I twiddled my thumbs now.

Adam asked, quietly, “You can’t talk to Mason?”

I shook my head. “I was attacked. He wasn’t there.”

“You were going to be verbally attacked by his friends before her.” Adam leaned forward.

My shoulder lifted and dropped. “I don’t know what you want me to say.”

“You slapped Cass. Remember? At the Alumni festival.”

“It’s not the same.”

“Are you kidding me? It’s all girl catfight crap. Of course it’s the same,” Adam cried out as he pushed back his chair. “This blows.”

Mark threw him a crooked grin. “Guess you’re going to have to get laid by the Academy gene pool.”

“Shut up.”

Mark shrugged. His fork reached for some strawberries.

“You haven’t even asked about Becky—”

I frowned. “How is Becky?”

He stopped short. “She’s fine.”

I nodded. “Good.”

Then he bit out, “She was worried about you. We kept hearing about you, how you got hit, how you shouldn’t have, how Cassandra was going to hell. Blah, blah, blah. We heard it all.”

Mark grinned with a mouthful of fruit and nodded his head.

“Okay.” Malinda’s voice was bright and cheery. The phone was put away, and she dropped into a chair beside me. “What have I missed? What happened last night?”

Adam looked at me.

I looked at him.

We both fell silent.

Mark gestured between us with his fork. “Those two are mad at each other, but I don’t know why.” He swallowed his fruit with a gulp and speared an omelet with his fork. “After dinner last night, Sam shoved Cass into our bushes. She got mad. She came to the party we were at and slapped Sam. Then her boyfriend got mad and now all of us can’t go to Public parties.” He gave Malinda a mouthful grin. “And that sucks because those parties are awesome. They talked about Becky. I have no idea why.”

She turned to us. Her eyes were bright.

I sucked in my breath.

Mark mumbled around some French toast, “And I didn’t sleep with Amelia last night, mom. I wanted you to know that.”

She melted. “I know, honey. That means so much.”

I blinked in surprise and blurted out my first thought, “Did my dad sleep here last night?”

She froze and then melted again. She patted her chest with a hand. “Oh, Samantha. I would love it if David would spend the night. The good Lord knows that I’ve been trying, and it’s not in vain of His name. I love David. David should be here. I have made my vows in my heart.”

Adam spit out his food and started choking.

Malinda frowned. “I love David very much, Samantha. Someday I would be delighted if you’d live with us as well.”

Mark choked this time.

I frowned at her. “Have you met Mason? I don’t come alone anymore.”

Her smile slipped a bit. “I’ve met Logan, and I thought he was a delightful young man.”

“He’s an ass if he doesn’t like you,” Mark pointed out.

Adam nodded. A dark look came over him.

Malinda touched my hand and leaned forward. “I’ll admit; I’ve always been a bit intrigued by those two Kade boys. They’re so handsome and athletic. Bit of bad boys, aren’t they?”

Mark groaned. His forehead dropped on the table with a thump. “Mom, could you be more embarrassing right now?”

She straightened. “I could. You really want me to be?” Her voice came out razor sharp, and her son lifted his head, gave her a sheepish look, and reached for a piece of sausage.

He mumbled as he popped it in his mouth, “I love you, mom.”

She melted again and beamed. “Oh, honey. I do love you so much.”

And then there was a knock at the door. Malinda went to answer, but I heard a deep masculine voice as soon as she opened the door. My stomach twisted into knots and my heart picked up its pace.

“You okay?”

I stood from the table and walked to the foyer. There he was. Garrett stood above Malinda and he flashed a charming smile to her. His teeth were white and perfect. He had angular cheekbones with a dash of grey in his dark hair. He had broad shoulders, a slender waist, and I knew his type.

He was the usual dreamboat to mid forty year old women and I saw him working his magic. Malinda touched his arm. I expected to hear a purr, but when I didn’t, I drew up short and blinked back to focus. Her eyes were twinkling, but there was no real flirtation in her voice.

Oh right. Garrett seemed the opposite of David, who was her real dreamboat.

When he saw me, I could tell that he was surprised by how his sex appeal seemed to bounce off of Mark’s mother.

“Sam.” He gestured for me to come closer.

She touched his arm again and glided away. When she passed me by, she murmured as she touched my arm, “I’ll let you two have some privacy.”

As soon as she rounded the corner, Garrett came inside and shut the door behind him. His eyes raked me over before glancing back towards his house. “I saw you come in here. When you didn’t come out after a while, I figured…” His tone was cautious, but I sensed the disapproval from him.

“You’re mad because I didn’t come home last night?”

A deep breath left him in a rush. “I’m mad because when I came home, your room was empty. There was nothing. No note. No phone call. No text message. Nothing. What if something had happened to you?”

A knot tightened in my gut, but another unraveled at the same time. It put me off balance. “I…I’m sorry. I didn’t—I forgot. I didn’t think about you or that… My mom hasn’t really cared and since we moved out, my dad’s been… Well, you know.”

He jerked his head in a nod and cleared his throat. “I know. I do. Helen pointed that out to me—”

My head went down. “You were with Helen?”

He sucked in his breath. “I…was… We had a date night, but… I called her when I saw you hadn’t gone home last night.”

“And she told you to call Analise?”

“No.” His voice was strained. “She was going to call Mason. I told her not to and that’s when I called Analise.”

I nodded. “And James came down to the room.”