Fallen Crest Public (Fallen Crest High #3)(16)

“I’m not screwing with you.”

“You sure about that?” Mason lashed back. Every muscle in him was primed. He was ready to fight; his hands had formed into fists and were pressed against his legs. He was holding himself back.

Logan eyed him warily before sending me a furtive look. His shoulders were rigid, but they dropped a fraction of a centimeter. His jaw was still like cement as he clipped out, “I’m not, but I am getting sick of this shit. Nate’s up your ass twenty-four-seven. “

“We are staying in his house.”

“So let’s move.”

“And go where?” A hollow laugh came from Mason’s throat. He turned to me. “Back to Dad’s? Sam, there’s no way I’m living with your mom again. I meant to tell you earlier, but I forgot.”

Rising from the couch, I hugged myself, but spoke up, “It’s not right that you guys are here. Nothing against Nate, but you should be with family during this time.” My heart kept pounding, thumping against my ribcage. “And yes,” I caught the look he sent to Logan, “that means Logan and me, too. I don’t have a family anymore.”

Mason and Logan had been eyeing each other, but they turned as one now. I was front and center once again.

I gulped. Sometimes their attention was a little much, too much at times. This was one of those times. I felt stripped and raw as I added, “My life went to crap five months ago. My mom left my dad. I found out my dad wasn’t my real dad. Then my real dad came into my life, but he’s gone. They’re both gone and then my mom went psycho. I’ve got you two, and on the outside, I am so jealous of you. You have a dad. He’s still here. He loves you guys—”

Mason started forward. His voice soft, “He’s with your mom, Sam.”

I flinched at that. It felt as if he’d slapped me.

“I love you and she hurt you. That’s the math to me. If we go back there, she’s going to keep hurting you.” Mason was in front of me now. His hand lifted to touch the side of my face. “There’s no way I can watch that and not do anything.”

Logan spoke up, “We can’t scare your mom anymore. She’s too crazy for that, so being there and seeing that happen to you,” he gestured to his brother, “I’m with Mason. There’s no way I could watch that and not do anything, except this time, we’d really hurt your mom.”

“It’s best if we just stay away. Our dad knows the deal. As long as he has her in his life, we’re out. That’s the way it is.” Mason’s chest lifted as he took a deep breath. His touch was so tender. “He’s making that decision. Not us.”

A piece of me broke away. It fell to the bottom of my stomach. The sadness that washed over me was overwhelming. “I can’t be responsible for you guys losing your dad.”

“You’re not.” Logan frowned, stepping next to his brother. He didn’t reach out, but I felt his concern. “It’s our dad. He turned into a douchebag, too.”

“Logan.”

“What?” Logan shrugged, giving his brother a crooked grin. The sudden tension from before was gone. “You know it’s true. Well, I guess our dad’s always been a douchebag. How many mistresses did he have? Had to be twenty, at least.” He whistled in appreciation. “Gotta give it to your mom. She’s the one that landed him. Our dad must be really nuts if that’s who he chooses to settle down with. He’s stuck with her even after all the crap she did to Sam.” The other half of his mouth curved up. “Maybe we should have him committed? He can go through one of those brainwashing programs, brainwash him back to being normal.” He pondered that for a second. “No, he’d just pick another winner again.”

“This isn’t funny.”

Logan shrugged. His crooked grin didn’t lessen. “Has to be. Dad left Mom, cheated on her for years, and Analise is who he ends up with? She’s the one that he decides to stick it out with? That’s the funniest damn thing I’ve heard.” He clapped his brother on the shoulder. “Come on. You think it’s funny too.”

When the corner of Mason’s mouth curved up, teasing at his own grin, I couldn’t believe this. “Stop,” I cried out. Shaking my head, I moved away. “I can’t believe you guys. You’re laughing about this? You can’t—”

“We can,” Mason stopped me. A tender expression came over him. “Logan’s right. It has to be funny. We’ve lived through all the other stuff. The divorce. Dad’s cheating. The only good thing we got from him was you.”

“I second that.”

I rolled my eyes. They were missing the entire point.

“Sam.” Mason reached out and took my hand, pulling me back to him. “We’re not laughing to be dicks, but this is our dad. You can’t judge us because we’re not accepting the crumbs he’s giving to us. He’s not a great dad.”

Logan snorted, “Try he’s never been a great dad?”

“We understand what you’re saying. Trust me. We do.” He tugged me closer to him, but I didn’t look up. I couldn’t. His finger went underneath my chin, and he tipped my head up. Then I couldn’t look away. His green eyes caught mine and the wall he normally had up slid away. He let me see everything—the bitterness, hurt, pain, anger—all of that was there, but it was mixed with love. I saw it. I felt it when he murmured, “I’m grateful to him for you, but because I love you, I can’t accept your mother. There’s no way. Would you? If you saw someone hurting me, over and over again?”