by Tijan
“Leave the credit cards and money. Burn the rest.”
“What?!” Adam surged forward.
I shoved him back against the wall, harder than necessary. “Unless you’d like to fight me for them?”
He fell back, still holding that pillow in front of him. “You guys are assholes.”
Nate laughed, going to the front door. He took one key off the ring. “And yet you’re the one who broke into our house.”
“What are you going to do?” Adam watched him, warily.
“What do you think?” Nate stepped outside, hauled his arm back, and threw Adam’s keys as far as he could. “We live next to some woods. Those fuckers are gone.” He came back inside and slapped Adam on the back. “Have fun walking into town.”
There was nothing left except the wallet. Logan threw it back to him with the credit cards and cash inside. Adam caught it against his chest, dropping the pillow as he did.
And as he bent to grab it, I kicked it out of reach. Then I pointed to the door. “Get lost.”
“We’re really letting him go without a beatdown?” Logan asked.
Adam wavered, as if waiting for the answer.
“Go!” I clipped out. “Before I change my mind.”
“Oh, hey.” Nate stepped next to me. He produced that one key and waved it at Adam. “We’ll leave your car at some gas station. So don’t bother coming back here for it.”
Adam went to the door, stark naked, and reached for the handle. “I really hate you guys.”
“Trust me,” I said. “Not as much as we hate you. Come back here, and we won’t be as nice next time.”
Adam left, and as soon as the door shut behind him, Logan asked, “Why the fuck didn’t we pound him?”
I gave him a look as I reached for my phone. “Because that doesn’t look suspicious. He was at our house and then he gets beat up? They could charge us for that.”
“And stripping him naked and sending him on his way isn’t something we could get charged for?”
I shrugged. I was willing to bet they’d let that slide.
“Who are you calling?” Nate asked.
I grinned. “A cop who’s friendly with Sam’s dad. Garrett summers here. He gave me a few names of people we could call if we ever needed anything. I figure this guy might want to know about a naked dude walking away from our house, and that it’s the same guy who broke into our house earlier tonight.”
Logan laughed. “Okay, that’s good.” He turned to go burn the rest of the stuff Adam had in his wallet.
“Logan,” I called. “We’ll get him another time,” I added when he looked back.
“We better. The punk needs to be dealt with.”
He did. And we would.
I was sure of that.
SAMANTHA
Call me a vindictive bitch; I don’t care.
But when Mason told me what they did and what they’d found out from Adam, I went the extra mile. I called Becky, told her Adam had showed up at our place with a plan to see her afterwards to “make up.” I told her about the condom, because every girl enjoys knowing she’s an assumed sure thing. Then I followed that by letting her know he hadn’t just “dropped by” our place. He’d broken in because he wanted to plant a spying malware program on Mason’s computer. I ended the call with a warning not to let him anywhere near her computer.
And thinking about that call now—how Becky had been beyond pissed—gave me an extra boost of speed on my run.
It’d been two weeks since Raelynn’s accident, and a week since our latest run-in with Adam. Everything Raelynn predicted had come true. Faith milked her accident like a cat licks every last droplet of milk. By the end of the first time Faith rejoined the team at practice, everyone was acting like it’d been her in that car. And when I dropped by to see Raelynn yesterday afternoon, she told me Faith had already stopped visiting her.
I was keeping a healthy skepticism, but it looked more and more like Raelynn was telling me the truth. Her words hadn’t been part of an elaborate plan of manipulation.
As I ran, I continued to stay hyper-aware of my surroundings. I usually liked to tune everything out and just go, but I couldn’t do that with Faith behind me. It wasn’t that she was breathing down my neck. She was a good half-mile or more away, but I still couldn’t relax. The moment I did, I worried she might pounce—or have someone pounce for her. Coach Langdon was happy with my times, but I knew staying watchful had cost me some of my speed. Once I could tune the world out again, he’d be even happier.
And I soared over the finish line once again.
