Fallen Crest Home (Fallen Crest High #6)(36)

“Becky mentioned a cabin on the ocean up north.” I used the exact words I’d overheard one night in the beer garden, making air quotes. “‘A big white house in the middle of nowhere.’ They talked about having us up there. Don’t know if they meant it or not.”

Nate grinned. “We have an address?”

I matched his grin. “I have an idea where it is.”

He leaned forward, held his beer up, and clinked it with mine. “Well, then, let’s add burglary to our resume. Lord knows we don’t have enough bad shit on there.”

I leaned back, taking a long drag from my beer. “It’s nice to have you back.”

He held my gaze. “It’s nice to be back.”

Matteo was great to have around. He’d helped in that fight, but he wasn’t Nate, and he wasn’t Logan. He wasn’t the guy I asked to do something illegal if it meant helping out someone I loved. And I wasn’t doing this for my father. I was doing this for Sam. If Becky was back in her life, then Adam was, too. And I didn’t care how much in love he claimed to be. If he’d had a hard-on for Sam in high school, it’d come back around again.

I wanted something on the son of a bitch if that happened.

“When do we go?” Nate asked. He looked like he might be ready now.

I finished my beer and tossed the empty bottle in the bonfire cage. “When Logan gets back.”





The next day, Petey eyed me our entire shift. After the thirtieth stare, I put down the washcloth I’d been using on the counter and turned around. “What?”

“What?” He jumped back. He’d been two feet from me.

“Either Keifer told you to keep an eye on me and you took that in the literal sense, or you want to say something. What is it?”

“Why are you here?”

I frowned. “What do you mean?”

“Your boyfriend is Mason Kade. Even I’ve heard about his football reputation, and he’s here, working some rich internship for his daddy.” He pointed at me. “And I heard what he said about you. You don’t need this job, but you don’t act like one of those rich, stuck-up bitches. Why are you here?”

“Because I needed a job.”

He moved forward, leaning against the counter next to me. “But that’s the thing.” He turned to rest his back against the counter so he could watch the beer garden and me at the same time. “I asked around. You usually work with your best friend at Manny’s. You’re not there this summer.”

“What do you want me to say?”

“The truth?”

I paused, checking to see if that was sarcastic. It wasn’t. “Besides wanting to do something else, Heather’s boyfriend is involved in underground fighting. Some of Mason’s enemies are, too, and word would get out if I was working at Manny’s. They could find me there.”

“That Caldron guy and his goons?”

I nodded.

“But they already know you’re here.”

“They aren’t Mason’s only enemies.”

“Why are you paying for what he did?”

I shook my head. “I’m not paying for it. They could hurt me to get to Mason.”

“They’re pussies then.”

“That Caldron guy is mad because I helped put his best friend in prison. He would’ve raped someone if I hadn’t.” I left out the part where Mason had orchestrated the whole situation so someone else was in that predicament, not me.

“File a restraining order.”

“What?”

A group of bikers came up to the counter. Our conversation paused until their orders were filled and they moved to sit at one of the picnic tables.

Petey jumped up on the counter next to me, swinging his legs. “If someone’s trying to hurt you, why don’t you go the legal route? Me?” He touched his chest. “No way. We don’t work that way here, but you could. I’m not getting why you don’t.”

I shrugged, feeling that same damned tightness in my chest again. “We’ve always taken care of our problems ourselves.”

“Except the time you got that guy’s best friend put in prison?”

“Except that time.”

A slow grin stretched on his face, and he nodded, approving. “I think you guys are carnies at heart.”

“What?”

“Carnies at heart. We deal with our own. That’s how you guys operate.”

I shrugged. “You haven’t even met Logan yet.”

“Who’s he?”

I opened my mouth, but how could I possibly explain? He had no idea. I just smiled instead.





MASON


“What are we doing?”

“Sshhh!” Both Matteo and Nate replied to Adam’s question. I was in the driver’s seat, and I kept my eyes on the road, but I knew Nate had twisted around. I could only imagine Matteo delivering his own glare next to Adam in the backseat.

The answer to his question wasn’t going to grab a burger, which is what I’d told him when we left the country club. Nate and Matteo had arrived, ready for our first errand, and we’d been leaving under the guise of going to get food when Adam decided a burger sounded good to him, too. Hence the uninvited guest.