Fallen Fourth Down (Fallen Crest #4)

by Tijan

  “That was only for a month.”

  “I thought Cass would be jealous of me, but she seems happy with your brother.”

  My eyes got big and I stiffened. My brother? A low growl started in the bottom of my throat. Mark wasn’t my brother, not yet.

  “Those two were meant for each other.” She sighed, sounding wistful. “Sometimes I think I might have that with Logan. He can be so loving and thoughtful at times, but at other times, it’s like I’m not even in the room.”

  I pressed my hands to my forehead. A headache was forming, and I could tell it wouldn’t be leaving anytime soon.

  She sighed again. “I just don’t know what to do. I feel like I’m losing him. Hearing all the stories about him, I guess I should’ve been prepared for this. Cass told me—”

  “Who aren’t you friends with?” I snapped.

  She stopped as her eyes got big. “Uh, we’re not super tight. I mean, Adam’s friends with her and we hung out a bunch last year so…”

  I saw the fear in her eyes and reined myself in. She was listing off so many ghosts from my past. Transferring to Fallen Crest Public should’ve put a stop to her connections to them, but I realized that it hadn’t. They were friends with Mark, and they were friends with her. I wanted to groan. They were still so close to me.

  “Should I not be friends with her?”

  It took me another moment to comprehend who Kris was talking about. Cass. “No, no. I’m sorry for reacting. I don’t have good memories from that place.”

  “Oh.” She frowned. “I’m sorry.”

  “It doesn’t matter.” I gave her a smile. “Really. I’m sorry how I reacted.”

  She went back to twisting her hands together. “No one talks about you over there.”

  Really?

  She added in a rush, as if she were confessing something, “I was really confused when I saw you at the party last year. I was with Jeff and he told me that you guys dated, but I had no idea that Adam Quinn wanted to date you, and I had been hanging out with him too. I found out you were close to Mason and Logan Kade. I mean, I heard about them my first day at FCA, but no one mentioned you.” She lifted her head up and down as she said that word, “I found out your dad was the football coach at FCA aaaand you’re living with Mark Decraw.” A nervous giggle slipped from her. “For someone that I had never heard about, you’re connected to a ton of people.” She snuck a timid look at me. “I’ve been scared to talk to you about that. I’m glad I did.”

  I wanted to curse. “You’re saying that Miranda and her friends never talked about me?”

  “Well,” she hesitated, “they have said some things, but nothing good and I didn’t put two and two together until Adam and I went to Mark’s and all of you guys were there too. I don’t really listen to the bad stuff. That’s been done to me at my old school. A lot of the girls were jealous because some of the guys liked me.”

  “Give it time. I’m sure the same thing will happen at Fallen Crest Public too.”

  She flinched as if I slapped her.

  I grimaced. “Sorry. You’re friendly. Maybe it won’t happen to you.”

  A relieved look came over her, and her shoulders dropped. “I’m very careful, especially since dating Logan. I’ve noticed a big difference. People are more cautious around me and some of them are fake. Some kiss my ass. You can just tell, you know?”

  She was giving me a look as if we were friends, as if we were allies.

  It was then that I saw why Adam, Jeff, and Logan liked her, and why even Jessica and Lydia were being nice to her. She was new. She hadn’t been stabbed in the back by anyone—yet—and she didn’t know how vicious people could be.

  She was refreshing, for them. Not me. I glanced around. Was Logan coming back?

  “It’s fourth and fifty-seven,” the announcer said over the stadium.

  Glancing at the field, I saw Mason on the sidelines. He was ready to go back in for the next play and I waited. The team was setting up to punt, and he was flagged in. I looked at the scoreboard; it was the fourth quarter, and there were two minutes left in the game. The score was twenty-eight to three, a sure win for the Wolves.

  “Where did you say Logan went?”

  She shrugged. “I think he went to find Nate. I guess he sent him a text or something, saying he was in the stands somewhere. He’ll be back before the game is over. So, can I ask you a question?”

  I tensed. What did that mean?

  “Why isn’t Nate on the team? From what everyone’s been saying about him, Mason, and Logan, I thought he’d be playing with Mason. He’s not.”

