That was the beginning of his troubles. The school board asked the police department to step back. It was between college students and occurred on campus. They wanted to deal with it internally. Because Cain University was powerful and a Division One school, the department stepped back, which everyone was happy about—except for Logan and everyone on his side.
The board found Logan guilty of the altercation between students. He’d swung first. He got the blame, and the meeting today was to officially determine if he’d get expelled from school or just suspended. And because it stemmed from my own run-ins with Sebastian, I was called to testify. I knew what I was walking into. They were going to ask me questions about Logan’s past—if he was violent, if he started physical altercations. What else had he done? Had he been arrested? How many times was he arrested?
Logan could get expelled for the mere fact that he’d swung first, but the real agenda was to discredit him so that he looked like the only guilty perpetrator. They didn’t want to suspend Sebastian.
“Is your dad coming today?”
I looked up from fixing my tie. Sam was on the edge of our bed, watching me in the mirror.
Since Logan’s attack, she’d been different. The fight left her. Her cheeks were gaunt. She seemed more fragile. I knew she hadn’t been eating, and her runs had been back up to two hours, sometimes more. I’d started driving around, looking for her, and so many times, I’d find her limping back. She always climbed into the vehicle, and I would bring her home. I’d tended to her while Malinda came and tended to Logan until our mother got in from Italy. That’d been two days ago. Malinda hadn’t wanted to leave, but we’d return to Fallen Crest within a few days anyway.
Finals were done.
Football was done. We hadn’t gotten to the championship game, even though Drew won The Heisman.
The only thing I had to deal with was this meeting…and Park Sebastian.
“Mason,” Sam said again, tucking her hands under her legs.
She’d been doing that a lot lately, always hiding her hands. My mouth twisted, and a jolt of anger started in me. She was still rattled from the fight. She would shake at night, tossing and turning. Some nights, she’d wake up, screaming. I hadn’t been there, and I’d have to live with that for the rest of my life.
She leaned forward, still searching my face in the mirror.
I cleared my throat, finishing the tie, before I turned around. “I hope so. I think so. Helen said she got ahold of him.”
She relaxed visibly, her shoulders softening. “Oh, good.”
Sam and I hadn’t resolved what happened in the library when I found out she knew Summer was Sebastian’s sister. I didn’t care who Summer was, but I cared if she hurt Sam or not. I also cared that Sam hadn’t told me, but even that…I understood that, too. She and my brother both protected me this year. It was still their mission. Sam and I needed to smooth things over, but I didn’t think either of us had the energy to approach that conversation yet.
I sighed and reached out for her hand. “Come on. Let’s go deal with these board dickheads.”
Sam’s cheeks grew pink, and she linked her fingers through mine, squeezing my hand. She walked beside me out the door and remained by my side the entire drive to campus and into the building.
When we got inside, everyone was ready. My dad wasn’t there, but he was coming. I hoped. There weren’t a lot of times when I needed him, but I did for these moments. My jaw hardened, thinking about needing my father. I hated it, but I couldn’t do anything about it.
“Mr. Kade.” A woman in a business skirt opened the boardroom doors.
I recognized her from the last time I’d been called in there. That meeting was eerily similar. It was after Sebastian and his buddies jumped me, but instead of questioning if only one of us should be expelled, they decided to suspend both of us.
Some anger grew in me, but I nodded, my entire body tense.
Sam squeezed my hand once more, and I skimmed a soft kiss to her forehead, hugging her to my side. As we stood there, the lady went back inside. Right before the door closed behind her, I got a glimpse of Sebastian. He was sitting at the same table as before, wearing a business suit, with two others beside him. He’d brought a lawyer.
I growled, “This isn’t supposed to be a trial.”
“Mason?”
Sam hadn’t seen him, and I didn’t want her to.
My hand found her hip, and I gently moved her back. “I’ll be back. Love you.”
“Love you, too.”
I heard a small wonder in her voice as she said those two words, but I couldn’t do anything about it. I turned abruptly and went inside. She sensed my anger, and I knew she wanted to help, but she couldn’t.
This was my mess to clean up. The first step to do that was going into the boardroom and sitting at the table.
“Thank you for coming in, Mason.”