by Tijan
I did. I really did, but I bit my lip. I didn't know if Mason would approve, but it didn't matter. I needed something, anything to keep me from running to him. And this was the perfect hideout. It would make my mother furious.
"Yes." My confession left me in a rush.
"I saw that right away. It's why I called you over, plus, I've got a feeling that you've got spine if you know what I mean."
I snorted and, for the first time, relaxed into my chair. My hands folded into my lap as I settled more comfortably. "So do I have the job?"
"You ever waitressed before?"
No. "Yes."
"Liar." But she didn't hide the grin on her face. "You're hired. You start tonight?"
So much tension left me in that moment. I couldn't believe it. And I nodded, suddenly choked up for some reason. "Yeah. What time?"
She chewed on her lip as she scanned me up and down again. "The night shift starts in an hour. If you're dating Mason Kade, then that makes you their future stepsister. It's all that some of those wishy-washies talk about so I know that you live at the big fancy mansion of theirs and if you came walking all this way, there's no way you can make it there and back, can you?"
I shook my head and bit my own lip. Would I lose the job?
She jerked a thumb over her shoulder. "That crappy looking house is ours. If you want, you can shower in there. I could spot you some clothes for the shift, and then your fancy boyfriend can give you a ride home tonight? How's that sound?"
Wonderful, but I grimaced. I had no idea how I'd get home. I couldn't call Mason—even if I could reach him, I would end up in his bed tonight. Then it didn't matter. I'd figure something out so I jerked my head in a nod. "Sounds good."
She grunted in an approving sound as she stood. Then she hollered inside, "She's got a boyfriend, Brandon. Hands off."
"Yeah, yeah!" he grumbled back before he shouted a curse to follow.
She flipped him her middle finger, but it was only met with a smattering of laughter from inside. As we headed to their two-story home, she stuffed her hands into her back pocket. Her legs stretched out in a walk that I knew would've had Logan groaning from behind her. Sex on a stick. I tried to hold back my anticipation of introducing the two.
But then I was distracted as she showed me through the front door. The screen door banged open, and she strutted past a living room with two worn-out couches and a television positioned on a stand in the corner. The kitchen was small and sparse. A bare table sat in the dining room with boxes of liquor placed all over. When she noticed my gaze, she shrugged. "Sometimes my dad uses this place for storage. He thinks it's safer than in the bar where a few of our old employees weren't so trustworthy, if you know what I mean."
When I met her gaze, she nodded towards the rickety stairs. "Shower's upstairs. I won't scare you off by making you use Brandon and dad's shower. That whole area of the house is disgusting. Come on. I'll grab you some clothes too."
After she showed me the shower, which was in a bathroom that was clean and decorated in lace and pink, I relaxed a bit. It'd been awhile since I had been at a place that wasn't the lap of luxury. For some reason, this grounded me. I felt more settled, like no one was going to swipe me off my feet and run away laughing. Then I stepped inside the shower and breathed in the smell of lilies. When I used some of her body wash, I held back a grin at the image of Mason's hands on my body. He would've loved the smell on me. He would've loved to lather me with it before he would pull my body back against his. Then his hands would slide to my waist and slip down—
"We don't really have a uniform policy."
My elbow jerked up as Heather tore me from my thoughts. As it banged against the shower, a stabbing pain flooded me, but I bit back a curse.
She fell silent for a second before she cleared her throat. "You okay?" Her voice grew as she must've opened the door and stepped inside. Then she snorted at herself. "I don't even know your name. What is it?"
"Samantha," I called over the water. I hurried to finish rinsing my hair and everything else.
"Oh. Hello again. Mine's Heather. Again." She chuckled again. "I sound like a virgin on her first date with the Hulk. Stupid as shit." But she laughed again. "Anyways, what I was saying before is that we don't really have a uniform policy, but the girls all started wearing jeans and a tee shirt. They liked to show the girls and usually tore off the bottom to show off their stomachs, more tips. We have a lot of regulars, but on the weekends we'll get some rich pricks too. They're usually trying to hide from the wives or girlfriends, but they come around enough. The tips are good."
