Mason (FALLEN CREST SERIES) (3 page)

HELEN LEAVES

“Mason.”

It was a month later. I knew it was coming. She had returned to pack her things. Her personal luggage was the last to go, but those had been taken an hour ago. It was only her and a purse now. I sighed deeply and pushed my notebook away. Tossing my pen, I looked at her. My mom stood in the doorway of my bedroom. She gave me a soft smile as a tear slipped down her cheek. Holding onto her bag, she readjusted her sunglasses before giving me a forced smile. As she spoke, her tone hitched on a sob. “I’m ready.”

Fuck that. I closed my eyes, wanting to yell, wanting to throw shit, wanting to burn this fucking house down. Instead, I shoved back in my chair and shook my head. I pointed at her bag. “That’s the goddamn dumbest thing ever.”

She laughed. I heard the pain in her voice, but she tried to tease me back. “It’s a purse.”

I took it from her. “It’s a picnic basket.”

She laughed again, but I heard the sadness in it. She led the way down the hallway to the front door. When we got there, she turned. I handed over her bag and she placed it on the floor next to her. I didn’t have to look to know she had a car waiting for her. The rest of her belongings had gone the day before. She sighed. “Logan’s on another date?”

I nodded and looked away. “I told him to go.”

“Does he know?”

I nodded again. “He was here when all your shit was going. I’ll bring him to your hotel tonight.”

“Oh,” she paused, and sighed softly, “I suppose it’s for the best. It might be traumatic for a child to see one of their parents leave.” She took another pause as she looked at me. Then she lifted a hand and cupped the side of my face. I didn’t move. I didn’t flinch. I didn’t look at her. She rubbed a thumb over my cheek. It was one of the gestures that a mom did. She said, “I’m so sorry, Mason. You’ll be sixteen soon and you have to deal with this.”

I refused to cry. I didn’t think I had the capability anymore. My voice was rough as I shrugged out of her hold. “Whatever. As long as you and Dad are happy.” I tried to smile, but fuck it. I couldn’t. “It’d make my life easier.”

She nodded, taking a step back. “I am sorry, Mason. I did try, but your father…”

I couldn’t hold it in. “My father is an asshole who thinks with his dick. Trust me,” I bit out, meeting her gaze. I ignored how my own mother flinched when she saw the hatred in my gaze. “He’s losing you. It’s going to affect him for the rest of his life. I hope he’ll never be happy again.”

“Oh, Mason.”

I turned away, hearing that sympathetic tone. I hated hearing that from her. I didn’t need sympathy. I was the fucking strong one. I was there. I fought for her. I was always on her side. Turning a heated look on her, I wanted to lash out at her. I wanted to tell her not to feel that shit for me. I didn’t need to be pitied, but she was crying again, wiping those damn tears away.

She shook her head. “Your father was a horrible husband. I will admit that, but he’s not a horrible father. I think I was the horrible mother. I should’ve shielded you from this, protected you so that you didn’t know what was going on.”

“He came
here
with them.”

She stopped, stepping back when she saw the fierceness from me.

I said again, “He fucked those women here. He didn’t hide. He didn’t even lie. That’s not a father. That’s a stud looking for his new whore to fill. He’s nothing, Mom. Stop making excuses for him.”

Another tear slipped down her cheek and she flicked it away. “I am so sorry, Mason. This will change you forever. I know it and I am so very sorry. I should’ve protected you more.”

I rolled my eyes. Picking up her bag, I shoved it at her. “Just go. He’s with that woman for the weekend.”

She nodded. “You’ll bring Logan tonight?”

“I will.”

“Okay.” She shed more tears, but she never cared if I saw them. She never brushed them away. Pressing another soft kiss to my forehead, she whispered, “I love you. I will always love you. You will never lose your mother. I promise that.” Then she pulled back, gave me another reassuring smile as those tears kept falling, and left.

When the door closed behind her, I waited. It wasn’t long before the car left the driveway and she was gone. That was the end.

“Why didn’t you say anything?”

Turning, I glanced to the second floor above me. Logan was watching me, but pulled back immediately. I couldn’t see him anymore so I went up there instead. When I got there he was huddled against the wall. His arms were crossed over each other, resting on his knees, covering his head. I sat beside him. Some of his hair was sticking up so I pressed it down. Ignoring how he flinched, I said, “Why didn’t you just say something? I thought you were going out with that girl again.”

