Fallen Fourth Down

“Logan,” she whispered. Her head hung down.

He jerked forward a step, stopped himself, and looked back at me. I was burned by his look. He was still furious, no. He was enraged. Another shit storm was coming our way. Logan was holding it in. That was going to be between him and me.

He shook his head, still looking at me, but moved back around to focus on Tate. “The truth is that you’re still in there. You’re not out. You never left the gutter. You’re the same girl who came onto my brother when the guy who loved her was next door. Mason wanted to throw you out of the house naked that night. I wish he had. I wish our dad hadn’t stopped him.”

She’d been crumbling, but it switched. The fight came back to her and she reared back, her eyes seething. “Okay, here’s the real truth. I hate that bitch behind you.” She stabbed in the air, pointing at me. “But I hate your brother even more because he didn’t need to hurt me the way he did.”

“Mason hurt you because you hurt me. Don’t you get that?”

She kept going, as if he hadn’t talked, “And I hate you because I still love you and I’ll never have you. There’s the real ugly truth, right there for you. But everything else, I have changed. I did make things right with Marissa. I meant that when I said it. I’m her friend. I have been for years and I wanted to come back and see if I could get my other friend back, but because of her,” everyone knew she meant me, “there’s no hope in that. Heather acts like I’m dirt underneath her feet.”

“You brought that on yourself. No one else did this. Stop fucking with my family.” Logan turned to Kris. His voice softened, “I’m sorry you heard this. I’m sorry that you’ve been hurt by her too.” He gestured to Tate. “And I think we need to have a conversation after this, alone.”

She nodded. As he was apologizing, fresh tears slipped down her cheeks and she brushed them away. Then she left and went outside.

Logan looked at the crowd. “Show’s over. Get lost.”

Everyone dispersed. Some ran into each other, but Logan wasn’t one to be ignored when he spoke like that. Logan Fucking Kade was back. He stood there, shaking his head from side to side. I couldn’t move. I didn’t know if I dared. My eyes met Tate’s. She was feeling the same way.

He motioned to her. “Get your pizza, or whatever the hell you came here for, and get out of my fucking life.”

She sneered at us for a moment and left too.

There was an eerie silence over the customers, and Logan shook his head. A soft curse slipped from him as a manager came out from behind the counter. He started to lift his arm, but Logan shook his head. “No need. I’m leaving.”

The manager looked from Logan to me.

“Sam,” Logan said.

I jumped. The softness in his tone, the raw feeling that I heard from him, sent me into a full blown panic attack. My heart started racing. My chest grew tight. The storm that had been rolling over and over inside me during the confrontation had doubled.

I had hurt him.

He asked, “She told you last summer?”

I had lied to him. I forced myself to nod. “After graduation.” That was seven months ago. I flinched as I realized how long I had kept this secret.

He turned and started for the door.

I went after him. Once we were outside, I paused on the sidewalk. “Logan?”

He was going to his Escalade, but he stopped. He didn’t turn around, not right away. As I waited, my heart pounded against my chest, straining to get out. His head lifted, his shoulders dropped down, and his hands balled into fists. He turned slowly. The bleak look that had been in Kris’ eyes was in his, but it was more intense.

That’s when the fear came in. I could lose him. I could lose Mason. My nightmare was happening, right in front of me.

A ball was in my throat. I could barely talk around it. “I was scared.”

He cocked his head to the side. “You better tell Mason.” He started to turn back around, but stopped halfway. With his head down, he said softly, “Before I do.”

A fresh wave of chills came over me. This wasn’t the Logan who loved me, who called me his sister or family. This was the Logan I knew before he cared about me. He was a stranger in that moment, and when he got into his Escalade and drove away, I was suddenly very cold.

I had screwed up.

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

MASON

After the game, I stayed back to explain my tardiness to Coach. He hadn’t been happy, but the fact that we won and I ran two of those touchdowns in helped lessen some of his anger. The locker room was empty when I came back out, and when I read a text left on my phone from Matteo, I understood why they’d left so fast. Everyone was grabbing their favorite alcohol and meeting at the house in two hours. A big party was planned with only the most trusted invited. That meant girlfriends, best friends, or family. As I was heading out to my Escalade, I was tempted to ask Sam if she could come. Seeing her for only a few moments wasn’t good enough. The school year was almost half over, but that meant there was another half to go. I’d be out of season, though, which would give me free weekends. I already knew Logan was expecting me to go back for his basketball games. That was fine. I’d take Matteo with me. I grinned at the thought of Matteo in Fallen Crest.

I didn’t realize it was raining until I pushed open the last door and felt the drops on me.

Shit.

I stepped back in, letting the door slam shut. It was pouring down. I’d be drenched if I walked out there, but I didn’t want to wait. I was hungry, I was tired, and honestly, I just wanted to call Sam. With a scowl, I shoved back outside.