He did too and we were almost touching, his pads to my shoulders. He bent his head so he could hear me. "They were my best friends."

"Got it." Then he gave me a small grimace. "Your mom mentioned that you were coming for dinner on Sunday?"

I jerked my head in a nod. I couldn't catch my breath.

"Good," he sighed.

I looked up in surprise.

He shrugged. "She's bearable when you're around." Then he frowned. "Did I hear Logan yell at you to party with us?"

"Yeah. He did."

"Good." He nodded. "We might have some actual fun." Then his hand touched my shoulder, lightly and briefly. "Wait for me after this. I'll give you a ride."

I was about to tell him that I had a car, but he had started to jog after his team. There was a line of girls who had been watching and all looked as he went past them.

Before their heads could snap back to me, I started to turn away. Lydia and Jessica were in front of me, both with fierce expressions on their faces.

I steered myself. This was not going to be good.

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

Lydia pushed herself forward and was an inch from my face. I felt her breath on me. "You know Mason Kade?" She had a sharp tone, but she was shoved aside as Jessica took her place.

Her eyes were narrowed, mouth tight, and I wondered if steam could come out of a person. She folded her arms over her chest and cooled her tone. "How do you know Logan?"

I glanced around. Jill and Ashley had stopped not far from us. Their cheerleading bags were both on the ground and I knew they heard every word. Each wore a different expression, one seemed wary and the other looked to share in Jessica's fury.

I sighed and stepped back. "I don't know what you're talking about."

Lydia sucked in her breath while Jessica's narrowed even more. "Logan hugged you and Mason talked to you. You can't lie about that."

I shrugged and grinned. "Guess they're playing some game with you, Jess, because I don't know them. Never have, never will, never want to."

"Are you serious?" Lydia frowned.

I rolled my eyes and tried to exude a bored attitude. "Not my problem."

"Samantha." Jessica planted herself in front of me when I tried to turn away. She put her hands on her hip. "You can't be lying about this."

"I don't know them." I paused. "And if I did, what business is it of yours?"

She seemed to hesitate now.

"Exactly." I shoved her aside and started for my car, but Nate intercepted me. He held out some keys and remarked, "Here are Mason's keys. Give me yours; I'll take your car home."

I didn't turn around, but I knew Jessica and Lydia had heard. I could feel their disbelief and anger rolling off of them. I sighed and held out my hand. "Whatever."

Nate grinned as he plucked my keys for Mason's. Then he glanced over my shoulder. "I take it those are the two who stabbed you in the back."

"Pretty much."

He frowned. "You haven't dealt with them yet?"

"Not yet."

I felt his eyes scanning my face when he asked, "Are you planning to?"

"Guess I have to now."

"Ah." He tipped his head back in understanding. "Cat's out of the bag, huh? Sorry about that."

"Logan's not. He shouted it to everyone."

He grinned at that. "Yeah, when he decides he likes someone he gets pretty excited about 'em." He folded his arms over his chest. "He doesn't like a lot of people."

I didn't look up when I asked, "And Mason?"

I heard his husky chuckle. "Logan wouldn't like you if Mason hadn't given the stamp of approval."

I looked up now, breathless again. "And when was that?"

He shrugged and looked past my shoulder again. "When he stopped you from hitting your mom. If he didn't give a damn about you, he would've watched you clobber her. Hell, I wanted to get snacks for the show. When Mason steps in, there's always a reason."

I nodded. "I'm starting to get that."

He clamped his hand on my shoulder. "Don't worry about this stuff, your friends and all. Logan's bound and determined to make you have fun tonight so I'd relax and let it happen."

I grinned. "Ah, what all ra**sts say to their intended victims."

Nate pulled back, narrowed his eyes, but barked out an abrupt laugh. "Yeah, I guess." Then he nodded in the direction of Jessica and Lydia. "You want me to play guard dog until you're in Mason's car?"

I spotted the black Escalade not far and shook my head. "Nah. I'm good." Then I chuckled to myself. "This is becoming a whole adventure."

"Guess you could look at it that way." He patted my shoulder again. "See you later."

"See ya," I muttered under my breath as I watched him cut through Jessica and Lydia like a knife would go through butter. He didn't give care who he rolled over and both jumped back, eyes wide in shock.

I shook my head and couldn't stop another chuckle as I swung towards Mason's car. "Samantha!" Jessica called after me, but I ignored her until I was close to his car. Then I turned back around, leaned against his hood, and crossed my legs. I wasn't about to hide inside.

They stood where I had left and watched me. Jill and Ashley joined them and all four didn't say a word as they stared.

I lifted my chin up.

We were at a stand-off, but it didn't last long. Adam came out of the locker room and started to walk to his car. He caught sight of the other girls, followed their gazes and saw me. He stopped in the middle of us before he shook his head and came over. When he drew near, he reached up and shook out some of his wet hair.

"Hey." He nodded across the parking lot. "What's with the brigade over there?"

I frowned. I hadn't considered Adam before. "It's nothing, just stupid stuff."

"This about Sallaway again?"

I barked out a laugh. "No, not this time."

"Oh." He gave me a small smile. "So you came without Becky, huh?"

"Yep. I sat with some snobby sophomore even. Good times."

He grinned. "I just got off the phone with her."

"The stuck-up sophomore?" I teased.