Fallen Fourth Down (Fallen Crest #4) (21 page)

He scowled, but it was gone instantly. “Excuse me?”

Kris’s throat moved up and down as she swallowed. Her hand lifted from her lap, shaking, and she laid it down on the table, spreading her fingers wide as if she could calm herself that way. “I have not done anything to you. I’ve been polite and even friendly, but you act as if I’m not here. I would like to know why you don’t like me.” She paused a beat. “Please. Is this why Logan and I are having problems? Do I need your approval to date your brother?”

“You already are dating.”

“I meant for the next level, where we’re more serious.”

He glanced at me. I shrugged. This was on him to handle. He turned back and settled all of the weight of his gaze on her. I had been on the receiving end from one of those looks from him, before I knew he loved me. When she grasped onto the tablecloth and her hands fell into her lap with a thud, I could sympathize with her.

He said, “I can give you my honest answer, but I will warn you. You won’t like it, and it will hurt your feelings.” He waited before adding, “Do you still want my answer?”

“Yes.” She raised that tiny chin again. “I do.” I could see fear lurking in the depths of her eyes. Pain flashed in there as well, but it was moved aside, and her shoulders rolled back once again.

“I don’t dislike you. I don’t like you either. I’m sorry if I come across as rude. I don’t intend to be, but I just don’t think about you.”

“What do you mean?”

“You don’t matter to me.”

She sucked in her breath, and the blood drained from her face.

Mason added, “Your relationship with Logan won’t last. It’s only a matter of time before he decides to dump you and you know that. I can see it in you. I don’t know why you’re kidding yourself. You’re just lying to yourself and the longer you do, the more you’re allowing yourself to be hurt by him.”

“You have no idea—” she started, snarling at him.

He shook his head, stopping her. He softened his tone. “I’m not saying this to hurt you. I am sorry if that's what you think, but I know my brother.”

She began to shake her head as tears started to fall. “You don’t know this. You can’t…” Her voice trailed off and doubt clouded over her face. Her head dropped until her chin tucked against her chest. From my seat at the table, I could see tears dripping onto her hands. She never brushed them away as they fell steadily.

Mason glanced at me, a small frown on his face. He said, “I know you love my brother, but he doesn’t love you.”

Her shoulders lifted, and she inhaled a sobbing breath.

He added, “I think you know that too.”

“Excuse me,” she choked out and rushed from the table.

“Kris—”

Mason grabbed my hand and held me back. “Don’t.”

“You broke her, Mason. Let me go after her.”

“No. Let her go. It’s the best thing for her.”

“She’s hurting—”

“Yes, she is, but if you go after her, you’ll end up saying something to give her false hope, whether you mean to or not. Logan doesn’t love her. You know that. I know that. Logan knows it, and she does too. Let her deal with this on her own. She’ll be stronger because of it.”

I sat back down. Maybe he was right.

Logan came back at that moment. He scanned the table. “Where’s Kris?”

Mason never faltered. He never looked away. He spoke clearly, “She asked me why I didn’t like her.”

Logan froze. “You didn’t. Oh, god. Mase, tell me you didn’t.”

“So I told her.”

“Oh my god.” Logan’s hand flew up, and he pressed his palm to his forehead. “For real? Why? Shit, Mason. Why? That’s not on you to tell her.” He shook his head and raked his hand through his hair. “Look, I have to find Kris and see if I can do something to make this better.”

When he rushed from the restaurant, an alien feeling settled over me. This was off; Logan’s reaction wasn’t normal. I turned to Mason, still stunned at what had happened. “You basically ended his relationship, and he wasn’t even mad at you.” I shook my head. “That’s not normal. Why didn’t he get mad? Why didn’t he do anything?”

“He went after her.”

“To make it better. That’s what he said, but…” I looked towards the front of the restaurant where Logan had gone, but didn't see him. I blinked, still in shock. “Why did you answer her like that?”

We were attracting attention. There hadn’t been any raised voices or angry movements, but I felt the audience growing. Head after head had turned in our direction. Mason saw them too and cursed. He gestured to the door with his head. “Can we finish this outside?”

