Fallen Crest Alternative Version (16 page)

I grinned as I slid to the side but was quickly pulled back against him. Tight.

“Are you okay?” My hand touched the largest bruise. I tried to skim it.

He groaned. “Yeah. I’m good. Thank god we found those condoms in your nightstand.”

I laughed at the memory. He had stashed them after the first night, in case he couldn’t make the long trek to the bathroom. I shivered from the feel when he slid back into me. It was like he’d come home. He belonged to me. I belonged to him. That thought had me shivering again.

“You okay?” He pulled a blanket over us.

I nodded. My throat was thick with emotion.

My hand rested on his chest and he caught it. His fingers slid through mine and his eyes closed. When his breathing started to even out, I ventured, “Are you hurt?”

“Yeah.” One of his eyes opened. “But I’ll heal. You okay?”

“You keep asking me that.” I shifted and sat up. I drew my knees to my chest and rested my head on them. I turned to watch him. Then I sighed on the inside. He was beautiful. His eyes were bright. The green contrasted against his black hair that he had cut short to a crew cut. The rest of him was a golden tan, except for the bruises and the rash that ran up and down over his right side.

His shoulder muscle shifted under his skin as he lifted his head. “What’s wrong?”

I closed my eyes and felt him touch my lips. He skimmed them in a tender motion and then ran his hand down my arm and leg. He scooted closer to me.

My hand went over his hair. It was so soft. “Tell me what happened at the police station. It’s been killing me. I should’ve been there.”

His hand dropped from my leg. “I know.” He expelled a deep breath. His chest rose up and down from the motion. “But I’m glad you weren’t. Those guys were there. They didn’t even look sorry about what they’d done. I saw the clip. They edited that piece of crap.”

“They did?”

His mouth tightened and I felt him grow rigid beside me. My heart fluttered again as I felt his fury. He bit out, “They made it look like I went on a killing spree. That wasn’t how it was. They never showed the guy choking Logan or how they dragged me. They didn’t show the three guys stomping on Nate.”

His chest rose up and down in a rapid motion. It was increasing with every word he spoke.

I put my hand on it and willed it to slow down.

He held my hand with his again. “The cops thought I had gone after them. We said different, as you can figure. Then they called in the rest of their football team.” He expelled another deep breath. “I guess a few of their guys were feeling guilty because they told the truth. They told ‘em what they’d done to us and that it was in self-defense for me, but the rest of their douchebags swore those others were lying.”

“My dad said something about that. That their stories conflicted.”

“Yeah.” His chest caught and held. He sounded in pain. “The longer we were all there, more of them started to change their story. I think the detectives figured out what was going on and laid into them. We couldn’t leave. Nate, Logan, and I were held in a back room the whole time. We could only leave if we needed to piss.”

“Your dad was there the whole time?”

He cursed again and grinned from the corner of his mouth at me. “His lawyers were there, but he wasn’t.”

I frowned. “David said my mom and James were at a hotel next to the station.”

“I believe that, but they weren’t there.” He lifted a hand to scratch a bruise on his chest. “I’m sure he was waiting.” He groaned again as he lifted himself up and scooted back against the headboard beside me. His arm draped over my shoulder, and he pulled me to his side. “My mom’s coming back.”

My eyes closed and my forehead fell into my hands.

He chuckled beside me. “It’ll be fine. Charges were dropped against me. I think my dad’s already told his lawyers to start a civil lawsuit against some of them.” He grinned crookedly at me. “Doesn’t hurt that my dad hates some of theirs. Business rivals, you know.”

I shook my head and held onto his hand. “Just as long as you’re okay.” Then I remembered my day and a soft curse slipped from my lips.

“What?”

I looked up and frowned. Why was I always nervous to tell him about my day? And then I started.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

Helen arrived that evening and a family meeting was held. The kids weren’t involved. Analise, James, Helen, and David were the only ones included. It was around eleven that night when the doorbell rang again. Logan and Nate filtered inside. The screeching from the family meeting had penetrated all rooms in the mansion. They needed peace and quiet. Mason grinned as the three of them took over the theater room.

As they watched basketball, I stayed in my room and did my homework. It was already late, but I knew they needed that time to settle down. Too much chaos had happened. When it was midnight, my eyes were starting to droop. We had napped during the day, but I couldn’t hold out much longer. It was one in the morning when I crawled in bed. I felt Mason slip in later and I opened my eyes a crack. It was around three.

Everyone was quiet the next morning. Nate had gone to pick his parents up at the airport. Logan took off in the yellow Escalade, but not after he riffled a hand through my hair and kissed my cheek. “See ya, kiddo.”

I glared at his back, but Mason chuckled behind me. When I turned to glare at him, he kissed me on the lips and tapped my butt. “Let’s go. I’ll give you a ride.”

We stopped for my morning coffee so I was happy.

The next few days were quiet. It was strange.

The Elite stuck close to my side. Lunch was spent at a restaurant every day and I realized they took turns fitting the bill. I figured my turn was coming up, but I wasn’t rich so I wasn’t sure what to do. Adam never asked about the guys. No one did, but I felt as if they knew. Then I realized they probably did know.

Mason and Logan returned to school that Tuesday while Nate was shipped to Brazil with his parents. They hadn’t been happy about his involvement and Logan confessed one night that they blamed Mason for all of Nate’s troubles. He said that they deemed him an unhealthy influence. I ventured once to ask Mason when Nate would come back and his jaw hardened. When he replied that he didn’t know, it seemed to pain him.

I never asked again.

Now it was Friday.

