Logan thought about that, tilting his head to the side. “Oh yeah. I think my battery died, and I lost the charger by the Eiffel Tower.” He winked at Taylor. “Plus, I’ve been a bit preoccupied. You know, hanging out with your coach.” He turned back to Mason. “We’re the best of friends now, Mase. I call him Big Poppa Bear.”
“Right.” Mason’s tone was doubtful.
“And he calls me his little baby bear. We spoon porridge together, sleep in each other’s beds, and even tried snuggling on his big daddy chair one time.” He grinned, staring off into the distance. “Such good memories. I’m the best daughter’s boyfriend ever.”
Taylor frowned. “You had a beer together. That was it.”
“Yeah, but while we enjoyed our Corona, I knew what he was thinking. I was thinking the same. We synced, Taylor. You can’t take that away from us. Me and your dad, we have a bond you’ll never understand.”
“One where you’re Goldilocks?” She smiled. “That’s not a bond I want. I’m good with the one I have. You might have heard about it; it’s called reality.”
Mason and Nate grinned, and Logan pretended to pull an arrow from his chest. He held it up. “Look at that. It went in through the front.” He smirked at Adam. “Not the back, like someone I don’t want to know here.”
“You’re a fucking asshole.”
Logan’s chest puffed up. He was so proud of himself. “Ah, name calling. Another trip down memory lane. That’s so high school.” He winked.
Mason caught my eye, a meaningful look there, and I got the message. He was still trying to investigate Adam. If he came to his defense, Logan would be all over that like a bloodhound. Whereas if I stopped things, that’d make more sense. I cleared my throat, moving forward. “Okay. Enough with the pissing on each other.”
“He started it,” Adam sneered.
“Adam, go back to your engagement party.” I looked to Logan, whose eyes lit up at the mention of party. “And Logan, you stay away because Malinda is hosting. It’s not one to crash and start a scene. It’s for Mark’s birthday, too.”
The eager light faded from him, and his shoulders almost slumped. “Fine, but where’s Matteo? I thought he was here, too.”
“He’s probably hitting on some of my friends.” Adam started off. “I’ll send him out if I see him,” he called back over his shoulder.
Once he was gone, all humor fled Logan. “What the fuck, Mason? For real. What the fuck?”
“It’s more complicated than it seems.”
“I’d hope so.” Logan looked at me. “Are you actually friends with her again?”
I nodded. “I wasn’t lying. It became genuine thirty minutes ago when I learned she has a monitoring program installed on Adam’s computer. She can get into his email and social media pages.”
“Wait. What?” Mason asked.
I looked at him. “Yeah. Why?”
“Your new friend has a spying program on his computer?”
“Oh.” Spying. What he was doing. “She had it installed to catch him if he starts cheating, but—”
“Can we get access to it? Is she watching his business emails?” Mason asked.
I lifted a shoulder. “I have no clue. I think she’s been mainly focused on his messages with other female friends.”
“Sam, we need to get into that program. That’ll help a lot.”
Logan held his hand up. “Okay. I’ve been gone a month. What the hell is going on?”
“Logan!”
We could hear Matteo yelling as he came down the pathway, heading right for us. He still hadn’t seen us, though.
Mason dropped his voice low. “He doesn’t know.”
“What?!” Logan said.
“He’s a good guy,” Mason added, just as Matteo came around the corner. “I don’t want him involved.”
“Dude!”
Logan cursed under his breath. “You’re an asshole, Mase. God, I love you.” Then a cocky smirk came over his face and he held his arms out. “What’s up, my fellow SBC-er motherfucker?”
Matteo swept Logan up in a bear hug and shook him. “Holy crap. It’s good to see you.” He pounded Logan’s back. “My soul brotha connection.”
As the two professed their love for each other, I drifted over to Mason. His hand came to my hip and around my back as he pulled me against his side. Even now, I could feel some of the tension leaving him.
I studied Taylor a moment. Things were changing. That was a fact, but this dynamic—Mason, me, Logan, even Nate, and now Taylor—that wasn’t going anywhere.
Mason didn’t waste any time.
I was given the task of taking Taylor out on the town that night, which meant I’d be taking her to Heather’s. Matteo was given clearance to spend the night with his girl, and once he left, Mason, Logan, and Nate took off as well. I wouldn’t have thought anything about what they were doing, except all three were dressed in black, and Mason had grabbed some ski masks. I watched as he put them in his bag.
I didn’t ask. I didn’t want to know. When Mason kissed me goodbye, I just whispered as we hugged, “Be safe.”
“Always.”
That was debatable, but I said the same to Logan and Nate after hugging each of them, too.
“You know nothing,” Logan replied. “Taylor knows nothing. Have fun tonight.”
“Yep.” I patted his arm. “That’s the plan.” What we would do, I had no idea, but I knew I needed to keep her away as long as they were gone to keep her from asking questions. I texted Heather my mission before we left.
Heading over. We need to keep busy until I hear from the guys later.
Her response came five minutes later. No clue what you’re talking about, but don’t want to know. I got a party we can go to.
When we walked into Manny’s, she was behind the counter.
“Does this party have Caldron on the guest list? Kate? Matteo?” I asked.
She’d been reaching for some menus, but paused. “I didn’t know there were stipulations. No Matteo?”
I shook my head.
She shrugged. “I’m just teasing. No way he’ll be at this party.” She looked past my shoulder. “Hey, Taylor.”
Taylor waved, staying a good distance behind me. “Hey.”
The past flirting that’d gone down between Logan and Heather hadn’t been an issue for Taylor, or so Logan said. But I couldn’t help but wonder if some of that had been swept under the rug.
Taylor moved closer, glancing around the place. “So Logan said Roussou people were the enemy.” She looked at a table where three girls wore Roussou football jerseys.
I grinned at Heather as I replied, “Not all.”
“Hmm…” Heather grunted. “Technically I’m Fallen Crest.”
“But your boyfriend is not.” I winked at her.
Her smile turned smug. “And he’s just as amazing as the rest of us.”
I added for Taylor’s benefit, “I’m pretty sure the party we’re going to tonight is a Roussou crowd?”
Heather moved out from behind the counter, taking a bunch of menus to some incoming customers.
“Considering the Kades have dropped the ball on throwing kickass parties,” she said as she returned, “I’d say the Roussou crowd is the only type of party you want to attend nowadays.”
“It’s safe for us?” Taylor asked.
She nodded. “Completely.” She held up her house key. “Make yourselves comfortable. I’ll be there in twenty minutes.”
I snatched it up. “By comfortable, you mean start drinking?”
She pretended to be confused. “Is there any other meaning for that word?”
Taylor and I moved around another incoming wave of customers and headed down the side alley to Heather’s house.
MASON
Logan popped his head up in between the front two seats. “How far is this place?” He’d agreed to ride in the back because Nate had the GPS ready to go.