“Fuck off,” he growled, still sheltering himself with his arms closed over his knees. “Get off me.”

I sighed and moved away. “You could’ve just come down and said goodbye.” But he didn’t want to. That’s what the big brother voice was telling me in my head. I told the voice to shut the fuck up, although he was right. Logan wasn’t looking at me. Smiling at him, I said, “I told her that I’d drive you over tonight. You can say your proper goodbyes tonight and then…”

He lifted his head. “And then…we can drink beer tonight?”

“No.”

He rolled his eyes and brushed some of his tears away. “Come on, Mase. I’m dating now.”

“You’re dating?” I scoffed, grinning at him. I wanted to ruffle his hair, but he always got mad at that. “What’s her name again?”

He glared at me. “Tate.”

“Shit,” I sighed, “you like her, don’t you?”

“Yeah, she’s cool. She’s in your grade too.”

“You got an older woman. You like cougars?” I flashed him a grin.

“Shut up.” I relaxed a little when I saw that his anger was gone. He added, “Our mom just left, for real. They’re done. It’s you and me now.”

“I know.” I threw an arm around his shoulder and pulled him into my side. “Dad’s going to go nuts, now that he doesn’t have to hide all those women. It’s you and me.” It had been for a long time. My own anger started to stir inside me. It was always there when I thought about our dad and the hell he’d put us through. It had gone on for too damn long.

“Why’d she stay with him for so long?” he asked softly.

I glanced down at him. “What do you mean?”

He wasn’t looking at me. Instead, he was picking at his pants. “I can’t remember a time they were ever happy. Why’d she stay?”

He was almost fifteen. My little brother was in eighth grade, and he was asking those questions. Rage crashed through me. He shouldn’t have to deal with this.

“Mase?”

I shrugged. “Who knows? Us, maybe? I don’t know how chicks think.”

“If any girl cheats on me, that’s it,” Logan said fiercely. “I’m not putting up with that shit. No way. That girl is done.”

“You can’t cheat either.”

“Never.” He looked up at me.

The adoration on his face pushed some of my anger away. Shit. He was looking at me like I was his parent. Who was I kidding? I was. Our stuff might’ve been paid for by Dad, but I’ve taken care of everything else for so long. I hugged him tight again. “So you’re not going on that date tonight?”

The adoration disappeared. He shoved my arm off and a scowl quickly formed when he scooted against the wall, putting an inch of space between us. I was half tempted to crowd him again. He liked this girl. I could see it, and I was surprised. Girls always liked Logan. He never cared about them until a year ago, but to actually like one girl. That was a new thing for him. I frowned at him. Chicks could be crazy. I hadn’t seen a lot that weren’t. If he liked this girl, I only hoped she was a good one.

He said, “I thought we had to go see Mom and do the goodbye crap.”

“We don’t have to. She’ll be around for a while.”

“She’s not going to L.A.?”

I shook my head. “The divorce is final, but I think she wanted to stick around town for a few more months. Transition away from us or something.”

He made a disgusted sound. “Why aren’t we going with her? We could go to L.A. and leave Dad. That’s what he wants, anyway. He just wants to live his own life.”

“Logan.”

He rolled his eyes, and his scowl deepened. “Yeah, yeah. I know. You want to stay because of the football team. What’s so great about the team anyways?”

“The coach knows scouts.”

“Whatever.” He stood up. “I’m not going to see Mom tonight. I’m going to call Tate and have her come over here.”

I frowned. “You better not be having sex with her.”

He had started down the stairs, but froze and turned around. He made an exasperated sound. “Mason!”

“I mean it. No sex. If I find condoms in your room, heads are going to roll.”

“Oh my god. What’s it to you?”

“I’m your brother and I’m in charge. You stick that prick in her, I will know.”

His eyes narrowed. He didn’t believe me.

“You’re a bad fucking liar. I can tell. Don’t do it. You’re way too young.”

“Fuck off.” He started to leave again.

“Logan,” I rose my voice. When he didn’t stop, I said, “I’ll tell Mom and Dad.”