Rich pricks. I frowned as I wondered if Mason knew of the place.
Heather interrupted my thoughts again. "I put some jeans and shirts on the bed. Take your time washing up; just come down whenever you're done. You were sweating a bunch so I'll make some food too. You're going to need some good sustenance in you to get through the night. There are a few of the other servers that'll be bitches to you, especially if you tell 'em who you're dating." She paused a beat. "Not that I'll say a word. I won't. That's for you to share if you want. Something tells me that you're a bit on the secret side, but to each her own. My brother will go crazy. He loves the Kade boys. He reminisces about when Mason first showed up on their team all the time. You woulda thought that the Lord himself came to save their team from damnation from the way Brandon puts it. Okay, I'll be downstairs. See you in a few."
Brandon knew Mason? The other girls knew them? Then I cursed at myself. Of course they knew them. What the hell had I been thinking? But as I got out of the shower and finished dressing, I headed downstairs to find out because I wasn't going anywhere. This wasn't about Mason and me; this was about my mother and me. My chin locked with determination as I turned the corner and saw Heather in the kitchen. She handed me a plate with a sandwich on it.
Analise might not know it yet, but I was going to make her regret forcing Mason away from me. And getting a job at Manny's was the perfect start to enact some revenge.
CHAPTER NINE
Training that night was easy. The most difficult thing was staying friendly when a few of the customers got too friendly, but Heather stepped in and handled those situations. I figured out how to take orders, how to write it down on the pad, and to time when the food would be done for customers. Filling drink orders was easier, but I got frustrated a few times I would get one drink only to have the other customer at the same table decide on something else. Heather chuckled as she watched me get flustered, but she linked elbows at one point and gave the table a polite smile as she took their orders. I would've headed straight to the bar to fill 'em, but she completed another task on her way to the bar.
Multi-tasking was going to be a skill I'd need to learn, but by the end of the night I felt more confident. It helped that Brandon was nice every time I came to him with a question. He took the time to explain the different drinks and always told me not to worry; I would catch on soon enough. By the fourth time he issued that same support, I caught a frown from Heather across the diner. Something told me he hadn't really heard her warning that I was dating someone, but it didn't matter. I wasn't going to date him.
There were two other servers that showed up, both of them were nice, so nice that I wondered about Heather's warning from before. That was until the nine o'clock girl showed up. Her name was Gia and she would've been elated to reign with the Elite at my school. She had platinum blonde hair, manufactured boobs, and an outfit that barely covered her. A swimsuit might've covered more, but she was the shot girl as Heather explained. It was to be expected.
By the end of the night, I felt ready to do an entire shift on my own. Heather had cut me down to handling a few tables on my own by the end of the night. My feet killed, but I hoped it had more to do with my four hour run and the two of walking. And with that thought, I should've called Coach Grath back that day, but when I saw Heather earlier, I put it off. I would call him the next day and my training would start in the mornings sinc
e Heather told me that she needed me every night during break. I would get every other Thursday off, along with the opposite Tuesdays when school would start again. When I asked about the weekends, she assured me that I would want them.
After cleaning up, when everyone left, I was faced with a dilemma.
I had no way home.
I had my phone, but no number to call Mason even if I wanted to. I never got Nate's number and Logan's line had been disconnected as well. They would have no clue to come get me so I was left with one choice.
I called Adam.
He pulled into the parking lot within ten minutes, dressed in a green polo and khaki cargo pants. As I got a whiff of his pine cologne, I asked if he'd been on a date. Even his hair looked styled to perfection. He gave me an odd look, but shook his head. He had been at a party.
No surprise there.
When he asked if I wanted to go, I declined. Then he said the magic words. "It's at Nate Monson's house."
Oh god.
My stomach flipped over and my eyes closed. A girl could only have so much self-discipline. I already knew my decision when I braced myself. "Would you do me a favor?"
