She flinched again.

Adam cursed behind me. "Sam! Seriously." He grabbed my arm and jerked me behind him. "Becky, go back to the car."

Her feet didn't move. Her head went down and her shoulders started to shake as if she were crying. The guy next to her stepped closer. A half frown was on his face, and he lifted a hand to her back.

Then Brandon moved forward. "You guys are friends with her?"

Becky's crying grew louder. She hiccupped now.

Adam grimaced. "Yeah. We are."

"Then get her out of here. Otherwise a massive fight's going to erupt."

I whipped my gaze from Becky as Brandon strode past us and yanked open the door. He went through and it slammed behind him. Then I heard a click and physically cringed from the sound of it. He locked the door. If I wanted in, I'd have to go through the front door, and I already knew Heather would shoo me out immediately.

"What just happened?" Adam frowned at the locked door.

My shoulders lifted in a deep breath. "I got the night off."

CHAPTER TWENTY

I didn't know where else to go, and I needed to find Mason so we went to Nate's house. In Adam's car was Becky with her boyfriend, Adam and me. I found out the boyfriend's name was Raz and he thought Logan was "neat-o."When we drove up to the mansion, Adam frowned and parked around the fountain. "No lights are on. No one's home?"

It didn't matter. I got out and pressed the code to the garage. As we went in, I flipped on the lights.

"Oh, wow." Becky spun in a tight circle as the mansion was flooded with light. "I didn't expect that."

Raz held onto her hand and blasted me a bright smile.

I frowned. The kid seemed off, but she seemed happy with him. He had comforted her in the alley and then made her giggle in the backseat. Everyone knew she'd been tense because of me. I wondered how long they'd been dating or how they got together, but then she glanced at me and I stopped wondering.

Her eyes were full of questions, along with something dark. She couldn't be sorry. She chose her fate. She had nothing to feel sad about.

I felt a swift kick to my gut again. She'd been the friend I thought would stay no matter what and she bailed.

The corner of her lip started to tremble. But I moved away. Becky wasn't my problem anymore. She stopped being my problem the moment she believed Adam's lie.

"Where's Kade?" Adam frowned at me.

I shook my head. "Hold on." I hurried up the stairs and to our bedroom, but no one was in there. No note, nothing. I wasn't sure what I was looking for, but I hadn't expected the empty house. Reaching for my back pocket, I cursed. I left my purse and phone at the diner.

"Adam," I called out as I went out to the banister.

"Yeah?"

"My stuff's at the diner. I left it all there."

He held a finger up. "Hold on." Then pulled out his phone and pressed a number. It wasn't long before we heard him ask, "Can I speak to Heather Jax? Oh, hey! This is Adam Quinn….Yeah, I'm a friend of Sam's…Yeah, we brought her home, but listen….yeah, her stuff's still there." He nodded a few more times, murmured 'yeah' again, and then said, "That sounds great. Thanks."

He looked up. "She's going to bring it over after closing, but she said there was a text from Mason. She read one and it said something about a family meeting with his mom?" He frowned. "You know what that meant?"

Relief rushed through me. They were in L.A. They were not headed to the diner. I nodded. "Yeah, I know. They won't be home till tomorrow."

Raz let out a whoop. "Hellsayeaha! Party in the Monson's bisnatch!"

Becky glared and slapped her hand to his chest.

He grunted and doubled over but peeked at her from the corner of his eye. When she rolled her eyes, he wrapped his arms around her and twirled her in the air. More giggles came from her with his laughter intermixed. The two disappeared down the hallway.

As I came down the stairs, Adam followed me into the kitchen area and sat on a bar stool. I started looking through the cupboards when he asked, "It's weird with her?"

I spied the rum and snatched it up. When I put it on the counter between us, I ignored his shock and looked for two shot glasses. I didn't like the hard stuff, but this rum was citrus flavored. This stuff I could drink just fine. Logan would be so proud of me right now.

"So it is weird." He nodded as he answered himself.

I pursed my lips from annoyance. I didn't want to talk about Becky. I didn't want to think about Becky, and I certainly didn't want to acknowledge that she was even in my home now. I put the two shot glasses between us and filled both to the rim. I slid one towards him and gripped the other. "Here's to not thinking about how we should go back to Manny's so I can beat that girl's ass."

Adam choked on his drink. "What?!"

I took my shot in one gulp. It was there. It was gone. I filled it again. As I tossed that one back, I started for a third, but Adam grabbed the bottle away from me.

His eyes were searching me. "What are you talking about? What girl?"

I wanted that bottle back. I needed it to help me forget. She had hurt Mason. I wanted to hurt her. I was starting to forget the consequences of going back and doing just that. What could her brothers do to me anyway? Heather could've been overreacting.

"Nothing," I clipped out.

"Sam."

I eyed the bottle in his hand, and when his hand relaxed, I grabbed it from him. I had my third shot poured within a second. He sat back with a defeated sigh so I filled a second one for him. Then I put the bottle between us as we both took our glasses and lifted them in the air. As he drank his, I leaned against the counter. Then I found myself saying, "There's a girl back there that did something to Mason. She caused a lot of problems for him and I really want to hurt her."

"Sam."

I grimaced against the sympathy in his voice and downed that third shot. It didn't burn. None of the three drinks had, but I didn't taste the sweetness anymore.

I pressed my hands against my eyes. What was I doing? I didn't drink my problems away. I wasn't that girl. I drew in a shuddering breath. What was going on? So much had happened and in such a short amount of time.

"Sam." Adam's voice was soft this time. He had moved around the counter and stood close as he pulled my hands away. "What's going on?"