by Tijan
Yearly wanted to tell me about this girl. He wanted to show off, and I felt seven layers of dirt inside because whatever he was about to say, I knew he had imagined doing worse to me. I felt it in my core.
“Okay.” He beckoned to me, like he was the one pulling me in on a fishing line. “Come here, though. I don’t want to say this too loudly.”
A bolt of panic seared my chest, but Yearly was looking past me, and I settled. He was looking for other people to be walking the maze, and remembering them, I was surprised that no one had come along and interrupted us.
I scooted closer, turning to the side so he was facing me and his voice was clearer to Mason. “Tell me. I need something more on her. I want to make her life hell.”
“You will.” He licked his lips.
I threw up in my mouth. Okay, not really, but the sentiment was there.
He dropped his voice low, “I have pictures of her.”
“What?” I reared back, but only a little before I caught myself and leaned close again, remembering that I was supposed to have pictures of her too. “Pictures of what?”
“My buddy knows her.” He was pulling his phone out. “They went to the same school together, and a guy she was with there shared a bunch of images.”
The sick feeling was back, crawling up my chest.
“Yeah?” I forced myself to look when he showed me his screen.
I broke for her.
She was smiling at the camera, waving. She was exposed and naked and vulnerable, but it was in her eyes too. She adored whoever was taking that image.
“Her boyfriend took that of her?”
He snorted, flicking through some more photos. “As if. The dude just poked her a few times, gave her a ride every now and then. Nothing serious.”
“Right.” I couldn’t keep the bite out of my tone. I tried, but I just couldn’t.
His head snapped up, his eyes narrowed. “What? You pissed about that?”
“No.” Lie, Strattan. He was nothing compared to others you’ve gone against. And just like that, a smooth lie came out of me. “It isn’t enough. I need something else, something worse.” I was eyeing him, biting my lip. “What about you? You’re always flirting with her. You and her ever do anything?”
He stiffened, a mask walling up over his face as he stared at me intensely. Then it dropped, and he jerked up a shoulder. “What kind of dirt are you talking about?”
“Any, honestly. Don’t make anything up, though.”
“I wouldn’t.” He sounded offended.
I fought against rolling my eyes.
“Okay. Yeah.” He was nodding to himself, making a decision. “She and I just joke in class. You know how it is, but yeah, there was one time after class. She was going to the bathroom and she looked back, gave me the nod to follow her.”
“Nod?”
“She looked at me.”
“Did she wave or anything?”
“Nah, but it was in the look. You know. You were looking at me the same the first day of school.”
Puke. Vomit. Bile. All of it was flaring up in my sternum, threatening to spew. I looked at him with distaste.
“Really?”
“Yeah.” He oozed slime. “You know it. But anyway, so I followed her in the bathroom and locked the door.”
I didn’t want to hear this. I really didn’t, but I didn’t react. I waited.
“And yeah, we fooled around for a bit in there. Is that good enough for you?”
I needed more. I already knew that, but I didn’t want to ask. I didn’t want to know because then it would be with me too. I forced out, “No. I need details. What happened?”
“She went down, you know.” He made a motion with his hand, and I knew what he meant, but I still forced the words out.
“She went on her own?”
“No. I mean, I had to push her down, but she likes it rough. I mean, that was all it was. I let her leave afterward, but come on. She liked it. That’s probably what she’ll do to Kade if he hits her back. But Strattan, and I don’t talk like this lightly, but that man of yours probably has hotter pieces hitting him up. He’s in the pros. Honestly, I’m shocked you’re still in school. Thought you’d stay to keep an eye on him, try to keep him in line.”
A red light waved behind him, Mason signaling that he had enough. Yearly “pushed” her down. She liked it “rough.” He “let” her leave. And the big kicker, she “looked” at him. It might not be enough to convict him of anything, but it was enough to notify the school officials they had a big fucking problem on their hands.
I nodded, almost falling back in my rush to get away from Yearly.
“Wha—”
Then Mason stepped out, right between Yearly and me.
I could see Yearly shrink back, and it was then I let the coward part of me take over. I gripped the back of Mason’s shirt and pressed my forehead to him. I needed to touch goodness, but it wasn’t enough. My mind was running rampant. I could imagine the truth between the lines, what Yearly had really done.
I molded completely to Mason’s back and held on. I just held on.
“I got all of that on tape, and I forwarded a copy to Nate and one to Logan, so now it’s their decision too. And I’ve a good feeling Sam will want a copy for herself, and she’ll send one to that girl you ‘followed’ into the bathroom.”
