by E. K. Blair
“Hey, hey, hey!” I ran back and shoved between them. Not good. Not good. That kept going through my head.
“Where’s your little bitch boy now?” Adam tried to reach around me.
Mason smirked. He looked calm. The other three were shifting on their feet, but he never moved, not an inch. He drawled out, “Bitch boy? That was a bitch move. You waited until a girl stepped between us?”
Adam flushed, but snarled. “One swing, Kade. One swing. Isn’t that what they say about you?” His lip curled up. “It only takes one punch for Mason Kade.”
“Stop!”
“Usually.” He shrugged and as he lifted a hand to scratch his chin, all three jerked in reaction. Mason’s smirk grew wider at that.
“I mean it!” I turned around and around.
“Is that right?” Adam tried to push at him again. Mark and Peter both grabbed him as they got in front.
I surged forward and tried to help, but I was bumped backwards. I skidded from the movement, but Mason caught me. He slid an arm around my waist and lifted me to the side. “Trying to hurt a girl?”
Adam growled and lunged again. “Let me go. I can take him.”
“Come on, man. Think about this.”
“Adam, please. Don’t do this.” I started forward again. Mason caught me and held me in place. His hand stayed on my hip. “Just stop, Adam. This won’t do anything.”
Adam choked out a hoarse laugh. “Are you kidding me, Sam? Someone needs to knock ‘em down a step, him and his bitch boy. They think they’re gods around here. I don’t think so. I don’t think so!” He spat on the ground. “He’s got nerve to show up on my territory. This is mine, Kade!”
Mason lifted an eyebrow. “She yours too?”
“Mason!”
His eyes went wider and he choked back his retort to lunge forward again. His friends grunted and strained to hold him back. Peter snapped at him, “This is what he wants. You’re playing into his hands.”
Mark was whispering something to Adam while Peter kept a wary eye on Mason.
“I don’t care,” Adam ripped out. “I don’t care one bit. I want this done. This has to be done. Someone’s gotta do it. Everyone else is too scared so I’ll do it. Let me do it!”
Mason’s soft chuckle enraged him further.
A knot of dread and fear expanded from my stomach. It was crawling all over me. My legs started to shake, but then I caught movement around us. People were starting to congregate towards us. I cringed when I heard someone yell ‘fight’ and then a bevy of lockers slammed shut from inside.
“Your sidekick’s not here. What are you going to do, man?” Both of Adam’s arms were lifted up and pushed backwards by Peter and Mark. They continued to hold him back as they leaned all of their weight on him.
“I don’t fight with words.” The corner of Mason’s lip was curled up. “I’m quite capable of handling Quinn all on my own. Let him go. Come on. That’s what he wants.”
“Shut up!” Mark glared at him.
The last bell rang and I glanced around. No one was in class. The crowd doubled in size and a loose circle had started to form around us. Becky dodged around a group of guys and started to come to my side. I shot my hand out and shook my head so she braked a few yards from me, but edged in closer. When she mouthed if I was okay, I shook my head.
No, I wasn’t okay. Mason was severely outnumbered.
Suddenly, Adam shoved Mark aside and his elbow caught me in the face.
“Hey!” Mason barked as he caught me and pulled me behind him. “If you want to fight, fight me, not your buddies. Sam just got clipped.”
Mark cried out as he caught one of Adam’s arms, “I’m sorry, man. Sorry, Sam—” He was about to say more, but Adam cursed and lunged once again. “You’re a piece of crap, Kade!” He continued to bite out curses.
Mason sighed and motioned for him to come forward. “Just let him go. This will get done a lot faster. I have school too.”
Peter lifted his head and yelled, “If you’d shut up, man. You’re not helping.”
I felt Mason’s impatience. The one hand he kept on me was tense, so tense I wondered if he realized he was going to leave a bruise. Then I stopped wondering. He looked like he was amused by the whole thing, but a nerve jerked under his shirt. I saw it through the opening of his shirt. It was his only tell; everything else about him was silent. He was completely still.
