Crossover: Franchise Mtg. (2 page)

He grew bright red now, then swung his heated eyes to Logan.

Mason’s hand left mine, but I touched the backside of his arm. I felt how tense he was, even though he didn’t look it. He spoke then, “This isn’t our school, but if you swing at my brother, we’re both swinging right back at you.”

The air shifted again. It had been tense as people listened in, but now all the eyes that had been on Jesse Hunt moved to Mason. He stood there, looking calm and controlled. Logan was right beside him. Both had their shoulders back, their jaws firm, and it was in their eyes. I didn’t look, but I knew what everyone else was seeing.

They weren’t afraid. The odds were against them, but they weren’t going to back down.

The blonde groaned and stepped forward. Her hands lifted, resting one on Logan’s chest.She turned to the other guy. “Jamie,” she said, “leave. I’ll deal with you later, and don’t think I won’t tell my sister about this.”

He didn’t look at her. He was still staring right at Mason, who was staring back.

The girl patted Logan on the chest, then grinned and began to rub all over him. Her hand moved from one side to the other and dipped low over his stomach. She lingered there, then grinned at him. “Tell me you don’t have a girlfriend.”

Logan grinned back at her. “I do.”

She pretended to pout. “Tell me she’s home and you have a long-distance agreement. As in you can do whatever you’d like if she’s not by your side?”

He laughed, then took her hand from his stomach. “Sorry, my girlfriend is back at home…where I go to high school with her.”

Her eyebrows went up and her smirk dropped. “You’re in high school?”

He nodded, his smirk widening.

She looked at Mason. “You too?”

Mason didn’t answer her. He spoke over her head to the guy again, “What are you going to do?”

The guy wanted to fight. That was obvious. At hearing that Logan was still in high school, a keen note appeared in his gaze as he met his leader’s eyes. Seeing him shake his head, he let out a deep breath and turned. Shoving his way through the crowd, he heard him bark out, “Move!”

When he was gone, the girl sighed. “I can’t believe you’re in high school.”

Logan laughed. “If I didn’t have a girlfriend, I’d be all for it. I like college cougars.”

She tipped her head back and a laugh rippled from her. Then she shook her head and glanced to her friend. “Alex, can we bounce before I sharpen my cougar claws on this one? You know me. I tend to forget who has girlfriends and who don’t.”

“Sure.” Alex tipped her head back again and raised her lips. Her boyfriend dropped a kiss there, and when she moved away, he slapped her on the ass. She glanced back with a secretive smile on her face as her and her two friends moved towards the front door.

As they did, the blonde muttered under her breath to Logan, close enough from me to hear, “High school or not. You’re a hot one, buddy.”

“Buddy?” Logan smirked at her, but the girls moved out of earshot, disappearing through the door. He saw me and winked. “See that, sister dear? I got the college cougars all over me already. I might have to be single going into Cain U next year.”

I gave him a small grin, but I was still tense. He’d been restless. When he threw out that challenge, I hadn’t been surprised. Logan wanted to fight. He’d been spoiling for one for a while. When he looked away, my gaze lingered on him. He had a carefree smile on his face, but his eyes were dark. He was hungry still.

Mason saw my frown, leaning in close so no one could hear him, and asked, “You okay?”

I nodded, but let out a sigh. Logan was going to be trouble. I could feel it. I just didn’t know what he was going to do.

“Shit.” Another guy who stood next to Jesse Hunt grunted. “I thought we were going to have a battle royale here. Monson, you know how to pick your friends.”

Nate laughed, but he sounded uneasy. “Yeah. How’s it hanging, Tatum? I didn’t see you there.”

“I came up to see Jamie get his ass handed to him.” He pounded his fist to Nate’s then grinned at his friend. “Gotta admit it, Jesse. That was fun to see.”

Nate laughed, but turned and met Mason’s gaze. A look of relief was in his eyes. He said to the other guys though, “Yeah, glad you think that.”

Jesse chuckled, shaking his head. “Don’t worry about it, Nate. The second I would’ve dropped Mason Kade’s name, Jamie would’ve backed down anyway.”

Mason frowned. “You know me?”

