by Tijan
This was ridiculous. I held my hands up, shaking my head. “Has it occurred to you that maybe someone hit her by accident? That it really was a horrible, horrible accident?”
“All I know is you joined the team and ever since then, my life has genuinely sucked.”
Logan snorted. “That sounds more like a case of bad karma than Sam’s agenda. I’m sure she saw you on the team one day, and thought to herself, ‘Hmmm. That girl looks evil. I should join the team after a chance meeting with my track coach where he insists I join, and yes, by golly, I’ll take that girl down.’” He rolled his eyes. “Hell yes. Samantha Strattan, my stepsister mastermind extraordinaire. That’s her, all right.”
Faith sucked in her breath. “You don’t have to make fun of me. The damage is done. My best friend is in the hospital, and the doctors say she may never run again.”
“Bullshit.”
“Excuse me?!” She glowered at Logan, perhaps wishing he’d never run again.
“Yeah.” Logan’s head inclined toward her. “I call bullshit. I’ve been in enough situations to know the chances of having an epic verbal smackdown at a party with someone and hours later, one of the people gets hit and is ‘never going to run again’ is highly unlikely. It seems to me like you’re the one with the agenda. I’m calling your bluff.”
She gritted her teeth and spoke through them. “What are you saying?”
“Call the cops. Tell them you think Sam was behind it. That is what you’re implying, right?”
Her neck grew red. The color crept up to her cheeks. “Are you—”
“I’m not joking.” His tone was dead serious. His eyes were calm. “Make the claim. Make it official. Don’t think you can play in our league just by saying you’re in our league. Actually do it, then sit back and see how we handle you.”
“Is that a threat?” It came out as a whisper.
“Not a threat. A fact. Do it.”
“You’re insane.”
I was tired of this. She was going to sputter and hiss like a broken record. Logan was going to continue to call her bluff. I had come to do one thing, and I turned around to do it.
“Where are you going?” Logan called after me.
“I’m going to see how Raelynn is,” I threw over my shoulder.
I hoped Logan would keep Faith distracted. I tensed, waiting for her to hurry after me with more threats, but I didn’t hear any yells or footsteps. I got to Raelynn’s door and looked back. Logan seemed to be still talking to Faith. I wasn’t sure if it was a good idea to leave them alone, but he knew what he was doing. He wouldn’t give her any ammunition.
I knocked softly and looked into the room.
Raelynn was curled up in the bed, turned away from me. A sheet completely covered her shoulder, but I saw some bruising on her neck. I moved around the bed, seeing the steady rise and fall of deep breathing, and guessed she was sleeping. When I got to the other side and could see her face, I almost gasped out loud. My mouth fell open, but I covered it and stifled the sound.
Her entire face was black and blue. Her right eye had a bandage over it, and her mouth looked cut up.
This accident hadn’t been staged. It was the real deal.
Then her left eye opened, and she saw me.
I shot my hands out. “Please don’t get mad at me. I just wanted to see how you were.”
Her eye narrowed, and she rolled to her back. Grimacing, she sat up and pointed to a pillow on the chair next to me. I handed it over, and she placed it behind her.
She leaned back gingerly, still cringing. “Are you here to gloat?”
I sat down, my hand covering my mouth. I felt tears threatening. She was clearly in a massive amount of pain. “Faith thinks I had something to do with this. I did not.” I gestured to her. “I’m so sorry.”
Her mouth was stiff, and her words came out slowly. “The other driver was some drunk guy. He was going home from the bar. The cops arrested him already. It’s his third car accident. He’ll be in county jail for a while, and he’s supposed to get his license taken away. Unless you had someone proposition him, I doubt you’d know Jim DeLuca.”
“That’s his name?”
“He calls himself Jimbo.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be. I know you didn’t do this. You’re not like that.”
“Faith said the doctors don’t think you can run again?”
She groaned. “Faith is such a liar. That’s not true. I can’t run this year. I’ll be running next year just fine.”
“That’s a relief then.”