I knew he was ready for an opening.
And then something happened. He jerked forward, hooked an arm around Peter’s neck and threw him to the aside. Adam swung, but Mason dodged and instead tackled Mark to the left. They both fell to the ground, but he scrambled back up in the blink of an eye. He turned around and it was now him and Adam, no one else.
Adam took a step forward and opened his mouth—
Crack!
Mason punched him between the cheek and mouth, one time, and then he stepped back.
It looked like it happened in slow motion.
Adam’s eyes rolled to the back of his head and he fell with a loud thud to the ground. His head smacked against the cement twice and his limbs bounced back up before they settled down.
There was silence in the crowd.
“Oh my god!” a girl screamed. Another started to sob.
I rushed to Adam’s side and patted his cheek. “Adam? Adam...”
“What’s going on here?” a teacher cried out.
“Holy, man...” “Did you see that?” “Shiite.” Another guy whooped in laughter and others started to yell back and forth. People were starting to push and shove against each other.
Becky’s mouth had dropped open. She was frozen in place.
More teachers were starting to push their way in and then I heard my dad’s voice in the background. “What’s going on? Let us through.”
“Oh no—” I hurried up and started to push Mason into the crowd. “You have to go.”
When we got to his Escalade, he smirked down at me. “Why? They’ll say it was me. I knocked him out cold, Sam.”
“You can leave. You might not get in trouble.”
He rolled his eyes. “Are you serious? I’m not going anywhere. I’ll face the firing squad here.”
I sighed. “Do you know what you did?”
He turned back to the crowd, but shrugged. “I don’t care.”
“You attacked a student on school grounds. They could get you expelled from your school.”
“Maybe.” His jaw stiffened.
“Samantha!” my dad hollered.
I jerked around, but he hadn’t spotted us yet. “Go, Mason. I mean it.”
He shook his head. “I’m not going anywhere.”
“Samantha!” David’s voice was closer now. And then he broke through the crowd to us.
I turned to face my father, but I hissed behind me, “He could have you arrested.”
David stopped in front of us and he placed both hands on his hips. He stared at me for a moment and then Mason before he took off his coach’s hat and rubbed at his head. “Do you know what you’ve done, son?”
“Yes, sir.”
My eyebrows went up when I didn’t see a smirk on his face and heard respect in his tone.
“Basey,” David hollered behind him.
One of his assistant coaches popped up. “He’ll be fine, sir. He’ll come around. We just gotta get him inside.”
My dad took a deep breath. “Alright, well, you heard him. Let’s all head inside.” He pointed at Mason. “You, go to the principal’s office.”
He nodded. “Sure...where’s that at?”
“Sam?”
“Yeah, dad?”
“Take him to the principal’s office.”
“Sure thing.”
“And do me another favor?”
I halted at the frustration in my dad’s voice. “Yeah...?”
“Call your mother and his father.” He turned around, but I heard him mutter, “This should be fun.”
***
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
Mason and I were in an empty classroom. His head was bent down, cushioned by his arms and I was starting to wonder if he’d fallen asleep. He couldn’t have. And then someone sped past the door, screeched to a halt, and backtracked to stand in the doorway. Logan greeted us with his arms spread wide and a bright smile on his face.
“One punch, Mase?” Logan laughed and launched himself on our table. “Next time I think you should get him to knock himself out.”
“Logan, dude.” Another guy followed him in, looking irritable. I recognized him from one of their parties. “You just took off. This place is bitch heaven, at least grace me with some bread crumbs.”
“Ethan, chill. They’re easy.”
He grimaced. “I’m not talking about those; I’m talking about the dudes. They’re all over. Their pants are pressed so tight I keep expecting to smell aromatherapy or whatever my mom sells with her scentsy stuff. They fart daisies. I know it.”
Logan laughed and hit him in the backside of his head. Ethan shot away and glared again. His eyebrows rose at an alarming height.
