Fallen Crest Forever (Fallen Crest High #7)

“Sam?”


I winced at the hurt in her voice. “You’re right. It is something, but trust me. I’ll tell you later. I promise.”

It wasn’t that I wanted to keep her out of the loop, of us finding leverage against Faith or even Coach Langdon, but Taylor was like Courtney. She had some bad shit happen to her, but she was still good. I didn’t want to take the ‘good’ part out of her. She’d already been too involved over the summer. Logan’s eyes met mine, and I knew he understood where I was coming from. He looked relieved.

“It’s not to exclude you, Taylor,” I added, softening my voice. “It’s to protect you.”

“Isn’t that what you were pissed at your boyfriend for doing before?”

She was right.

I didn’t care.

Call me hypocritical.

“I’ll explain it, but not yet,” I said. “Not until something actually happens.”

She’d just said she was going to quit the team. If she were brought into the fold, she’d refuse. She’d keep running, and Faith was right. I would be distracted, worrying about her. She was out of the line of fire this way. Everything would work out.

She set her jaw in a determined line.

“Please?” It worked. I saw her softening when I used that word. “I’ll explain later. I promise.”

“You promise?”

I nodded, feeling some of my unease lessening.

“Okay.” She sighed, raking a hand through her hair. She leaned back against Logan. “I suppose it’s for the best anyway. I wasn’t lying when I said this year is going to be hard. I’m even worried about finding time with you.”

Logan’s arm curled around her. “You can study at the house. We’ll stop partying there as much.” His eyes flicked to mine. “Classes and all.”

She groaned. “Yeah, maybe, but I’ll be at home tonight. I want to try to get a head start on things. See?” She pointed to herself. “Me getting ahead of my studies, totally believable.” She waved in the direction Nate had gone. “Him, not so much.” She pulled away from Logan and glanced at her phone. “I have lab in twenty minutes. I should grab something to eat, then jet over there.” She pecked Logan’s cheek before walking toward the food court. “I’ll see you guys later, and I gotta talk to Coach about quitting, so maybe I’ll see you at practice. Bye!”

We watched as she turned around and picked up her pace.

Logan said quietly, even though it was just the two of us, “If this spreads to Taylor, and Shaw hurts her.” He looked at me. His eyes darkened in a dangerous glint. He didn’t say anything more, but his threat hung in the air.

“Nothing will happen. We’ll find something.” We had to. “I promise.”

“Don’t make promises you can’t keep.”

He’d been the one reassuring me not long ago. But I did what we did for our family.

“Nothing will happen.” I touched his arm. “I promise, Logan.”





Coach Langdon never got around to that meeting with Faith and me. Taylor was in his office by the time I got there, and he was distracted afterward. I didn’t know if it was because of her or something else, but it didn’t matter. Everyone finished stretching, and he lifted his whistle to his mouth.

He blew it and hollered, “Get running. Friday was a good race, but don’t start slacking now. Strattan, no holding back. You go as far as you want and as fast as you want.”

I looked to Faith, who was already scowling in my direction, and gave her a smug grin. Game on.

As soon as we started, I felt her breathing down my neck. I knew she’d gotten the memo. It wasn’t long till I pulled away, and after another half-mile, I never saw her again.

I did as Coach said.

I ran for two hours, and I ran hard. I felt my phone buzzing at one point. It was a text from Coach, asking where I was. I told him I was still running, and his only reply was that I needed to log my miles and time when I finished. Everyone else was done and had gone home.

I’d gotten a ride with Mason that morning, and he texted too, asking if I wanted a lift home with him. My reply was the same to him as Coach, but I added that I was just going to run home. I felt it in me. I hadn’t run all weekend, and it showed.

I did just under twenty miles in two hours, ten minutes, and twenty-three seconds.

I had already showered and was sitting at the kitchen table to study when Mason came home. He walked over, kissing my forehead. “How was your day?”

“Good.” I’d tell him later about Faith and my concerns. “How was your day?”

He looked tired, with bags under his eyes, but he was freshly showered. He had changed from the clothes he wore this morning into a Cain University black blazer. I pulled my attention away from the way it fit over his shoulders. My mouth watered, but I needed to eat, not engage in even more physical activity.

He grabbed a sports drink from the fridge and an apple, then sat next to me. “It was fine. I had to officially meet with all of the coaching administration, and they just gave me a warning not to pull something like that again.”

“Like the press conference?”

He nodded. “And admitting that they knew about my charges this summer and didn’t do anything about it. Telling the press that wasn’t my decision to make.”

“I thought your head coach and Taylor’s dad were okay with the press conference.”

“They were, but they didn’t know I was going to admit to that part.”

“Oh.” I snagged some of his sports drink.

He frowned at me. “How far did you run tonight?”

“Farther than normal. I didn’t run this weekend. I had energy to burn.” I shrugged.

His eyes narrowed, darkening with suspicion. “What’s going on?”

“Nothing.”

“You’re lying to me. Stop.”

I pressed my lips together.

“Sam.” That one word was a warning from him. “I know you. I know you inside and out. I know you bare naked, and I know you to your soul. You’re lying through your teeth right now. What happened?”

I leaned back in my chair and told him my concerns.

He agreed with Logan, saying, “We’ll find something. Don’t worry about her or your coach. She got put on the back burner, but I can still call my dad if you want.”

“Yeah.” Maybe that was the best course of action finally. Forget my mother, just for them to go to James? But there was a nagging feeling in the pit of my stomach. I didn’t know what it was about, why it was there. It just wouldn’t go away since this morning.

I reached for his sports drink again, and he just pushed it in front of me instead. He got up and got a new one for himself. “My mom called earlier.”

“About dinner?”

“You knew?”

I explained that part too. “I was with Logan.”

“And he doesn’t want Taylor involved?”

I nodded.

“That’s smart of him, but she wants to meet tonight.”