Jesse nodded. “I might play a different sport, but your rep is solid. You’re supposed to go pro. Of course, I’ve heard about you.”

Mason relaxed.

Then Jesse said, “Come on. I know the guys at this party and promised we would go for a little bit, but we can head to my house afterwards. It’ll be a lot less intense, and the girls can relax and actually have fun.”

As the guys moved inside, I followed behind, holding Mason’s hand. I had to admit, the last idea sounded a lot more fun than being at this house party. As we got inside, Logan was studying the layout. Over the music he shouted at us, “I’m going to get drinks. Mase?”

Mason shook his head.

Logan pointed at Nate. “I know you want one.”

Nate nodded, letting out a small breath. He looked frazzled.

Then Logan gestured to me. “Sam?”

I opened my mouth, ready to tell him no, but Mason said for me, “Get her one.” He glanced down at me. “You can have fun tonight. I’ll watch over you.”

Remembering the earlier tension with Logan, remembering his digs at Heather, and knowing that he was angry with me, I found myself nodding. Maybe a few drinks, away from home, would be okay. I was with Mason. I was with Logan. I let out a breath and felt some of the wariness leave me. I was with my family. Still.

*flashback ends*

“Oh, I remember now.” Sam grinned up at him. “You ended up punching that Jamie guy later on.”

Mason shrugged. “He had it coming. He called Heather ‘Slut 2.0’.”

“I liked Alex. She was nice.”

“Hunt was cool too.”

“He was. He had other friends, right? A band?”

“I think we’ll meet them here. They’re in the band Sustain.”

Sam’s eyes got big, but Mason ignored the look on her face and guided her until they were in the doorway of the kitchen. An eating area was directly connected to it with a long wooden table that ran the entire length of the very large room. Two couches were at the end, positioned to face each other. A grand fireplace was on the other side of the couches and a large flat-screen television was positioned in the corner of the room. It was mounted up on the wall so everyone could see, but as they stood there and watched, no one in the room was paying attention to the news report.

“There’s so many people,” Sam noted in awe under her breath.

Mason grunted. He gestured to the head of the table where a guy was sitting. He had darker blonde hair, striking blue eyes, and a physique that was noticeably well-toned, even under his business suit. A lethal aura came from him and Mason knew he was Carter Reed, the guy who had mafia ties. Logan and Sam knew he was a killer, but they didn’t know he had once been an assassin. Mason kept that information to himself. His gaze drifted to the woman next to him. She had a striking beauty, shorter hair that grazed the tops of her shoulders, and a trim figure. She glanced towards them, but turned her attention back to Carter when he murmured something. She sat almost demurely next to him, but Mason knew it wasn’t real. From that slight look, even though it was brief, he saw the strength in her eyes.

Mason wondered if she realized how she came across, as timid almost, then he looked around the rest of the room and stopped thinking about it. Sam was right to be surprised. There were a lot of people there. He skipped over some of them when he saw Jesse Hunt introduce Logan to a group of people.

“There’s Alexandra.” His hand touched Sam’s arm, and he nodded to the far corner beside a counter where food was being placed by staff.

“Oh!” She started forward. “I want to go say hi before this whole thing starts.”

When they approached the group, Logan threw his arm around a guy. His hand came up from the back and ruffled the darker blonde curls. He had green eyes that reflected the dazed and almost giddiness Logan was exuding. He said, “Holy shit. Hunt knows Steele, here.” Logan pointed at a guy who could only be described as a walking magazine-cover. He had high cheekbones, dark brown hair slicked to one side, and hazel eyes. Logan added, “Steele’s a movie star. He’s worked with both Nate and Hunt’s parents. Our dad needs to get involved with Hollywood. Drop the Analitch and meet someone else just as crazy.”

Mason frowned.

“Logan,” Sam murmured.

Logan laughed, removing his arm from the guy who he still hadn’t introduced. He jerked a thumb at him now. “This is Corrigan. He and,” he moved to the next guy who had black hair and sea blue eyes, “Bryce and,” he paused, frowning as a girl moved through the crowd to stand on the other side of Bryce, “I don’t know who she is, but she must know them. Anyways, they’re all from around the L.A. area too. We should hook some parents up and make inbred babies with each other.”