Mason sighed and leaned back in his chair. “We’ve been cooped up here for four hours. Dad showed up after an hour and we were hauled back here.”
Logan smirked. “Was he dressed to impress?”
“You know it. Remind ‘em who brings the money in.” He glanced at me. “Her mom had some lacey bridal dress on.”
I glanced down and folded my arms. A stab of pain went through my gut when I remembered how Analise had pranced through my school’s doorway. It’d been her second time to visit. The first time had been an event for David.
Both brothers shared a grin. “You’re totally going to get off for this.”
Ethan shared in their dark humor and grinned. “Isn’t one punch considered assault or something? My cousin knocked a guy out cold. That dude had been harassing him and his girlfriend and my cousin got the rap for it.”
Mason shrugged and stood. He started to pace. Even with his muscular physique, the gracefulness of his walk reminded me of a lean panther trapped in a cage. He kept glancing at the open door. The bell had rung again and students passed by. I had stopped watching after a while. Not one person went by that didn’t look in. They all wanted to get a glimpse. We were on display at a human zoo.
I asked Logan, “Aren’t you guys supposed to be in school? It’s one in the afternoon.”
“Yeah, right. I’m not going to be there when my brother’s over here. Besides, coach sent me over.” He nodded at Mason. “We have twofers for the rest of the week. He said you have to make them all, tonight too, if you’re going to play.”
Irritation flared over his face and he scowled. “Against Roussou? Of course I’m going to play. It’s our second chance to beat them. I hate their quarterback.”
“More than the Academy’s?” Ethan joked.
Logan tipped his head back to cackle while Mason flexed his knuckles. “Whatever. I’m sick of this. I’m starting to wish I hadn’t finished him.”
Logan looked taken aback and thrust his hand out towards me. “Whatever. The guy’s going to back down. He knows you can beat his—”
Ethan interjected, “One punch, mofo.”
“—and now he might calm down. His panties are all twisted because of Sam anyway—”
“Hey!”
Ethan frowned at me.
“—but now he’ll go away and lick his balls a bit. I think we should do it again to make sure he’s down for the count and knows who is boss. What do you say? Hunt him down after we kill Roussou Friday night?”
Mason stopped and glared at him. He looked ready to bark something, but changed his mind and pointed to the door. “Ethan, leave.”
He jerked his head up. “What?”
“Leave. Five minutes.” Mason gestured to the door again.
Logan tossed his car keys at him. “Go get some sandwiches, I’m hungry.”
“Are you kidding me?”
I lifted a hand. “Can you get me a latte?”
His mouth fell.
“See you. Thanks.” Logan chuckled and waved his fingers at him. “Family meeting, mofo.”
He growled and then stomped out the door. As soon as he was gone, Logan folded his arms and stuck his chin out. “You’ve got the floor, Mason. Go ahead.”
Mason threw him a dark look before he swiftly pivoted on his heel and pulled the door shut. As soon as it clicked in place, he was in Logan’s face. “Are you kidding me? You want another go at this kid?”
“Yeah. I want to be there this time.”
“Logan, this kid isn’t some public student. He’s Academy. His dad does business with ours. We can’t keep fighting these pricks.”
“Why not? He’s a loser?”
“Because dad could suffer for what we’re doing.”
Logan rolled his eyes. “Oh, come on. Dad owns this town. He’s running half the state. He’s got businesses all over the world. I don’t think we need to worry about this kid.” He gestured to me again. “Besides, you really like how he keeps sniffing around Sam? You know he’s rallying to come back around with her again. I bet you anything he was going to try last night, but she shot him down.”
“This isn’t about Sam.”
“Yeah, it is.”
Mason stood in front of him and faced him squarely. “You’re going to be selling that crap?”
Logan lifted his chest up. “Why wouldn’t I? It’s the truth.”
“Then you’re on his level. You want to see who has the biggest balls. Congratulations, Logan. I do. I punched him out.”
Logan narrowed his eyes. “You’re putting me on his level?”
