Fallen Crest Public (Fallen Crest Series) (2 page)

I loved him.

A feeling of contentment swept over me, and I could’ve hung onto him until next week. However, after washing both of us, he moved me back to the counter and I unhooked myself, giving him a rueful grin as he tossed me a towel. When he started to dry himself off, I didn’t do a thing. I just watched. My eyes drank in the sight of him.

Broad shoulders. Every muscle defined, all the way down to his abdominals and obliques. Even the muscles in his legs bulged and shifted as he bent low to dry the rest of him. A trim waist. Angular cheekbones. Luscious eyelashes that covered his emerald eyes and lips that a girl would die for. Not me. I just died to touch them and feel them against mine.

I let out a deep breath. I was addicted to him.

He grinned as his eyes darkened. He knew exactly what I was thinking or feeling. He asked, “Are you going to get ready?”

“Sure. When my legs can work again. What
was
that?”

“That,” he moved closer, pulling the towel from me, “was the best way to start my last semester.”

I flinched as if a cold bucket of water was dumped on me. Those words left me cold. Plucking the towel from him, I hopped off the counter and shoved past him to the bedroom.

“What’s wrong?” He followed me.

“That was the best way to start your last semester?” I dried myself off and stopped to glare at him. Seriously? He was an idiot. “Screw you.”

The corner of his mouth curved up. “You just did.”

“Not funny, Mason.”

He frowned and narrowed his eyes at me. “What’s wrong?”

“You’re leaving.”

“Just to college. I’m not going forever.”

I rolled my eyes and turned my back.
Says you, you big ass. Just to college. It’s not that simple.

“Wait, are you really mad at me?”

Ignoring him, I grabbed some underwear, jeans, a bra and a shirt. Stopping once, I glanced in the mirror to make sure I looked presentable—I’d do. My dark hair hadn’t been cut so it fell below my shoulders. I’d twist it up in a braid later, but the jeans and shirt were snug. Good. I didn’t care if every inch of me was on display. The jeans were washed out, but clung to me and my shirt was a simple long-sleeve white shirt. The front dipped low, giving a good view of my cleavage, and my black lace bra showed through the thin material, but I didn’t care.
Mason was just going to college, my ass.
Still ignoring him, I grabbed my backpack and purse. Stuffing the purse inside of the bag, I brushed past him and headed downstairs. As I got into the kitchen, Logan was just putting the coffee pot back on the burner. He turned and stopped. Seeing me when I entered, his eyes went wide and a low wolf whistle came next.

“You’re smoking, Sam.” He gave me a wicked grin. “Mason must’ve pissed you off, huh?”

“I know I look pissed.”

“Nah.” He shook his head, his brown locks had been gelled to perfection. “You’re smoking hot. I know you’re mad because you got that cold as ice look in your eye you always get when you are, but that’s not what I meant. You only come out looking hot as hell when my big bro’s pissed you off.” Checking his watch, he whistled again. “That was fast because I just heard you two going at it like wild animals.”

Oh. Jeezus. Flushing, I ignored his comments and gestured to the coffee pot. “Are you going to start that?”

“Nope. It doesn’t work.”

This morning went from great to crap. “Oh.”

Grabbing his keys, Logan dangled them at me. “But if we leave now, we can stop at The Quickie. I need to get gas anyway.”

“Sold.”

Mason was coming down the stairs as we moved past them. He was pulling his shirt down, and I tried not to watch the movement of his abdominals or how his jeans rode low on his narrow hips. He paused when he saw us. “Where are you guys going?”

My lips were pressed tight together, and Logan smirked from behind me. He shook his head. “Whatever you said must’ve been good. You pissed your woman off. Not a good move, not on the first day of the semester.”

Wincing at how close his words hit the target, I gritted my teeth and shoved out the door.

Mason called after me, “Sam.”

“What?”

He looked ready to say something else, glanced at Logan and closed his mouth.

