His chuckle was a soft one, but it hit her hard. My mother started waving her fists around in the air.

Logan rolled his eyes and pulled out his keys. When he turned for the door, she screeched at him, "Where are you going?!"

He ignored her and the door shut on his heels.

Mason had already disappeared back upstairs when my mother turned back around. She bent over and took deep breaths, all while she was patting her chest at the same time. Then she looked up with fresh tears in her eyes. She tried to wipe them away.

"How do you do it?"

I frowned. "What do you mean?"

"They like you. How did you do it?"

I shrugged. "They're never going to respect you."

She looked away. I watched as she wiped more tears away. Then she turned back. "What do I do?"

I gave her a sad smile. It was almost heartbreaking to see her like this, almost. "You'll never win against them. All you can do is exist beside them. That's it."

"That's it?"

"Like he said, you're not their mother." When she opened her mouth, I cut her off. "And you're not mine anymore, not really."

She was jolted back.

I narrowed my eyes. "I don't like you. I don't know if I ever did. I love you, but I don't respect you either. And I doubt I ever will again. You're lucky to still have me here. You haven't done anything to help me, nothing at all. You only hurt me, mom."

She pressed the back of her hand to her mouth. More tears streaked down her face. "I'm sorry, Samantha. I really am."

My eyes held hers. I didn't know what I was looking for, maybe a weakening within her or something I could grasp onto. I had no idea. I saw emptiness instead. And I felt it within me. It rose up as I watched my mother break before my eyes.

I took a deep breath and spoke in a quiet voice, "Look at you. This is what they've done to you already and they haven't even tried. They could destroy you, mom. It's not the other way around. You could never touch them. You're an annoying gnat to them. They've put up with your presence because James loves you. I can see that too. He does." It hurt to say what I was going to say next. "Focus on him. Focus on your relationship with him. Ours is gone, but maybe it could come back someday. Not today. Or next year, but sometime in the future. Just…focus on your future husband, mom. That's all you can do right now."

I turned away and started for my room, but I paused when I heard her whisper. "I'm sorry, honey. I'm so sorry."

Then I gripped the rail and went back to my room.

It was 8:30 when I checked my phone again and I had three text messages from Miranda, along with a voicemessage from her. Dinner had come and gone. They wanted to know where I was, if I was going. I had finished listening to her message when Mason knocked on my door.

I frowned and motioned for him to come in.

He studied my face. "What's wrong?"

I shook my head. "Nothing I can't handle."

My phone vibrated again. It was another text from Miranda—they'd all gone to some bar. I glanced up at Mason and asked, "You don't want to go somewhere with me, do you?"

He grinned back at me. "What? This late? What would your mother say?"

I couldn't stop my laugh. "I don't think she'll be saying much after what I said to her."

He stopped grinning. "What did you say?"

"Nothing, that she was lucky I was still here and we didn't really have a relationship anymore."

His eyes studied me. I felt his intensity and wanted to curl up against it. He asked me, "Did you mean that?"

I jerked my head in a nod. "I did." My eyes found his. "I'm close to asking David if I can live with him. He raised me all my life. If my mom knows who my real dad is or not doesn't matter to me. David raised me. He's my dad and she knows I'll push that if we'd ever go to court. The fact that I'm here, it's by a hairs' width."

He came inside and perched on the arm of one of my couches. "So where did you want to go?"

"Some bar. Some people at school invited me to their dinner. I didn't go and now they're out. I feel a little bad that I ditched on them."

Mason shook his head. "Let me guess, these aren't the people that are used to being ditched?"

I shook my head too.

"Do you know what you're doing?"

I wrapped my arms around my knees. "No."

His eyes held mine.

And I grinned. "But I don't really care either."

He mirrored my grin. "What bar are they at?"

I texted Miranda the question and she gave me an answer a second later. I held the phone up. "The Ryder."

Mason bit back a laugh and pulled out his phone. "I'm sure Logan's had his piece by now. Maybe he'd meet us there."

I stood and ran sweaty hands down my pants. I frowned at them. Why were they so sweaty? Then Mason looked back up when he was done. He grabbed my hand and pulled me between his legs. I held my breath as he leaned in close and pressed a kiss to the crook of my neck. He inhaled and held me close. I felt him fit between my legs and almost closed my eyes. I wanted to tell him to forget it and pull him to my bed.

When his phone vibrated, he lifted it for me to see.

'We're there!'

He chuckled against my neck and kissed it lightly. His hand curved around my waist and held me tighter. "Looks like its game on. Your quarterback's going to be there?"

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