Mason held his hands in the air. “Relax, Laura. I’m here on friendly grounds.”

Her friend, the brown haired girl, came to her side. She had a heart-shaped face with the same hostility as her friend. “Go away, Mason.”

He sighed and backed two steps from me. When he stood behind their car a few feet, he gestured to me. “This is my girlfriend, Samantha. I wanted to introduce her to you guys.”

They both regarded me with questions in their eyes.

I twisted around. “What are you doing?”

His mouth twisted into a frown and he took a deep breath. “They were friends with Marissa.”

“We still are.” The black-haired girl came forward. Her hands found her hips and she struck an intimidating pose. “I talk to her every day, unlike you. You’re supposed to still be a good friend to her.”

“I was.” He snarled at her. “I still am. I try.”

The girl snorted.

“Laura, give me a break.” He rolled his eyes. “Sam, Marissa became a friend to me. You know this. I told you, but I’m the reason she left this school. She was bullied by so many girls she couldn’t handle it. I don’t blame her.”

Laura opened her mouth. He lifted his hand and continued, “These two stayed at her side the whole time. They got bullied too.”

The brown haired girl piped in, “We still are.”

The two of them shared a look and Mason’s mouth flattened. He stepped forward and gentled his voice. “I know. I know you are, but you’re good friends. I saw it then and I respect you. I’ve always respected the two of you.”

Laura opened her mouth, but the other hushed her. “Stop it. He’s been nice to us and you know it.”

She closed her mouth with a snap and glared at her friend.

Mason cleared his throat. He was now beside me again, and his hand was at my waist. He turned me to face them. “This is Laura and Kelly. I wanted you to meet them because your friends suck, Sam.”

One of them snorted in laughter.

“My friends don’t suck—” Then the words died in my throat. My friends did suck. I rolled my eyes. “What do you want me to do?”

He gestured to the girls. “Meet them, get to know them. I want you to come to my games, but I know you won’t because of Kate and the girls.”

Laura growled from deep in her throat. “They don’t like her? Why am I not surprised?”

Kelly gave me a sympathetic look. Her shoulder lifted up. “Sorry to hear that, but I’m not surprised. They massacred Marissa when she was friends with Mason. They hate anybody he likes.”

His hand curled on my waist and he pulled me against him. His arms came around me and he now hugged me from behind. His lips rested near my ear and as he spoke, they brushed against it. A tingle rushed through me from the caress. “I’m sorry to do this. I know you like your friend Becky, but I can’t stand back anymore. These girls don’t like me, but they were loyal to Marissa. I really do think they’re good friends to have. Talk to them for a bit. If you don’t like them, you can leave.” I felt his keys as he pushed them into my hand. Then he pressed another kiss to my forehead. “And I love you too.”

CHAPTER TWENTY FIVE

The two girls dropped their attitudes as soon as Mason left. They had reason not to like him, if he was the reason their friend left the school and as they started to detail the different groups at Fallen Crest Public, it seemed Mason wasn’t the only one they didn’t like. They hated Kate and the Fab Four, as they called the rest of the girls. Kate was the leader, which I had discerned already. Natalie was the second leader and Logan’s hook-up in the group. It seemed there were some rules that I hadn’t figured out, but Jasmine and Ethan would hook up. Parker was Nate’s hook up whenever he was in town. None of the couples, and they used that term loosely with a giggle, were together. They only got together if both of the partners wanted it. The only rule the applied to the hook-ups is that those three guys and those three girls couldn’t get together with one another. So that meant Logan had never been with Parker or Jasmine. Ethan had never been with Parker or Natalie and so forth.

They held their tongues when I told them that I knew Kate had been Mason’s hook-up before I came along. Both of them glared past me with such hatred, I was jolted from it, but then I turned and saw the objects of our conversation. Kate and her friends had stopped in their path. Their mouths hung down when they saw me. Kate glared at me before she left. The group was slow to follow, but they did. Parker was the last and she sent me a sneer before Natalie clamped a hand on her arm and dragged her away.

As they faded from our sight, Laura turned awestruck. She oohed and aahed that Kate Sullivan had walked away from me. Then they wanted to know why, if there had already been exchanges between her and I. I shrugged and told them that Kate was aware I wasn’t a fan of hers as well.

After that bit of information, the girls turned from polite to warm. They acted like I was their new idol. It made me uncomfortable, but it made me wonder what Kate was like at their school. I knew the girls were tough. I knew they wanted to rip me apart at the mansion the other night, but they stood down. I wasn’t sure if that was good or not. It also made me wonder if Mason or Logan had something to do with it. I’m sure they did. I wasn’t stupid, but a part of me still wanted to fight Kate. A shiver of ownership went through me when I thought about her time with Mason. My blood boiled as I remembered when she slid her hand through his hair and tried to pull him down to her at his last game. Then a rush of lust soared through me when I remembered how Mason had shoved her hand off.

“Sam?”

I turned and saw Logan at the end of the Fiat. He frowned and ran a hand through his hair. As he messed it up, he shook his head. He was dressed in jeans and his school’s sweatshirt. “What are you doing?”

“Logan!” Mason shouted at him from across the lot. His eyes met mine for a second. They narrowed, but then he yelled at Logan, “Come on. We’re heading inside.”

Logan gestured to me. “Did you know about this?”

I felt the girls’ tension behind me. One of them sucked in her breath and the other let loose a twitching hum from her mouth. I figured she wasn’t aware of it.

“Let’s go!” Mason gestured again. “Coach wants to talk quick.”