Fallen Crest Forever

by Tijan

  “They were, but they didn’t know I was going to admit to that part.”

  “Oh.” I snagged some of his sports drink.

  He frowned at me. “How far did you run tonight?”

  “Farther than normal. I didn’t run this weekend. I had energy to burn.” I shrugged.

  His eyes narrowed, darkening with suspicion. “What’s going on?”

  “Nothing.”

  “You’re lying to me. Stop.”

  I pressed my lips together.

  “Sam.” That one word was a warning from him. “I know you. I know you inside and out. I know you bare naked, and I know you to your soul. You’re lying through your teeth right now. What happened?”

  I leaned back in my chair and told him my concerns.

  He agreed with Logan, saying, “We’ll find something. Don’t worry about her or your coach. She got put on the back burner, but I can still call my dad if you want.”

  “Yeah.” Maybe that was the best course of action finally. Forget my mother, just for them to go to James? But there was a nagging feeling in the pit of my stomach. I didn’t know what it was about, why it was there. It just wouldn’t go away since this morning.

  I reached for his sports drink again, and he just pushed it in front of me instead. He got up and got a new one for himself. “My mom called earlier.”

  “About dinner?”

  “You knew?”

  I explained that part too. “I was with Logan.”

  “And he doesn’t want Taylor involved?”

  I nodded.

  “That’s smart of him, but she wants to meet tonight.”

  “Not tonight.” Thirty minutes of sleep, an adrenaline-packed day, and twenty miles later, the exhaustion was going to hit me any moment. I was just waiting for it.

  He ran a hand down my back. “We could handle this without you. Are your parents still in town?”

  I shook my head. Malinda had texted Sunday morning to say they were heading home, and Garrett told me at the game they were leaving last night. I knew both were gone. “Just your mom.”

  “You don’t have to deal with her, you know. Logan and I can go.”

  “I want to.” I needed to. Everyone else was done and dealt with. There was no one else to handle in the family. I even had closure with Analise. Helen was the last one.

  “Okay.” He ran a hand down my back again before standing up again. “Have you eaten yet?”

  I gave him a rueful look. He already knew the answer to that.

  “I’m taking that as a no.” He grinned at me and grabbed his phone. “Let me call Helen and move dinner to tomorrow night, then I’ll make some food.”

  Helen argued, but accepted the dinner date delay. We were supposed to go to her hotel suite, and she was having it catered in. As soon as I heard that, my stomach dropped. If Helen was pursuing a private venue like that, it meant she wanted to talk about real business. I wasn’t looking forward to it.

  After that, Mason opened the fridge and found it was almost empty. There was nothing to cook. My stomach was growling and so was his, so he suggested going to get food instead. I went with him, and fifteen minutes later, he pulled into the bar where Taylor used to work.

  “They do pick-up here?”

  “Nate texted when we were leaving. He said to stop in. He’s picking up a late shift.”

  “I’m going to get sleepy soon.”

  He took my hand in his. “I’ll carry you home.”

  I gazed at him a moment.

  He was dangerous at times. He was loving all the time. And he was all mine.

  He was literally my other half.

  “I love you,” I breathed.

  His eyes grew warm, and the faintest grin back was my reward. “I love you, too.”

  When we got out, he took my hand in his and we walked into the little pub. It wasn’t long before people realized Mason Kade was in their presence. More and more attention came our way. I leaned into him as he waved to Nate behind the bar.

  “Hey, guys.” Nate came to our booth in the corner a moment later and slid in next to me. He leaned his elbows on the table. “Change of plans. I told you the sister wouldn’t respond to me. Well, she’s here.”

  “Here?” Alarm sliced through me. I turned to look around, but only saw half the pub watching us back. “Is she in the back?”

  “She’s with Matteo in the back.” He glanced to Mason. “I have that girl I’m interested in, so he took point. He’s going to flirt with her, see if she tells him anything.”

  “He slept with Grace.” And as soon as the words were out of my mouth, I was wondering why I cared. Sleeping with multiple girls wasn’t rare for these guys, at least until they committed like Mason and Logan had. “Never mind. I don’t know why I said that.”