As I followed him, a foreboding sensation grew in me. When he led me down the street, then around a corner for more privacy, almost all of me had stopped feeling. I said again, “Why did you answer her like that?”

“Because she asked me.”

“Why didn’t you lie to her? You knew it would hurt her.”

“Because she wanted to know the truth.”

It sounded so simple coming from him, but I couldn’t get over the surreal feeling of this situation. “You broke them up. Why did you do that? You just caused pain for them.”

His eyes narrowed, and he shook his head. He looked puzzled. “Because it’s the truth, Sam. Logan doesn’t love her. She knows that, and she asked me because it was time for her to hear it. You don’t seek out an answer unless you actually want to hear it. She’s not dumb. She knew what she was going to get when she asked.”

“You hurt them, though.” I couldn’t get past that. A tightness had settled in my chest, burrowing deeper and deeper. “If you hadn’t said anything, they’d be still together. She wouldn’t have left crying. Logan wouldn’t have chased after her. I mean, even if they get back together, this will still be between them.”

“He doesn’t love her.” Mason shook his head, slowly, as he gazed at me. “Why is this bothering you so much?”

A bitter laugh gurgled up from my throat.
Why was this bothering me?
“You could’ve held your words and no one would’ve gotten hurt. That relationship is done, but if you’d just kept quiet, everything would’ve been fine.”

“Sam.” He started for me.

I moved away. My voice rose. “I mean, this is their relationship. That’s his girlfriend. It’s gone because of a few words from you; you destroyed them.”

Tate’s voice haunted me.
“Logan’s in love with you.”
I closed my eyes as that thought screamed in my head.
I could destroy everything. I could destroy us.

“Sam.” Mason was shaking his head as he took another step towards me. Concern flashed in his eyes. “She loves him and he doesn’t return the feeling. That’s not fair to her to remain in that relationship. She asked me for a reason. She wanted to know the truth, and I’m guessing that she didn’t have the heart to hear it from him.”

“But how do you know?”

“I’ve known since the beginning.”

I sucked in my breath. “Have you guys talked about it? I mean, what other stuff do you talk about? How do you even have those conversations with each other?”

“I know Logan. I know when he’s in love, and I know when he’s using a girl for a distraction.”

Oh god. My heart skipped a beat. I shook my head. This was my nightmare coming true. The real truth was right there. I felt it lingering beside us, and he was so close to it. One step and he’d stumble on it, and he’d know. I was holding my tears back. The truth would be out.

I shook my head. I couldn’t lose him. I couldn’t lose Logan either. “Mason,” I whispered, my voice hoarse. It was there, on the tip of my tongue. But I stopped myself. I couldn’t lose him.

“Sam?”

“Nothing.”

His shoulders lifted in a silent breath and I turned away. His hand touched my arm, and I turned into him at the gentle touch. He pulled me in, his arm moving around me, his other smoothing back my hair, falling to cup the side of my face. His thumb moved back and forth on my cheek in a comforting motion, and he pressed a soft kiss to my forehead. His lips brushing my skin and his breath warming me, he whispered, “I love you.”

I clasped onto him and I nodded. I couldn’t talk.

He whispered again, “I won’t push you, but I know something else is wrong, other than Sallaway. You can tell me whenever you want, but I love you. I’m not going anywhere, not unless you want me to.” His chest lifted and stayed there, suspended on his last word, until I burrowed to get even closer to him. His chest fell, as if he’d been scared for a moment.

I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t say a word. I held on tighter to him.

Logan called when we were in Mason’s Escalade. He and Kris were at the hotel, and they’d be going back tonight. Mason asked, “Is there anything we can do?”

I waited, but I never heard Logan’s response. Mason put his phone away and told me, “He’s not mad, but they’re talking. Kris called her sister, and she demanded Kris be taken back or she was coming to get her.” He gave me a halfhearted grin. “The sister sounds like a handful.”

I nodded. “She doesn’t like Logan.”

