Adam added, "She is. I've seen her in action. "
Her finger jerked back up. "And you better treat her right, not like her last boyfriend. He sucks. " She pounded her chest with a beer in hand. "I know. I'm his cousin. I can say that. And he cheated on her. He was a fool. You better not cheat on her, Logan Kade. "
A look of admiration took root in his eyes, but he deadpanned, "And if I do?"
"I'm going to come for you. "
He chuckled. "Really?"
She stepped forward and bumped her chest to his. The movement wasn't smooth and she would've tripped if Adam hadn't caught her elbow.
"You're right. You have ninja moves," he encouraged her.
"Stop," I said under my breath to him.
Then, with a different sounding laugh, he squeezed me against him again and kissed the side of my head. "No worries. I'll be your boyfriend for as long as you want me to be. " He glanced at Becky. "I hope I won't meet you in a dark alley, little girl. "
Her eyes rounded. "Really?"
"I've got moves too, little red. " Logan shook his head and laughed under his breath before he tapped my arm once and left.
Lydia swooned, swaying on her feet. "I need dry panties. "
"Lydia!"
Becky frowned at her.
Adam cringed behind them, but gave me a wry look. "Are you going to tell them?"
I shrugged.
"Tell us what?"
"Yeah, what?" They looked back and forth.
"Hey, dude!" Mark Decraw pushed his way through the crowd and slapped a hand on Adam's shoulder. "I've been waiting for you for an hour, man. "
Adam grimaced. "Yeah, it took longer than I thought it would. Sorry about the wait. "
"No worries. I scored some free drinks at the pool downstairs. " Then his gaze swung wide and he took the rest of us in. His eyes widened a fraction when he saw me. "Hey, Sam. I heard upstairs got intense. "
My eyes cooled. "Yeah…"
"You think everything's going to work out? You know, with you and M—"
"I don't want to talk about it. " I folded my arms over my chest and waited. My heart started to pound. What right did he have to talk about my family struggles? He wasn't family. He didn't know a thing about it.
"Oh. Okay. " He looked towards Adam and shifted to the back of his heels.
Adam looked around the room.
So did Lydia while Becky's eyes were glued to me as she mouthed, 'What upstairs?'
Then someone laughed as they passed by. "Awkward!"
Lydia and Becky made eye contact and bent over giggling. Adam frowned more and he started to scratch his head.
I wasn't sure what I was supposed to do. Did I join in? Did I pretend I didn't know what Mark was talking about? Did I pretend I was friends with Adam again? I had no idea, but I did know that I was separate from the group now. My relationship with the Kades had shifted me higher than my friends, but if they were like this with the assumption that I was sleeping with Logan, what'd they be like when they learned it was Mason?
I closed my eyes as I felt the urge to find the treadmill in the hotel's gym. It was already closed, but I was sure the Kade name had some pull.
"Oh hey," Mark tried to sound normal. He failed. "There's Pete and the crew. I'll see you guys later. Sam…"
I jerked my head in a stiff nod, but I couldn't keep the scowl from my face. Who did he think he was now because he was privy to information about my family?
Becky and Lydia's heads squashed together, but Adam tugged me backwards, away from them. He spoke in my ear, "Calm down. Mark didn't mean anything by it. "
I hissed out, "He doesn't know me. He doesn't know anything and now he's talking to me about my life? Who the hell does he think he is?"
He gave me a pained smile. "He's my friend and he wants to get to know you. "
"What?" I stared up at him. "Why?"
"Because he wants to break the news that he thinks his mom and Coach are going to get hitched, but he doesn't know how to. "
"What?!" Everything in me sunk at that moment.
"Yeah. " Adam raised a hand down the backside of his head and rubbed at his neck. "He thinks you should know, but I guess it's supposed to be a spontaneous thing. He's going to be family, Sam. And he's stepping out from Miranda's wrath. "
I closed my eyes. I couldn't do anything else. And I stood there.
Adam reached for my shoulders to pull me close. I shrugged him off. And I could hear the bitterness in his voice. "Look, Stewart doesn't want any of us to be friends with you, much less talk to you. I told her to go to hell and so did Mark. He's doing this for his mom and for Coach and, in some weird way, for you too. He feels bad about your situation. "
I spoke through gritted teeth, "I don't care about being in the Elite. "
"I know. We all know that and I think that pisses Miranda off the most, but it doesn't change the fact. You've got another year at the Academy, much less the rest of this year. Look, the girls won't go against Miranda. They might not all agree with her, but they won't go against her. If you—"
A hand wrapped my waist and pulled me backwards. I closed my eyes because I didn't need to look. Heat and lust washed over me when Mason urged me to turn around with a hand on my hip. I met his gaze once and when I saw the smoldering depths there, I knew the game was up. I was swept against his chest and burrowed there as he started to rub my back while the other one cradled my head to him. He spoke over me, "You're starting to piss me off, Quinn. "
Adam's hostility was evident. "I'm friends with her friends. What do you expect of me, Kade?"