Sam would be there for her, if she decided to go to the authorities. And if she didn’t, I’d let Sam and Logan make that decision. They were the ones living here, but I knew my family. They’d want the fucker to burn.
Mason’s voice was rough, but there was real danger lurking underneath. His body was rigid, not an inch soft or relaxed. He was fighting to keep himself from launching at him. I knew Mason. I knew if Yearly said too much, he’d react, and then it could be Mason’s future in jeopardy.
He had changed. Violence was behind him, but I could feel that line being pushed inside him.
“Sam wanted to come out here today because she wanted to scare you. She wanted some fun revenge on you for what you’ve been doing to that girl. I don’t know her. I don’t know you, but I know the situation. I know the type of guy you are, and I know your type likes to prey on girls. You don’t like women like Sam, who stand up and fight back, who say no. And I could go on a whole spiel, telling you exactly what kind of a piece of shit you are, but I’m not trusting myself right now.” His voice broke, and his hands curled into fists.
I slid a hand down, catching his and intertwining our fingers.
His entire chest lifted up and went back down, and just like that, he felt more in control. He felt steadier. “When you think about getting some revenge later, you need to remember a few things. You need to remember me. You need to remember Logan. You need to remember our reputations, and you need to remember we have that reputation for a good goddamn reason.” He softened his voice, making it sound almost eerie from the promise there. “Even think of hurting Sam, and I will end you.”
He tightened his hold on my hand and pulled me with him so we could disappear into the rows of corn.
We moved fast and hard, the corn almost whipping us from the speed we were going. It took a second to realize what was going on. He wanted us out of there because there were only two of us and Yearly had all of his brothers back there.
I moved beside him, and we broke through the last row. We were outside of the maze, and I took the lead.
My feet picked up.
The need to run was at my back, spurring me on, and as I hurried up my pace, so did Mason.
It wasn’t long before we were mounting the hill where our night had started, and I knew there was no way they could catch us. No one could. I was training for the Olympics and Mason was in the National Football League. We were too fast.
When we got up the trail and made it to his Escalade, I thought back over what just transpired.
I hadn’t intended for that to happen tonight. I didn’t know how bad he was, the extent of what he had done to B
rittany, but I knew that somehow we had helped.
That felt damned good.
Mason held my hand the drive back to the house. We didn’t talk much, but then I remembered what he said, and I laughed.
“Your passwords are my name? Samantha Jacquelyn Strattan?”
He smiled. “No. Samantha Jacquelyn Kade.”
And that felt damned good too.
About the Author
Tijan is the New York Times bestselling author of the Carter Reed series, the Fallen Crest series, and the Broken and Screwed series, among others. She lives in northern Minnesota.
You can sign up for email updates here.
Don’t miss these other titles from NEW YORK TIMES bestselling author TIJAN
Fallen Crest Series
Fallen Crest High
Fallen Crest Family
Fallen Crest Public
Fallen Fourth Down
Fallen Crest University
Fallen Crest Home
Fallen Crest Forever
Fallen Crest Christmas
Carter Reed
Carter Reed
Carter Reed 2
Jaded
Jaded
Still Jaded
Jaden
The BS Series
Broken and Screwed
Broken and Screwed 2
The Immortal Prophecy
Davy Harwood
Davy Harwood in Transition
Davina
Standalones
Cole
Home Tears
Home Torn
Anti-Stepbrother
Evil
Logan Kade
Kian
Sustain
Fighter
A Whole New Crowd
The Original Crows
Brady Remington Landed Me in Jail
Visit her at www.tijansbooks.com
Thank you for buying this Swerve ebook.
To receive special offers, bonus content, and info on new releases and other great reads, sign up for our newsletters.
Or visit us online at us.macmillan.com/newslettersignup
For email updates on the author, click here.
Table of Contents
Title Page
Copyright Notice
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Bonus Scene
About the Author
Don’t miss these other titles from NEW YORK TIMES bestselling author TIJAN
Copyright Page
This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.
FALLEN CREST NIGHTMARE. Copyright © 2018 by Tijan. All rights reserved. For information, address St. Martin’s Press, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010.
www.stmartins.com
Cover design by Mimi Bark
Cover photographs: couple © Viorel Sima/Shutterstock.com; man © StockLite/Shutterstock.com; leaves © Teri Virbickis/Shutterstock.com
ISBN 978-1-250-14827-8 (ebook)
Originally published in the Eye Candy anthology in 2017 by SMP Swerve.
First Swerve Edition: April 2018
Our eBooks may be purchased in bulk for promotional, educational, or business use. Please contact the Macmillan Corporate and Premium Sales Department at 1-800-221-7945, ext. 5442, or by e-mail at [email protected].