Mason laughed, but it was halfhearted as well. The conversation was dropped after that. When we got to the house, he held my hand and led me upstairs. After changing, I slid into bed and sighed from contentment as Mason pulled me into his chest. We didn’t talk. We didn’t do anything. We just held each other. I remained awake, but I never moved. I wanted to savor this feeling. I never wanted it to go away.

Logan and Kris didn’t break up. I didn’t ask how he pulled that off, and he never told me. However, things didn’t go back to normal for them. Everyone knew the happy couple was no longer the happy couple. Even the girls in cross country steered clear from asking questions about Logan, and I knew they used to love gushing about him. As the season was winding down, our coach had the girls and boys run together. Everyone was pushing themselves because of it. It was no longer a competition against each other, but a competition against ourselves. As it was, more people began running alone and without the cliques. Almost every practice ended the same, I ended first with Hayes behind me. We were getting close to the state meets, where college scouts would come to recruit. I already had a scholarship, but I wanted one to Cain University. That scout was going to be there. I qualified to run, but the entire team did as well. Our last practice was grueling. We had two days of rest, but everyone was pushing themselves to their maximum limit. When Hayes came up to me after everyone had finished and were stretching, I wasn’t surprised when he asked if I would do another run with him.

We were supposed to rest, but I knew he was concerned. He hadn’t gotten as much attention with scouts as I had so I nodded, and we started off again. We didn’t talk. We didn’t need to. If I lengthened my stride, he did too. If I picked up my pace a half second, he matched mine. He was using me to make himself better. When I realized that, I threw him and grin and really let loose. I held back during practices, but if he wanted to really get better, I was going to put him through the wringer. Switching off the normal running path, I took him to my favorite one. We sailed past Quickie’s and up to the hills. By this time, I had almost every part of that path memorized; I didn’t think as I avoided rocks and big branches. Hearing Hayes curse behind me, I glanced back and saw that he was on the ground.

Panting, I went back. “What’s,” breath, “wrong?”

“I almost tripped.” He scowled at me. “Is that why you brought me here? To injure me?” He stood up and brushed dirt off his running tights. “You must really hate me. I was hoping to get recruited too.”

I rolled my eyes. Six months ago his words might’ve stung. They bounced off me. “Chill, buddy. If you want to go against the best, you have to go where the best goes.” I spread my arms out and began jogging backwards. Giving him a cocky grin, I said, “I’m the best and this is where I run my best. Get your ass up and let’s go. If you can’t keep up, then slow down. I didn’t put those rocks there. If you don’t see them, that’s on you. You didn’t have to follow me.”

“You’re arrogant.”

“No.” I took off, and threw over my shoulder, “I’m the best. I’m just confident.” I took off and it wasn’t long before I heard him behind me.

He never caught up to me, but he stayed within viewing distance. When we got back to the school, Hayes looked like a puddle of bones. I wasn’t sure if he could keep standing, but to be honest, my legs were like jelly too.

There were no cars in the parking lot and no one was in the locker room, so I collected my bag and keys. Hayes had done the same. He was heading out the door as I came out. Seeing me, he held it open and fell in line with me.

“Uh.” He cleared his throat.

I lifted an eyebrow, and as we got to my car first, I turned and waited.

He was so stiff. “Thank you. I know I’m an asshole. It’s just pretty fucking humbling when a girl comes on the team and kicks my ass. You’re good, Stratten. You’re really good. Thank you for running with me.”

“Are you being sentimental?”

The wind had picked up, brushing over us both. Both of us reeked and were covered in sweat; my hair never moved an inch. It stayed in its high ponytail.

He shrugged, looking away. “I hated you for half the season, but now that we’re almost done, I can say that I am glad you were on the team. You made us better. The entire team wouldn’t have gone to state if you hadn’t pushed us.”

“I did?”

“You did. Trust me, just by being you and making us eat your dust. You helped us. You helped me.”

“Rest, Hayes. You’re delirious from the running today.” The side of my lip curved up in a grin. “You’ll get a scholarship. Just pretend you’re running against me.”

“That might help actually.”

