Fallen Fourth Down

“Oh.” I chuckled. “I’m surprised he didn’t ask for your roommate too.”

“He did. Hey, Nate.” His voice lifted. “Logan called. He’s up for brunch. Do you want to come?” Another pause. “Sounds good. I was thinking the diner on campus.” He laughed. “Yeah, okay. See you.”

I waited as I assumed he was texting Logan where to go. When he tossed the phone to the nightstand, I asked, “When do we have to leave?”

His grin turned predatory and his eyes darkened. One of his hands slid under my back as the other went up my leg, under the covers, until it found my core. One touch, that was all it took and I was already panting. Moving so he was positioned above me, holding himself upright so his weight wasn’t on me, Mason gazed down at me.

The corner of my mouth tugged up. I loved when he was in this position. Sliding my hands up over his shoulders, his neck, the sides of his face, and into his hair, I whispered, “I love you.”

The lust darkened even more in his gaze. His head tilted to the side as my hand fell to his cheek. He moved into my touch, closing his eyes, then lowered himself so he was just lightly resting on me. The other side of my mouth lifted up. This was another position I loved as well. My leg curved up around his waist and I pressed him into me. Enough foreplay. I was already wet. Sensing my urgency, he moved up again, but grabbed my leg and clamped it there, still wound around his waist. As he readjusted, my body adjusted with his. Pressing a kiss to my throat, he moved even further up and I shoved down his pants.

He was in me within seconds. As he pushed inside, I gasped from the sensations. He whispered against my throat, “I love you too.”

He began moving and our hands found each other. He held them above my head, against the headboard as he kept thrusting. I ceased thinking. I never wanted this to stop.

The plan was to head back with Logan and Kris after brunch, which turned into lunch, so Mason had my bag on his shoulder as we cut through campus. When I asked why he picked that diner, his reasoning was to show Logan and me as much of the campus as possible. I grinned at that. “You mean the front lawn of a frat house and Cliché nightclub wasn’t academic enough? We didn’t get the whole experience?”

Mason laughed, then shrugged. “The frat stuff probably is. I don’t know about the club, but,” he gestured to the tall buildings around us as we headed through a quad, “this is what college is like. I walk through here every day.” We were coming up to a large black glass building. As we drew closer, I saw faint shadows from inside, where people were, but the place looked like a nightclub as well.

I raised an eyebrow. “This is the diner?”

“Yeah.” He reached for the door. I went first and his hand settled on the small of my back. “The team eats here during the day; it’s got a buffet, including a salad bar, so you can get whatever you like.”

“You had me at buffet.” But the salad bar sounded good too.

Mason paid for both of us right away. “Yo.” Logan waved from a corner booth. It curved into the wall and could sit eight people comfortably. Kris was sitting right next to Logan, squished beside him. His hand was under the table, as were hers. Her shoulders were also hunched forward and pinched together, like she was trying to appear as small as she could get. There were bags under her eyes, and she seemed pale. Her hair had been pulled back into a messy ponytail.

I grinned. She was hung-over. Logan, on the other hand, was beaming. He continued to wave until we scooted in with him. Mason slid next to Logan, and I took the end. There was enough room so we didn’t have to move all the way in, and remained at the edge of the booth.

Logan asked, “Nate coming…” His question faded as his gaze went over our shoulders. His eyes widened, and his mouth moved into a silent O.

Mason looked first. The exhaustion from Kris was contagious. Some of my own seeped in and I was too lazy to turn all the way around. I felt Mason tense—he wouldn’t have tensed if it was only Nate—so I turned to look, and I saw her. She was tiny. She had her brown hair pulled up in a high ponytail. Unlike Kris’, which looked cute and messy, this girl’s was sleek and pristine. Her hair was long too, falling past her shoulders. Two things caught my attention more than anything. One, she was holding Nate’s hand. No, correction, she had a death grip on his hand with both of hers, and two, her gaze was glued to Mason’s, like she feared his reaction.

Logan muttered, “As far as twists come, this one sucks balls.” He shot a glare at Nate and muttered, “I thought the mantra was no dumb shits allowed?”

“Logan!”

Tate’s voice came back to me. “Has he told you that Marissa’s going to Cain University too?” It clicked, and it felt like an anchor dropped inside me. This was Marissa, and no, Mason never told me. I snuck a glance at him from the corner of my eye. He wasn’t looking at me. His jaw was clenched, and his eyebrows furrowed together.

I barely remembered her from the one time I almost met her. Mason had kept her away from everyone, myself included, but things were different now. I was closer to him. She was not anymore. As they stopped at the end of the table and stood there, their hesitation was obvious. I couldn’t ignore the flicker of jealousy in me.

Marissa was here. She could be in the same room as him whenever she wanted, within a few minutes. I could not. That alone had my teeth grinding, and I shot Mason another look. He hadn’t told me she was here.