My eyes went wide. An odd sound gurgled out of my throat.

“And what’s worse is that you know it, he knows it, and the king himself knows it. Oh yes. That’s what I saw one night. You left a party one night with your pathetic friend and the way he looked at you, it made everything make sense.”

“Stop the dramatics and spell it out.” My teeth ground against each other. “I’m getting tired of the game.”

Her eyes went flat and she swung closer. She was in my face now. “Fine,” she breathed on me. “I know that Logan has feelings for you, and I know that he used to love another girl who wanted Mason. The rumor mill might not be current when it comes to Logan’s ex-girlfriend, but I heard all about her when I was dating him. I remembered every bit of it. By my calculation, that makes two girls who Mason got over Logan. Now tell me,” she inched closer. “What’s the one thing that could get in between two brothers as close as them?”

My hand itched to slap the self-righteous look on her face.

She sneered at me. “Only a girl can do that. Mason hated me that night at the hotel party. I pushed that button, and I didn’t even know it. What would happen if I continued to push that button? Mason wanted Logan to be distracted, didn’t he? He wanted him to feel that he was important and that he was helping you. That’s why Logan dated me, but the real reason was just to distract him from the realization that Mason got another girl Logan had feelings for.”

She paused. The smug look that came over her made my stomach churn even more. The feeling of being ill was now violent inside of me. She murmured, “They ruined my life. Why shouldn’t I ruin theirs?”

“Sam?”

The sounds of the party had faded. I was in a vacuum, and I could only hear my heart pounding. It grew and grew. The sound overtook everything else. As I heard my name, I swung my head. Laura waved at me. She looked so far away. She looked confused, why did she look confused? Then Miranda’s words sounded again in my head.

They ruined my life. Why shouldn’t I ruin theirs?

I snapped. My arm lifted back. My hand clenched into a fist, and I let it loose. Miranda’s eyes went wide, but then my hand made contact. I heard the sickening sound as I punched her and something turned off inside of me. I was only aware that I needed to keep hitting her. I had to. So I raised my arm again, and again.

Everything else went away.

“Stop!” Mason’s voice yanked me out of my fury, and I gasped. He had red welts over his arms and face. My arm was lifted, but I dropped it immediately. I’d been hitting him, not Miranda. He had gotten in the way. She stood to the side, shocked and pale. Logan was in front of her. He acted as a barrier, but I wasn’t sure if it was to keep me or her away. She had a hand on his arm, and I felt the need to growl once more.

I launched myself in the air, but Mason caught me. He held me back as I lashed out, “Get out of this house!”

Miranda jerked back a step. Her whole body jumped from the movement, but she didn’t respond.

A wall slammed over Logan, and he turned to her. Then he lifted his hand in the air. “Get her out!”

Two guys lifted Miranda from underneath her arms and carried her away.

Mason had a hand under my arm and lifted me in the same manner, but we went up the stairs. As soon as the door was closed, he continued to the next level. I assumed he would take me to my room, but he bypassed it for his. The door was shut and locked before he stared at me. His eyes pierced mine, and I felt myself wanting to shrivel away from it. It was too intense at times.

Then he ground out, “What did she say to you?”

I shrugged. It was meant to look casual. It came out awkward.

“Sam.”

I shook my head.

“Sam.” He touched my should this time and turned me to face him.

I hadn’t realized that I had moved away, but I swallowed a knot in my throat and met his gaze. He looked inside of me. I didn’t know how he could do it, but it gave me the chills. Every time. Then I grimaced and sat on his bed. “It was nothing.”

“Why aren’t you telling me?”

The hairs on the back of my neck stood up. I didn’t know why, but I knew I couldn’t say a word. There was no way that Mason could know what Miranda knew. If he did, another shiver went down my spine. I didn’t know what he would do. As I looked up, I swallowed some of the pain away. It was there, brimming on my surface. Longing, love, sadness, concern. I felt it all for him and he’d been through too much already. So I lied and my voice was hoarse from the emotion. “It was nothing. Really.”

He sighed.

“She called me a slut. She hates that you and I are still together when Logan dumped her. She’s just jealous.”

The words slipped out. The lie was too smooth, and I fought against the urge to hang my head in shame.

He didn’t answer, not for a long time. “I know you better than you know yourself.” He turned for the door. “And I know that was the biggest bullshit you’ve ever told me.”

The door slammed behind him.

I jumped from the force of it, and then vomit spewed up from my throat. I kept my mouth closed and ran for the bathroom. As soon as I got to the toilet, it went everywhere. I couldn’t believe it. I was puking my guts out. Flashes of light started to circle around me as I grew weak from the vomiting. My hand trembled cleaning a side of the toilet lid so I could rest my head. As I did, I turned to the side, and more puke came up. It didn’t stop for a while.