The parents hadn’t clued us in to their family meeting, what was talked about, what they had decided, or if there had been anything to decide in the first place. Helen booked herself a hotel room in town, and the guys had stayed with her for the last two nights. When Garrett arrived from Boston, I hadn’t the heart to tell him about Helen’s arrival. I wasn’t sure if he knew and to be truthful, I didn’t want to be included in their relationship.

When Becky halted at my locker after our first class, she was red in the face. Her red hair had been swept back in a ponytail, but half of it had been forgotten. She gasped and leaned against a locker for breath.

“You okay?”

She shook her head and held a finger up. One moment.

I closed my locker and waited.

Then she gasped out, “Sorry—mile today.”

My eyebrow arched.

The redness spread from her cheeks to her entire face. It slipped down her neck and she yanked her shirt away from her neck and started to fan herself with it. “Sorry. I had to run the mile this morning for gym. I met Coach early and he said I could try out for the squad.”

“The squad?”

She nodded her head in earnest and shot her arms up in the air. “I’m a cheerleader! Congratulate me.”

“Congratulations.” I inched back a step. “Who are you cheering for?”

“For the hockey team. Their first game is next Thursday night.”

“That’s right.”

Her eyes sparkled. “I get to cheer for Adam.”

I frowned. “I thought he had a job at the country club.”

“He does.” Her eyes lost a little of the sparkle, but she frowned, twirled some strands of hair around her finger, and the sparkle doubled back. “I’m sure he’ll cut down on his hours. I’m not sure. I don’t care. I’m a cheerleader, Sam! Aren’t you happy for me?”

She started bouncing in place. Her hands clapped together with each bounce.

I nodded with my eyes wide. “I am very happy for you.”

“Yay!” She pretended to do a cheer, but as she lifted her leg in the air, she kicked someone in the head.

“Ouch! Watch out!” they growled before they shoved through the crowd.

“Oh!” Her hand flew to her mouth. She edged close to me. “You think I hurt him?”

I shrugged. I didn’t care. “Do you know where Adam is?”

“Oh yeah!” The cheerleader bounce was back in her step. She wiggled her hips and pointed towards the senior hallway. “He was talking to Rebecca Lindstrom.”

“Thanks.”

“Wait.” She danced in front of me and stopped me. “Why are you going to see Adam?” Her dancing stopped.

“Because he has a job.”

“I have a job.”

“You do?”

“Yeah, well—no.”

I started to edge around her again. “I need money. Adam has a job. I was hoping to talk to him about it.” I tilted my head to the side as I studied her. She was biting her lip and she twisted her hands together in front of her. “Is that okay with you?”

Her shoulders dropped an inch. “Yeah. I’ll talk to you later?”

I nodded. “You bet.” I patted her shoulder as I hurried away. When I got to the senior hallway, Adam and a tall black-haired girl were pressed together in front of his locker. His head was bent towards hers and she was looking up. If I couldn’t have heard their voices, I would’ve assumed they were kissing. As I drew closer, I cleared my throat and waited.

Adam glanced up and went back down. Then his head jerked up again and surprised flared in his eyes. “Samantha! Hey.”

She turned around with a snooty pout on her lips. Her shirt was tied tight around her chest and lifted up to show her midriff. As she let out an annoyed breath, her hands smoothed out her skirt. It was inched down as a result. “Hi, Samantha.”

“Rebecca.” I tried for a blank look. “How are you?” I remembered that she was friends with Jessica, had been since first grade. They grew up next door to each other.

“Good.”

“Hey.” Adam stepped out from his locker and to the side. Rebecca frowned at their distance. “What’s going on?”

“You have a job, right?”

“Right.” His eyes shifted back and forth. “So?”

“And you have hockey starting up? That has to take time away from your job. Are you still working there?”

“Oh.” His shoulders sagged forward. “Uh, yeah. I mean, no. I can still keep most of my hours. Practice doesn’t take that long and we have fewer games than the football season. I have more time than I did before.” He frowned. “Why? Do you need a job?”

“I thought you were rich.” Rebecca sneered up and down at me. She gave me the once-over. “Why do you need a job?”

I fought the urge to snarl and forced a polite smile. “I am not rich. My future stepfather is rich.”

“So are his sons. Doesn’t Mason pay you?”

My eyes went frosty.

Adam glared at her. “Rebecca!”

“What?” She shrugged as she looked bored. “That’s what I heard.”

“Not all of us earn money on our backs.” I tsked at her. “You should know better. I’m not nearly as experienced as you.”

“Did you just call me a hooker?”

It was my turn to shrug and look bored. “I believe that’s what you called me.”

Adam was fighting back a smile, but he shook his head now. “Leave, Rebecca.”

“Are we still on for our date?”

“No.”

Her seductive smile dropped. A hard look came over her next. “What?”

“I lost interest when you insulted my friend.”

“She insulted me too.”

His shoulders lifted, and he moved forward. As he looked down his nose at her, I recognized it was a gesture from Peter, who had the prestigious snob effect down to perfection. Adam’s was a close second, and Rebecca shifted back. Her eyes cast to the ground and her hand dropped where it had been poised on her hip. He gave her a cold smile. “She’s my friend. You’re not.”

Her fight was gone, but she asked, “What was I?”

“What do you think?” Then he pivoted and grabbed my arm. He led us away and murmured under his breath, “So you need a job, huh?”

“Yeah. Are there any openings at the country club?”

When we turned a corner, the hallway was crowded, but one person looked up. They shuffled to the side and the rest followed. Adam and I walked past them like we were strolling through the park. He shrugged. “I can ask my boss. I know they have openings for servers. You wouldn’t want to be one of those?”

I shuddered. “And be nice to rich stuck-up people?”

He chuckled. “You’re a part of that demographic now.”

“No, I’m not. I’m not rich.”

“You are by association.” He glanced at from the corner of his eye and held my gaze.