Mason shoved his face against his. “I’ll punch you out too.”
Logan shoved him back and jumped off the desk. I braced myself, ready for round two, but Mason shook his head and backed away. “Grow up, Logan. It’s fun and all, but dad’s involved. You think this is good for him where he has to throw his weight around so I don’t go to jail and you want to do it again? Pricks like this guy don’t get bullied down.”
The corner of Logan’s mouth twitched. And then he exuded a deep breath and jumped to the floor. He shook his hands in front of him and seemed to be shaking something off. “Whatever. Fine. You’re right.”
Mason growled and crossed his arms over his chest. “Damn right I am. If I get out of this, we stay away from these guys for a while, alright?” He tapped Logan’s chest with a finger. “Okay?”
Logan shoved his finger away, but the corner of his mouth curved up. “Fine. You’re usually right about these things, but man—I wanted to punch that kid. You don’t know how hard it was to get that text that you knocked him out and I wasn’t there.”
“Take it out on Roussou Friday. Those guys are a better fight.”
“Yeah, maybe.”
They both fell into a shared silence and I held my breath. I was unsure what to say or if I wanted to break whatever camaraderie they’d fallen into. My hands were shaking and I tucked them under my legs, but I tried to quell my voice. “I don’t really understand what just happened with you guys, but am I the only one worried about Mason here?”
Logan cracked a grin and he was back to his usual cocksure way. “He’ll be fine. Dad will get him off. We need to worry more about your situation.”
I shivered as I remembered the few times I had glimpsed when Miranda or any member of the Elite had walked past our doorway. If looks could kill...
“We can’t do much about that.” Mason shot me a brief look and I saw the apology in his eyes. “Mom’s coming.”
Logan shot up straight. “How do you know?”
“I texted her.”
“Why? Dad can handle this.”
“Yeah, but what if he can’t. She’s got better connections.”
Logan expelled another breath and shook his head. “Oh man, you’re playing with fire. Dad, Analise, and mom in the same room.”
I lifted a hand. “And D
avid...with my real dad maybe coming someday?”
“What are you talking about?” Logan shot Mason a look. “What is she talking about?”
He lifted a shoulder. “Her mom called her real dad. He might be coming.”
“What? No. She’s with us.” Logan looked at me. “You’re with us. You can’t leave.”
One of my eyebrows went up. “Uh...I wasn’t planning on leaving. I don’t even know who he is.”
His shoulders relaxed. “Oh, good. I like having a sister that’s banging my brother.”
“And shut it with those references.” Mason reached out and pushed him back a step. “I’m getting sick of it.”
Logan’s smile slipped and he shoved his hands in his pockets. “Yeah, sure. No problem.”
No sooner had he uttered those words when the door opened again. We expected Ethan, but I sat up straight when David walked in. James and Analise came in behind him, but they rounded to the other side of the room while my dad stopped inside of the door.
James shared a look with Mason, but Analise kept fidgeting with her hands in front of her. She’d glance up every now and then and I followed her gaze the last time and my own widened as I sat up. Malinda Decraw had come inside and stood beside David. She touched his hand for a brief moment before he took a breath and stepped towards us. She remained behind him, but I couldn’t get that touch out of my head. It was a sensual caress, one for comfort? Why was it so sensual? Why was she here?
David cleared his throat and tugged his shirt out an inch. “I—uh—a decision’s been made.” His eyes found Mason’s and they hardened.
Mason lifted his chin, but that was his only reaction.
David narrowed his. “When Adam woke up, he wouldn’t tell us what the fight was about.” His eyes skirted to me with a dark question in them. “But he admitted that he was the initial aggressor. He said you were trying to leave, but he wouldn’t let you. Then when you got out of your vehicle, he harassed you and threatened you. Fallen Crest Academy does not take Adam’s actions lightly, but since you charged him and knocked him out, we’ve decided on a punishment. Adam’s parents do not wish to pursue criminal charges against you. Instead, they have agreed with the following discipline in three parts.”
