“Why doesn’t the attention bother you?” I asked.
He shrugged, dropping some of his extra bounce. “Used to it since high school.” He jerked his head toward Mason. “My brother kinda set the bar, you know?” He swung his hands as we made our way to the coffee cart. Every now and then, people would call out a greeting. He pointed at each person as he responded. Most of the greetings were for Mason, congratulating him or coming over to bump fists with him in a show of support, but it didn’t matter to Logan. His head was up. His shoulders were back, and he was embracing everything with his usual Logan cockiness.
He talked as we walked. “So Taylor talked to her dad, and he told her everything is good. No investigation is going to happen since the original charges were dropped, and you ‘came clean.’” His fingers did air quotes. “That did a lot of damage control. You should be in the clear. We don’t have to worry if that other chick says anything either, about our party.”
He was talking about Nettie. I, for one, was relieved by that too. Even if she did twist things around, Mason’s press conference was already out there. People would be more inclined to believe him than her now.
I glanced up when Mason didn’t say anything. His eyes were on me. I reached for his hand, and his finger began rubbing over where my ring was supposed to go. We hadn’t fully discussed the engagement announcement yet. Images of us together, our limbs tangled up with each other, and him watching me as he slid inside—it all flashed in my head, and my body jolted at the sensation.
God. I wanted to groan. Just the small reminder and I was aching for him again. I tightened my hand with his. I was definitely and completely addicted to him. I didn’t even know if I could function without him.
“Whoa.” Logan slowed to a stop, his gaze fixed to the right of us.
I looked, then gritted my teeth.
Faith Shaw was coming our way, with Nettie glued to her side. A few other runners were with her, but no Courtney or Grace.
“Samantha.”
That one word was my greeting.
My tone matched hers, cool as ice. “Shaw.”
“What?” A faint smirk teased at her face as she raised an eyebrow. “We’re not on a first-name basis now?”
“New policy. Only friends are called by their first names.”
“Since when?”
“Since whenever the fuck I talk to you.”
Her face fell flat. “You’re still such a bitch.”
“Uh.” Logan stepped forward, half in front of me with his finger in the air. “You came to us. Us.” He pointed from himself, to me, to Mason, and he looked back to her. “We’re not really nice people. Do you think it’s a good idea for you to approach Sam and start by insulting her? We might not able to physically do anything to you, but if we see a window where we can make your life suck, trust me.” He leaned forward, whispering. “We’ll take it, with pleasure.”
Her eyes narrowed. “You can’t do anything to me.”
His grin turned evil. “You haven’t slept with a guy named Adam Quinn, have you?”
“Okay.” I reached for him at the same time Mason clapped a hand on his shoulder.
He yanked him back, saying, “Enough.”
Logan was undisturbed. He merely leaned to the side so he could see Faith again. “If you haven’t, let me know. I can hook you up.”
I’d had enough. If he stayed, he was going to get more and more mean.
“Take him with you?” I asked Mason.
He nodded. “We have psych together, right?”
“Save me a seat.” I nodded. “I’ll be there in a bit.”
“Okay.” He reached for Logan’s neck. “Come on, little brother, before we get in even more trouble.”
Logan allowed himself to be pulled backward, his eyes narrowed and locked on Faith. He finally turned around. Mason’s hand dropped from his neck then, and the two were quickly swallowed up by an entire crowd of guys. I recognized some football players, but there were others I didn’t know. I spotted Matteo heading toward them, his bag slung over his shoulder. Nate was next to him. I didn’t know where Taylor was, but I assumed she’d be busy all day in her nursing classes. We no longer had morning practices, at least for a few weeks.
Faith cleared her throat.
I sighed, looking back to her. “I hoped you would’ve vanished.”
“Like a genie?”
“Like a fart.” I wrinkled my nose. “It’s just as bad smelling.”
“Har har.” She rolled her eyes. “You and those two guys. You’re all so mature.”
“Yeah.” An image of exploding cars, burning fraternity houses, and Mason tossing a bat to me before he evaded a punch flashed in my mind. “That’s one word to describe us.” I shook my head. “What do you want?”
It was her turn to send her crew away. She did so with a dismissive bob of the head, and once they’d all hugged and waved, making promises to see each other later for lunch, she faced me again. Her hands folded in front of her.
I frowned. “Let me guess. You’re here to offer congratulations?”
“What?”
“Nothing.” Apparently not.
“No.” She shook her head. “I wanted to talk to you before practice today. We have another meet on Thursday, and Coach is going to talk to both of us. I thought I should give you a heads-up, maybe discuss the developments before he does. You and I can be on the same page then.”
That was it? I almost smiled. “No.” I turned to follow where Mason and Logan had gone. That was the easiest decision ever.
“What? Wait!” She ran to catch up.
“Stop chasing me. I can beat you, if I want to.”
She groaned. “There’s that maturity again.”
Oh, fuck this. I stopped and whipped back to her. She almost ran into me, but I didn’t wait for her to regain her balance.
I put a finger up in her face. “Back off of me. There’s no way I’m going to believe anything you say.”
So much had happened over the weekend, but I remembered how she hugged me after the race. Then I remembered how cold she’d been at the restaurant the next night.
“You’re a cold, deceitful bitch. I will never trust you. Go away.” I flicked my fingers like I was shooing a fly.
A barely contained scream erupted from her throat, but she kept her mouth shut and only stomped once. I suppose I should give her a little credit there? Only one stomp, not two. She was like a five year old throwing a tantrum.
“What?” I asked. “Can’t control me? Can’t manipulate me? I’m not falling in line like all your other girls? Please.” I was the one to roll my eyes now. “Get outta here.”
“Stop!”
I had started to go again, but swung back. “Make it quick, Shaw. I have no patience for you today.”
“My God! What is wrong with you? Your attitude is tenfold what it normally is.”
I had a whole list I could’ve recited for her:
My boyfriend/fiancé’s mother was in town, who hated me.
Our engagement was out on a national scale, and I didn’t know how I felt about it yet.
That same boyfriend/fiancé went and found a camera where another old friend of mine had been videotaped having sex.
Oh, and I had some incredibly hot sex, which had left only thirty minutes for sleeping this morning.
“Talk while I’m still standing here.”
“Coach is going to make us run together.”
“No.” I started for class again.
She began walking with me. “I hate you on a personal level, but I admire you on a runner’s level, and I’m sure you feel the same—”
“Not even a little bit. I don’t give two shits about you: personal, professional, runner’s, any way.”
The group of guys that had been standing around Mason and Logan was still there. I spotted both of them, but didn’t feel like fighting to get to their side. I moved past them into the building and headed for the classroom. We’d all synced our schedules to have this class together—except for Taylor because she’d already taken it. So they’d be coming my way eventually.