"Sure."
Then I asked for the impossible. "Come to my house with me and tell my mom that I'm hanging out with you and your friends only."
He flashed me a grin. "Your mom's not handling your relationship very well?"
"Try not at all." I held my tongue on the threats, the ultimatums, and what was actually at stake. I shouldn't be going, but I couldn't stop myself. One day. Only one day and I was already folding under the need to see him.
But, as it turned out, my mother was ecstatic to see Adam. She gushed about his father, and then asked how his mother was. The two had lunch plans the next day at the country club. When I expressed my concern that his mom might tell Analise where he'd actually been the night before, Adam assured me not to worry.
He rolled his eyes at me. "My mom has no idea what I do. We're not close, remember?"
I relaxed. I did remember, and I noticed how his hands tightened around the steering wheel. His knuckles were white by the time he pulled into Nate's massive driveway. But then I stopped paying attention to Adam when I saw how many cars were lined up and down the driveway. I couldn't count them, they covered his entire yard and they had still parked down the street. This party was massive. Hell, forget massive—this party was gigantic. My eyes were just as huge as I gazed over the crowd. They were everywhere, by the cars, roaming the driveway, on the road even. Adam had to slow down as he waited for a group to get out of the way. When they didn't, he touched his horn lightly and they moved to the side.
"I thought the last party was huge, but this one…" Oh my god.
"Yeah, Peter texted me that he saw people from seven different schools here." Adam shrugged. "Its winter break and it's the Kades, with Monson." He glanced over. "But you'd know all about that."
Yeah, I would. A small tingle sparked from the anticipation. Then I frowned. Peter—I cringed. That mean the Elite would be there, but of course they'd be there. Everyone was there. "Peter's here?"
He nodded.
That meant that Miranda was too. She had been dating Peter before she fell hook, line, and sinker for Logan. I tensed as I remembered the past few months. The Elite crowd at my school tried to use me to pull Mason and Logan into their group. More than a few times Logan had laughed in their faces. Miranda had referred to him as a manwhore and any girl who fell for him was a slut. So she looked like the fool when he turned his charms on her. It took one party, only one party, and she was walking around with his shirt on the next morning.
Logan dated her for a month. He had been persuaded to date her to protect me since she was the Queen Bee at my school and she made a few threats of making my life hell. If she was connected to Logan, she'd be happy and she wouldn't continue to go after me. But that hadn't been the real reason. That had only been the spin put on it so he would follow through with Mason's plan.
The real reason that Mason wanted Logan to date Miranda was to humiliate her. He knew if she started dating Logan, she would look like a hypocritical bitch. And she had. The rest of the Elite group revoked her role as their leader. She had condemned all the other girls for sleeping with Logan, only to dump her boyfriend of three years for him in one night?
The whole situation left me feeling uneasy. Logan had been used and he still didn't know it.
Mason wanted to hurt Miranda, but only Nate and I knew the real motivation behind it. Miranda pushed a button that Mason knew could've threatened his relationship with his brother. Me. There'd been another girl Logan had loved, really loved, who used him to get closer to Mason. Then I came into their lives. I fell in love with Mason, but he worried that Logan had feelings for me as well. When Miranda taunted him that he got the girl Logan really wanted, Mason nipped that threat in the bud. That was the real reason he had Nate convince Logan to screw her for a month.
Everything went off without a hitch.
Miranda's friends lost respect for her. Logan thought he was protecting me and Mason knew he wouldn't have to worry about Miranda anymore.
It left a sour taste in my mouth.
And then Adam dropped the last bomb. "Yeah, and I guess some of the Kades' cousins are here too. They brought half of the party with them when they showed with Logan."
"Logan's here?" I jerked forward in my seat. My heart started racing. Logan was here. Mason was here. This party was too big for any parent not to know about. I had to get out of there. "Stop. Stop the car."
"What—wait!"
It was too late.