Coach Langdon clocked it and called out, “Another fast time.”
I felt more in me. Today was an “easy day,” and Coach wanted us to lift weights too. Instead of pushing for another go-around like I wanted to, I slowed to a walk and waited until Taylor crossed the finish line. Courtney came next, then Grace, followed by another prediction of Raelynn’s that had come true. As Courtney and Grace headed my way, their third friend went to Faith’s side. Nettie had replaced Raelynn as Faith’s go-to, right-hand girl.
Nettie crossed paths with Courtney and Grace, and she didn’t spare them a look. It was as if they were complete strangers.
Taylor shook her head. “That’s sad.”
“Yeah.” I agreed.
Courtney’s jaw seemed clenched, and Grace looked over her shoulder at Nettie, who talked excitedly to Faith. Her hands were all over in the air, yet Faith seemed to be mostly ignoring her, only glancing up every now and then
“Raelynn’s coming back next summer,” Grace said. “What does Nettie think is going to happen then?”
We stopped walking and found a spot on the grass to stretch. Grace pulled one leg over the other and leaned toward it
“I have a hard time imagining Faith won’t want her best buddy back,” she added.
“Unless she’s not as fast as Nettie,” Courtney said.
Taylor started laughing. “Sorry. I was remembering the first night we met you guys.”
Courtney grinned. “True. Nettie’s fast in that way too.”
“Hit the weights this afternoon, ladies,” Coach Langdon barked before he headed back to his office.
We wouldn’t see him again until tomorrow morning when we had an easier run scheduled, then our first meet of the year this weekend. I’d run races in high school, but I knew college was more. The mileage was double what it had been in high school, and everyone was more intense. I didn’t know what to expect, but I thought I’d be okay. I just had to beat Faith. That was my main goal.
“The football team is in there today,” Courtney mumbled.
“What?” I looked over at her as she frowned off into the distance.
As if everyone heard her, the rest of the team looked over in time to see the football team walking down the sidewalk toward the doors that led to the weight room. Coach said we might run with them, but it looked like we’d be lifting weights instead.
Some of the girls wore eager grins, some groaned.
“Great,” Courtney grumbled. She reached to grab the bottom of her feet. “Now we either have to use the shitty weight room, or we have to wait in line for the machines. Coach should reserve the weight room for us.”
“You’d think, right? That’d be the smart thing to do.” Grace switched into a different stretch, and for the next few moments everyone was quiet until we finished. Then we began walking across the lawn toward those doors. Courtney and Grace fell in step behind Taylor and me. This was the first time we were going, and as we went inside, I heard all the noise from the weight room and wondered if it might be worth it to get a gym membership somewhere else.
I stopped just outside the door.
Massively built guys were everywhere.
I recognized a few, but this was different territory. We used the room too, but there was something primal about the way these guys were claiming the weights as theirs.
“This can’t be as terrifying for you guys as it is for us,” Courtney said
from behind me.
I looked back at her. “Yeah, you’d think, right?”
Taylor clapped her hands together, beaming. “Follow me, ladies. I’ll show you how to throw your weight around.” She started forward. Courtney and Grace followed, and I brought up the rear.
My plan was to find Mason. I knew he’d be nice, regardless of how the rest of these guys were. As I was looking, Taylor stopped at one of the leg machines.
“Do you know who my dad is?” she asked.
The guy grumbled, but he got up and walked away.
Taylor laughed as she climbed on.
And that was how we lifted weights. Taylor would approach and ask her question. By the third machine, the guys saw her coming. They always got off, and the rest of us would use it after she did. We were half done with our regimen when an arm snaked around my waist.
Mason nuzzled my ear. “What are you doing?”
Gasping from the instant tingles, I laughed and pointed at Taylor. The only problem was the guy using the machine we wanted this time was Matteo.
“It’s entertaining to watch all the guys want to refuse Taylor, then realize who she is and slink away with their tail between their legs,” I told Mason.
