“I’m sorry, Sam.” Mason touched my arm now. It was so gentle, so tender. It brought a new wave of tears. He tugged on me.

“Be gentle with her.”

“Can you leave us alone?”

He wanted to talk to me, but I couldn’t talk to him now. What had I done? No. What had I been about to do? Another image of Kate straddling him flared again and I stopped crying.

“Sam,” he murmured again as a door shut somewhere in the house. His arms slid underneath me on the couch, and I was lifted in the air a moment later.

I froze. He was going to jar everything again, but he didn’t. He moved me in the exact position I was in. No new pain went through me. Then I was lifted to his lap instead. It felt wrong. All of this was wrong. Gritting my teeth, I pushed past the pain and stood from him.

“Sam.” He stood with me.

“No.”

“Yes.”

“NO.” Everything was muddled in my head, but he touched another girl. That wasn’t okay with me. “You shouldn’t have done that.”

“Sam.” He reached for me again.

Slapping his hand down, I seethed, “You shouldn’t have. You f**ked her.”

“I didn’t.”

“You did.” He must have. That was how she was kissing him, as if they had …

“I didn’t. I swear.” The disgust was clear in his voice. “I only touched her when Roussou people were around. I had to, Sam. I had to do it. It saved you, and it hurt her. It will. I didn’t cheat on you.”

“You were kissing her.”

“Because I had to,” he ground out. “I had to. Don’t you see that? He had to know about her. He was looking for you the whole time. It was only a matter of time before your name was slipped. I couldn’t let him hurt you. I couldn’t.”

I stopped to breathe. One moment, that was all I needed. My head was pounding. A stabbing pain kept overwhelming me, over and over again. I held a hand out for him to stop. I needed another moment.

“Sam,” he choked out.

“Stop.”

“I can’t.”

“Please.”

“NO … no.”

“Mason,” it left me in a whimper. He went away for only one night and day. That was all it took for me to become a mess, for my world to crumble. I swung my gaze to the couch. I’d been there before with—I shook my head. Standing there, I was hurting and all I wanted was to be in his arms. I wanted all of it to go away, but it wouldn’t. I shook my head. It wouldn’t. I knew too much. “What’s he going to do to her?”

“I don’t know.”

“Couldn’t you stop him some other way?”

“Not Budd Broudou. He hates me, Sam. He’s going to hurt me the worst way he could, and that’s through you. Do you see what I was doing now? He wanted my girlfriend, so I gave him a girlfriend. I spent an entire week with her touching me, but it wasn’t until last night that I kissed her. I swear. He had to be there, and he needed to see us tonight, too.”

“Is it going to be enough?”

He lifted his hands in a helpless gesture. “I hope. Once Budd sees something for his own eyes, he doesn’t go against it. He won’t trust what other people tell him. Besides, something tells me that there are people close to him who won’t let him know about you.”

I felt the extra kick behind his words. He knew. “Brett.”

“Yeah,” he bit out.

Hopelessness hit me hard then. There was so much distance between us now. Brett had been … what lie? I couldn’t remember now. “I meant to tell you about him.”

“It would’ve been nice to know my girlfriend was on a first-name basis with one of them, or when you first ran into them?”

I flinched from the accusation in his tone. “You lied to me, too.”

“When?”

“Don’t play that game with me.”

“When? I told you what I was doing with Kate—”

“With Logan,” I cried out. My heart started pounding again. It was racing. “You lied to me about Tate, and why you stopped giving a crap if they hooked up or not. Why, Mason?! Why?”

“Because he wants to screw with her,” he threw back. His green eyes were heated, but he was holding back.

That wasn’t why. I jerked my head in a nod, but began looking for that bottle again. “You just lied to me. Again.”

“What are you talking about?”

It wasn’t in the chair. I rounded to the couch and felt under the cushions.

“What are you looking for?”

“Alcohol.”

“You don’t drink that much.”

A harsh laugh ripped from me. “I do tonight. I’m going to keep drinking a whole shitload tonight.” My insides were churning, and the hysteria was starting to rise again.

“Sam.”

I stopped. His voice broke and I heard his defeat in my name. I turned from the couch, my heart paused and my breath held. He had fallen against the wall and was leaning against it now. His green eyes were stricken as he hunched forward.

Whatever tension that was between us was gone.

I didn’t speak. I didn’t dare. I felt something coming. It was the old Mason, before the lies got between us. I felt him coming back, and I wanted it so badly. I wanted him so badly. Please …

He slid down the wall to the floor and sat there. His eyes never left me. They were usually so intense and powerful. They could pierce through all my walls. He had since the beginning, but it was me this time. I pierced through his and he surrendered to me. I took a step towards him. My heart began beating rapidly. I missed him so damn much. “You touched another girl.”

“It was the only way, Sam. I know it hurt you, and I’m sorry for that. It was the only way. She hurt you. I can’t let that go. No one hurts you and Budd wanted to. I’ve stopped that too now.”

What could I say to that? I had no idea, but I took another step. I saw it then. He was sorry. As I closed the distance and stood above him, his head tipped back. There was agony inside of him, but determination too. He would do it again. That knowledge slammed against me, and I stumbled back a step.

“Sam.” He reached for me and caught the back of my leg. His hand cupped me there, and he pulled me back to him. “Please.”