“You’re back to being an ass. The world feels right again.” Opening my door, I got inside and leaned out the window, “See you tomorrow, Hayes. We had a nice moment.”

He groaned, heading towards his truck.

I started the engine, and as I passed by him, I shouted, “Let’s not do that again.” I pulled out of the lot and headed home. When I got there, I saw Mark’s and Cass’ cars in the driveway. The euphoria from a great run had started to dwindle, and I knew what I’d be walking into if I went inside. I didn’t want to go in there. Garrett had been calling every night. To be fair to my biological father so he couldn’t be accused of keeping me away, David relayed the messages to me, but I knew I wasn’t getting all of them. The pressure to see him was building up, but I didn’t want to be worn down. When I asked Mason for his advice, he told me to say, ‘fuck you and the horse you rode in on.’ The last couple times, as David was apologizing for another message from Garrett, I finally snapped and relayed Mason’s words. A big grin came over my dad, and he gave the message back. It hadn’t worked. Garrett kept calling. It was by accident that I found out that David hadn’t been telling me how much Garrett had been calling. They had to put the phone on silent in the evenings. That tidbit slipped out when Malinda was explaining to Mark why Cass should only call him on the landline. It hadn’t made sense to me, but Mark knew instantly. He laughed and said, “Good one, Mom. I know that phone’s silenced in the evening because of Sam’s other dad. No, thank you. Cass will keep calling my cell phone.”

He left, and I heard Malinda mutter from the stairs, “Not if I stop paying for that phone. It’ll take you a year to figure out that it doesn’t work anymore.” She grunted. “Food for thought.”

I went to the front of the house and sat on the porch swing. I didn’t want to hear another message. I wasn’t ready. I was still there when Helen came stomping from her house, across the street, and up our sidewalk. She was wearing a beautiful gown. It was light blue and matched her eyes perfectly. Like always, her hair was pinned up in a sleek bun. She had a hand resting on her neck, holding down the pearls so they wouldn’t bounce. She wasn’t looking up. She was watching where she walked and paused, one hand holding up her dress, so she wouldn't trip or tear it, as she stepped onto our stoop. As she let it drop, she lifted her head and saw me.

Her eyes widened and her head reared back an inch. “Oh, Samantha. I didn’t see you there.”

I lifted a hand in a careless wave. “Yep. Saw that. Sitting here.” I let my hand drop back down with a thud.

Her eyes narrowed. “What’s wrong with you?” she rushed out, like it was an afterthought, not really caring about the answer. She craned her head so she could look inside the house again, through the door’s windows. I knew who she was looking for.

“Logan’s not here.”

She looked back at me. Her gaze swept me up and down. “Are you sure? You look like you were running. We both know that could take hours with you.”

I said, dully, “He’s on a date with Kris.”

“Kris?”

I gave her a second look. “His girlfriend.”

Her eyebrows lifted. “Logan has a girlfriend?”

“Good god,” I muttered.

“What’s she like?” Helen left the door and moved towards me. Her hand went back to holding onto her precious pearls.

I shrugged. “Peppy. Little. A cute, pixy-like girl.”

She paled. The corners of her lips curved down. “She sounds dreadful. Wait. Was she over the other morning?”

I nodded.

“Gracious, I had no idea he had taken her as a girlfriend.”

I gave her a sweet smile. “I think he loves her.” I wanted to watch her squirm.

“He does?” She tried to hold back a shudder.

I nodded. “He asked me about home pregnancy tests last week too.”

She froze, then drew to her fullest height, and rolled her eyes. “Har, har, Samantha. You’re so funny. You’ve been spending too much time with Logan, you know. That’s something he would’ve said.” Her lips pressed together, and she let out a sigh. “What’s your problem? You look like I used to during my first marriage.”

“I’ll take that as an insult.”

She waved me off and moved so she was leaning against the post. After making sure her dress wouldn’t stain, she fixed her steely gaze on me again. I had a flash of Mason staring me down before we started dating.

She lifted her hand and made a circling motion. “Okay. Get on with it. What’s your problem?”