She looked away. “Not that it matters. Only two people from our team make it to nationals. It’ll be you and Faith now. I’d be out anyway. And Faith is going to milk my accident so she gets all the attention. Good luck with her. She’ll have everyone convinced you slept with Jimbo to try to kill me, and the cops were paid off by your rich daddy to keep quiet about the whole thing.”
“Are you serious?” I tensed.
“’Fraid so. It’ll be something like that. She’s going to turn everyone against you. She’s done it before. I’ve seen her do it since elementary school. She won’t stop either, not until you’re so bullied by the others—even other runners in our races—that you’re either in the room next to me or you quit out of self-preservation.” Raelynn looked toward the open door. “I should stop talking. She could come back soon.” She cast me a worried look. “You might want to leave. She’ll probably start yelling and get you banned from the hospital.”
I gestured toward the hall. “We already ran into her.”
“We?”
I nodded. “Logan came with me. He’s distracting her so we can talk.”
Her eyes darted to the doorway, but it was empty. She looked back to me. “Look, it’s over for me this year. I can’t run, and that means, I can’t be Faith’s backup. She and Nettie will become best friends now. Just watch. She’s here, but once she starts running again, I probably won’t see her until she finds out I’m coming back next year. She’ll reach out to me next May, I’m betting. She’ll want to run together over the summer. But I’m telling you this because you have to watch out for her. Okay? Watch your back.”
I nodded.
She moved her head ever so slightly up and down. The pillow crinkled from the motion. “Can I tell you something? Something no one knows?”
“Yeah.”
“I’m in love with her. I have been since elementary school. She knows, but it’s not something we talk about. She’s not gay. I know what I’m dealing with, but I still love her. I’m an idiot.”
I started to reach for her hand, saw how smashed up it looked, and changed my mind. “Why are you telling me this?”
“I’m not evil. She isn’t either. She’s just spoiled, and she’s never not gotten her way. I was going to try to watch her for you. I didn’t want her to do something that would jeopardize her future, you know? But I can’t anymore. I figured warning you is the best I can do.” Her voice grew shaky. “Thank you for coming to see me.”
“Yeah. Of course.” I was still taken aback by everything.
“I might try to sleep again.” She moved her hand until she could press the call button, turning back to her side. “The nurse will come in and give me something to sleep. Come back and visit, will ya? Faith will be around for another week, but she’ll drop me like a bad habit after that.”
“Of course.” I touched the edge of her bed and patted it. “I’ll see you in a week then.”
“Thanks, Sam. Run fast, okay?”
I nodded, returning to the hallway.
Logan was alone, lounging against the wall with his arms crossed over his chest. He looked over as I approached.
“Your number-one fan went to find the administration here. She’s hoping to get us banned. You know, just for standing in the hallway.” He whistled under his breath. “That girl is a special one. She’s all sorts of delusional, a spoiled princess, and off-her-rocker kind of crazy. You need to
watch this one.”
“So I’ve been hearing.”
I looked over my shoulder at Raelynn’s room as we started back to the car. An uneasiness took root in me. It had been there since the party night and my confrontation with Faith, but it was shooting up at a record speed now. Should I believe Raelynn, or was what she told me complete bullshit as well? If it was some form of concocted manipulation plan, to what end? I didn’t know.
Either way, everyone needed to know.
“We need to have a family meeting,” I told Logan.
“This girl has just never not gotten her way?”
Nate had been asking the same question for the last hour. Logan had called everyone to the house this evening—Matteo too. And after I relayed what had happened, including Faith’s reaction to us and Raelynn’s warnings, everyone had fallen quiet.
Until Nate started with his questions. He hadn’t gotten ahold of the sister. “She’s spoiled? That’s why she’s doing this?”
I nodded again to him. “Yes. From what Raelynn said, yes.”
He shook his head, raking a hand over his face. “That’s insane.” He looked at Mason. “How do we fight a chick?”
Logan grunted, leaning back on the couch. His arm rested on the back of it, behind where Taylor sat next to him. He put his foot up on the table. “I’m thinking it’s time we take the JV spot.” He clapped Taylor’s shoulder and turned to look at me. “Girls, you’re up. You’re on the front lines with this one.”
