Fallen Crest High (Fallen Crest High #1)(40)

I put my food aside and hugged myself. "Like my mom."

"Yeah, like her." His tone hardened as well.

"I probably shouldn't say anything, but I'm sorry she bulldozed her way into your lives."

He watched me for a full minute before he put his burger away. "She's the same type of snake my dad is. I kind of think they belong together."

I grinned. "They'll screw each other up."

"I give it a year before he cheats on your mom."

I searched him for any indication of sarcasm or sorrow or even if he was laughing at my mom. Nothing. He was a blank slate. There was no emotion in him.

"I've started to wonder how much she cheated on David," I confessed.

"She was sniffing around my dad for almost two years."

His words stabbed me and my gut recoiled. "She told me a year."

"She lied."

I nodded. "I'm starting to get that."

"She met us a year ago, but she was around my dad for a year before that. Logan and I saw her go into one of his hotel conference rooms. He had just left our mom and she asked us to pick something up at the hotel—she's half owner. We were waiting for the general manager when we saw dad with some new sleaze." He gave me a wry look. "No offense."

"None taken." She was my mom and I should've defended her, but it was past the point where I could muster the energy. There was nothing left in me. Then I asked him something else. "Why are you and Logan being nice to me?"

Something sparked in his eyes. "Why wouldn't we?"

It was my turn to give him a wry look. "Come on. You guys are a-holes. You don't care and I doubt the fact that I might be your stepsister has anything to do with it."

He grinned and leaned back. "You didn't say anything about the cars before and you torched your coach's car for us."

"I didn't do that for you."

He shrugged. "Doesn't matter. You kept your mouth shut about a lot of stuff, most would've been trying to get close to us and use us. You didn't give us the time of day." He flashed his perfect white teeth at me. "It's refreshing. Then the day you were about to cream your mom, I realized you really don't care who we are. You hate your mom almost as much as we hate our dad." He shrugged again. "I don't know, makes me kinda like you." He chuckled. "Logan's told everyone about his new stepsister. He's proud of you."

My phone went off and I checked the text. It was from Becky. 'At Kilbourn and 8th. Where r u? Adam said u wanted to talk?'

"Where's the party we're going to?"

"Fisher's house is on Kilbourn, by the parkway. Why?"

I sighed and sent a text. 'Be there soon.' Then I looked up. "Just curious."

His eyes lingered on my phone. "Was that the quarterback?"

"Nope. She's the quarterback's friend. She's my only friend right now." Though, that could change after tonight.

He reached over and clipped my seat belt in, and then he dumped my food back in my lap. "You really should eat. Logan's got a list of shots he wants to pour down your throat. This is his way of hazing you into the family."

I'd gone numb, but I unwrapped my sandwich and ate every last bit. I had no taste, no sense of swallowing, but I did and when I was done, we were at the party. I looked up at a huge house on an even bigger hill. Lights and people streamed out of it and as I watched, a group of guys and girls slid down the hill and sailed through the air into a small lake. Their shrieks and laughs pierced the Escalade's wall, but the loud bass quickly covered them up.

"Fun," I bit out.

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

When we got inside, everyone knew Mason was there. Guys appeared from nowhere for a hand slap, a nod, or any greeting from him. Girls tried to curl on his arm, but he shook them off with an ease that was impressive. He left each behind and they all seemed not to realize what had happened before he was already gone. Then he stepped into the kitchen and a herald of cheers sounded out.

Logan was in the middle of the kitchen with his hand around the keg's nozzle. When he saw his brother, he lifted it up and let it go. Beer soaked everyone in the room, but no one was upset. The girls shrieked in laughter and the guys raised their drinks in salute.

So this was their life.

They were celebrities in Fallen Crest and I was starting to realize the magnitude of it all.

Then Logan was in front of me and bent forward. I was picked up in the air in the next moment and flung over his shoulder. He smacked my butt and turned me around. Then he lifted a cup in the air. The room quieted.

"This is my new stepsister. Help me and Mase welcome her to the family." He gave me a smirk when I twisted around. "By getting her drunk!"

Another round of cheers went through the room and I heard an echoing chorus throughout the house, though I doubt they knew what they had cheered for.

I hit him in the head. "Put me down."

When I was on my feet, I saw that Mason was in the far corner of the kitchen. He had a drink in hand and as I watched a blonde wrapped herself around his arm. He didn't shake her off.

A glass was being nudged into my hand and I saw that Logan was trying to give me a shot. "What?"

"Take it. I'll do a shot with you."