“Your mom?”

“Yeah.” She turned and lifted a tote to her bed before pulling things out. She glanced up, tucking her hair behind her ears. “That’s the one thing my mom and my stepmom have bonded on—me. They both want me to keep modeling and do college when I can. But that’s not me. Neither cares about what I want. It’s what they want, you know?” She frowned slightly. “Look at me, burdening you with all my stuff. I’m sorry. I don’t mean to dump this on you, especially on the first day we’re meeting. And Mason Kade. Hello! I’m still buzzing from knowing that I know him, you know?”

I grinned. The ball of tension was loosening. “Well, we do have an entire year to get to know each other. I think this was appropriate first-day conversation.”

She laughed, her grin spreading wide. “I like you. Most girls instantly hate me.” She grew thoughtful. “Not you, though.”

“Trust me. I’ve had my fair share of chicks hating me.” Kate. Miranda. Cass. So many others. “You won’t get that from me.” Not unless you hurt me or my loved ones. All bets are off then.

“Hot damn, woman!”

A whistle sounded from farther down the hallway, and I knew I had two seconds to give my model roommate a warning.

Logan was coming.

MASON

Sam’s new roommate was Logan’s wet dream, which he made sure she knew. After watching the girl squirm for a good half an hour, I directed my brother to the hallway, kissed Sam, and said our good-byes. The roommate looked relieved.

Sam grabbed my hand before I slipped from the room. She asked, her voice hushed, “You okay?”

I cupped the side of her face. “Yeah. You?”

She nodded. Her hand fell to my chest, and she spread her fingers wide, just touching me there. I wanted to close my eyes, pull her into my arms, and take her to bed and forget Sebastian, forget his threats, forget Sam’s roommate, and even forget Logan waiting outside for me. I wanted all of that to go away in that instant, so I could be inside Sam like I’d been earlier that morning. Fuck. Something was telling me that the whole plan where she’d stay in her dorm every night for the first month wasn’t going to go as planned.

Sweeping a hand down her back, I rested it on her hip and tugged her into me. Fuck the roommate. I touched her chin and bent down, my lips brushing over hers. They opened, waiting for me, eager for me. Still holding her chin in place, I grinned against her mouth.

She murmured, her lips moving against mine, “What’s that for?”

“It’s nice knowing that you’ll not be driving three hours back to Fallen Crest.” My hand slid inside her shirt, rubbing over her hip bone.

She tilted her head back. “You’re telling me.” Her hand started its own exploration, moving up my arm, slipping underneath my sleeve, and spreading over my shoulder.

I wanted to close my eyes and let her feel anything she wanted, but the roommate and the brother—I groaned. “I’m picking you up later this afternoon.”

A husky laugh slid from her, and she pressed her lips back to mine. “Sounds like a solid plan.”

Her hand fell down between us. I knew where she was going, and I adjusted my back so that the roommate couldn’t see anything. As soon as I did, Sam’s hand found where I was straining against my jeans. She added, “Like I said, solid.”

“That’s not fair.” I couldn’t touch her where I wanted.

Her grin grew wider. She was enjoying this little torture session.

Goddamn. I wanted to take her hard. Leaning closer, I whispered into her ear, my teeth grazing her earlobe, “You’re starting something—”

She stopped me by pressing a hand to my chest, and then she finished for me, “That I am going to thoroughly enjoy.”

“Later.”

“Later.”

“Thanks for letting me know,” Logan said from behind me. “From the hallway. From where a bunch of other strangers are. We all know when my brother’s getting his boys rocked, but do we know where? Tsk-tsk, Mason. You need to share this information. I need to know where to set up the sex-tape equipment.”

Sam pulled herself from my arms and her hand was up before I could hold her back. Her finger was pointing, and she was in his face. “You don’t even joke about that, Logan. You’d never do that. Say it. Right now.”

He held up his hands, taking an exaggerated step backward. “I was just kidding. The two of you were all over each other.” His hand rested on his chest where his heart was. “Show some consideration for us newly single people.”

Sam’s roommate moved next to me, watching the exchange.

Logan caught sight of her. A smirk appeared. “Because I am. I’m newly single and hurting. Painfully. I’m lonely.”

Sam rolled her eyes. “You broke up six months ago.”

“Three months ago.”

She narrowed her eyes. “You hooked up three months ago.”

“Well,” Logan’s eyebrows pinched together, “technically, we last hooked up three days ago, but I’m counting three months ago. We had a weekend fling, so the old relationship wounds were reopened.” The sides of his mouth curved down, and his eyes grew somber as he looked to Sam’s roommate. “Sometimes, I just need to talk. It’s more about the talking, the emotional connection.”

Sam hit him on the back of his head. “You’re a man-whore.”

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