The phone rang for the third time.

He growled and cursed at the same time as he rolled out from underneath me. He picked his phone up in one swift movement as he stood from the bed and went into the bathroom. "What?"

The shower turned on, and when I crossed to the doorway, he had put the phone on the counter and was ignoring it as he stepped underneath the spray. When he shut the water off, his father's voice was still going strong over the phone. He sounded furious, but I knew it was more from my mother. Analise was like a starving dog going after a bone when she got something in her head. And she had decided that I would not be fornicating with my stepbrother.

That didn't go over well with Mason, who told them both to f**k off. More fights ensued, raised voices, threats, even blackmail had been mentioned once. None of it fazed Mason. He withstood all of it and I started running longer and longer each day. Then one day, after I returned from a five hour run, my mother surprised us both as she told me that we could see each other, but we were not to sleep together. Ever.

That rule wasn't followed, but she was still trying to enforce it. God bless her determination.

"…and you will tell Samantha to return her mother's phone call. Analise is beside herself. We had to go to the hospital for her to calm down. She couldn't sleep last night."

Mason rolled his eyes after he finished drying himself off with a towel. He stepped close, pressed a kiss to my forehead, and shooed me into the shower. With a quick wink and a slap on my ass, he strolled back to the room with his phone in hand.

When I was done showering, the bedroom was empty so I dressed and headed for the kitchen. Our room was in a small hallway, but I stepped out onto the second level that was in a circle. There were more bedrooms on the side as I passed them towards the stairs at the end of the circle. The entire house was set up in a large circle, with the fountain centered below. As I went down the stairs, the water was flowing freely, but I heard noises from a back corner so I veered to the left. I went through a living room and cut across the top corner to the kitchen.

A large group had congregated around the counters and the island in the middle. Nate was at the stove. One of their female friends was plastered against his side. She wore a skimpy piece of white cloth that barely covered her br**sts, sans bra, and ripped jean shorts that hardly covered her cheeks. As she gazed up at Nate, seduction written all over her face, I couldn't stop the gag from my mouth.

The sound echoed over the room, and all conversation stopped.

I didn't see Mason or Logan. It was the group of friends who barely held back their loathing. One of the guys straightened from the counter, beer in hand, and glared at me. "You got a problem?"

Nate was in front of him within seconds. "Ethan, man, don't start this."

"Start what? Did you hear her?"

"Yeah." Nate's seductress positioned her hand to her hip. She struck a defiant pose. "Did you hear her? It was rude, Nate. It was directed at me. She thinks I'm a joke."

"And you haven't been rude to her?"

A shiver went down my back as I remembered the look in Nate's eyes when I first approached. He'd been easygoing, laidback. Then he went to a neutral stance, but now his eyes glittered with rage. An aura of authority emanated from him. The girl stepped back and everyone fell silent. It was my first glimpse of this side of Mason's best friend. If I had ever doubted their bond before, I didn't anymore. Change the body, the looks, and he could've been Mason. They held the same authority. Nate was just showing his in front of me for the first time.

His lip curved up in an ugly sneer as he stepped closer to Ethan, who had straightened from the counter. The beer spilled as his hand jerked around it, squashing the can in a crinkled ball of metal.

Nate's voice was cold, eerily cold. "You've all been rude to her, and they don't know a thing." He waited a beat as his gaze swept the group. "Why don't you ponder on that, huh? You think they'd stand for your attitude towards her?" Then he whipped his gaze back to Ethan, whose jaw clenched from the scrutiny. "You want your ass kicked? Keep being a bitch to her." He stopped abruptly. His chest heaved up and down before he bit out, "She hasn't said a word. Ponder that too, you asswipes."

"Baby," the girl whimpered. She held a hand out.

Nate ignored her and brushed past me. His jaw was still clenching and before he disappeared around a corner, his hand turned into a fist. But then he was gone, and I was left alone with a group that hated me.

All of them turned their hostile gazes to me.

I gulped. Oh my.

I held my breath, waiting. Did I attack? Hell no. But should I wait to be attacked? I knew they would and then heard a whispered snarl, "You bitch!"

There it was.

It was Nate's seductress. She stood in front of me, brazen with nearly nothing on, and tossed her long brown hair over her shoulder. Something shifted in me. I had come to remember a few of their names. Kate was the ring leader. I was pretty certain she had a 'benefits' relationship with Mason before he went steady with me, and this girl was her best friend forever…Parker, if I remembered correctly?

I opened my mouth, ready for some retort. I wasn't sure what I was about to say, but it was coming. I only hoped it made sense, or that it didn't get me in more trouble. I'd grown tired of the female catty showdowns, and this was certainly one of them.

But then Ethan flung his beer can into the sink and grunted. "Leave her alone, Parks."

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