Fallen Crest Public (Fallen Crest High #3)(33)

That was all the okay I needed.

I took her lips with mine. I claimed her, forcing her to open for me, and swept inside to taste every inch. That was just the beginning. I heard another soft sigh from her. She always did that, right before she surrendered to me. With that sound, she pressed against me so every inch of her was touching me and her hands wrapped around my neck. Then she pulled me down to her, and I knew I could do whatever I wanted.

So I did.

CHAPTER ELEVEN

The rest of the weekend passed quickly. Nate had a concussion, three fractured ribs, and a strained back injury. He was kept in the hospital until his parents arrived. When they did, it was with gusto. Their first point of business was banning Mason and Logan from their son’s hospital room. They were good enough to be allowed information, but Mason explained later that night that Nate’s parents had never approved of their friendship. It was why they moved Nate from Fallen Crest in the beginning. He was only allowed to come back for his last semester because he was eighteen. When I asked how they could even ban them from his room since he was an adult, Mason only shrugged. His reply was, “Guess the hospital has different policies for rich movie producers. I’m sure they’re hoping to get a donation out of them.”

In the end, he still snuck in to see Nate the next night, but it was after we packed our things and checked into a hotel. He wanted to avoid Nate’s parents. Logan overheard him and when the door closed behind him, he commented, “He wants to avoid our mom, too.”

That sent panic through me. He wasn’t the only one. An hour later, I followed in Mason’s trail, except I went to Manny’s. When Heather’s dad told me it was her night off, I tried their house then. While Mason was seeing his best friend, so was I. I spent most of the night on her couch. We watched movies, and she filled me in on the latest rumors about Nate’s car accident. There were two competing theories: The first was that the Broudou brothers cut the wrong brakes; they meant to cut Mason’s. The second was that Kate had cut the brakes to hurt Nate, so it would hurt Mason.

There were a few others, but they were ridiculous. Nate’s parents owed money to the mob. Nate just wanted attention. Nate was the one that actually caused the accident, and the cops were covering for him.

The first two sent chills down my spine. I stopped asking about any more theories, and we went back to the movie. I thought about asking if she received any more texts from Kate or her friends, but I didn’t. A part of me didn’t want to know. I didn’t want to worry about losing my one female friend.

It was late when I returned to the hotel. Slipping inside the suite, I wasn’t surprised to find it empty. Logan texted that Ethan was throwing a party to celebrate that Nate was alive. Mason texted an hour after Logan saying that he was leaving the hospital and was going to the party. He asked if I wanted to go, but I declined. There’d been too much drama for me, so I enjoyed the solitude of the room that night.

My drama free night carried on to the next morning.

Helen had checked into her own room, but she was on a different floor.

When I learned that, my relief was powerful. My knees almost buckled, but I caught the table and plopped down on a chair. I landed harder than normal, but I didn’t care. I ignored the smirk Logan gave me and then he gave me even better news. They were going to spend the day with their mother. Neither of them asked if I wanted to go along. They both knew I’d rather hang out with Kate and her princess bullies.

It wasn’t long after that when I went for my run, but instead of running from the hotel, I drove to my old neighborhood. There was a trail from a nearby park that connected to the trail that went behind Quickie’s. The scenery was too beautiful to miss. Even before I parked, I was already itching to fly up the hills behind the gas station. Maybe it was the anticipation of pushing myself up those hills, but my run went faster than normal. It was invigorating and when I ran back, two hours later, I considered going for another hour, but I didn’t. I needed my energy to start on my homework. However, when I drove past my old house, I stopped the car. I don’t know why. I wasn’t nostalgic about the home. There were a lot of bad memories in it, but I sat in the car and stared at it. Maybe I was more tired from the run than I realized. Maybe I wanted to avoid doing homework. Or maybe I missed the slight semblance of normalcy that the house used to give me, but whatever it was, I stayed for an hour. I didn’t move from the car. I just stared at the house. No one was home, but when I saw a car that I thought was my dad’s, I started my engine and drove away.

I didn’t tell Mason about my run. I didn’t know why. There wasn’t anything significant about it, but I realized that I didn’t want to tell him about my old house. When they came home and he got in bed with me, I asked about their day with their mother. As he filled me in, I kept wondering if that car had been David’s. Maybe he’d been home. Maybe he saw me there.

“Sam?”

“Mmm?”

Mason grinned, tipping my head up to meet his eyes. “What’s wrong? You spaced there for a second.”

“Oh.” I shrugged, dipping my head back down. “Nothing.”

I could feel his gaze on me and knew his wheels were spinning. “I talked to my mom. She won’t come up here. She knows you’re staying here and agreed it would be for the best if she stayed away. Is that what’s bothering you?”

“Oh.” Had that been my dad in that car? Why was I even thinking about him? “That’s fine. I’m tired. That’s all.”