Fallen Fourth Down (Fallen Crest #4)(34)

That was on purpose. When he set her back down, he met my gaze. I knew he wanted to leave and turning, I caught the knowing look on Nate’s face again. He headed off the patio and approached us. He skimmed a look at where Logan remained, and said to me, “You’re going?”

“It’s for the best.”

“Logan’s in a mood?”

I didn’t answer. I wasn’t going to throw Logan under the bus. Nate knew I wouldn’t and he didn’t wait for a reply. He said to Sam, “It was good seeing you for a little bit. I wanted to show you the alumni room. My dad’s picture is in there.” He nodded towards me. “So is his. It’s kinda cool to see all the history.”

“Yeah.”

I grinned. I couldn’t stop it. Sam had been silent most of the time, but that one word told us all how uncomfortable she was. As my hand touched the small of her back, I felt how tense she was. Maybe I needed to push more and find out what was wrong? I knew it was bothering Logan as well.

Distracting me, Nate said, “Park wanted me to invite you to a dinner we’re doing at the end of the month. I promised him I would invite you. Some of the alumni are coming back, including my dad.”

We both knew I wouldn’t go. I didn’t even respond. “I’m sure we’ll go out for breakfast or lunch tomorrow. Did you want to come?”

“That sounds good,” Nate said.

“Okay.”

“Bye, Nate.”

“See ya, Sam.”

Logan had gone ahead for the car. When we got to the sidewalk and before we got to the car, I asked Sam, “You’ve been distant with Logan?”

She stiffened again, then jerked her shoulder up in an abrupt shrug. “It’s nothing. I mean, it’s me doing my thing, but it’s nothing.”

I pulled her to a stop. “I’m not hearing that it’s nothing.” There was more. I heard the undertone of anguish in her voice.

She closed her eyes and her forehead went to my chest. Her shoulders lifted again and fell back down as her hands rested on my waist. She murmured, “It’s hard. You’re not there and…” Her head tipped back. Her eyes were swimming with unshed tears. “Being close to Logan makes me miss you even more. If I shut him out, I shut out that pain. Sometimes.”

My thumb went to her chin. Moving it back and forth in a comforting motion, my own emotion rising in me. “It’s a year and then you’ll both be here.” But it didn’t matter. My reassurance fell on deaf ears. I could tell because I felt it too. We were family and the family was torn apart. Drawing her into my arms, I rested my chin on the top of her head and held her. That’s all I wanted, for only a moment. No matter what we did, the truth was that I was a three hour drive away. Logan was with Helen and Sam was living with another family, again. My hand swept down her back and she burrowed even closer to me. I dropped another kiss to her head.

We stayed like that, for a few seconds, before Logan honked the horn at us.

I lifted my hand, not moving away from Sam, and gave him my middle finger. His laughter pealed out a second later and I glanced over, grinning. He flicked me off right back, then hollered, “Let’s go. You two can get it on tonight. I want to party with my brother.”

Sam stepped back, grinning ruefully. “He switched from wanting to fight to wanting to party.”

Lacing our hands together, I started for the car. “You know Logan. He never changes.”

We shared a grin because only the Threesome Fearsome, what Logan called us, really knew the real Logan. He’d want to stir shit up before the end of the night. That was just him.

*

SAMANTHA

My hand never left Mason’s. When we went inside the club—as Kris squealed, gushing over everything, the walls included—we were led to a private area. When we got there, I felt overstimulated. There was so much to take in. The club was huge, like a smaller version of the football stadium. The private booth or box, I wasn’t sure what it could be called, wasn’t a private booth or box. It was a private everything. We had our own floor with its own dance floor, set above the main dance floor. The DJ booth was attached to our floor, set in a corner so the crowd below could see him. When he began a new beat, they went crazy, waving their arms and pounding on the floor.

It was nuts. I’d never seen anything like this.

Dry ice filled the room with white smoke. When the DJ would raise his arms, a burst of white smoke would shoot out over the floor. It raised and covered the front of our floor as well. Neon lights flashed all over, and I had to cover my eyes so I could adjust before a headache came on. There was a bar when we first entered the club, then another bar at the end of the hallway going to the private floor, a third at the top of the stairs, and four more set up all around us.

I touched Mason’s arm and he leaned down for me. “Is your entire football team here?”

“Uh.” He scanned the room and nodded. “Looks like.” He flashed me a grin. “Matteo’s birthday is a big deal. The team loves him.”

I could see that. There were people everywhere. A group of guys stood in a circle by the dance floor. They were sipping their drinks, talking, and watching the girls dancing. And the girls knew it. They’d smile over at them, move more seductively, and the guys would smirk back at them. There was an area filled with couches on the other side of the room. Again, a group of guys sat there, leaning forward with their elbows on their knees or lounging back, but it was obvious they were involved in a big discussion. Scattered around them, on the outskirts, were a few couples. A guy and girl had paired off. A few of the girls were straddling their guys and they were kissing, and I skimmed over the couches near us. There were more couples, but these were holding hands, talking, laughing, or just sitting beside each other.