He slowed for another group of people that crossed the driveway and I shot out of there. I had no idea what I was doing or where I was going, but I started to run towards the road. My heart was pounding; it was a solid thump in my ears. The same panic started again, it threatened to choke me, but I kept going.
I was distantly aware of Adam calling my name, but I kept going.
"Hey, whoa!" A husky chuckle sounded next to me as I tore through a group. An arm snaked in front of my chest. As I ran into it, I started to fall, but a strong arm curled into my waist and I was lifted before I fell to the ground. I was held against a massive chest, but I gulped as I saw Heather through a haze in my eyes.
She'd been laughing before. I saw the small lines still around the corners of her lips, but she grew serious as she saw my fear. My chest kept heaving up and down and I clawed at the arm that held me in place. He grunted behind me. "Damn, Heather. She's going to make me bleed."
"Hold her still, Norm!" Heather snapped at him. She softened her voice and brushed some of my hair out of my eyes. "Hey, hey. What's going on? What's wrong? What happened between here and Manny's?"
"You know this chick, Heather?" A different voice chimed in.
She gave him a dirty look over her shoulder. "Yeah,so shut your pie-hole. She's my friend."
"She's Kade's bitch. Drop her, Norm."
"Shut up, Channing!" She gave Norm a look over my shoulder. "You drop her and I will rip your balls off tonight after you've passed out. She's my friend."
The arm tightened around me. A deep voice rumbled through the chest that held me. "I don't know, Heather. I don't want to mess with the Kades. They might be rich pricks, but they don't mess around."
"They're not preps, Heather." That same voice argued from the side. It was low and full of warning. "You might like the girl, but she's theirs. We shouldn't even be here. I knew it was a stupid idea to come."
Heather's eyes snapped in irritation before she twisted back around. "There are no other parties. This one is it. Besides, we're not doing anything wrong. I know this girl and she's scared. I want to know what happened—"
"And if it's because the Kades did something to her? What then?" the guy mused. He didn't sound threatened, just reasonable. "She's not our problem. You're not sticking your neck out for her."
Her mouth dropped, ready to fight back—
He spo
ke over her, "I don't care. You're not pulling us into a fight against them and I won't let them hurt you. If it comes to it, we're walking away. All of us. You too."
"Channing," she seethed.
As she turned back, the haze had dissipated enough so I could think a bit clearer. I could also see clearer, and the guy who had been speaking was tall and lean. He had a model's face, but his body was covered in tattoos. The simple black tee shirt that he wore didn't hide the muscular build he had despite his lean physique. And I'd been right. There was no fear in his dark eyes, but he was wary. As he gazed down at Heather in front of him, there was also concern.
The plan I had to introduce her to Logan was gone now. I didn't know the story between those two, but she wasn't single. As I thought about it, I never asked if she had a boyfriend or not. I'd been so focused on keeping my own love life to myself.
"Norm." The guy sent him a pointed look. "Drop her."
"Don't—" Heather gasped.
But the arm abruptly released me and down I went. I caught myself before I fell all the way and choked from the sudden oxygen I could now breathe. When I looked up, with tears in my eyes, I saw that the guy who'd been holding me could've been a bodybuilder. He was a giant, but he gave me a timid smile. "Sorry about that. He said drop so I dropped."
I nodded as I still coughed from all the air. "No problem."
Heather glared at him before she touched my arm. "Hey, you okay, hon? What had you so spooked before?"
I shook my head. I couldn't tell anyone about it.
"Sam?"
It didn't matter now.
I turned and stared at Mason, who stood a few feet from the group. His hands were clenched in fists. There was no one behind him. He had come alone. His eyes never left mine, but I felt the sudden question in his depths.
I didn't think. I couldn't.
I ran toward him and he caught me as I threw myself at him. His arms felt like home as he held me against his chest and I breathed him in. My legs wrapped around his waist. When his hand brushed my hair back and he kissed my forehead, I burrowed into him. I couldn't have been anywhere else.