She gasped and choked on it. Her cheeks filled up and her hands fluttered around her in a helpless pace. Tears filled her face and she brushed furiously at them. "You don't—you don't—you don't threaten me, boy!"

His chuckle was a soft one, but it hit her hard. My mother started waving her fists around in the air.

Logan rolled his eyes and pulled out his keys. When he turned for the door, she screeched at him, "Where are you going?!"

He ignored her and the door shut on his heels.

Mason had already disappeared back upstairs when my mother turned back around. She bent over and took deep breaths, all while she was patting her chest at the same time. Then she looked up with fresh tears in her eyes. She tried to wipe them away.

"How do you do it?"

I frowned. "What do you mean?"

"They like you. How did you do it?"

I shrugged. "They're never going to respect you."

She looked away. I watched as she wiped more tears away. Then she turned back. "What do I do?"

I gave her a sad smile. It was almost heartbreaking to see her like this, almost. "You'll never win against them. All you can do is exist beside them. That's it."

"That's it?"

"Like he said, you're not their mother." When she opened her mouth, I cut her off. "And you're not mine anymore, not really."

She was jolted back.

I narrowed my eyes. "I don't like you. I don't know if I ever did. I love you, but I don't respect you either. And I doubt I ever will again. You're lucky to still have me here. You haven't done anything to help me, nothing at all. You only hurt me, mom."

She pressed the back of her hand to her mouth. More tears streaked down her face. "I'm sorry, Samantha. I really am."

My eyes held hers. I didn't know what I was looking for, maybe a weakening within her or something I could grasp onto. I had no idea. I saw emptiness instead. And I felt it within me. It rose up as I watched my mother break before my eyes.

I took a deep breath and spoke in a quiet voice, "Look at you. This is what they've done to you already and they haven't even tried. They could destroy you, mom. It's not the other way around. You could never touch them. You're an annoying gnat to them. They've put up with your presence because James loves you. I can see that too. He does." It hurt to say what I was going to say next. "Focus on him. Focus on your relationship with him. Ours is gone, but maybe it could come back someday. Not today. Or next year, but sometime in the future. Just…focus on your future husband, mom. That's all you can do right now."

I turned away and started for my room, but I paused when I heard her whisper. "I'm sorry, honey. I'm so sorry."

Then I gripped the rail and went back to my room.

It was 8:30 when I checked my phone again and I had three text messages from Miranda, along with a voicemessage from her. Dinner had come and gone. They wanted to know where I was, if I was going. I had finished listening to her message when Mason knocked on my door.

I frowned and motioned for him to come in.

He studied my face. "What's wrong?"

I shook my head. "Nothing I can't handle."

My phone vibrated again. It was another text from Miranda—they'd all gone to some bar. I glanced up at Mason and asked, "You don't want to go somewhere with me, do you?"

He grinned back at me. "What? This late? What would your mother say?"

I couldn't stop my laugh. "I don't think she'll be saying much after what I said to her."

He stopped grinning. "What did you say?"

"Nothing, that she was lucky I was still here and we didn't really have a relationship anymore."

His eyes studied me. I felt his intensity and wanted to curl up against it. He asked me, "Did you mean that?"

I jerked my head in a nod. "I did." My eyes found his. "I'm close to asking David if I can live with him. He raised me all my life. If my mom knows who my real dad is or not doesn't matter to me. David raised me. He's my dad and she knows I'll push that if we'd ever go to court. The fact that I'm here, it's by a hairs' width."

He came inside and perched on the arm of one of my couches. "So where did you want to go?"

"Some bar. Some people at school invited me to their dinner. I didn't go and now they're out. I feel a little bad that I ditched on them."

Mason shook his head. "Let me guess, these aren't the people that are used to being ditched?"

I shook my head too.

"Do you know what you're doing?"

I wrapped my arms around my knees. "No."

His eyes held mine.

And I grinned. "But I don't really care either."

He mirrored my grin. "What bar are they at?"

I texted Miranda the question and she gave me an answer a second later. I held the phone up. "The Ryder."

Mason bit back a laugh and pulled out his phone. "I'm sure Logan's had his piece by now. Maybe he'd meet us there."

I stood and ran sweaty hands down my pants. I frowned at them. Why were they so sweaty? Then Mason looked back up when he was done. He grabbed my hand and pulled me between his legs. I held my breath as he leaned in close and pressed a kiss to the crook of my neck. He inhaled and held me close. I felt him fit between my legs and almost closed my eyes. I wanted to tell him to forget it and pull him to my bed.

When his phone vibrated, he lifted it for me to see.

'We're there!'

He chuckled against my neck and kissed it lightly. His hand curved around my waist and held me tighter. "Looks like its game on. Your quarterback's going to be there?"

I wrapped my arms around him and tilted my neck at an angle. His mouth started to explore it. Then I sighed against him. I didn't know if I'd ever get enough of him.

Mason moved back and whispered as his lips teased my skin, "You're going to ride me long and hard tonight."

