“Have them come to the house. They’re waiting for them.”

When I woke Mason, he turned his head to me. There was no reaction, only a bleak look in his eyes. The bruises had filled with more color. Somehow, they made his green eyes seem brighter. A soft curse slipped from him as he ran a hand over his face. Then he lifted the sheets and swung his legs over. His stomach muscles bunched together under the tee shirt that was stretched tight from the movement. As he stood, his pants slipped down and rested on his lean hips.

There was another large bruise on his hip. A red rash spread over it and the knot doubled in my throat. Dried blood was smeared over the rash. Some was in clumps, they looked black. I was sick to my stomach. “What happened?”

He glanced down and grimaced. Pain flitted over him as he rasped out, “They dragged me.”

“They what?” I swung back to the rash. “That’s a road rash?” I went numb as I asked it. I couldn’t believe it. I couldn’t believe what else must’ve happened to them. I needed to know. I swallowed my knot. “How many?” My voice came out hoarse, but I cleared it. I needed to know.

He looked away.

I grabbed his chin and turned him back. “How many, Mason?”

“Fifteen.” He didn’t flinch, and his eyes held mine steady.

My hand felt scorched as I reeled backwards. “What else did they do?”

He lifted a shoulder, but it was slow and painful. “Why do you want to know? You’ll have that in your head. You won’t get it out, Sam.”

My teeth ground against each other. “I have to know.”

He studied me a moment, and it was my turn not to flinch. I didn’t. I squared my chin, and my eyes went flat. “Tell me.”

And he nodded. His shoulders loosened, as if he surrendered the fight. Then he sat back down, and I sat next to him. I turned towards him with one leg close to his and my other curved around his back. I tried to hold back from hugging him, but he caught my head to his shoulder and brushed back the hair. Then he started.

“The team took off after pizza, and we went to get some gas. When we left, they jumped us in an alley. Our car was trapped between two of theirs. When they got out, we knew we had to fight so we rushed ‘em. Tried to get the element of surprise, maybe a little, but it didn’t matter. They were ready, and it was chaos after that. A bunch of ‘em took a bat to me and I got knocked down. I was trying to fend them off, but they got a chain around my legs. It happened so fast. I couldn’t yell at Nate or Logan before their car took off. It went so fast.” He shuddered, but clasped me tighter to him. “I don’t know how I kept my head, but I saw a guy with the bat. I went right past him and I grabbed the bat from him. It happened so quick, he didn’t know it was gone until I came back.”

“You got loose?” There were razorblades in my throat.

He nodded. His eyes closed again. “The chain got caught against something and it ripped apart. It was a piece of crap chain. I rolled over. The car kept going, they didn’t know I was off, but I got to my feet and took off. I didn’t feel the pain, Sam. I was so pissed. I swear—I went nuts. When I got back to the group, I nailed a guy in the head. He had his hands around Logan’s throat. I kept pounding on ‘em, all of them until the last ones took off. They got in their car and left. I was going to go after it with the bat, but I figured it was a lost cause.”

He shook his head and took a shuddering breath. His hand started to brush my hair back. “Nate was all blood. He couldn’t stand for a while. Logan had a hard time breathing, even in the car when we started back. I didn’t start feeling it till we got to town. I think I collapsed or something. I have no idea. Next thing I know, we’re in your driveway and they’re helping me to the house.” He groaned, and his hand formed a fist over my head. His voice was rough. “I wanted to beat them. I wanted to kill ‘em, Sam. God, what if I had?”

I touched the side of his face. His eyes opened and held mine. The bleak look intensified. He rested his forehead against mine for a moment and let out a soft sigh. “I went crazy. I could’ve killed one of them. Hell, maybe the cops are here to arrest me.”

“It was self-defense.”

“I whacked the guy in the head. He had his hands on Logan’s throat. He held him down as his buddies pounded him.”

My heart was deafening in my ears and my lip trembled. The more he said, the more my gut twisted. It was churning when he finished, and I clamped my mouth shut. Vomit started to spew up, but I stopped it in time.

He held me and I remained there. My limbs were frozen around him, but my eyes were wide. I knew a haunted look was in them because I couldn’t stop myself. The image of Mason getting hit with a bat and chains around his legs flashed in my head. When I imagined his fear as he was dragged, I shook my head. I was trembling.

His hand shook with me as he pressed my head against his chest one more time. His lips kissed my forehead and he sighed in regret. “I’ll get the others.”

My eyes clung to him as he stood and pulled on a loose sweatshirt. “I’ll drive the car.”

“We can walk. I’ll get the car later.”

“Okay.” I started to follow him out the door.

“Stay.”

“What?”

He tucked a strand of my hair behind my ear. His fingers lingered on my cheek. “I don’t want you to hear this. It’s not going to be pretty.”