Parker growled. “It is. Get with the program. They played us. They all played us. Nate just sent me a text. It’s done between me and him.”

“What did you do?” Kate turned back to me. She cried out, “What did you do?!”

“Nate sent me a text just now, too.” I would spell it all out for her. “He went to your home, Kate. I told him how to get in. Your dad’s at the VFW, and your mom’s working a double shift tonight.”

She paled even more, stumbling back another step.

I continued, “That’s what you told me earlier. Your mom won’t be back to the house until seven tomorrow morning. You had a gift for me, and we’d have your house to ourselves for the entire night. Your dad would go to some whore’s house after closing. Those were your words.”

“So? I mean …” She looked to Parker, who rolled her eyes and moved away. Kate shook her head. “This can’t be happening. Nate can’t do anything. He—all of you guys are here. I mean …”

Logan snorted. “You’re too slow to deal with us. You never should’ve tried.”

“Nate was at your house. That was him texting me. I gave him your password, sexcontrolsthemall. You never changed it. You told me it last summer. You laughed about it. Did you forget that? You should’ve remembered telling me. You should’ve changed it when I brought Sam around.”

“Sam,” Kate spewed out. “Her. This is all about her, isn’t it?”

“Yes.” Logan hit his palm against his forehead. “Are you seriously only now getting that? He worked you, Kate. You went after the woman he loves. He TOLD you he was going to f**k you over. You didn’t listen. Listen now!” He laughed to himself. “You might pick up a few pointers for the next time a guy screws you over, and it’ll happen. You’re dumb enough to think you’re smart, but you’re not. You need to be smarter to realize how stupid you are.”

“Hey,” Parker started, but stopped.

Logan cut his gaze to her. When she couldn’t say anything, he nodded. “Exactly.”

“Stay out of this Logan,” Kate cursed at him. “This has nothing to do with you.”

An exasperated laugh ripped from him. “You took a video of me getting a blow job? AND you beat up my stepsister. Sam’s not loved by only Mason, you know. I care about her too. Any of this filtering in that thick head of yours? I can’t believe how you’re not shitting your pants right now. He hasn’t even gotten to the good part. Parker, grab a bucket. Stick it between her legs. Shit’s going to fall any second now.”

“ENOUGH.” Parker jerked forward a step and pulled Kate back to her. She glared at him. “She’s getting it. The guy she loved just stabbed her in the back. Let her figure it out without all the insults.”

“No.”

Logan opened his mouth, but stopped. All three turned back to me.

I said it again, “No. You don’t get to think like that. I’m not the guy she loved who turned out to be an ass**le. I’ve always been an ass**le, and I’ve never cared about her. I used her for sex. That was it. You don’t get to spin it how you’re doing it. I’ve been honest about that with her. I told her it was just sex with us. No girlfriend/boyfriend status. No lovers title on us. Sex. That was it.”

Parker glared at him. “We were your friends.”

“The group of you hung out with us, but you were never considered friends on my part. You kept the other girls away. That’s the only use I enjoyed from you. You were deterrents. That was all.”

“You’re such an ass**le.” Parker wrapped her arms tighter around Kate. “It’ll be okay.”

“No, it won’t.”

“Would you stop?” Her eyes were heated now. “We got it. Nate broke into her email—”

“And put a virus on her computer,” Logan added. He began chuckling again. “You guys have nothing now.”

“We’re getting that, too.”

I nodded to Logan. It was time the rest joined the party. He sent another round of text messages to the guys, and I said, “Kate.” I knew each guy would share their own recording with her friends.

She lifted her head from Parker’s shoulder. It was tear-streaked, but I saw the resolve there. She was hurt. I knew that, but she would come back. She would garner the strength and support she needed from her friends and she’d launch another attack. I couldn’t have that.

I shook my head “Now’s not the time to act like a victim. Everyone in this room knows what you can do.”

Her chest lifted as she took a deep breath, but the acknowledgement was in her depths. I baited her just now. I called her weak and Kate wasn’t weak.

I was right. Everyone in the room knew it too.

She stepped away from her friend’s shelter.

I smirked at her. Good. It’d be the last time that shelter would be offered. As the door opened, I asked, “You remember what I said to you at my car?”

Tate led the way. She came in first.

Kate saw a new target. “What is that whore doing here?”

“Kate,” I brought her attention back to me, “do you remember?”

I felt Sam’s presence and gestured for her to come to me, and she did. Kate sucked in her breath when my hand reached for Sam’s, and she took it. I pulled her behind me now and Logan moved closer to shield her from the other side.

“Do you remember, Kate? You have three friends. I told you that I’d take them away.” I paused for a beat. “Hey, Parker.”

“What?”

She wanted to murder me, but I was going to change her mind in the next second. “Right before Nate told me what you guys wanted to do with Sam, he told me something else.”

She froze. Her chest stopped moving as she stopped breathing.

Kate started under her breath, “Nonononononon—”

My voice lifted over Kate’s protests as I told her friend, “There’s a reason why Nate wanted to be the one to go to Kate’s house. He told me about the video Kate said she had. That video of you two. That bluff started this whole thing.”

Kate’s voice rose in volume. “Nononononon.”

“Oh my god,” Parker was connecting those dots too. Her eyes were glued to Kate as she started trembling. Then her phone beeped again. Her attention was torn away as she checked it once more. When she hit a button and noises came over the room, this was it. It was a matter of moments before the rest exploded into the room.