I grinned against his neck. It was what every girl wanted to hear.

CHAPTER THIRTY

When we got to The Ryder, I sat it was a bar attached to a hotel. As soon as we entered, I remembered that Amelia's dad owned the place. It explained why they could drink at the bar and when we got there, they had congregated in a back corner, away from the other customers. It was a ritzy hotel and the neon red and black lighting set an intimate tone to the bar.

Miranda saw me first and waved us over by a pool table. She stood in a tight black dress with a red belt around her midriff. The rest of the girls were dressed in similar dresses, all tight and in different colors. I wondered if they planned it. They looked cliquey and expensive. Each of them wore dangling diamond earrings that matched their dress color.

"Hi, guys!" Miranda gave me a big hug. "I'm so glad you could come. The rest were disappointed you didn't come to the dinner."

Mason gave her one of his unreadable looks and she shifted on her feet. Her hand twitched for a second. It was the only movement I caught that made me wonder if she was uncomfortable. I would be.

"Mason, thanks for coming." She was so formal and gracious.

He shoved his hands in his pockets and went to the bar.

As he did, she laughed and touched the base of her neck. "I'm not going to take that personal. I shouldn't, right?"

I shrugged. "I told you. They're ass**les."

"He certainly must like you. Mason Kade has never come to one of my get-togethers."

"I thought he showed up at the one last weekend?"

She peeled out another burst of laughter. It was high pitched enough to make me pause. Was she being fake or was she drunk? Something wasn't fitting with her. She giggled into her hand. "That wasn't him coming as a guest. We all thought he had come for his brother, but instead he came to lay into that girl." Her eyes lingered on my bruise again. "You remember—the one I heard you got into a fight with."

Miranda seemed to be waiting for me to say something, but I wasn't sure what it was. When I started to ask something stupid, I was picked up and thrown over someone's shoulders. Logan's hyena laugh sounded as he twirled me around, bent over with my rear on display. I felt him patting it and he whistled under his breath. "You've got a tight ass, Sam. No wonder your quarterback wants to bang you so hard."

Someone gasped and someone else choked on their drink.

"Put me down, Logan." I tried to be fierce.

He laughed some more, but lowered me down. As he sat me on my feet, he lifted back up, but was close enough to brush against my body. When his eyes met mine, I saw a dark humor in them. I tensed and got ready.

I didn't want to be friends with these guys, but I wasn't sure what to do about it. Mason asked in the ride over if I wanted to piss them off now or wait for the perfect moment. I didn't have an answer and I still didn't. Still, whatever Logan was doing I knew he wanted to piss someone off.

As I caught a jerking movement from the corner of my eye, I wondered if he'd come for Adam. I watched as my former friend had a scowl on his face and he downed the rest of his drink in a savage motion. Cassandra was beside him with his arm around her waist. She wore a frown as she watched him. I thought I saw some concern in her depths as well.

Miranda gutted out a laugh and stepped forward again. "Logan, you've come as well."

He curved an arm around my waist and raised an eyebrow. "Weren't we invited?" His tone was too confident, too smooth.

She visibly swallowed and looked around. "Uh, of course you guys were invited. I assumed Samantha told you. You're both here."

Logan shot Adam a look. "I thought about bringing Tanya, but she thought it would be awkward. Plus, she needed an hour to get ready…"

Adam's scowl grew darker, but he didn't respond. Peter Glasburg and Mark Decraw stood between the two. They tried to look casual as they stood with their pool-sticks, but each couldn't contain their frowns. They threw Mason looks as he remained at the bar, who had a drink in hand and looked relaxed.

"Uh…she could've come if you liked?" Miranda's nervous laugh rang out high pitched. She cleared her throat and sounded more normal as she said, "All of you could've brought dates with you. That option is always open to the group."

Emily snorted out, "Of course, most of us are already paired up."

Miranda stared hard at her. "What are you talking about, Emily?"

The brunette smirked at her and sipped from her martini glass. "Come on, Miranda. You're with Peter. Cass is with Adam now. Amelia and Mark suck face most of the time."

Logan's grin grew as she continued.

"You should've brought in a guy next, not Samantha Strattan." She lifted her martini glass to me. "No offense, Sam, but everyone can tell you don't care about social things. Everyone knew Jessica Larsen slept with your boyfriend for two years. That would humiliate most people, but you acted like you didn't care and I don't think that was an act. I think you really didn't care." She scoffed at Miranda again. "You just wanted to bring her in because you hoped Mason and Logan would come with her. You never cared about her until you heard she was close to them."

"You're drunk, Emily." Miranda glared at her. "You should go sleep this off. You don't want to be rude."

She snorted again and tipped her head back to finish the rest of her martini. Her thin legs wavered underneath her, but she kept her balance when she raised her empty glass. "Another, bartender!"

Logan chuckled as she went to the bar. "I like her."

"You do?" Miranda had grown pale.

"She tells the truth." He sent her a smirk. "That's all we can ask for…right?"