“Why do you care?”

“I don’t, but my son does.” She grimaced. “Both my sons care about you. So tell me. Out with it. What’s going on with you?”

“You know,” I mused, a sense of not giving a shit surged up in me, “any other adult and I’d want to know your angle. There’s always one, but with you it’s so clear cut.”

Her eyes narrowed.

“You’re either being honest with me,” I paused and saw a deep frown come over her face, “or you’re going to use this against me in the hopes that Mason will dump me or Logan will stop caring about me.”

She shook her head. “No.” She rolled her eyes again. “I’m a realist. I would love to take credit that I have that much pull with either of my sons, but I don’t. You know that. I know that. We just need to move on with how it is.”

Had she given up on Mason leaving me?

As if reading my thoughts, she waved a hand at me. “Oh, don’t worry. If I see a chance, I’m jumping on it. You know I feel Mason deserves better than you, and Logan,” she grimaced, and her body produced a mock tremor, “we both know how Logan is. Mason pretends to take into account what I say. I know he doesn’t, but he gives me the slight respect of appearing as if he does. Logan, well, Logan is Logan. The world might be a better place if he learned how to be fake once in a while. He doesn’t have the patience or time to pretend, even for his mother.” She leaned forward, her lips pressed tight together. “I’m not an idiot, Samantha. Mason loves you. I know he’ll never stop, and it's the same with Logan. So, again, what’s your problem? I need to turn over a new leaf at some point. I might as well start now.”

I had to give her points for honesty. “My dad’s in town.”

She was silent for a moment. “I assume, since we’re on David’s porch, that you’re referring to your biological father. Garrett? He’s in town?”

I nodded. “I know your history. I don’t give a shit that he used to bone you.”

She leaned back. “As you shouldn’t. I’m sorry, Samantha.”

I looked to her, surprised at the honesty in her tone. She gave me a tight grin in return and nodded, saying, “I mean it. I do. Garrett abandoned you when you thought you were given a new family member. I’m not completely insensitive. I’m aware who your mother is, what she has done to you, and that David seemingly abandoned you as well. Your whole world was ripped upside down, and it’s being pieced back together.” She closed her eyes and her hands tightened around the pearls resting against her neck. “Something similar happened to me in my life, but not to the same degree. I’m not a fool. I understand why you cling to my sons as much as you do. They were the family that replaced the one you lost.”

Hell had frozen over. Helen was sympathetic to my plight. “Do I need to check your purse? You don’t have a dagger to stab me with, after being so nice, do you?”

She scoffed. “Fool girl. An enemy isn’t always an enemy. Sometimes, in the rare moments, we can be the greatest ally.”

I continued to stare at her with my eyebrows lifted.

“You’re right. Don’t listen to me. I’m sympathetic because I used to love Garrett myself. I understand how his abandonment must feel.” She paused and then murmured, as if talking to herself, “I’m so sorry, though. For a child in your situation, it must be terrifying to let someone in.”

A limousine slowed outside her house and pulled into her driveway. She wasn’t watching so I pointed across the road. “I think your ride showed up.”

All sympathy vanished and she stood from the post. Straightening her dress, she let out an annoyed sound. “Please tell Logan that I will be gone this weekend. I’ve been trying to talk to him all week, but he keeps leaving the room before I can get a full sentence out. It’s irritating.” She glanced over her shoulder, and her features softened for a moment. “I suppose I’ll see if this pans out.” The softness left her and she turned to me. As if remembering that I was the enemy, clear distaste flickered in the depths of her eyes. Her top lip lifted in a sneer. “Please pass along my message to my son.” She left, sweeping her dress up and hurrying down the sidewalk and road in record time for someone in heels as high as hers. She moved past the gate leading to her house so I couldn’t see who got out of the car, but I heard a low murmur of conversation. It was only a moment before the car door shut and the limousine’s brake lights turned on. It reversed and headed off.

It was the next morning when I relayed the message.

Logan met me on the street as I headed outside with Mark. He gestured to me. “Ride with me. You don’t have practice today, right?”