“Enough talking.” I tried to pull him back down. “I want you.”

“I know.” His hand grazed down my arm and took my hand in his. He pulled my other one from his hair, and he held on to it, entwining our fingers. “But you’re right. I wanted to tell you that.”

“What?” The addiction to having him inside of me was overwhelming, but I shoved it back, slightly. Some logic filtered in. I gaped at him. “You’re saying that I was right.”

“You were right.”

He waited for my reaction.

“Well, it’s about time.” My hand reached for him again.

He laughed, pinning my hand down. “I’m trying to tell you that you were right. I was wrong. I shouldn’t have kept the security guy or the PI from you guys.”

“Why did you?”

Mason grew quiet, thoughtful. He pulled his hand back and moved so that he was sitting next to me instead of holding himself above me. Wrapping an arm around me, he pulled me up so that I was straddling him again. I reached above him, grabbing on to the headboard. Mason held my gaze. His hands grabbed my arms, but he only held on to them. He didn’t move them back. He didn’t take over our position. I was dominating him, and in a small way, a thrill wound through me.

“Mason?”

He lifted a shoulder. “I didn’t know what I would find. I don’t have a good reason for keeping you or Logan in the dark. I mean, all of this happened because of me. I wanted both of you to enjoy your first semester at college as normal students—or as normal as you could. All of this was because of me. I went against Sebastian last year, not you guys. I just pulled you into it with me.”

“But, Mason,” I murmured, my insides rolling over into mush. “We’re with you. When something happens to one of us, it happens to all of us.”

“I know.” He frowned. Regret flared over his face. “I-it was another battle because of me, you know? Yes, you had to deal with some shit because of your mom, but that stopped when you moved out. You were done and away from her. It all kicked up again because of me. She was trying to break us up, and you went to battle for me. The shit happened with Kate. That gutted me, what they did to you. That was all because of me. And again, with Broudou. Do you know how it killed me that he wanted to hurt you because of the mere fact that you were my girlfriend? None of that would’ve happened if you hadn’t been with me.

“I just…I wanted you to be normal for a little bit. I always get in some war. I always will. I know that, because it’s me. People try to dominate me, and you know me, that shit won’t fly. I don’t know what the future will bring, but I know there will be more battles, more fights, more of you getting hurt.” His hand brushed the side of my face.

I closed my eyes, moving into his touch.

He slid his hands over my cheek and cupped the side of my face. His thumb brushed back and forth over my skin. He said, “I’m too selfish to let you go, but I’m selfless enough that I will always protect you.” He leaned forward, pressing a kiss to my lips. He breathed there, saying, “Because that’s my job. I will love you. I will take care of you. I will worry about you, and I will do everything in my being to make sure you are okay.”

“Mason,” I started.

He tugged my lips down, back to his. “I know that we’re going into this together. I know we’re equal, but let me protect you. That’s what I’m supposed to do.”

My fingers slid into his hair, cupping both sides of his face, and I leaned back. “You and me.”

He nodded, his eyes lit up with love. “You and me.”

“We protect each other.”

He nodded again. “We do.”

“And you’re not mad at me because I didn’t tell you about Summer right away?”

“No.” His eyes closed for a moment. His forehead rested against mine. “I did the same to you. I lied to you, too.”

“Okay.” I nodded to myself. “As long as I know you’re aware that you fucked up.”

The corner of his mouth curved up. “I fucked up?”

I gave another nod with a stern look on my face. “You did. You completely fucked up.”

“Oh, yeah?” The other side of his mouth lifted into a playful grin. He started to lean toward me.

I leaned back until my head rested against his knees. I was flushed, growing warm, as a tingle of excitement started.

Mason laughed and opened his legs from beneath me so I was on the bed. He shifted so he was above me. His hand brushed over my forehead, tucking my hair back. He grinned at me, and his eyes held mine. And he was doing what he always did.

He was looking into me.

He was reading my insides.

He murmured, “I fucked up, huh?”

“Completely.” I closed my eyes.

His lips touched over mine again, a soft caress.

“Totally,” I added.

“I won’t do it again.”

“You’d better not.”

He pressed harder. His kiss grew more commanding.

I took hold of his face. He started to pull away, another teasing comment on his lips, but I stopped him. I tugged him to me, and I took over the kiss.

Enough talk.

It was time to show him how much I loved him, and so I did.

The mission was to get invited to Park Sebastian’s party.

I’d accepted the mission, and when I returned to my dorm room the next morning, I had no idea how to do the impossible. I walked in, saw the bare desk, the empty closet, the empty dresser drawers, the one box on the floor, and the bag on the stripped bed. Summer sat beside it. She pushed it aside and folded her hands in her lap. She looked down at her lap for a split second before lifting her gaze again, biting down on her lip and tucking a strand of hair behind her ear.

“Summer? What’s going on?”

“This was all a lie.” Her voice was trembling, and she wouldn’t look at me. She kept her head down. “But I can’t participate in this anymore.”

“What do you mean? You already came clean.” My insides were twisting. I felt like I was approaching a wounded animal, and I proceeded inside with caution, closing the door with a soft click. “I know you’re Sebastian’s sister.”

“No, Sam.” She wiped a hand over her cheek. Wetness glistened from the top of her palm as it went back to her lap. “All of it was a lie. I wasn’t even going to come to college. I came because Park convinced me. He made you, Mason, and Logan sound like a scene from The Exorcist.”