  “Oh. No. Nate’s not good enough.” I hesitated. The truth was that Logan wasn’t even good enough. Division One football was too competitive. It was a stepping stone before the National Football League.

  The ball was punted and the punt returner caught it. He started forward; two guys from the opposing team were coming at him, but were blocked by Mason. He rammed into one guy, sending him to the ground, pivoted on his heel and wrapped both arms around the second guy. He threw him onto the ground, falling on top of him as his teammate soared past him.

  “Shit, what a tackle. That’s a freshman?” someone from behind us muttered.

  His friend commented, “Roster says Mason Kade.”

  “Where’d he come from?”

  “School’s few hours away, but his stats are good.”

  Pride swelled through me, but it wasn’t anything new.

  Kris’ phone buzzed at that moment. A soft grin came to her as she read the text, then she showed it to me. It was from Logan. With Nate in the back. By the 23rd door. Tell Sam. Staying back here with Nate and his friends.

  “Come on.” I wasn’t waiting any longer. “Let’s go find them.”

  It didn’t take long to spot them. Nate and his friends stood out. They had congregated against a wall, but were garnering a bunch of attention. The girls in front of the concession stand across from them giggled together and whispered behind their hands as I passed them. There were other groups of girls to the side, also eyeing the guys. A sense of déjà vu came over me. It felt like my first week at Fallen Crest Public all over again, but it was Nate getting all the attention this time.

  I scanned the group. “Where’s Logan?”

  Nate jerked his head to the side. “Pissing.” He broke out in a big grin after that and pulled me in for a hug. “Good seeing you. It’s been too long.”

  I laughed, but I had to admit it felt good.

  “Hi, Nate.”

  Remembering Kris, I stepped back. Nate gave her a brief grin and waved, and I saw the hurt settle in her gaze.

  “Hey. Kris, right?”

  I caught the wink he sent me. Oh, yes. Nate pretended to forget her name. He was subtly putting her back in her place. She wasn’t in the Fearsome Foursome, or whatever we were when it was just Logan, Nate, Mason, and myself. A wave of gratitude came over me. I saw Logan heading our way at that moment.

  “Yes, hi.” Her voice had dipped down, but Logan wrapped his arm around her shoulder and pulled her tight into his side. He scanned the group. “So, we won?”

  The buzzer went off inside the arena, and I grinned. “Guess so.”

  “Nate.” One of his friends stepped forward, a broad grin on his face. He was tall, over six feet by a few inches, with sandy-brown hair and crystal blue eyes. He looked like he had stepped from the brochure for an Ivy League school. “Are you going to introduce us to your friends?”

  Nate was silent for a moment and paused, giving me a questioning look. I glanced to Logan and knew he noticed the change. The air shifted. We both studied Nate, who forced out a polite laugh. “Uh, yeah. Logan, Sam, this is Park. He lives in my fraternity house with me.”

  “Hi.” I knew Mason didn’t like this guy so I assumed Nate wouldn’t have brought him to the game. Sharing another look with Logan, I saw he was thinking the same thing.

  Nate’s head moved down an inch. His entire demeanor shifted so he came ac
ross as more self-conscious. “Mason said the plan was to come to our party tonight?”

  Logan slowly nodded. “Yeah. That’s the plan.” He was studying Nate’s friends more, his eyes lingering on Park longer than it was polite.

  “Well, we’ll see you guys there.” Nate moved forward. His friends took the cue and began to leave. Park flashed us a smile and lifted his hand. He started to say something, but Nate clapped him on the shoulder and shook his head. His friend frowned, but heeded the warning. He turned and followed behind the rest of the fraternity brothers. Nate was the only one who lingered behind.

  He shot a meaningful look at Kris, and Logan got the message. He turned to her, “Hey, babe?”

  “Yeah?” Her head jerked to his.

  “Maybe you should go to the bathroom? The drive to the restaurant might take a long time with traffic after the game.”

  “I should be fine. We have to wait for Mason, right? I can go then.”

  “You and Logan are going to the restaurant. I’m the only one who’s going to be waiting for Mason.”

  “Oh.”

  Logan shook his head at me, but patted her on the arm. “Why don’t you go now? Nate needs to talk about something private anyway.”