I’d been standing as I explained everything, but I sat now. Mason shifted his legs so I could perch on a footstool cushion with him behind me.
“You never got ahold of the sister you dated?” Mason asked Nate.
“No.” Nate raised a finger and pointed it at me. “I think I must’ve pissed her off more than I thought. Pretty sure that’s a dead end for us.”
“Well, that sucks.” Logan glanced to Matteo and pursed his lips together. “Feeling up for infiltrating the enemy’s bed again?”
Nate grunted. “This time on purpose?”
Matteo grew wary, lifting his hands up in a helpless gesture. “Come on, guys. I felt horrible. And no, I’m not doing that. Not even on purpose this time. Feels too dirty to me.”
Logan shrugged. “All this brainstorming got me thirsty. I think we should plan this girl’s demise over drinks.”
Nate turned to Mason. “Maybe we could do more best friend bonding?”
Mason nodded. His hand slipped under my shirt to rub my back. “Yeah. That sounds fun.”
Matteo held his hand up again. “Best friend bonding? I want in.”
“Pub crawl. We haven’t done that in a long time.” Mason kept rubbing his hand up and down my back.
“I think it’s high time we get it done.” Nate pretended to crack his knuckles. “If we’re really nice, we could invite some hangers-on.” His grin deepened as he nodded his head to the side, indicating Logan.
“Wait.” Logan jerked upright on the couch. “Am I the hanger-on? I had the idea, asshole! If it’s anyone, you’re the hanger-on.”
“Oh. Okay. That’s how it is.” Nate stood slowly. “I’m the one hanging around you? I remember when you were the scrawny little kid who’d steal Mason’s bag just to get attention from him.”
“Things changed.” Logan stood too. They grinned at each other, but there was a cockiness in the air. It started to feel heavy. Logan tilted his head, challenging Nate. “I grew up and became awesome.” He flicked his eyes up and down. “What happened to you?”
Mason’s hand paused on my back. “This is the stupidest mock-fight I’ve heard from you guys. You’re funnier when you pretend to be gay husbands.”
The tension that had started to fill the air eased. Nate and Logan went back to laughing, and then Logan put Nate in a headlock.
He tightened his arm. “Who’s the awesome one, huh? Who’s got the hashtags?”
“Shut up.” Nate got one of his arms between Logan’s arm and his neck, and he reversed the hold. But instead of pulling Logan in for a headlock, he shoved him back a few inches. He was laughing, breathing deep. “No one would ever assume you and Mason have one of those hated-sibling relationships.”
“My sister has one of those hated-sibling relationships,” Matteo suddenly said.
Everyone stopped and looked at him, sitting on one of the far couches. He wasn’t really looking at anyone. He seemed lost in his own thoughts.
When he noticed the looks, he blinked a few times. “Oh. I mean, her cats. One’s called Chloe, and the brother is Dingbat. Chloe hates Dingbat. Every time he runs through the house, she takes off after him. The girl cat kept beating him up, so my sister has to keep them separated, but Dingbat always gets loose. Every time he runs past her, she just says, ‘There goes Dingbat.’ It’s pretty funny. But yeah, those cats hate each other.”
The silence from everyone held for another beat before Logan snorted. “Speaking of dingbats . . .” He placed a hand on Nate’s shoulder. “I think I found your new nickname.”
Nate shoved his hand off. “You’re such a dick.” But he was laughing.
So was Logan, and he lunged for Nate again. As the two started to wrestle, I leaned back to rest against Mason’s chest. His arms curved around me, and he kissed the top of my shoulder.
“Did you want us to keep pushing the sister?” he murmured.
“No.” It was a dead-end. Nate said so. I watched Taylor as she moved out of Logan and Nate’s way. “Maybe instead of you guys asking my mom for that favor, I ask her.”
He tensed.
Logan and Nate stopped wrestling, and Logan looked over. “What’d you just say?”
