Mason lifted me so my legs were entwined around his waist. I hung onto him. My arms were wound around his neck. He ran a hand down my back as his other held me in place, splayed out on my bottom.

Then he kissed the side of my mouth and whispered against it, "She won't. She doesn't dare."

I sighed as he kissed the other side of my mouth. My lips moved against his. "What do you mean?"

"Your mom's a bitch and now she knows what we think of her…"

She knew what they could do to her. My body couldn't stop shaking as I realized this and pressed my forehead into his shoulder. I held on tighter, but a thought nagged me. Why had he done that? Why had all three of them done that?

Mason chuckled against my hair. "Because she'll shut up now. That's why we did it. And because she needed to know we could."

I closed my eyes and felt him moving. I had no idea where he was taking me, but I wasn't going to ask. My body had stopped shaking and a different feeling had taken hold of me, one I didn't think I could fight off. I didn't want to.

Need.

CHAPTER TWENTY TWO

Mason sat me on the couch in my room and started rummaging through my closet. The need throbbed in me, it was slowly taking over when he started to lift my arms and pull my dress off. I blinked up at him. He seemed cold, hurried. This wasn't how I thought it would be.

My arms dropped back to my lap and I stared up. Desire was thick within me, blurring my vision. Why didn't he kiss me? I wanted him to and I reached up to palm the back of his head. Something was shoved down my arm instead. He slipped it over my head too. When he lifted my other arm and pushed it through a sleeve, I realized he was dressing me.

"What are you doing?" My voice was raspy.

Mason tugged me to my feet.

"Wha—?"

He pulled up some pants and I looked down at myself. I was fully dressed, even with socks and tennis shoes.

I blinked again. When had that happened?

"You couldn't go in that."

I spread my arms wide. "Like what?"

"We're taking off." He went back to going through my closet. More of my clothes were brought out and stuffed in a bag.

"We are?"

"When your mom wakes up sober, she's going to freak out. She'll call my dad hysterical."

"What?" I sat up further to clear my head. "They broke up…"

"No, they didn't." His head was in my closet again. "My dad called me and asked if we'd handle your mom. She got drunk at his business dinner and kept going on about you and your dad. He couldn't let her stay and he had to keep the meeting so we got babysitting duty."

I watched as he kept putting things in my bag and then disappeared inside the bathroom. "What are you going to say when he calls about tonight?"

"The truth." He came back with my toiletry bag. It was bulging at the zipper. "She kept drinking. You came home. She attacked you and then she started on us so we took her to a hotel."

"What are you going to tell him why we're leaving?" Where were we going?

"Nate's parents called to invite us up. We'll be back Monday or Tuesday we took you along so your mom wouldn't start in on you again. It's a long weekend anyway."

"What if she tells him what you guys did?"

He stopped and stared at me. His gaze was piercing. "She was drunk and crazy. We didn't do anything except to help." He narrowed his eyes. "It should be four to one."

Clarity slammed into me. I heard the veiled threat and surged to my feet. "You think I'm going to rat?"

He grinned and the tense moment was gone. "I didn't think so. Check to make sure I got everything. I need to get my own stuff."

"Where are we going? I don't know what to pack."

"Nate lives in the mountains, but he's got a Jacuzzi." And he left with those parting words.

My butt plopped down on the couch and I held my bag with numb fingers. It dangled from them to the floor. All I could do was sit there. What the hell had happened? And then I realized it didn't matter. He had everything covered for me, even my clothes. All I had to do was go downstairs and go for a ride. Did I go?

An hour later as I stood in the foyer, waiting, I knew that question was irrelevant. There'd never been a question not to go.

A bag crashed next to me and I jumped back. Then a second later, another bag followed with a third beside it. Logan and Nate peered down to me from the stairway and Logan waved. "Sorry!"

I frowned up at them, but they disappeared. It wasn't long before both were downstairs and in the foyer with me.

They looked happy, not happy—radiant. Logan was bouncing in place and Nate was bent over laughing at something. The two were full of adrenalin and excitement.

I shook my head. What was happening? It was all such a daze to me.

Then Logan threw his arm around my shoulder and jerked me against him. He breathed on me. "Are you ready to par-tay?"

"Party?" My eyes got big. "I thought we were going to the mountains."

"Uh, yeah…with thirty others." Logan sighed in exasperation and then frowned before he barked out, "Hey!"

I jumped again.

"What about your friends? You want to invite some of them?"

"My friends?"

"Yeah, that nerd girl and the quarterback who wants to bang you."

"He doesn't want to bang me."

Logan squeezed me against him and tipped his head back. His hyena laugh came out. Nate started to join in.

"He doesn't."

Both kept laughing and shook their heads.

"He doesn't."

Mason appeared with two bags in one hand and a black duffel bag on his back. He rolled his eyes and pulled out his keys. "You can't even lie to yourself. The douchebag has wanted to get in your pants for a long time."

I looked around. All three gave me knowing looks. Then I threw my arms in the air. "I don't even know why I was saying that."

Logan reached out and caught my shoulders when I started to leave. He pulled me back against his chest and enfolded his arms over my chest. "Ah, our little sister, trying to be all nice and saintly."

Mason snorted and opened the door. "Saints don't set cars on fire."

We all piled out behind him and Logan chuckled. "There's that, yeah."