Fallen Crest Public(5)

He jerked in his seat. His face grim. “Yeah, well, it’s easy for you to say. You’re supposed to talk to him. You don’t come across as bitching and whining.”
“I said something.”
“No.”
“Yes.” It was getting ridiculous. “You used to be friends with Nate.”
“That was before he turned shady. I know he had Parker over last night.”
“You said this morning.”
“Last night. This morning. What’s the difference? He still violated the exile. Mase won’t forget that.”
I heard the anger in his voice. It was low and underlining. Frowning, I asked, “Are you mad at Nate about something else? I thought it was just because he came back for his last semester.”
Logan jerked a shoulder up, holding the steering wheel with one hand. “What does it matter? He’s so far up Mason’s ass, I’m surprised my dipshit brother could even hear you.”
“Logan.”
“It’s true.” But his voice lost some of the aggression. “Nate’s not the same. Mason needs to know that.”
“So just tell him.”
“Why don’t you tell him?” he shot back, throwing me a sidelong glance.
“Maybe I will.”
Rolling his eyes, he looked back to the street. “Mase won’t listen to you.”
“Yes, he will.”
“No, he won’t.”
“Mason’s always listened to me.”
“Things are going to go to shit. I know it.”
I frowned, but the knot tightened again in my gut. As Logan turned into The Quickie, I agreed with him. This semester wasn’t going to be an easy one.
For anybody.


2





When Logan turned into the gas station, I laughed when I saw who was sitting on the bench outside of Quickie’s—Jeff. When we got out, a quick grin came over him and he stood up. His hands were pushed deep into his pants pockets and he rolled his shoulders back. His dark hair had been gelled, much the same as Logan’s, and as he came closer, I saw the idol worship he had for the younger Kade.
“Hey.”
Logan narrowed his eyes at him, but I asked, “What are you doing here?”
He jerked a shoulder up. “My car broke down.”
I glanced at his phone. “Who were you going to call for a ride?”
“Not that girl I was telling you about on Friday. She hooked up with this guy Saturday.” He gestured to Logan, who had started to reach for the gas nozzle.
“Me?”
“Yeah.” Jeff lifted a corner of his mouth up. “No worries. I’m not heartbroken. At least I know what she’s like now.”
He looked ready to say more, but Logan interrupted after he started the gas, “I’m going in. You want your coffee?”
I nodded. “Thanks.”
As he went inside, Jeff laughed to himself. “Man, I forgot how scary—” He stopped suddenly. His eyes darted past my shoulder and widened. I turned to see Mason’s black Escalade pulling into the lot. He parked next to us, on the other side of the gas pump, and hopped out. When he came around, Jeff put a few feet between us. “Hey, man. How’s it going?” His voice sounded strangled as he jerked a hand up and grabbed a fistful of his hair, making it spike even more.
Mason reached for the nozzle, but turned to me. “Logan’s inside?”
I nodded. “Where’s Nate?”
The corner of his mouth dipped down into a brief scowl. It was so quick—there and gone in the blink of an eye—but I caught it. No one else would’ve noticed it. That wasn’t good. A knot tightened in my gut. “Did he have company?”