It didn’t matter. I didn’t want to hear it. “The coffee pot’s broken. I’m going with Logan to get some. Did you want some too? I can serve it to you, another thing to add to the ‘best way to start your last semester.’” A ball of anger rolled over me.

“Come on …” An apology flashed in those emerald eyes of his.

“You said that?” Logan chuckled. “Dumb move, dipshit.”

Moving closer to the door, Mason flashed a warning at his brother. “Give us a minute.”

“What if I don’t?”

He bared his teeth at him. “Not a request,
dipshit
.” Then he shoved him and stepped closer to me. His hand fell to my arm, but he added to Logan, “March. I’ll bring her.”

Logan smirked at him. “We’re going for coffee. Besides,” he gestured inside the house, “you’ve gotta wait for your other girlfriend. His car’s still blocked in from the party last night.”

“People are still here? Where is he?”

He shrugged. “Nah, they all got rides home, but their cars are still here, and as for your girlfriend, I have no idea. Check his room. I think I heard Parker down there.”

“Parker?”

“Yeah. Pretty sure I heard her voice from downstairs. I was headed down to see if he knew how to fix the coffee pot.”

Mason cursed under his breath and twisted around. His hand fell from my arm. “He agreed to the exile.”

“Guess it starts later today for him.”

“Not helping.”

“Not trying to,” Logan sniped back.

“What is your problem?”

“With you? Nothing. With your other girlfriend, figure it out.” Logan’s eyes darkened, letting his anger show.

I held my breath. There hadn’t been a lot of times when the two bickered, but I could tell that Logan was fed up. Not that I could hold it against him. I was getting fed up as well, but I knew that Mason hadn’t let his friendship with his best friend affect our relationship. Not yet. As the two glared at each other, I stepped in between them. Softening my tone, I gestured to Logan’s Escalade. “Let’s go and get coffee.”

Logan turned on his heel, his jaw rigid as he went to his vehicle.

Mason caught my wrist and held me back. “Are we okay?”

“Yeah,” I sighed. I had already melted as soon as I saw his regret earlier. “It just sucks, Mason. You’re leaving. You. Leaving. As in you’re not going to be here on a daily basis anymore. I’m not the only one bothered by that.” I jerked my head over my shoulder, where Logan had started the car and was waiting for me.

“That’s not Nate’s fault.”

“No, but it’s not the three of us or even the two of you anymore. Nate came back. This is Logan’s last semester with you, but …” I gestured inside. “Your best friend gets you for the next four years, you know. You’re leaving early for football.”

He groaned and his head fell back. “Shit, I didn’t even think of it that way.”

I shrugged. “Anyway, I really want to get some coffee, and I have to talk to my coach. He said to come by his office this morning.”

Mason’s head lifted back up and he grinned, his eyes darkening as he tugged me close. “Coach Grath is lucky to have you. He knows that.”

I was about say thanks, but then I stopped thinking. He bent closer to me. Closing my eyes, I felt his lips softly touch mine. One damn touch was all it took. A tingle began and the lust for him sparked again. I became heated as he deepened the kiss, and I burrowed closer to him.

BEEEEEP!

Jerking back, I twisted and glared at Logan, who still had his hand on the horn. He flashed me a grin, but hollered out the window, “Let’s go! You can screw later.”

“Idiot,” Mason muttered under his breath.

“He’s right. Go see Nate, see what’s going on. I’ll see you at school.”

He nodded, but flipped off his brother. Logan’s laugh was heard clearly and I gave Mason a quick wave as I got into the yellow Escalade.

Reversing the vehicle, Logan extended his middle finger in the rearview mirror and gunned the engine. He didn’t pause when we got to the road. Clicking my seatbelt in place, I settled back in my seat. Logan liked to drive fast, but he had the reflexes to keep us safe, so I wasn’t worried. I did comment, “All you had to do was say something to him, you know. Mason’s a good brother to you.”

He jerked in his seat. His face grim. “Yeah, well, it’s easy for you to say. You’re
supposed
to talk to him. You don’t come across as bitching and whining.”