He whipped around. His eyes were heated and his cheeks were flushed again. “You wouldn’t. You’d narc on me? You pansy.”

“I would about that. I mean it. Keep your prick out of her.”

“This sucks.” He threw his hands in the air. “This fucking sucks. How old were you when you started having sex? I know you’ve had girlfriends before.”

“Yes and they cheated. I’m too young to deal with that shit. No dating for me and as for the sex part, none of your damn business. But I was too young.”

“You’re only a year older than me.” He rolled his eyes and clarified, “Sorry. A year and a few months older. You’re not dad.”

That last comment was a parting shot as he stormed off. He went upstairs and slammed his door. I wasn’t his dad, and I muttered under my breath, “I’m the closest thing you got to one, though.” Then my phone buzzed. It was a text was from Nate; he wanted to go drinking tonight. I didn’t even think about it. I typed back,
I’m in. Where and when.

Now. Fischer wants to take us to his cabin tonight. Meeting there now.

I looked up towards Logan’s room. I knew what he was going to do. He was going to screw her tonight, just to go against me. Decision made. I typed back to Nate,
I’m bringing Logan.

He’s going to drink then.

I sighed.
Rather have him do that then something else.

Ok. I don’t know what that means, but ok. Need a ride?

Nah. I’ll drive. See you at Fischer’s.
I tucked my phone in my pocket and hollered, “Logan! You’re going to a party instead. Cancel your date.”

The door opened within a second. “Can I drink?”

Fuck my life. “Yes, but not too much.”

“Fine.” He slammed the door again.

I waited.

It opened again. “When are we going?”

“Now. Pack a bag.”

“Okay,” he said, his tone cool, calm. The door shut and I heard, “Hell yeah! This is going to be awesome.”

I grinned, and went to pack my own bag. I would text my mom later and let her know the plans had changed. She’d be hurt, but I didn’t care. She was gone. The responsibility for Logan landed on me. I might not be doing the best, but I was only sixteen-years-old. This was all I knew. It wasn’t until we were already in the van and heading for his cabin that I realized, I never considered letting James know.

I shrugged. He didn’t matter anyway.

THE CABIN

When we got to the cabin, Logan jumped out of the van and headed off with a friend. We’d been there before so he knew where to stash his bag and head off for their own fun.

Nate rounded the van from the other side and saw that I was watching Logan round the corner and disappear from eyesight. He asked, “You worried about him?”

I sighed. “Always.” Then I frowned. “Who’s that kid with him? I don’t know if I’ve seen him before.”

“I think that’s Derek Smythe. He’s in the same grade as Logan. Why?”

“Is he a punk?”

Nate laughed, scratching his head. “Aren’t they all? Aren’t
we
punks?”

“I need to know if he’s a punk that’s going to get Logan in trouble.”

He laughed again. “Besides the trouble we get him in?”

I shot him a dark look.

“Sorry. If you’re thinking drugs and crap like that, I don’t think so. Derek’s older brother is Jared Smythe.”

“He’s in the grade above us?”

Nate nodded, watching as another car pulled up to the cabin. “He seems like a legit guy. His ego is normal sized, like the rest of us.”

We shared a grin and leaned back to watch more and more people arrive. They were older than us, juniors and seniors. Recognizing Jared Smythe as he parked his car, I felt a little more reassured. “We play football with him.”

Nate barked out another laugh and shook his head. “No,
you
play football with him. You’re both on varsity. Us, minions, aren’t deemed good enough. We’re on the normal teams for our grade.”

“Shut up.”

“Kade.” Jared Smythe came over and held out his fist.

I met it with mine and he nodded, stepping back. He nodded to Nate and shoved his hands in his pockets. Then he glanced around. “I saw your little brother’s here.”

I narrowed my eyes. He slighted Nate just now and if he was going to start on Logan, we’d have problems. I raised my head in a challenge. “Yeah?”

He grinned, shaking his head. “Relax. I’m not going to start with you. I’m just saying because he’s friends with my brother.”

“Yeah.” Since he was in front of me, I asked, “Do I need to worry about your brother?”

“What’s that mean?” His tone cooled and he frowned.

“Does he do drugs?”

He laughed. “That’s rich. You brought your own brother to a party. You know he’s going to drink here and you’re questioning my kid brother?”