  “Oh.” Her eyes widened as she snuck a look at Nate, who gave her a tight-lipped grin. “Okay. I’ll wait over there when I get back.”

  As she hurried away, there was a brief moment of silence between us. Nate glanced from Logan to me. We were waiting to see what Logan’s reaction was going to be, but Logan turned to me and narrowed his eyes. I tensed, was it coming? But he only shook his head and said to Nate, “So what’s going on? Mason told us you wanted to network, but with that douchebag? Why are you in a fart house?”

  “Not that it’s any of your business, but Mason lives in the football house. All his roommates are on the team and that means all his friends are going to be his teammates. I’m not on the team. Branching out isn’t a bad idea for me.”

  Logan grunted. “It’s a piss poor idea, and you know it.”

  Nate sighed, shaking his head. “Look. Whatever. Mason said you guys are going to dinner and then coming to my fart’s,” he grimaced, “frat’s party? Is that the plan?”

  A gleam appeared in Logan’s eye. I knew that look. Logan wanted to fight. I murmured, “You sure you want us there?”

  “Yeah.” Nate gentled his tone. “It’ll be nice to have you guys all there.”

  “What about douchebag?” Logan jerked his head in the direction the fraternity brothers had gone. “He’s not going to like us. You know that.”

  “Just,” Nate sounded so wary, “come for me. Okay?”

  “Yeah. We’ll come.” Logan’s glower deepened. “But I’m not kissing any ass tonight.”

  Nate grimaced. “Try to be nice.”

  Logan kept quiet, and that was the best answer Nate was going to get. Nate lifted a hand and said he’d see us at the party. I waited until he had disappeared into the crowd before I asked, “What are you planning?”

  “I’m going to piss his friend off.”

  With the dark intent brewing in his gaze, I knew Logan was going to make enemies that night. I shrugged. It was going to happen. I flashed him a grin. “Looks like we’re getting a head start for next year.”

  He grunted in response before we sat back and waited for Kris and Mason.

  CHAPTER TEN

  MASON

  “Hey, man.” Drew came over and propped a hand on the top shelf of my locker. He had showered and dressed in jeans and a Cain University shirt. “I heard your woman’s in town.”

  I narrowed my eyes and bent to grab my own shirt. Pulling it on, I asked, “Yeah?”

  He ran a hand through his hair and bent over so he could see in my mirror. As he fixed his hair, he said, “A bunch of us are going downtown for Matteo’s birthday. He can let loose tonight. He mentioned that you’re going to a frat party tonight?”

  “Yeah.” I watched as he moved his head at all angles to inspect his hair. When he saw a clump that was pressed flat, he bit his lip and lifted his hands to tug them apart. Logan did this shit. He had cut his hair so it was shorter, but there was enough for him to spike it like my quarterback. I kept mine in a crew cut. I didn’t want to waste time, and Sam seemed to like it. Good enough for me. As he moved to a new clump of hair, I told him, “You know my best friend is there. He wants to show the house off to my brother more than anything. I doubt we’ll stay late.”

  “I’m surprised you’re going. Matteo told me you’re a no-nonsense guy. I would’ve thought Park Sebasstian would be road kill to you.” His fingers pulled apart two hairs that were sticking up. He rubbed them so they stuck up even higher, then nodded to himself. He turned to face me again and smirked, but when he saw the no-nonsense expression on my face, his smirk fell flat.

  I said, “I’ll deal with anyone who tries to mess with me.”

  His eyes narrowed and studied mine. He nodded. “Sounds good.” He pounded me on the shoulder. “We’re at Cliché tonight. Just ask for the Cain U footballer’s private box. They’ll show you the way.” He turned to go, but paused. “A lot of the guys from the team go there.”

  “What are you talking about?”

  “Don’t worry about age. They worked out a deal with one of the captains a long time ago. They don’t serve ‘alcohol’ to minors.” As he used his fingers for air quotes, I assumed that meant we could get alcohol just fine if we wanted. He added, “And don’t feel weird. A lot of the guys bring their wives too, you know, the guys in serious relationships like you.”

  I grunted. “Yeah, okay. We might swing by. My brother would probably like the club.”