His hand slid down to grasp my hip. He kept me anchored in front of him. “Nah. The tail between the legs is because they want to hit on her, then remember she’s Broozer’s daughter and Logan’s girlfriend.” He looked down at me. “I didn’t know you’d be in here at this time. I was going over some new plays with Coach. If I’d known, I could’ve done that later.”
I tipped my head up, resting against his chest. “I didn’t know myself until we finished an hour ago.”
His eyes were warm as he looked down at me. “If you do weights during your season, we could do them together.”
“Matteo!” Taylor yelled. “Let us use the machine.”
He snorted, adjusting the weight and sitting back down. “You don’t scare me, Bruce. I know all the same people you do, and you and your line of ducklings can wait for me to finish my rep. That’s the right way to work these machines. You get in line and wait your turn.” He leaned down and began pumping his legs.
Taylor’s hands found her hips, and she glared down at him. “You take twice as long as we do with this machine. We’re runners. We don’t have to bulk up. We’re just toning.”
“Not my problem. I refuse to give in to favoritism.” He motioned behind him with his head. “Get in line, Broozer Jr.”
I started laughing as Mason tugged me to a different machine. “Have you used this one already?”
I hadn’t, and after that, I followed Mason around for the rest of my weights.
Taylor came over at one point, her eyes blazing in frustration. “I’m going to do something to Matteo. I don’t know what, but I am.”
“Can you really blame him?” I asked. “We were cutting in line.”
She wrinkled her nose, crossing her arms over her chest as Courtney and Grace came over. They all watched Mason finish his last rep before it was my turn. Though their eyes widened like they normally did around him, Taylor barely paid him attention.
She turned to me. “I know, but now all the others took notes from him. Only a few will get off the machines for us. He ruined our fast time in this room. Plus, he’s in here with his team. He doesn’t understand. Girls don’t like doing weights with all this testosterone. The smell alone is uncomfortable enough.”
Mason finished his last pump, then stood and adjusted the weight for me. “Why don’t you have Logan lift weights with you?” he said as I climbed on.
“You think that’d work?” She gazed around the room. “You have to admit, there’s a lot more of you guys than us. I think half the girls are too scared to come in here.”
“Just call Logan. He does weights, though he talks shit more than he lifts, but he’d do it. And he’d love to give Matteo crap too.”
“We’re almost done today, but I’ll be doing that next time. I didn’t realize Logan lifted weights that much.”
Mason grinned, moving to another machine as I was finishing up. “I think it’d be more about talking shit.” He nodded to Taylor. “And showing off to his girl too.”
She laughed. “Maybe I should give him a call today after all?”
As I got off my machine, Taylor moved for it. Matteo showed up, appearing from around a different machine, but he jumped back as Taylor got on it first.
She held up her middle finger. “Aha! You were totally trying to cut there.”
“Oh, come on.” He reached for her finger, but she pulled it away. He grinned, casting a sideways glance to Courtney and Grace. “Can’t hurt a guy to try, right?” He asked the last question with his focus on Grace, whose eyes suddenly looked like they were going to bulge out.
“Wha—what?” she stammered out.
“You can’t blame me for trying. Right? Now I gotta wait for all three of you ladies.” His head perked up, and his grin deepened. “Though, now that I think about it, maybe I’ve been doing this wrong all along.”
Taylor finished and got off.
Courtney and Grace waited, but Matteo waved them on. “After you, ladies. I just realized the benefits of being a gentlemen.” He winked at Grace, who waited as Courtney got on the machine. “I get to spend more time with you.”
Grace’s cheeks pinked, and she yanked her eyes toward Courtney. The back of her neck was reddening too.
Matteo grinned over at us. “Thanks for bringing your friends, Sam.”
Mason laughed, moving out again and adjusting the machine for me. “Yeah.” He rested a hand on the frame as I sat down. “That’s what my girlfriend is: your personal pimp.”
“Works for me.”
