"Whatever."

"Don't think I won't call a few of Brad's buddies. They're bigger than you, Kade."

He chuckled but sighed when she narrowed her eyes again in a warning. "Fine. Yes, I'll help her. Why do you think I'm here?"

"You're here to see your girl. When your posse came in, she went back there so then you had to go back there to see her. I'm not a moron, Kade. I know why you're back there, and I don't want any sex going on in my diner. You hear me?"

"Yeah, yeah."

"My diner, Kade!"

"I get it," he barked back now. "Your diner, your job. My girlfriend."

She stuck out her chin at him. "She's my worker and she's my friend."

Mason grew stiff beside me. I wasn't surprised when his next words came out as a threat, "I already told you I'll help her back here. If you keep talking to me like that, you and I are going to have a real problem."

I knew neither of these two would back down so I moved Mason to the back end of the dishwasher. Ignoring Heather's hawk-like scrutiny, I lifted the door and pulled out the crate that'd been washed. "You need to wait until they're all dry and then stack them in those places over there."

He glanced to where I pointed and nodded. All the other dishes were easy to see. As he started to dry, I went back to loading more dishes onto the crates to put through the washer. Heather hadn't moved.

"Sam," she started.

My hand shot in the air. "Don't. If I was dating Logan and he were back here, you wouldn't care. I know you don't like Mason, but I love him. He's being a good guy right now. If you think that I would let my relationship interfere with my job, then I need to show you that's not who I am. I am sorry about being late today, but you have my word it will never happen again."

Her hand fell from her hip again and her shoulders dropped. "I'm sorry. I was being a bitch." She chewed on her lip for a second before she gave me a sheepish grin. "I kind of think I'm in love with you myself. I get it now. I see why those two care so much about you." Her eyes twinkled in humor. "If I were a lesbian, I'd want you as my girlfriend. I have a straight boner for you, Sam. Hot damn."

Mason cursed behind me.

Her smile widened even more before she left.

When I heard a groan behind me, I turned. "What?"

Mason had a towel in one hand and a bowl in the other. He glared at me now. "She's going to be your new best friend, isn't she?"

I straightened at his words. Was she? Then I shrugged. "I have no idea. Would that bother you?"

He rolled his eyes. "Your friends are either scared of me, want to screw me, or think I'm an ass**le. Can't you find some girl who is just a good friend to you? Who doesn't care that I'm your boyfriend?"

A snort came out of me. "Please. Do you realize how ridiculous that sounds? One, you are an ass**le. Two, a lot of girls want to screw you. And three, if they don't fall into those two slots then they're going to be scared of you, like Becky was."

He grimaced as he reached for another mixing bowl to dry. "I just don't like feeling that I can't be around my girlfriend. I'm sick of having to jump through hoops and sneak around to be with you."

My voice softened. "If what you say is true and Heather and I become good friends, she might turn into that girl who doesn't care about you. She's looking at you through the same lens as everyone else right now. She hasn't seen you with me enough to know how good you treat me. And she's not my mom."

His shoulders relaxed. "Yeah, I know." Then his eyes shot back to me again. "Things aren't done with your mom, you know. We're just in the waiting stage while she regroups." He moved to put the dishes away. When he came back, I pushed another load out of the washer for him. He picked up a plate and leaned back against the wall as he dried it. "My dad's suspicious of her now so she'll focus on him and play nice for awhile. Once she's got him brain-dumb again, she'll start back on you."

I felt stabbed in the gut. I'd always be her second priority. The man was number one.

"Hey," Mason called over, his voice soft again. "You okay?"

I nodded, but I couldn't speak. The emotions were choking me again.

"I said something wrong?"

I shook my head, turning to load more dishes onto the crates. When the washer beeped another cycle, I avoided his gaze and pushed another crate through. He didn't push me, and slowly the emotions started to settle down again. We worked in silence for awhile, maybe an hour, before I noticed that the dishes had stopped piling up so much.

"What the hell, man?" Logan's voice made us both jump as he boomed through the window. "You're both back there? I want to go back there."

Mason came up behind me. I felt his heat as he pressed against me, but he didn't slide his arms around me how I expected. Disappointment flared in me. Then he spoke over my shoulder, "Where's Nate?"

Logan bristled, "Who cares? I don't know. He's with Parker, I think."

Tension replaced my disappointment. Those girls were here too? Did everyone go where Mason and Logan went?

Mason's hand splayed out on the small of my back. I knew he felt how stiff I became at the mention of those girls, but he didn't say anything. For that, I was relieved. Instead, he asked, "When's everyone heading out?"

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