Her mouth fell open on a gasp and she rounded to him. Her boobs flopped side to side from the motion. "Are you kidding me?!"

He sighed as he ran a hand over his tired face. "Come on. Nate's right, man. Leave her alone. Kade likes her, leave her be. She ain't going anywhere, and I'm getting tired of this. I don't want to get my ass handed to me by them, and you know it's gonna happen. You're going to say something in front of them and everything will go to hell for us."

"But—"

He stepped away from the counter as he crossed his arms over his chest. The sleeveless, ripped shirt exposed the biceps that now bulged from the motion. His chest grew in size as well. "It ain't happening, not on my watch. Get going. Go tell all the little girlies. I know they'll have a hay day with this one."

Her mouth hung open, no sound came from it. Then one of the guys let loose a snicker and she exploded, "Shut the hell up, Strauss! This ain't got a goddamn thing to do with you."

His snicker doubled in volume. A slap to his thigh was heard as he chuckled, "Its sure fun to watch you getting your rear end handed to you."

If she could've killed me, she would've in that moment. The blood drained from her face, and she crossed her arms over her chest. Her lips were stiff as she promised, "I will make you pay for this. The guys might be okay with you, but the girls won't be and we're no picnic, honey. You better watch out from now on."

As she stormed away, I knew her shoulder was going to slam into mine. With gritted teeth, I reacted before I thought about the consequences and I shoulder-checked her instead. She bounced back into a counter, and gasped again. The loathing had always been there, but now white-hot hatred came at me. A low growl emitted from her throat before she rushed from the room.

Again, there was silence in the room.

My heart dropped to my gut as I waited for the next showdown. There were a handful of girls spread out among the other guys.

I wasn't stupid. I had learned that Mason and Logan's friends from Fallen Crest Public were the rough and tumble sort of kids. They weren't from money. They didn't give a damn about whose daddy paid for their trip overseas or the secret trysts of which daddy was with which mommy, or even who was cheating with whose secretary. These were the kids that partied hard, played harder, and turned into a single unit against an outsider. They were tight-knit. They were closed-mouthed. And they weren't stupid, even though I knew those from my school would mislabel them as that. They were far from stupid and I knew something pivotal had just happened.

Ethan, the fourth in command after Mason, Logan, and Nate, had turned against one of the girls. I also knew that meant there would be a divide. The girls would hate me, while the guys were now okay. And judging by the relieved shoulders and carefree laughter in the room, the guys might've been hoping for this for awhile. Then again, who would willingly want to go against Mason and Logan?

But I still had a fight on my hands. The girls were going to be the toughest, and since they had divorced from the guys' support, I figured they would be worse than normal. This was going to be hell.

Kate was the leader. Parker was her sidekick, but there was another twosome that made up the core group of their four. Natalie and Jasmine. They weren't in the kitchen that morning, but I knew they were somewhere. They were going to be coming for me, somehow, someplace.

Ethan went to the refrigerator and grabbed another beer. As he leaned against a counter, crossed one faded jean-clad leg over the other, and folded his arms across his chest again, he smirked at me. "You need to learn how to kick some ass because you're going to need it. Those girls don't care two hoots if Mason and Logan don't like it. Those girls are vicious. They stick together like a pack of jacked-up wolves. You best get some bite to you."

Oh great. I didn't think running long distances was going to help me with that, but I couldn't be surprised. I had known this would come. This was a group that you had to fight your way in to prove you deserved your spot amongst them.

There was a reason why Mason and Logan were friends with them.

CHAPTER THREE

Mason wasn't in our room when I went back, so I went in search for him. As I was going past some stairs that led to the basement, or one of the basement areas, a whistle stopped me.

"Sam, what's going on?"

Logan came up with no shirt and his jeans unbuttoned. His hair was messily rumpled, as if he'd just woken up or just had sex. With him, I never knew. And then I got my answer.

My eyes went wide. Jessica was behind him. Her shirt was twisted to the side and she was zipping up her own jeans when she saw me. A thick bunch of her hair slipped over her face and covered her eyes, but she brushed it back before she stopped behind Logan.

A smug smirk came over her as she leaned against the wall. "Hiya, Sam. How's it going?"

I rounded on Logan. "Are you kidding me?"

Regret flashed over his face, but then he reached for my hand. "You okay? You seem upset."

"You screwed her?"

"You seemed upset before you saw us. What's going on?"

"Oh." I bit my lip. He didn't want to talk about Jessica, I got the message. I hated it. I hated the idea of him and her together. It was one of my worst nightmares. "If you date her, I'm gone."

His eyes widened a fraction, but that was the only reaction I got from him. A cocky glimmer came over him and he rolled his shoulders back. "Oh, come on, Sam. It's not like that. I promise."

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