I did my rep and then stood, standing close to Mason for a second. “Girlfriend?” I cocked my head to the side in a teasing manner.
His eyes darkened. He knew what I meant. I wasn’t just his girlfriend. I was more now.
His hand grazed mine. “You know what I mean.”
We hadn’t talked much about the engagement in weeks. There’d been other issues on our radar. He was still supposed to ask again with the ring, and in the meantime I was becoming more and more okay with the idea of getting married.
I was not Analise.
He was not James.
We were a completely different couple.
As we moved to another machine, I watched Taylor continue to fight with Matteo. By now, it was mostly in jest. She’d caught on that he was more interested in hanging out with Grace than fighting to get to the machine.
After one more machine, she admitted defeat. Taylor held her hands in the air and told Grace, “Go with Matteo. I think he’ll help you better than me.”
Grace’s entire face was beet red, but we could hear her giggling the rest of the time we were there.
Courtney and Taylor stayed with Mason and me. Courtney seemed a little quiet around Mason. She watched him as he moved around, and I thought I caught a twinge of jealousy in her eyes, but it was always gone by the time she looked over at me. I wasn’t insecure. It was the opposite with Mason, but I was more on edge because of the way girls reacted to me because of him. I didn’t want another Kate situation, but that wasn’t Courtney. If that were going to be anyone, it would be Faith.
A little while later, when we were done and walking back out to the parking lot, I saw Faith getting into a Yukon.
Speak of the devil.
Taylor stopped next to me. “I really hate that girl.”
I grinned. “Is there another weight room on campus?”
Courtney was on my other side. “There’s a VIP room that only some of the star players get to use.” She frowned at me. “You should have access to that, actually. You and your boyfriend.”
Mason came up behind us, and I turned toward him. “Do you have access to a VIP weight room?”
He paused. “Yeah.”
“Could you have taken me to the other room?”
“Y
ou, yeah.” He glanced to the others, and I got his drift. The others couldn’t have gone, and he didn’t bring it up because he knew I wouldn’t have left them.
I frowned. “That’s not fair.”
“It’s for the players who need more attention,” Taylor said. “If someone is rehabbing, they get to use it too. But yes, it’s generally for the star athletes—the ones who bring in boosters and more money. It’s exclusive, but it kind of does make sense.”
“You knew about it too?”
She gave me a look like I’d grown two heads. “My dad is Broozer. Yeah, I knew.”
“Oh.”
Mason unlocked his Escalade and stored his bag inside. He shut the door, waiting for me. I glanced to Taylor. “What are you doing now?”
“I’ve got this guy I’m dating. I haven’t seen him all day, and I thought maybe I’d check in with him. Maybe give him a smooch or two.” She grinned at me.
I arched an eyebrow. “Logan’s sarcasm is infectious. Who knew?”
She laughed. “He’s at your place. I was hoping to hitch a ride since he brought me this morning.” We glanced over to Courtney. Grace and Matteo were coming out of the building and heading our way.
“What about you two?” Taylor called over. “I bet I can get Chef Logan to make an appearance. He can cook for all of us.”
“I’m down.” Matteo gave her a nod, his eyes skirting to Grace beside him.
Taylor touched Courtney’s arm. “You and Grace want to come over?”
“Uh.” Courtney turned around to look at me. I’d migrated over to Mason by his Escalade. “Is that okay with you?”
I shrugged. “Why wouldn’t it be? But to be honest, I think if Logan found out we didn’t invite you at this point, he’d be chewing my ass within seconds.” I grinned, sinking into Mason’s side. I noted how Grace was touching her hair and grimacing. “If you guys want to go shower and change, just head over when you’re done. You know where we live.”
“Okay. Sounds like a plan.”
Mason’s arm came down around my shoulders. “Matteo, are you coming over right now?”
“Yes. If that’s okay?”
Grace and Courtney took off for their vehicles, their heads bent together. It was obvious the topic of conversation. Grace kept looking back at Matteo, and he seemed receptive.