  Nate laughed, standing up. “I don’t think he’s going to sleep with her. He’s just hanging out to see if the liquor loosens her tongue.” He seemed to think about that for a moment. “And not in the usual way we’d use that term. Okay. I gotta go back to work. You guys need anything?”

  “Some food?”

  Nate nodded to Mason. “You want a beer?”

  “Just water.”

  “I’ll get you the nice stuff, the stuff that doesn’t come out of the tap. Don’t tell the other customers.” Nate winked, grinning, before he headed back behind the bar.

  Mason got out and came around to my side of the booth.

  “I like that Nate works here,” I said.

  “Yeah?” He sat next to me, resting his legs on the seat he’d just vacated.

  We could see everyone else in the room and at the bar too, but if we pressed back into the booth, only a few tables could see us. It gave us a modicum of privacy, and I had no doubt that someone would end up joining us. I’d be curled in the corner sleeping soon.

  I nodded. “Yeah. It’s like we have our own hangout—that’s not our living room.”

  He ran a hand down my back. “You okay?”

  “Just the stuff about Faith.”

  “You sure?” He grasped my hand, our fingers sliding together.

  I nodded.

  He shifted back so we were sitting side by side again. I laid my head on his shoulder.

  Nate brought our food over a few minutes later, and by the time we were done, a couple football players had come over. I sat with Mason, holding his hand under the table as he talked and laughed with his teammates. I saw the envious looks from some girls, and a few even came over to flirt with the other guys, but if a girl tried with Mason, he ignored her. He didn’t shoot her down in an embarrassing way, but the girls stopped trying after he ignored them on their second or third attempt.

  I started to fall asleep around midnight, my head still resting against Mason’s shoulder. His arm was around me now, holding me in place, his hand heavy and warm on my leg. It was an anchor I savored.

  At one point I woke to see a group of girls leaving the bar. Matteo had his arm around one as he walked out with them, but he came back in and pulled up a chair next to Mason. I registered his laughter, hearing that it was a little more carefree than normal. Either he was buzzed or he just got laid.

  I struggled to remember why that mattered to me, but then my eyelids shut once again.

  I woke sometime later, hearing laughter.

  Nate was saying, “Last call. Do you guys want anything?”

  I was curled in a ball next to Mason. His hand was on my hip, holding me in place. Something soft was under my head.

  I was out again.

  I lifted my head from Mason’s shoulder; he was carrying me. The back door of the car opened, and he laid me down.

  “Mason?” I caught his hand as he started to back away. “What’s going on?”

  “Go back to sleep. We’re going home.”

  Then the door shut, and I heard Matteo climb into the front passenger seat.

  Mason asked him, “What’d you find out from the sister?”

  “That she thinks her little sist
er is a spoiled bitch.”

  Mason sighed. “She didn’t go into specifics?”

  “No, but she was wasted. And I got the feeling the two aren’t close. You want me to keep pushing her?”

  “No. I think I’ll just ask James to find something. If we owe him, then . . .”

  I started to fall asleep again, but not before I heard Matteo ask, his voice sounding clearer like he’d looked back at me, “Maybe we shouldn’t have stayed as long as we did?”

  “If she wanted to leave, she would’ve asked. Besides, she sleeps best next to me anyway. It doesn’t matter where we are.” Mason started the engine.

  I felt myself smile. He was right. Wherever he was, I wanted to be.

  I fell asleep again.

  Mason put me in bed and took my clothes off. He started to put my little sleeping shorts on me, but I sat up and draped my arms around his neck.

  “No.”

  “Sam?”

  I ran a hand down his chest and stomach and shook my head again. “No.” I pulled him down to me, fastening my mouth to his.

  Naptime was over. I wanted something else now.

  And a second later, his arm slid under my back and he lifted me farther up on the bed before coming back down to me. I wanted to feel his weight all over again, the way that made me writhe underneath him. Mason did just that.

  “No.”

  The next day Coach Langdon gave Faith and me his pitch. He wanted us to run together. We were the only three in his office.

  I folded my arms over my chest and said again, “No way.”

