Fallen Crest Public(21)


Nate glanced back at the stairs. “Your brother’s being an *.”
There was no response, but I knew who it was. I knew who was coming and enjoyed waiting for him. I sunk my teeth into the sandwich. Good gracious, I was in heaven. A chicken sandwich had never tasted so delicious to me. My stomach was doing cartwheels, but then I was being lifted in the air again. I didn’t even react. I already knew where he was going. When he moved so he was underneath me, I kept eating as I got comfortable on his lap and rested my head on his chest. One of his hands remained on my leg, his fingers on my inner thigh as I took another bite.
“Did you not eat?”
I nodded, mumbling around the sandwich, “Not enough.”
He grinned and leaned back into the couch.
Logan chuckled, turning the volume louder.
“Nice, dickwad.”
He only got a shrug in response.
Mason held me on his lap and moved his fingers in a circling motion. It was soothing and sensual at the same time. Part of me was getting excited while the other part wanted to fall asleep. With the chicken sandwich in my stomach, and the warmth from Mason, the sleepy part won out. Then Mason’s phone went off. It buzzed from his pocket underneath me, and he shifted me to the side, his arm sliding under me to grab it. Pulling it out, he opened the screen. It was a text from his father: We would like to invite you over for dinner. When are you moving back?
“Uh, okay.” Logan was reading his phone at the same time. He put it down, his eyebrows bunching together as he said, “I know you talked us into moving back, but no way. I can’t do it, Sam.”
“What?” I sat forward. “You guys said you would.”
Logan shared a look with Mason. I twisted around. “You agree?”
Mason didn’t say anything. He didn’t have to. I shook my head. “What? Did you guys come to this decision without me?”
“No.” Logan shook his head and then nodded. “Yes.”
A lead stone dropped to the pit of my stomach. This was my fault. I promised James and now they were changing their minds. “You guys should live with your dad for the last semester. Mason, you only have a few months before you leave.”
“Sam.”
That big lead stone wasn’t moving. I sat up and went to the empty chair.
Nate took the remote from Logan and silenced the game.
Logan snorted. “Why’s it so damn important for us to live with our dad? It’s not fair to put your daddy issues on us.”
Narrowing my eyes, I crossed my arms over my chest. “You can’t say that to me. You have no idea—”
“No idea?” Logan scoffed. “Yes, we do. Our dad’s an *.”
“Logan.”
He overrode me, “It’s not going to happen.” Then he stopped, and glanced at Nate.
“What?”
Logan turned to the stairs.
Nate bit out a curse. “Are you serious? You want me to leave?”
“Not to be an ass, but this is family shit.”
“What am I then?”
“You’re extended family shit. You’re one of those long-distance cousins.”
Nate looked over. “Mason.”
“Just go, Nate.” Logan leveled him with a harsh look. “This is family and you’ve been a douchebag lately.”
Nate gritted his teeth at him, but turned to his best friend. “Mason, come on.”
Mason sighed. “It doesn’t matter what I say. You need to be trusted by all of us and you’re not. That’s what matters.”
He pushed up from the couch and stalked out. No words were shared, and the tension in the room was thick enough to cut with a knife. I didn’t dare breathe until he had left. As soon as he was upstairs and the door shut, Mason leaned back and sighed. “I hope you guys know what you just did.”

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