Boys Club by Selena

twenty-three

Harper Apple

The evening before school starts back, I hear a knock at the door. My heart lurches into my throat, and my pulse starts racing. My first thought is of the creeper in the Escalade. Mom’s home but napping off last night’s binge, and though it’s not like she’d protect me, being basically alone in the house when he comes knocking makes me jumpy. I think about not answering, but the knock comes again, hard and demanding. If I don’t answer, he’ll kick down the door, and not even my hungover mother could sleep through that.

I grab my knife and shove it into my combat boot before opening the door. Duke Dolce is standing on the stoop. I just about jump out of my skin.

“Hey, Apple,” he says, a flirty grin on his face. “Wanna go for a ride?”

He smells like beer and looks like the shadow of my betrayal. I cross my arms and don’t move from the door. “Not even a little.”

“Fine,” he says, shaking his head. “I was trying to make this fun. But we need you to go make a police report. Of course some jackass called the cops about the Rover the other day. They want any witnesses to make a statement.”

“You don’t say. Someone actually called the cops about a car bomb?”

“A shitty one,” he says. “It only blew up the engine. You weren’t even hurt.”

“You sound disappointed.”

He frowns. “Why would you say that? Royal could have been killed.”

“So, did you kidnap Lindsey? Or let her get comfortable and let down her guard before you make a move?”

“Now you’re catching on,” he says, like he’s proud that I know their scheming minds so well. “We don’t just run back and forth throwing grenades at each other. There’s finesse to these things. We’re not savages.”

“You sure about that?”

“Can we flirt in the car?” he asks. “Royal’s ready to get this over with.”

My heart stops.

Royal. Of course he’s here. Did I expect him to avoid me after the breakup like a little bitch? Royal doesn’t avoid anything painful. He’s even more masochistic than I am.

“I’m sure the cops have enough statements already,” I say. “Just tell them I wasn’t hurt, and I don’t know anything about it. I have homework, so…” I start to close the door but Duke leans into the doorway, blocking it from closing.

“It’s the last night of break, and your bag’s still at our house,” he says, narrowing his eyes. “I know you’re not doing homework.”

“Fine,” I say, rolling my eyes. “I’m cleaning the house.”

“Harper Apple,” he says, cracking a smile. “What a cute little excuse.”

He tries to see past me, but I step in front of him. I’m lying through my teeth. I just don’t want to be with them, not just because I’m not exactly excited to be in a car with Royal, but because I don’t know when Mr. D will act.

“Seriously, you’re being weird,” Duke says. “What’s the big deal? You can give the cops your statement and get your bag. You’re going to have to see Royal at school tomorrow anyway.”

“Okay,” I say grudgingly. If I keep making excuses, he’s going to get suspicious. Obviously Mr. D hasn’t exposed them yet, or I’d know about it. And if I act weird now, when it comes out, they might think back to this moment and start wondering. The safest thing to do is to act like I’m just being a bitch about the breakup.

“You know I won’t take no for an answer, anyway,” Duke says, wiggling his brows. “But you can make a scene if you want me to carry you out over your shoulder. That might be kinda hot. Might even make Royal jealous. What do you think?”

“I have no interest in making Royal jealous.”

“Too bad.” Duke he leans around me and cups his hands to his mouth. “Mrs. Apple, we’re borrowing your daughter. Don’t worry, we’ll bring her right back.”

“Shut up,” I say, pushing him away from the door and pulling it closed behind me.

“I could go in and talk to her if you’d rather,” he says, reaching for the door. “I’m very persuasive.”

“You’re not meeting my mother.”

“Aw, why not? Wouldn’t she like me?”

“Way too much,” I grumble. I follow him to his Hummer, my heart pounding. I don’t even have to fake this part. I really am the pussy who doesn’t want to face Royal. He doesn’t know what I did, but I know.

While Duke circles around to hop up into the passenger seat as usual, I climb into the back of the Hummer with Baron, but my eyes stay on Royal.

“Hey,” I say, trying to break the painful awkwardness.

He doesn’t turn or even acknowledge me. We take off, and the doors lock automatically, and I immediately I get a weird feeling. I’m sure it’s my guilt, but I’m still on alert, sitting on the edge of my seat and debating whether to bolt at the first stop sign, though that would definitely cue them in to something going on.

We turn onto the road downtown that leads the police station, and I start to relax. I’ve been here enough to know I’m more or less safe inside. But when we reach the lot, Royal presses down on the gas, and we roar past the station. I grab for the door handle, panic slamming into my chest.

“Where are we going?” I ask, yanking on the handle. He put on the fucking child-safe locks.

My heart drums against my ribs. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.

“We’re just taking a little road trip,” Duke says, turning around to grin at me. “Everybody likes a road trip, don’t they, Harper?”

I swallow hard, trying not to absolutely lose my shit. Royal runs through an intersection without even looking. A truck barrels straight toward us. I almost scream. The driver blares the horn, slamming on the brakes as the grill looms huge outside my window. We streak past at the last second while they skid out of their lane and into a ditch. Royal doesn’t look.

“You said we were going to talk to the cops,” I say, because I don’t know what to say, what to do, except stall.

“Yeah, see, we already did that,” Baron says, reaching behind the seat and dragging my bag up. He drops it into my lap, but I don’t even notice the heavy books bruising my thighs. The bag topples onto the floorboards. I consider reaching for my knife, but the odds of making it out of the car aren’t great if I cut one of them. Royal will run us into the river and drown us all on purpose. It would be smarter to wait until they stop and then cut and run.

Baron pulls my phone out of his pocket, his thumb stroking the screen. “I was going to give this back, but I might just keep it for a while. It has so much interesting information on it.”

I can’t breathe. I can’t swallow. I can’t even think.

But no. He’s fucking with me. It has a password.

And he’s a master hacker.

I’m so lightheaded I think I’ll pass right the fuck out. “Give me my phone,” I say, my lips stiff.

Baron shrugs and hands it over like it’s nothing. I grip it until my fingers ache, wondering how I could find out what he saw, and whether he’d kill me if I tried to call the cops right now.

“You know what’s fun to do on a road trip?” Duke asks, that obnoxious grin still on his face as he leers at me from the front seat. “Play games.”

Baron stares at me, his eyes lit with the sadistic gleam they get when he’s about to have fun doing something that no one should find enjoyable. “You want to play a game, Harper?”

“No, I don’t want to play a fucking game,” I say quietly as Royal turns onto the ramp to the interstate heading north. “Let me out of the car.”

“Now, where’s the fun in that?” Duke asks. “We’re just getting started.”

“How about twenty questions,” Baron says.

“I’ve got a question,” Royal says, speaking for the first time since I got in the car. His voice is quiet and calm—eerily calm. “Who the fuck is Mr. D?”