Will shot his fist in the air. "And we'd do it again!"
"Out!" Mason strode to them, pushing them through the doorway before he slammed it shut.
There was a moment of silence before they knocked on the door and shouted, "Sniveling like a girl, Logan." The other howled in laughter. "Soggy trousers! Can't forget the soggy trousers."
Mason pounded on the door. "Leave!" Then he waited until the giggling faded.
Adam shook his head, perplexed. "Who the hell were those guys?"
"Idiots," Mason and Logan said at the same time.
Nate tossed a beer to both of them and popped open his own as he studied Adam with narrowed eyes. "They're cousins. What are you doing here?"
Adam drew in a deep breath. His shoulders lifted, his chest rose, and the tendons in his neck stretched. He was ready to explode, but I stepped forward. I held my hand out to stop any more interrogation. "He helped me out, okay? That's why he's here."
"Sam." Mason stepped closer to me. "Remember what he did to you."
Reality sunk in.
Adam snarled, "You're such a jerk. I'm trying to be her friend. I'm trying to—"
Mason had him against the wall in the next second. He growled at him, "I already told you what I'd do to you if you wouldn't stay away from her. Now you're trying this angle? Friendship?"
He struggled against his hold, but it didn't matter. With a cold mask over him, Mason looked lethal. He clipped out, "You turned her friends against her. I don't know what you've done to get her to forgive you, but it's not going to work. I won't let you screw her over again."
Nate and Logan wore similar expressions and as Adam looked around the room, the fight left him. He swallowed before his shoulders slumped down in defeat. Then he turned to me, but the damage was done.
I remembered. He had lied and pushed a friend away. He wanted to punish me because I wouldn't date him, and now after one afternoon where he apologized, I was ready to take him back into my world of friendship? I was nuts.
But he lied to my mom for me. He had the power to take back his words and my night would be blown. I swallowed painfully. He had the power to send Mason to jail. He couldn't do that. I couldn't let him do that. When I looked up and caught Mason's gaze, I knew he saw the fear on my face. I couldn't mask it. My hands started to tremble. I couldn't lose him.
Mason made the decision for all of us. "You're going to leave, Quinn. You're not going to say a word about any of this to anyone. If you want to try the friendship angle, fine. Help out. Be a pal to her. But if I get wind that you're working a different angle, I will follow through. Now, this is family only. We appreciate that you brought her here, but you're not welcome any further."
Logan grunted in agreement.
Adam gazed around the room with a soft plea. "Look, I care about her too. I won't do anything to hurt her."
Nate decided to speak up, "Yeah, well, you've hurt her enough. We all know it."
Shocked, I whipped my gaze to him. He had a serious look in his eye, threatening even as he stared Adam down. Then Adam stuffed his hands in his front pockets. His demeanor was submissive, but his next words lashed out in a snarl. "Family only? You got a screwed up family."
I sucked in my breath. Closing my eyes, I wanted to bang my head against a wall. Why had he gone there?
Logan flared up, but Mason grabbed Adam's arm and yanked it behind him. As he fell to the ground with a panicked scream, Mason twisted his arm and started to clench his fist around one of Adam's. His screams grew and he began to tremble on the ground.
"I told you what I would do," Mason warned, looking calm and cold.
Adam's screams cut off and a sob started deep from his throat. He began weeping instead as he pounded the floor with his free hand. He cried out, "I'll sue you. I'll sue all of you—"
Nate stepped forward. He was the closest to me and drew me behind him. Then he spoke in a quiet voice, "You already took her friend from her."
His sobs grew and an inhumane shriek came next. I could hear him struggling underneath Mason's hold.
Logan pulled me into his chest. He wrapped his arms around me and blanketed my head into his chest. He held his other hand over my ear.
Nate continued and I could still hear him. The softness of his voice sent chills down my back. "You keep saying that you want to be her friend, but you're hurting her. You're not hurting us. We don't care if you like us or if you sue us, but she does. Be the man you keep thinking you are." He stopped as he let his words settle for a second. "Taking her friend from her, that's what a coward does. It makes you look pitiful."
I didn't know how they knew about Becky, but I wasn't surprised they did. And Nate was right. I never would have done that to him.
There was silence for awhile. Everyone was eerily still. The room was already thick with tension, but now a different danger filled it. I closed my eyes. They could hurt him. If they really wanted to, they could do it. I didn't want them to hurt him. Adam could hurt Mason back. And then I heard Adam choke out, "Sam. Please. I'm sorry. I am. I—"
Relief flooded me.
"That's enough," Mason remarked, so calm while the anger simmered within him. It gave him a brutal edge that would've terrified me if I didn't know him from the inside out. I closed my eyes as I heard him saying something in a softer tone to Adam. I couldn't make out the words, but a sudden need to be in his arms surged over me. I needed his shelter.