The girl who had just joined the group lifted an arm and rested it on Bryce’s shoulders. She leaned against him and pursed her lips together, her cool gaze moving up and down Logan in a slow inspection. She had dark hair, dark eyes, and a don’t-fuck-with-me attitude. She hadn’t said a word, but the entire group was silent until she finished studying Logan. Then she said, “Inbred babies, huh? What’s your name, Daryl?” Her voice had a sexy, husky sound to it, but she seemed impervious. “Or Brother Daryl? Wait. How about Cousin Daryl?” She sneered at him. “Inbred shit’s not funny.”

“Sheldon.” The guy right next to her, Bryce, touched her arm. It was only one word, but it seemed to have worked. She stepped back and her shoulders lowered a fraction of an inch.

She rolled her eyes, but said, “Sorry. I could only see the headlines with that one. Not only did I kill my friend, but they’d be saying we were cousins or some shit like that.”

Logan didn’t look fazed. He cocked his head to the side, and a slow grin started to appear. “You’re a killer too? How many killers do we have here?”

Sam muttered, “Oh my god.” She grabbed Logan and pulled him over to them. “Stop talking about killers. We have enough problems, remember?”

Logan laughed. “Exactly. I want to be friends with these people. Fucking Seb
ass
tian won’t even retaliate once word hits him who we roll with.”

Mason chuckled, though his brother had a point. He turned towards Jesse. “Your season is doing well this year.”

Jesse grinned; his eyes had been narrowed, waiting out the introductions, but they opened wider now. “Oh yeah.” His hand was resting on Alexandra’s back, and she moved further against him, melting into his side. “I’m hoping we’ll make it to the Final Four, but sometimes we have no idea. Your season was amazing, though. Cain U trampled Grant West. It wasn’t even a close one. I’ll admit. I was bragging that I knew you during that game.”

“Wait.” The guy whose hair that Logan had been pretending was a bird’s nest lifted a hand in the air. “Logan Kade.” He pointed to Logan, then moved to Mason. “Cain University. Holy. Fuck. You’re Mason Kade, aren’t you?”

Mason nodded. “Hi, hello. We didn’t get the introductions finished, but yeah, I’m Mason.” He gestured to Samantha beside him. “This is Sam, she’s my girlfriend—”

Logan cut in, adding, “And my future stepsister.” He smirked at the girl, Sheldon. “Make an inbred joke. I dare you. It’s amazing.”

The girl frowned, her eyebrows furrowing together. “Huh?”

“Exactly. My quick wit has no match. Bow down, my future killer friend.”

“Oh god,” someone whispered.

Logan flashed her a grin. “Again. Exactly. #Logansagodandnooneforgetaboutit. My tweets go out every Friday.” He glanced at Mason, and with a hint of fondness in his voice, said, “I’m missing Matteo. I need my one Soul Brotha Connection to meet our other Soul Brotha Connection.” He gestured to Corrigan, who lifted a hand and waved. “Sam,” Logan continued, waving a hand towards Sheldon, “use your magic and thaw-out this Queen Bee Killer. Oh yeah, I’ve heard of you, Sheldon Jeneve.” He spoke to Samantha again, “You and Jax need to bring her into the fold. If she’s connected to Corrigan, she’s going to have to learn how to love me. One way or another. I won’t let another Soul Brotha Connection slip away.”

“Thaw me out?” Another sneer began to form on Sheldon’s face.

Logan kissed his fingers and held them in the air. “SBC-er. You won’t stand in our way.”

Her sneer faltered. “Are you on crack?”

Sam spoke up, “No. He’s just mind-fucking you. He does this to certain people.”

Sheldon swung her gaze back to Logan, her eyebrows still bunched together. Then she moved back a step. “I’m having enough problems between these two.” She motioned between Corrigan and Bryce. “I don’t need another guy being added to the mix. Sorry, SBC-er/mind-fucker/god-person, but I’m out. Banter with me tends not to end well, for either parties.” With those last words, she went to the table and took a seat, then poured herself a hefty glass of wine.

Logan laughed. “How’d you know I was mind-fucking her?”