This wasn’t my school. This was foreign territory to me. That should’ve staggered me, but it didn’t. I had endured Analise. I could endure this.

Heather fell back against her locker with a groan. “I didn’t expect that.”

“I did.” I actually expected more.

She eyed me up and down. “I thought maybe they’d steal your clothes during gym class or something. Maybe write the word ‘whore’ on your locker.”

I grinned at her. “And on that note, I need to go to the office to get my combination. When I registered they didn’t have that for me.”

Heather tried to smile, but the corners of her lips went down instead of up. She glanced in the direction Tate had gone. “Why do you think she did that?”

Because she wants to be friends again. I didn’t say that, though. I said instead, “What boyfriend were they talking about?”

Pain flared over her face. “Channing.”

“I’m sorry.”

She lifted a shoulder and shrugged halfheartedly. She looked away. “Doesn’t matter. We’ve been broken up for a year anyway …”

“It couldn’t have been anyone else?”

Heather looked down now. “No. I’ve only been with him, and we were dating when Tate was my friend. It makes sense now …”

Score one for Kate.

“I’m sorry,” I said again, but I knew it wouldn’t help.

Kate won this round. She hurt my friend.

CHAPTER FIVE

The first bell went off when I reached the office. The final bell went off when I was given my locker combination. I would officially be late to my first class, on my first day. Wonderful. When I asked where Coach Grath’s office was, the secretary informed me that he’d be gone all week. That dilemma was resolved. So with that new information, I headed back out and started my day as a new student.

When I got to my class, the teacher didn’t care that I was late. A worksheet was handed to me right away and the rest of the class went fast as I began working on it. There were no Tommy P.’s in there, but there were in the rest of my classes. Jasmine and Natalie were in my second period. Kate was in my third and Parker rounded out the fourth. My mornings were going to be glorious, but the one silver lining was that my locker was still clean when I headed to lunch. No ‘whore’ or ‘slut’ decorated it. Yet.

There was no sight of Mason or Logan when I went to the cafeteria, but Heather called me over to her table. There were a few others sitting with her. The guys were friendly or friendlier while the two girls gave me a cold reception. One, dressed in all black clothing, gave me a sneer and turned her back to me.

Subtle.

The other one, wearing a white sweatshirt emblazoned with a large rainbow, gave me a shy grin. She had the softest blue eyes and palest skin I’d ever seen on a person. After we ate, Heather explained on the way to our lockers that the shy one was an albino. I’d never met someone who looked like that, but she warned me not to expect anything nicer than the greeting I got. The shy one didn’t talk and Heather said that I was better off not knowing the other one’s name. I didn’t question it. She added that No Name Chick wasn’t a fan of anyone associated with the Kades. Both girls were routine targets by the Tommy Princesses and neither cared that Kate’s group was no longer supported by Mason or Logan anymore.

It wasn’t until after fifth period when Logan showed up at my locker. “What was going on with those girls this morning?”

It was amazing. Logan Kade appeared at my locker and most everyone stopped to watch us. I sighed as I exchanged one book for the next one. I’d have to get used to the pull he held over everyone.

I shrugged. “It was nothing.”

“That didn’t look like nothing.”

“Stop, Logan,” I warned. “I have to take care of them. You can’t do this for me.”

He rolled his eyes, cursing under his breath at the same time. “We’re going to have to step in. It’s inevitable. Kate’s a bitch.”

“Logan.”

“You know it, Sam. Stop fighting us and let us help you. You’re going to have to at some point.” A final warning was in his gaze before he took off.

As he did, all heads turned to follow him. As he went one way, Mason passed him coming towards me. The heads turned and followed him instead.

As I waited, watching him come to me, people parted for Mason. He didn’t seem to notice it. His gaze was on me, but I couldn’t stop from watching how people reacted to him. Logan too. They knew when Mason or Logan were around. Even if they didn’t see them, they still moved out of the way. It was beginning to dawn on me how big their near-celebrity status was at this school. Everything they did, people knew. Everything they said, people heard. This shouldn’t have been a surprise anymore, but it was. It was different at their school. It was more than I had experienced before.

As he drew closer, his intensity softened and he gave me a grin. I saw the love in his eyes and it warmed me. Hell, he was becoming like oxygen. I needed him.

“Hey.”

“Hey, yourself,” he murmured, bending down to give me a soft kiss.

I closed my eyes as the usual ache started in me again.

The whispers started around us. They grew to a low buzz, and I started to turn around, but Mason grabbed my chin. His eyes were once again the only thing I saw—everything else started to melt away. He stepped closer, his hand grew gentle on my face, and his thumb started to rub over my cheek. “What happened with Kate earlier?”

“Nothing.” The Kade brothers were consistent. “It’s my fight, Mason. Let me fight it.”

“Sam, come on.”

I felt him now. His arms brushed against me. His stomach flattened and tightened, grazing through my shirt, and his familiar heat started to pull me in. He didn’t have his arms around me, but I still felt sheltered by him.

This was what Mason did. His charisma was so intoxicating, and I couldn’t blame anyone from wanting what I had. I reached up to his face now, feeling the small dip underneath his lips, before it formed his chin, I couldn’t look away from him. Even now, my fingers ached to explore more, to feel his lips, to trace them and then cup the side of his face.

“Hey,” he murmured, stepping even closer. He was almost pressed against me. My fingers fell from his face and down his chest. It felt like a cement wall underneath my touch. My hand fell to his jeans. It caught there and I curled my fingers around one of his loops. Then, feeling desire swirling inside of me, I bit my lip and pushed one of my fingers in the waistband of his jeans.