Girls didn’t respect cowards.

If Blaze backed down, he’d be a coward.

Granted, this was plan B, and yes, I hadn’t thought of it until Blaze sauntered up to me at this party, but as agendas went, this was an even better one than my original idea. The crumbs were tossed on the ground.

I asked Sebastian, “Are you good friends with Blaze here?”

Blaze did a double take as I’d correctly said his name, but he looked back at Sebastian.

Sebastian was studying him, scratching at his jaw. “I don’t believe I’ve had the pleasure.” He glared at Blaze. “Who are you?”

“Uh…” Blaze shifted on his feet.

Yep, the kid didn’t do confrontations well.

He started to hold his hand out.

I tapped it back down. “No, no, no. This isn’t how you do it, Blaze.”

“What?”

Sebastian was staring at me again. His eyes were locked on me, a fierce scowl there. He was starting to feel the insults.

I came to his party.

I insulted him.

I hadn’t ran off.

I was continuing to insult him.

And, yes, I was still not leaving.

As he remembered this night over the next week, the sting of embarrassment would grow more and more.

Stages. Fighting a war took stages, and this was one of them.

“Enough thinking, Logan. Finish it.” Hearing Mason’s voice, I reminded myself about why I was there in the first place.

I hit Blaze on the arm and said to Sebastian, “Okay. All the jabs and jokes aside, you’re right, Sebastian. I am here for a reason.”

“I never asked why you were here.”

I ignored him, gripping Blaze’s arm. “My friend here, Blazer—”

“Blaze.”

I looked at him. “Really? Again?”

He scoffed, shrugging his shoulders.

I turned back to Sebastian, noting that his buddies crowded in more. They were right next to Blaze’s group, but feeling the threat, Blaze’s friends moved forward, too. They were starting to stand off against them.

I continued, “He was telling me at his party a while ago how proud he was of me and of my brother, too.”

“Oh, shit.” Blaze sucked in his breath. He shot looks to his buddies. He’d just been clued in as to where I was going.

I added, smiling widely because this was so damn fun, “And he was even thanking me for going against you. You see, here’s my public service announcement to you, Sebastian.” I cupped my hands around my mouth and whispered loudly so everyone could hear, “No one really likes you.”

Pause.

Wait a beat.

Let that sink in.

Now, keep going.

“Like all these guys.” I gestured to Blaze’s group. “They were all telling me how much they hate you. In fact,” I moved a step toward Sebastian, “I’ve had a lot of people tell me how much they detest you. They were all happy when your house was burned down. They even wanted to thank whoever did that horrible thing.” I winked at him. “So, I’m here,” one more step toward him, and I was within swinging distance, “to help you out, if you think about it. I’d like to know who my enemies are—unless they’re too much of a coward to stand their ground. But still, I’d at least like to know who the cowards are.”

I waited.

The seeds were dropped.

Sebastian’s nostrils flared. “You mean to tell me that you came here just to out these guys?”

“No.” I shook my head.

“What?”

“No, I didn’t come here to do that.” I grinned at him. “I came here to start a fight, to be honest, but, uh…” I skimmed over his brothers. “I’m severely outnumbered, and you know, I’ve got some smarts up here.” I pretended to knock on my head.

“Logan,” Blaze hissed behind me.

A small amount of disappointment flared in me. The guy was calling me by my first name. Last names, Blaze. Last names is how you do it. I’d share that golden nugget of dumbassness with him later. First, I needed to start with what was my original intent.

I needed to start a damn fight.

Ignoring Blaze, I held my arms out. The beer was firmly held in one of my hands. “Thank you for your hospitality, Sebastian, but I should get going.”

His eyes narrowed to slits. He started forward. They weren’t going to let me leave in peace, but that was what I hoped.

And I turned, as if I were leaving. Then I saw what I was waiting for—Blaze’s head snapped to the right. I felt Sebastian closing the distance between us, and I dropped down. His arm went over my head. I caught it with my arm. I jerked him forward and smashed my beer can on his forehead.

The fight was on.

A slammed door was my only warning for the impending arrival. Mason would be through my door in two seconds, and he wouldn’t care that it was locked. He’d kick it down or pick the lock. I sat up and held the girl still on top of me. I pulled her hips down and thrust up one last time. Yep, there it was. My climax came, and holy shit, it was a good one. It was still rippling through me.

I used that last second to enjoy it. My door burst open just as I finished, and I collapsed back on my bed.

The redhead yelled, diving for the bed sheets beside me, and covered herself.

Neither Mason nor I paid her attention. Instead, I was locked in a heated stare with my brother.

One of my eyebrows lifted. “Yes?”

He scowled at me. “What did you do last night?”

“What you couldn’t do.”

He knew what I meant and gave me the middle finger. “Fuck you, Logan.” He turned to go.

I hopped out of bed, but the girl cried out in protest.

Pressing a quick kiss to her lips, I patted her on the hip. “I gotta take care of this. Be a nice little lay, and get dressed.”

“You’re an asshole,” she seethed.

I grabbed some pants, and I paused as I considered it. I was. I shrugged. “I’m not trying to be a dick here, but I picked you up at a party where I’d started the entire brawl. What did you expect?”

She sat upright, her entire face flaming in red. “Do you even know my name?”

No apologies here. “One, you never told me last night. Two, I never asked. I don’t know what you expected when my exact words were, ‘Do you want to go to my place to fuck?’”