  “Sounds good, man. Have fun with the wife and kids.”

  As soon as Drew moved away, Matteo lumbered over to me. He had showered, but he only managed to get his pants on. Still shirtless, he was rubbing lotion over his chest as he said, “You coming out tonight?”

  “I think so.” I jerked my head in Drew’s direction. “The wife comments, are those veiled insults?”

  “What?” My roommate’s eyes got big, and he glanced where Drew was talking to two senior players. “No, man. If it is, I’ll be pissed. They call Georgie my wife too. That's what they call the serious relationships.”

  “So there’s no shade with that?” I wanted to make sure. Drew had been smirking, but I knew he was still on an adrenalin high from the win. He threw four touchdowns, but I wasn’t going to stand and be laughed at without hitting back.

  “No, no, no.” Matteo seemed taken aback. His hand paused in rubbing the lotion, but he started again a moment later. “They want us to be wifed-up. Girls can mean problems for the single guys. Hook-ups sometimes become baby-mommas. Some of that shit happens on purpose. You know how it is. They want the guys to have wives. They’re more stable. Those girls are rocks for some of us. I know Georgie is for me. If I step out of line, she smacks me back in, and I regret it for the rest of my life.”

  I grinned, easing up a bit. “Good to know.”

  “How about you?” He sat down on my bench. “You don’t talk too much about your woman, but you guys talk every night.”

  “Me and Sam?” I grunted. “I guess I’m the rock.”

  “She doesn’t smack you around if you step out of line?”

  I didn’t step out of line. I never wanted to. Shrugging, I commented while I saw my phone buzzing, “No. We don’t really fight that much.” I read the text and saw it was from Logan. Get your ass out here. Mine is hungry and wanting sweet relief, if you know what I mean. Serious, tho. Get out here. Sam won’t look away from the hallway you said you’d be coming from.

  I typed back: Coming. I said to Matteo, “I need to go. Happy birthday and I’ll see you later tonight.”

  “Yeah, I want to meet your woman. She didn’t stop by earlier.”

  I began backpedaling and lifted my arms up in a shrug. “They were late. Logan said there was some fight, but they’re here now.” As I moved thro
ugh the main open area of the gym, I raised my voice and lifted a hand, “Happy birthday to Matteo! May your dick be tired tomorrow morning.”

  “You douche,” Matteo called after me, laughing.

  The guys who were still in the locker room called out their own cheers for him, and as I went out the door, I knew my roommate was soaking up all the attention

  It didn’t take long to walk from the locker room to where I knew Logan and Sam were waiting. I came up the side stairs, and when I opened the door, I noticed the stadium had cleared out. Going past some offices and conference rooms, I turned and saw them at the end of the hallway. The walkway was huge. Sam and Logan looked like ants compared to the massive posts around them. One of them jerked upright from a wall.

  I grinned, waving. It was Sam. Fuck, it’d been too damn long. She broke into a run, and I walked faster. Her eyes were wide, her mouth opened, and there was no hesitation. She threw herself at me. Grabbing a hold of her, I turned and pressed her against the wall. My legs were unsteady, from the game and seeing her, and I needed more balance. Closing my eyes, I pressed a kiss to her forehead and hugged her. She hugged me back.

  Home. That’s what Sam was to me.

  Moving to her ear, I whispered, “It feels good to hold you again.”

  She clasped onto me tighter and wrapped her legs around my waist. When she didn’t respond, I knew she couldn’t. I wanted to kiss her, but she was pressed into my chest and her head went to my shoulder so I stopped thinking and just held her. I’d forgotten how perfectly she fit with me.

  I needed time with just her.

  Logan had walked closer, but he saw my look and nodded. Reaching behind him, he took his girl’s hand and said something in her ear. When he led her out the door, I knew he had given us some privacy. I wasn’t going to waste any time. Sliding my hands under Sam’s ass, I stood from the wall and her legs tightened in response.

  “Mason?”

  I turned for one of those conference rooms. Locking the door, hitting the lights off, I pushed her against the wall again. Her legs fell so she was standing on her own, and she gazed up at me in confusion. I cupped the back of her head and slammed my lips down on hers.