath of relief.
“Whew. You almost had me there.” He strolled up to me and smacked me upside the head. “How the fuck, of all girls, you chose to hook up with Racquel?”
I shrugged. “I didn’t choose. She just happened to be there.”
“Ugh, that bitch is so persistent. You’d think after the pool party fiasco she’d learn to back off.”
“I thought the same thing.”
He held out a hand, changing the subject back to the one person I didn’t want to think about.
“Now that we’ve clarified the whole ‘almost sleeping with your annoying ex’ thing, I’m waiting for the part where you tell me how Harper got you in that state in the first place.”
The muscle in my jaw tightened as the memory flashed through my mind.
“I thought the whole team would’ve known by now.”
Peter frowned. “Know what?”
I let myself relax against the nearest locker, my head falling back.
“Harper told me I’d most likely be ready this week to start training with you guys. But then I overheard her conversation with Jax and Mark—it was a lie. Her mom had refused it, and she’d kept it from me.”
“Shit,” Peter cursed, running a hand through his hair. “I’m sorry, man.”
“Yeah, well, sorry won’t exactly heal my shoulder, so I’d rather not hear it. No offense.”
“None taken.” He paced in front of me like he was thinking of a solution. “Maybe—I don’t know if this is good advice—but if Harper thought you’d be ready and she’s the one tracking your progress, you could convince her to help with light training. That way you don’t get hurt, and if it turns out you can handle it, she can put in another word to her mother. How’s that?”
I thought about it, a flicker of hope burning in my chest. But then again, it was Harper. Her mom was the professional—what the hell did Harper know?
“I’ll think about it,” I told him just as the bell rang for the next class.
“Yeah. Just don’t be hard on the girl, okay? I’m sure she only lied to keep you from getting hurt.”
Heat flared through me, my good hand balling into fist. I pushed off the locker, turning toward the library.
“I’ll catch you later,” I told him, increasing my pace so he wouldn’t follow.
I’d just neared the entrance when I heard my name being called. I turned to see Mark emerging from the bend of the hallway I’d just come from.
“Hey, Cap.”
“What’s up?” I angled my chin up in greeting before stepping into the library.
“I, um, kinda wanted to talk to you,” he said.
I whirled around to face him. His grip tightened anxiously around his backpack strap. I was probably glaring, but I couldn't bring myself to soften my expression when I was still thinking about Harper.
“Yeah?” I asked impatiently.
“Sorry,” he chuckled, scratching his hair. “I just get nervous around stuff like this. Which is why, um, I was thinking maybe you could help me out with… Harper.”
That piqued my interest. I arched a brow. “Yeah? What’s up with Harper?”
“I was thinking you could…” His words trailed off as he kicked his foot nervously, shoving a hand into his pocket. I was ready to snap at him, but he finished the sentence then: “…I was thinking you could help me ask Harper out. I really like her.”
Every muscle in my body tightened. For fuck’s sake.