“Does he?”

“No.” He raked a hand through his hair and rolled his eyes. “Shit. This is hilarious. You and your friends were invited—”

“Fischer’s my friend.”

“Yeah and his brother is throwing the party. This is an older party. You little shits were invited because of Ethan and because you’re on varsity with us. Come at me with this attitude and I’ll get you banned from every single party for the rest of the year.”

I laughed. “You’re forgetting one goddamn thing, Smythe.”

“What?”

“You fuck with me off the field, and I will fuck with you on the field.” My threat held weight and he knew it. I was better than him. That meant I held more power than him and there was nothing he could do about it.

A harsh-sounding laugh came from him and he began backing up. “This year’s going to be fun. Let’s see who wins, Kade.”

Nate burst out, “Come on, Jared. He’s just looking out for his kid brother. That’s all. He doesn’t know your brother.”

Jared wasn’t listening. He came back, his eyes flashing with anger. “For the record, it’s your brother that I’m worried about. I love my kid brother too, but yours got him grounded the other night. Derek’s been sneaking out past curfew, taking off to who knows where, and he came home stoned. Sorry, Kade, but your little brother is the reason for all that. He’s the leader in his grade. Mine’s not. You do the fucking math.”

I scowled. “I will. If your brother’s getting stoned, it’s not Logan’s fault. If mine is doing drugs, he’ll have me to answer to. No way is my brother getting into drugs.”

Jared still frowned, but it lessened. He sighed. “Fine. Fine. Okay. Whatever. Truce?”

I didn’t say anything.

He laughed. “You’re a trip, Kade. A part of me is glad you’re on the team and the other part of me hates it.” He took off, still shaking his head.

Nate cursed when he was out of earshot. He shot me a look. “What are you doing? Smythe is one of the top guys in his grade. He’s a senior. I’d like to keep partying and getting laid this year.”

“Whatever. I’m better than him on the field. We’ll be fine.”

“I hope so.” Then he nudged me with his elbow. “Kate’s been looking your way a lot lately.”

I glanced over. She was standing with her group of friends, and she grinned when she saw me looking. I told Nate, “It’s because we started hooking up this summer.”

“You did? You never told me.”

I turned to him, hearing the surprise. “Are you hooking up with her too?”

He flushed, but shook his head. “No, but I am with her friend. Parker.”

“I think Ethan hooks up with the other one.”

Nate nodded. “Yeah, I saw them leave the group the other night.”

I was getting restless. Smythe’s accusations were in my head, and they were pissing me off. If Logan was into drugs, I wasn’t sure what I was going to do, but I would have to do something. “Come on. I want to talk to Logan real quick.”

When we headed to where I knew Logan usually slept, Kate stepped in front of me. “Hey, Mason.” She turned to the side, but she lost some of the seductive tone. “Nate.”

He jerked his head in a nod and said to me, “I’ll go get Logan.”

I nodded. As soon as he walked away, Kate stepped closer to me. Her friends were right next to us, watching and whispering to each other. Kate didn’t seem to care. She trailed a hand down my chest and lingered when she got to my jeans. She moved a step closer, and murmured softly, “You and me tonight?”

I took her hand and lifted it from my jeans, but I didn’t let it go. “I don’t like girlfriends.” A quick frown appeared on her face, and she tried to pull her hand away. I didn’t let it go and I tugged her close again. “If you’re okay with those terms, then yes.”

“You’re such an asshole.”

I moved her away from her friends, but kept her close to me. I moved so we were touching, lowering my own voice so no one close by could hear. “I have too much shit going on in my life. I won’t be a whore with other girls, but I don’t want to be tied down. I told you this last time and you were fine with it.” I shot her friends a look. “Did they change your mind?”

“I changed my mind because I’m not a whore.”

“You can have your freedom. You can do whatever you want. I will have no claim to you either.”

She flushed. “You’re too young to be this big of a douche.”

I flashed her a cocky grin. “Yeah, well, there’s a reason you keep coming around.” Then I let her go and started to walk away. I said over my shoulder, “Find me later if you’re okay with the agreement. I won’t change my mind and I won’t be manipulated into being your boyfriend.”

“Asshole,” she yelled at me.

