“I knew it!” someone hissed from the crowd.

Another person muttered, “Yep. Called that shit.”

Logan flinched, but met my gaze. He said, “She’s a good lay.”

She shook her head. “I can’t do this. Not again.”

She started to slip away. I nodded at Nate, who caught her arm and held her in place. She tried to jerk her arm away, scowling at him, but he ignored her. He was waiting for me. I said, “Stop fighting, Tate.”

She did, but glared at me. “What are you going to do to me, Mason? Huh? If your brother wants to spend time with me, what business is it of yours to butt in?”

All I could do was laugh. “Are you f**king with me?” I grinned. “Wait. Wrong choice of words. Do you want to f**k with me? That’s the right way to say it. You wanted to before. You kept trying, even though I gave you no encouragement. Are you going to repeat history?”

“Shut up.” She tried to sound threatening, but she glanced around. Her cheeks were red and her head was lowered. Nate still had her by the arm; it was obvious she wanted to run.

I shook my head. “This is unbelievable.” Turning to Logan, I said, “Really? What are you doing?”

He sighed. “She’s good in bed. What do you want from me?”

“Logan.”

He looked at me and I saw the pain in his gaze. He was still holding onto her. I shook my head. “She left you in bed. She came to my room, and she took her clothes off.” The crowd began to murmur around us. It grew louder as I divulged more details. I added, “She masturbated in front of me. She wanted to turn me on. She thought she was.”

“Slut.”

I glanced at the crowd. No one was even pretending not to listen. We were the entertainment. We were front and center. I shook my head. I looked at Tate and said, “I don’t want to humiliate you.”

Tate laughed. “Not really getting that feeling right now.”

I kept going as if she hadn’t spoken, “But I will. If I have to do that to remind my brother the hell you’ve put him through, I will record myself, telling everything, then play it over the local radio.” I looked at Logan. “You watched the tape.”

“Fuck,” someone cried out. “There was a tape?!”

“She came to me. She touched herself. She was making herself come. She was doing that for me.”

Logan clamped his eyes shut and turned away. “Stop.”

I wouldn’t. “Us against the world? That’s what you just said.”

He shook his head, but a mangled cry tore from his throat. “Stop, Mason.”

I moved closer and lowered my voice. “She said that she thought about me when you were in her.”

“Oh my god.” Tate fell. Her knees folded, but Nate kept her upright.

I studied her. She wasn’t weak. She could handle a lot more. I told Nate, “Don’t let her go anywhere.”

He nodded. “I wasn’t planning on it.”

Then I turned back to my brother. “Logan, don’t do this with her again.”

“I was going to f**k her. That was it. I was going to f**k her and drop her.” He met my gaze, but I saw his pain. The haunted look was back.

I shook my head. He wouldn’t have had the strength. “You would’ve fallen back in love with her.” When my words hit him, he turned away and I realized the truth. He was still in love with her. I thought he was only still hurting, not loving. “Maybe you should go?”

“I’m sorry.”

I nodded. “I know.”

Then Logan left. He grabbed a case of beer on his way out and I knew he’d find a different girl to be with for the rest of the night. It was how he dealt.

I turned to Tate. My full attention focused on her now. This was how I dealt. “Really? You thought that would work?”

She lashed out at me. “Shut up.” Suddenly she was standing on her own. She wasn’t backing down. Nate didn’t have to hold her up anymore. Her eyes were clear. Her shoulders were back, and she raised her chin up. “I still love him—”

“You never f**king loved him.”

She stopped.

“You wanted me.”

She looked away and I saw that she still did. I laughed. That was rich. “Are you serious? You were hoping to f**k my brother when you still think about me?”

She didn’t answer. When she remained turned away, I knew it was true.

“You’re unbelievable.” I shook my head. I had more to say, but none of it would’ve made a difference. She was going to keep going after him and I wondered if she thought she could still keep trying for me. Then I glanced over and saw Kate. She’d been watching and listening the whole time. When my gaze met hers, she straightened from the wall. I saw the hunger in her eyes. She wanted me too. I asked her, “You want me?”

There were no pretenses. Kate didn’t care who heard. She was like me in that way. She nodded. “Yes.”

“Make her life hell and we can talk.”

Kate nodded. “I will.”

I looked at Tate, saw the wariness in her eyes, and shook my head. “You should’ve stayed away from my brother.”

She knew what was coming her way, but she held my gaze for a moment.

In that second, I realized I would never understand Tate. I had no idea why she wanted me, why she tried to be with Logan, why she endured Kate and had put herself in a position to endure her again. Then I stopped caring. I remembered Logan as he sat at my computer and had watched the tape of her. I remembered the broken look in his gaze.

I said to her, “I want you gone. If they don’t push you to leave, I will. I don’t care what I have to do. I want you out of our lives.”

I left. Kate took over and for once, I was thankful to her. Then I went to get drunk. Nate went with me. It was guys’ night now.

14

MASON MEETS ANALISE FOR THE FIRST TIME

“Mason,” the girl moaned as I kissed down her throat. Sweeping a hand up her shirt, I grabbed her breast and felt her body buck under me. I grinned. One touch, one little caress, and this girl was ready to unzip her pants for me again. When my hand curved around her hip and slid underneath her jeans, her elbow jerked and slammed against the horn.

“Shit!” she gasped and looked at me with wild eyes. Her hair was messed up. Her top lip was curved up in a lustful grin. “Hey.” She reached for me, to pull me back down.