  “Why not?”

  He sounded aggravated, and he should’ve been. We were going on minute thirty-five of him trying to change my mind. It wasn’t happening.

  “Sam.” He stood from his desk.

  I didn’t care. He could stand. He could pace. He could wring his hands together. He could do anything he wanted. None of it was going to work.

  “You have to tell me why.” He took a deep breath, seeming to calm himself, and sat back down behind his desk.

  Faith sat in the corner next to me, her legs crossed and her arms folded over her chest. She’d turned to sit at an angle so she was more comfortable to watch this spectacle. And that’s what it must’ve looked like to her.

  Hell, if she’d been eating popcorn, it would’ve looked like she was at the movies.

  “I already did. I don’t trust her.”

  “But—that was in the beginning. I thought things had changed.”

  “No.” I shook my head. “She thought she could keep up with me in the beginning because I held back. Only thing that’s changed is that she knows she can’t now.”

  His eyes flicked to hers, like he was worried about Faith’s reaction.

  I spoke for her, almost sounding bored. “She knows it. She’s just learned running against me makes her a better runner. Why would I want to help her with that?”

  “Because she’s your teammate!” He threw his arms out wide before they rested on his head.

  “She didn’t choose that. I did. I joined the team. She tried to kick me off.” I wanted to sneer at her, but it was obnoxious and rude. I refrained. With effort. “It didn’t work.”

  Faith snorted in laughter, but didn’t say anything.

  “This makes no sense to me.” He shook his head. “No sense at all. I’ve never had a teammate who didn’t want to do everything she could to help another teammate.”

  “Bullshit.”

  “What?” His eyes latched to mine, shocked.

  “I call bullshit. Have you met Faith Shaw?” I jerked a hand to my right.

  “That was uncalled for.”

  “No.” I thought about it. “It’s not. She got the whole team to exclude Taylor and me from a breakfast thing. She threatened us too. She threatened Taylor, saying I couldn’t protect her if I was running ahead of everyone else. She’s a prime example of someone who didn’t want to help another teammate.”

  “You know what I mean.”

  I leaned forward, my arms still folded over my chest. “You’re right. I do, but you don’t realize you’re being biased here. You’re not putting yourself in my shoes, and if you did, you’d understand why I don’t want to run with her. The only kindness she’s showed me was after Friday’s race when she thanked me for helping her. That was it.”

  He frowned, seeming to see me for the first time. His eyebrows pinched together, and he looked at Faith. “That can’t be right.”

  “It is.”

  I turned to look at her. She was being honest now?

  Noticing my look, she shrugged. “What? I mean, there are witnesses to everything. Even if I tried lying, I know at least Raelynn would back you up. Or she would’ve. And you were right. She thought I dropped her friendship.”

  My lips parted. That didn’t sound good. “I take it that’s not the case anymore?”

  She preened back at me, giving me a close-mouthed smile. “Don’t say I’m not a quick learner. You threatened me, and I read between the lines. I circled the wagons, so to speak, and yes, Raelynn is back to being one of my besties. Thanks for that.”

  Well . . . Fuck.

  She grinned. “I should thank you again. You’ve made me a better runner, and a better friend.”

  It burned. Deep down. There were all sorts of burning going on down there.

  “Look, Coach.” Her arms unfolded, and she sat forward. “Samantha has a valid point. I was horrible to her in the beginning, still am actually, so based on our past, you can’t force her to run with me. If she fought you and wrote a claim against you, she’d win eventually. Even public opinion would side with her, so you can let it go. I’m not going to force my teammate to do something against her will.”

  I rolled my eyes. “That’s so considerate of you.”

  “I’m trying, actually.”

  I studied her; it seemed she was genuine.

  Then she flashed me another smug grin and ruined it. “You’re wrong about one thing, though.” She stood.

  I waited.

  “I am going to beat you. Eventually. It might not be this year, but it’ll happen. You’re not the only one qualifying for the Olympics.”

  She seemed so sure of herself. Her head was high, and she held my gaze steadily. She meant what she said.

  Well, fuck. Again.

  “Let us both run on our own,” she said to Coach.