I shrugged, grinning. She’d come. She had all summer. I had a brother to handle now. When I headed inside the cabin, I noticed there was alcohol everywhere. A video game was on the television and the living room was crowded. People were talking, laughing, touching, and others were waiting for their turn with the video controllers. When I headed upstairs, the music turned on, filling the entire house. Fischer’s cabin wasn’t really a cabin. It was a huge house and it was isolated, making it the perfect place for a big party. Passing by a couple already heading into a room, I saw Nate in the hallway. He was knocking on a closed door and I heard him say, “Logan, Mason needs to talk to you. Come out.”

“Hey.”

He looked up, and gestured to the room. “I told him about Smythe and he freaked.”

Shit. My gut tightened up. I nodded. “I’ll handle it.” Raising my voice, I yelled, “LOGAN. Let me in.” I waited. Nothing happened. I added, “Now.”

The door burst open and Logan glared at me. “What? So you can accuse me of doing drugs? I’m not an idiot. I know not to touch that shit.”

He moved to slam the door shut, but I blocked it and went inside. Nate followed, but when I saw no one was in there, I told him, “Give us a minute?”

“For real?”

I nodded. “Yeah, just a minute.”

“Okay.” He shrugged and gestured outside. “I’m going to start getting wasted.”

As soon as he was gone, I shut the door. Logan was sitting on the bed, his arms crossed over his chest, scowling at me. When I locked the door, he started, “Not cool, douchebag.”

I fought back a grin. He’s a year younger than me, but he looked like a little boy at that moment. “You have any friends hiding in here?”

“No.”

He said it too quickly. “I mean it. I’m going to get real personal here. You want our shit exposed to your buddies?”

The scowl disappeared and he rolled his eyes. “Are you serious?” Letting out a big huff, he went to the closet and opened the door. “Get lost, guys.” Two of his friends, one was the younger Smythe, scrambled from behind a pile of blankets. They darted around me and out the door, slamming it behind them.

I locked it again and wasted no time. Logan had returned back to the bed, but he dropped his attitude. I asked, “Who’s doing the drugs?”

He shrugged. “I don’t know.”

“Logan.”

“I don’t. I don’t touch that shit.”

“You’re the leader in your grade. You would know. Who does them?”

“I don’t know. I really don’t. I mean, there’s a few guys, but we don’t hang out with them.”

“Little Smythe is going home stoned. His brother is blaming you. Is this going to be a problem? I need to know so I know how to handle Jared when he comes at me again.”

“It’s not me. It’s really not. Derek has other friends. He doesn’t hang out with just me and the guys.”

“His other friends are shady?”

“Yeah.” He nodded. “I don’t hang out with him, but I can’t tell Derek not to hang out with them either.”

“What are their names?”

He squirmed on the bed and rolled his eyes. “Come on. I can’t do that.”

“I’m not going to narc to the cops or anything, but Jared’s going to ask for names. I have to give him something. He can handle it from there.”

“That’s the same thing. Derek’s brother will go after them. He’s like you,” he frowned, “but nicer.”

I grinned at that. “Give me the names, Logan. I’d want to know if it was you.”

He groaned. “You’re killing me.”

“Then handle it yourself.”

“Yeah, right. And do what? I can’t tell people who aren’t my friends not to do drugs.”

“No, but you can tell your friend not to do drugs. If he hangs out with them, he doesn’t hang out with you. What your friends do comes back onto you. You’ll have to deal with it at some point. There’s nothing wrong with protecting yourself. That’s all you’re doing.”

He lifted his hand and swept it through his hair, messing it up. Then it dropped and his shoulders slumped down. “Really? You’re going to make me do this?”

“Either you handle it or I will. I don’t want you anywhere around that crap and I won’t let some prick say you are.”

Logan gazed up at me, seeing I meant what I was saying. He sighed and looked back down to his lap. “I’ll do it. I will.”

“Good.” I went to the door, but turned back. “It’s you and me, Logan. You got that, right?”

“I do. Yeah.”

When I saw that he did and he wasn’t fighting me, I sighed in relief. We dealt with so much shit at home. We couldn’t control that, but dealing with school and our friends—that was something we
could
control. I was determined not to let anyone else push us around. One way or another, I was going to protect us.