“I said, maybe I should go ask my mom to ask James for that information.” Or . . . “I could also just ask James. He won’t try to hold anything against me. He wouldn’t dare.”
Logan snorted. “That’s why we didn’t go last weekend.” He gestured to me as he turned to Mason. “You told her our plan.”
“Yeah, and she didn’t like it.”
“That was the fight you had?”
“You didn’t tell him?” I asked Taylor.
She lifted a shoulder. “He doesn’t have to know everything.”
Logan twisted around to her. “Thanks for that.”
I felt Mason’s silent laughter behind me, a teasing caress. I felt his breath on my shoulder, and I was torn between paying attention to the conversation and pulling him into the bedroom and feeling his breath all over me instead.
His arms tightened, and he rested his chin on my shoulder. “Leave your girlfriend alone. That was between Sam and me, and she was respecting Sam’s privacy.”
Logan shot him a glare. “Sam’s my stepsister. There’s no privacy there.”
I grimaced. “Did you really just say that?”
He stopped, thought about it, and shook his head. “You all know what I mean.”
“I don’t.” Nate frowned at everyone. “I have no fucking clue what you guys are talking about, and I don’t like it.”
“Right there with you, man,” Matteo echoed.
“Yeah.” Nate looked at him, then back at us. “What happened? You guys had a fight or something? Where was I?”
“Sleeping, and it’s none of your business,” Mason said. “It’s none of yours either, Logan, but no, we’re not going to ask my dad for any information about Faith’s family.”
“Wait.” Nate held a hand up. “We weren’t actually going to Vegas, were we?”
“I thought you had to be smart to get your MBA.” Logan paused for a beat. “Oh wait. That’s after you get a bachelor’s. That’s right, you have to get the one degree first.”
“You’re such a dick.”
Everyone tensed. This had become something between Logan and Nate. I looked at Taylor and saw her frowning right along with me. I wondered if she knew the cause for this friction.
Then Nate just said it. “Don’t get pissed at me because I’m the one here, and you’re not. I’m not
the one who chose to get a girlfr—”
“Shut up, Nate.” Logan growled.
He didn’t. “A girlfriend who continues to choose to sleep at her place, and not here. If you’re missing being around Mason and Sam, that’s on you. Not me. I’m getting real sick of you putting your shit on me. I’ve never done anything to you, Logan.”
“Shut up!”
Nate added, unperturbed, “Unlike you.”
Logan stood completely still, the unnatural and dangerous way. A shiver went down my spine, and I swallowed over a lump. Nate had just gone dirty in a way that wasn’t dirty at all.
“Are you serious?” Logan’s eyes were narrowed to slits, everything about him tensed. This was Logan right before a full attack. Whether it was words or fists, it was coming. And he was going to do some damage.
Mason suddenly lifted me to the side and stood up. “Stop. Both of you guys.”
“No.” Nate shook his head, still glaring at Logan. “I’m sick of it. Any time Logan starts feeling pissy about something, he takes it out on me.”
Mason moved to stand between them.
Nate leaned forward, looking at Logan around Mason. “Guess what? I’ve done nothing to you. I left when I was a kid because my parents moved away. They didn’t want me to be around Mason. When I came back, you’d replaced me. It wasn’t the other way around. You pushed me out, Logan. And I did nothing. I let it happen.” A cutting laugh came from him. “And that wasn’t even the biggest change. Sam was in our lives. I went from being number two to being number four, if that spot was even included in shit. How do you think that made me feel? And I put up with it,” he spat, his eyes blazing. “I thought we were good too.”
“STOP!” Mason shoved him, then turned to make sure Logan was still holding back. Satisfied that he was, Mason sighed. “This is all bullshit. We’re all family by this point.” He looked at Matteo. “You too, even though we don’t show it all the time.”
Matteo perked up. “Thanks. I appreciate that.” His tone was cheerful.
I laughed softly to myself. No one except Nate and Logan seemed too upset about their fight. Matteo must’ve gotten used to us by now. Fights flared up, but they always blew over. We all loved each other. That’s how we were. That, in itself, was comforting.