“I said something.”

“No.”

“Yes.” It was getting ridiculous. “You used to be friends with Nate.”

“That was before he turned shady. I know he had Parker over last night.”

“You said this morning.”

“Last night. This morning. What’s the difference? He still violated the exile. Mase won’t forget that.”

I heard the anger in his voice. It was low and underlining. Frowning, I asked, “Are you mad at Nate about something else? I thought it was just because he came back for his last semester.”

Logan jerked a shoulder up, holding the steering wheel with one hand. “What does it matter? He’s so far up Mason’s ass, I’m surprised my dipshit brother could even hear you.”

“Logan.”

“It’s true.” But his voice lost some of the aggression. “Nate’s not the same. Mason needs to know that.”

“So just tell him.”

“Why don’t
you
tell him?” he shot back, throwing me a sidelong glance.

“Maybe I will.”

Rolling his eyes, he looked back to the street. “Mase won’t listen to you.”

“Yes, he will.”

“No, he won’t.”

“Mason’s always listened to me.”

“Things are going to go to shit. I know it.”

I frowned, but the knot tightened again in my gut. As Logan turned into The Quickie, I agreed with him. This semester wasn’t going to be an easy one.

For anybody.

When Logan turned into the gas station, I laughed when I saw who was sitting on the bench outside of Quickie’s—Jeff. When we got out, a quick grin came over him and he stood up. His hands were pushed deep into his pants pockets and he rolled his shoulders back. His dark hair had been gelled, much the same as Logan’s, and as he came closer, I saw the idol worship he had for the younger Kade.

“Hey.”

Logan narrowed his eyes at him, but I asked, “What are you doing here?”

He jerked a shoulder up. “My car broke down.”

I glanced at his phone. “Who were you going to call for a ride?”

“Not that girl I was telling you about on Friday. She hooked up with this guy Saturday.” He gestured to Logan, who had started to reach for the gas nozzle.

“Me?”

“Yeah.” Jeff lifted a corner of his mouth up. “No worries. I’m not heartbroken. At least I know what she’s like now.”

He looked ready to say more, but Logan interrupted after he started the gas, “I’m going in. You want your coffee?”

I nodded. “Thanks.”

As he went inside, Jeff laughed to himself. “Man, I forgot how scary—” He stopped
suddenly. His eyes darted past my shoulder and widened. I turned to see Mason’s black Escalade pulling into the lot. He parked next to us, on the other side of the gas pump, and hopped out. When he came around, Jeff put a few feet between us. “Hey, man. How’s it going?” His voice sounded strangled as he jerked a hand up and grabbed a fistful of his hair, making it spike even more.

Mason reached for the nozzle, but turned to me. “Logan’s inside?”

I nodded. “Where’s Nate?”

The corner of his mouth dipped down into a brief scowl. It was so quick—there and gone in the blink of an eye—but I caught it. No one else would’ve noticed it. That wasn’t good. A knot tightened in my gut. “Did he have company?”

“No, but he did last night.” Mason’s tone was cold. I knew it wasn’t because of me.

“Uh,” Jeff’s hand tightened on his hair, and he tried to give me a halfhearted grin. His other hand shoved down in his front jean pocket, and his shoulders hunched forward. “Maybe I should get going …”

“Did you call someone for a ride?”

Jeff’s eyes darted back to Mason.

Even though he was filling his vehicle with gas and his back was turned to us, I knew he was listening. He was waiting for Jeff to leave.

“Did you?”

“Not yet, but since you’re here …” His voice trailed off again. “Oh shit.”

Two car doors slammed shut, but it wasn’t the sound of them or the alarm that flitted over Jeff’s face that sent alarms off in me.

It was Mason.

He wasn’t moving. An unnatural stillness had come over him. His hand fell from the nozzle, and he stopped everything for a second. It was a small pause as he took a breath. It lasted only a second. Then his hand reached over and he flipped up the handle so the gas stopped. The nozzle was left in his vehicle as he walked forward.

Then I saw them.