Fallen Fourth Down

“I know, but I’m going to handle it, and I’m going to do it on my timetable.” Logan snorted. He began to turn away, but I caught his arm. He looked back, reassessing me. I told him, “I mean it. You get to leave. I don’t. This is my world, and I’ll handle him when I have to. Right now, I don’t have to. All he’s doing is kissing ass.”

“Whatever. Yeah. Fine.”

“I mean it, Logan.”

“I know.” He gentled his tone. “I mean it. I know. I’ll bite my fucking, no-nonsense, butt-muncher tongue tonight. It’s your call. I’ll follow your lead.”

I relaxed, slightly. “Butt-muncher?”

He flashed me a grin, his eyes darted to Sam’s, and he shrugged. “You see. That’s what happens when you get all big and old and move away to a Division One school. You miss out on inside jokes, like what a butt-muncher is.”

His girlfriend came out of the hotel and headed our way. I glanced at Sam. She rolled her eyes. “It’s really not that funny—”

“Ah,” Logan cut her off. “But it’s our funny. It’s Fallen Crest funny.” He pretended to sneer at me. “And you’ll never know.”

His girlfriend got to us, threw her arms around Logan’s neck, and the two kissed. I punched him in the arm and he broke it off to glare at me. “Yes?”

“Keys, asshole.” I flashed him a grin. “You get backseat, bitch.”

Handing the keys over, he pressed them into my hand harder than necessary. Yeah, he got my slight insult. My grin grew as I got behind the steering wheel. Sam sat next to me, and the two gropers slid into the back. I turned the car around and headed for Nate’s fraternity house.

CHAPTER ELEVEN

When we got to the fraternity house, Nate met us at the door. He gave me a slight frown. “I thought you were doing dinner first?”

“Change of plans.”

“Oh.” He continued to frown. “Okay.” A quick smile covered his face and he reached behind him. Tossing a beer to Logan, he said, “Help yourself. I figured you wanted to release some stress this weekend?” A second beer was handed to Logan’s girlfriend. She took it and her eyes lit up like Nate had given her a hundred dollars.

The girl was weird.

Logan laughed, throwing his arm around her shoulders. He jerked his chin up, saying to Nate, “Forget the bullshit about who you’re bunking with, you’re a good man to me.” He glanced sideways at me as he added, “I’m all about staying out of trouble, you know.”

I grinned, but Nate narrowed his eyes. “Uh. Okay.” He turned to me. “Anything I should know about?”

“We might not stay long.”

“Yeah.” A knowing look came over him. “I figured.”

Logan snorted, opened his beer, and took a swallow. As he finished, he gestured the beer to me. “Mase wants to put off the battles for as long as possible, but we all know his tolerance for ass kissers. He’s got none. Do him a favor, Nate, stop bringing your buddies around him.”

“Oh god,” Sam groaned beside me.

Logan’s girlfriend squeaked and moved an inch behind the group. Logan was riled up. He wanted to fight. Sam saw it too and we shared a look. It was going to happen.

Nate just sighed.

Catching Logan’s gaze, I looked pointedly at his girlfriend. I wanted to talk, but not in front of her. He rolled his eyes, but got the message. “Kris?”

“Yeah?”

“You said you wanted to go to the bathroom.” With a hand behind her back, he propelled her further inside the house. “Maybe Nate can show you where it is?”

That was his signal. He didn’t want Nate to be a part of our talk. And Nate got it. His nostril’s flared, his jaw clenched, but he forced out a polite smile. “Of course. I’ll take you to my own bathroom. It’s clean and private.”

“Oh good.”

His hand replaced Logan’s on her back and he guided her forward, but shot Logan a dark look over his shoulder. Logan lifted his beer in a salute.

I snorted.

Sam began to move to the side of the patio, but I shook my head. “No.”

Gesturing to the window right next to it, Logan added, “You have no idea what they can hear.”

“Oh. Okay.”

I led the way off the patio, to a corner of the yard. A few people had gathered outside, but they weren’t paying any attention to us. I looked at my brother. “What’s got you worked up? Did you really hate Sebastian that much?” He was annoying, but damn, a bug could be squashed easily. Logan’s reaction didn’t make sense.

He shook his head. “Whatever. I’ll be nice. No worries.”

I glanced at Sam. “Something else happen that I don’t know about?”

Logan snorted. “Like she’d answer that truthfully.”

My alarms shot up and studying Sam, I caught the glare she sent his way. Her lips pressed tight, and she shook her head, turning away. She’d been present with me. I felt her. But Sam could slip away. Her mind would leave the room, thinking about other things, shutting her emotions off, but I knew it was because of Analise. Being raised by a monster like that would leave scars, deep scars, but I had felt her just now. She’d been present. She’d been real. She’d been raw.

She was gone again. Her walls were back up. I touched her elbow, tugging her to me. “Hey. What’s going on?”