Mason's arm tightened on my back. He swept down and started to massage the side of my hip, grinding me against him in the same motion. My heart pounded and the need started to throb again. I gasped against his chest and started to move with him.
"Isn't that…convenient. " Acid dripped from Mason's voice.
"What's going on?"
Some of the tension left Mason at the sound of his brother's voice.
"Mase, why you holding my girlfriend?" He sounded bright, cheery. Then he turned serious. "Ah, got it. Truth time, huh? Quinn, why are you always around Sam? You must have a boner every time you talk to her, or think about her, smell her… Do you use your mom's lotion? The pretty smelling stuff when you jerk it?"
"Um…" Becky was hushed immediately. "No, I won't shut up. What's going on? Sam?"
My eyes snapped open, but I knew I couldn't turn around. It was all over my face. I'd been in his arms for a minute and I wanted to drag him to a bedroom. My face was heated and I could imagine what the rest of me looked like. They'd call me a whore after this and it would stick. I knew it.
When I started to turn, Mason kept me in place. His voice was rough as he clipped out, "Stay away from her Quinn. If you keep trying to get in her pants, we're going to have a problem. "
Logan sidled up next to us. I felt his presence beside Mason. "And stop playing the dumbass game. You know what we're talking about. "
There was silence for a heartbeat and then Adam's laugh grated out. "Are you two serious? You don't think I know what you're doing with her? You're just having fun with her. You're using her to piss off your parents. Mark's told me a little bit. I thought Sam had daddy issues, but the two of you—"
I was transferred to Logan's arms in a flash, but I whirled in time to see Mason lunge for Adam. He knocked him backwards and then took hold of his shirt and slammed him against the wall. Adam didn't fight back, but the two glared at each other as Mason bent close. His mouth moved and Adam's face went white. He lost more and more coloring as Mason continued to speak in his ear. Then, after Mason stopped and held his gaze for a long tension-filled second, he stepped back and delivered one last punch to the side of Adam's face.
He went down, but he wasn't knocked unconscious. As he lay on the ground, he stared at Mason with fear starting to take root in his eye
s. No one went to his side, but Becky broke through the crowd and dropped to her knees beside him. She touched the side of his face, but glared at Mason. "What's your problem? He's a good guy. "
Mason's eyes cooled, but he glanced at me before he turned back.
My gut twitched as I realized he was in control. He'd been in control the whole time. He hadn't lost it when he went for Adam. Then Logan murmured in my ear, "Quinn's not the hero your friend thinks he is. It's time it came out. "
But I was riveted by the scene unfolding before me when Mason placed his hands on his hips and gave my friend a look of regret. I shoved out of Logan's hold and scrambled to his side as he spoke to her, "You think he's a good guy? He used you to get to her. "
Becky's eyes were scorching. "Did he tell you this?"
Mason shook his head. "I'm a guy. He didn't have to say a goddamn word. He's been sniffing around Sam since she was done with that other guy. "
I touched his arm and was surprised. He wasn't tense. As he looked at me, he swept me against his side and pressed a kiss to my forehead.
"Sam? None of this makes sense. "
My heart broke. She was a little girl in that moment. I closed my eyes as a sense of déjà vu hurled through me. She sounded how I felt when I walked into my home and was told we were leaving my dad.
Shattered.
"Sam. " Adam spoke this time. He sat up with a hand still cradling the side of his face. "Just tell her. Tell her everything. "
My tongue was thick as I struggled out, "Adam told me that he was using you to get to me. He admitted it to me, Becky. You were the only one I talked with after I found out about Jeff's cheating. And he's known about me and Mason—"
"You and Mason?" Lydia's were narrowed as she stood behind them. "I thought, but then…"
Logan whooped out, "You guys are so stupid! The two are together. They're hitched at the hip, literally right now. I'm starting to get pissed. Why's it so easy to think she's with me, but not my brother?"
"Because you're you…" Miranda spoke up. The Elite had joined the crowd around us. "And he's…"
"What?" Logan puffed out his chest and narrowed his eyes at her. "I'm what?"
"Nothing. " She clamped her mouth shut and her cheeks grew pink. She didn't look away when he stepped closer to her.
"I'm what?" he asked again, softer this time.
"You're…no one can get Mason. No one's gotten him before. "
Mason growled next to me. "This is starting to get stupid. That's enough. " He stepped in front of Logan and pushed him back. "What are you doing? You're making this worse. "
"Am I?" The corner of his lip curled up, but his tone was hostile. "You can't handle hearing how everyone thinks you're better than me?"
Mason yanked him close and whispered in his ear. As he spoke, Logan's chest started to heave up and down. His mouth tightened and his eyes went flat, and then he shoved him back in a violent push.
"Logan. "
"Stop," he snarled at him and pushed through the crowd. As he was swallowed up, Mason stood there and stared after him. Something changed then. He turned towards Miranda and a deadly aura came over him.
But then someone else stepped towards him. "Mason. "
I gasped in relief at the sight of Nate. He flashed me a small grin, but urged his best friend away from the crowd. I hurried to follow and found them in a private corner to hear the last words, "I'll take care of him. "