He must’ve sensed my intent. He warned, “Don’t you dare.”

I huffed out, “Really?” And I swung again. I didn’t care about the girls-can’t-hit-guys-because-they-can’t-fight-back rule. That was bullshit.

Park Sebastian deserved all the punches he got.

“Samantha!”

I stopped, my arm in mid swing, and let it fall back to my side. I’d forgotten Garrett was there.

He looked shocked. His eyes were arched high, and his head was craned backward. “What are you doing? You can’t hit people.”

Sebastian snorted.

I rounded on him. “You use cars, dude. They use fists. One grossly outweighs the other. You can defend yourself against a hand. You can’t against an oncoming car.”

“Wait—” Garrett’s head was swiveling between us. Back and forth. Back and forth.

“Really? What about a house being burned down? What did I do that was worse than that?” Sebastian shoved his face forward, right into mine. He stopped with barely an inch separating us. “He took my house away. My house. That was everything to me.”

“You tried to take his future away.”

“No.” He laughed, and it sent a chill through me. “His future isn’t his career. Oh, no. Someone else is his future, and you’re damn right. I—” He stopped. His eyes went wide, and a look of panic flared there before he jerked backward. He raked a hand over his head. “Shit. I…” He shook his head. “I didn’t mean that, Samantha. I didn’t. I’m sorry.”

Someone else. I didn’t need two guesses to know that I’d been right this whole time. He wanted to hurt Mason via me. I was that ‘someone else.’ I held my hands up and started around him. “I’ve heard enough. All you did was confirm my suspicion.”

Garrett asked, “What just happened?”

I shoved out the door, the second one for the day, and stalked down the driveway. Whatever. I’d get to the street, walk to an intersection, and phone a cab from there.

I was around the first bend when Summer started shouting behind me, “Sam! Sam!”

I clipped my head from side to side. I wasn’t having it.

Her feet pounded on the pavement, running behind me.

My teeth ground against each other as she came to my side. I could feel her caution, and I snapped, “Don’t! You lied to me.” Screw it. If we’re going to do this, it might as well be when I am heated.

She stopped, her face pale. One of her hands lifted, as if to ward me off, but she let it fall slowly back down. “I did.”

“He’s your brother. Your fucking brother.”

She winced. “Okay. One, he’s not my fucking brother. He’s my brother. That word makes it sound gross and twisted. He’s my brother. That’s it.”

“You have different last names.”

“I took our mom’s maiden name, and he kept our dad’s last name. If you haven’t figured it out, I’m not close to my dad or his family. I can’t stand Molly, and most days, I can’t stand Parker either.”

“Parker?” I snorted in disgust. “Is that like a reverse nickname you have for him? Instead of shortening the name, you add to it?” My top lip curled up. “How unfucking cute.”

She reared back and cursed. “I knew you’d be mad, but you’re not holding any punches.”

“I don’t have to!” That was enough. My hands formed fists, and I kept them tight against my sides. They dug into me the more I talked. “You lied to me. Did you know who I was the whole time?”

She didn’t respond, not at first. Then, a quiet, “Yes,” came from her.

My hands flew up. I knew it. “What was the plan? Were you supposed to spy on me? My god.” A new and so horrifying thought came to me. “Were we even supposed to be roommates? Did Sebastian do something to switch our roommates? I got my dorm assignment late.” My gut clenched. I felt like I’d been kicked in the stomach. “Was that because of your brother?”

Again, there was no answer.

The guilt was there. I knew enough.

I shook my head. “I can’t believe you. I can’t believe any of it.”

“Yes. Okay?” A new frenzied plea was in her voice as she surged toward me. “He didn’t inform me about the feud. I had to see it for myself, that first day of classes. When I saw how you guys reacted to him, I knew something was up. I already really liked you, so I didn’t say anything. I didn’t want to lose a potentially great roommate.

“When I cornered him at the house the next week, he told me everything. It was why he hadn’t shown up on moving day. He was supposed to help me move in. He explained everything, talked about how Mason burned down his fraternity house, and how he started a fight and beat up a bunch of his brothers.

“I don’t know what my brother’s done, but I’m guessing he’s done something. He claims that he hasn’t, but I’m not an idiot. I love my brother, but I’m not blind to the things he’s capable of. I know he can be ruthless, and I begged him to leave it all alone. He said he would, and then Logan crashed his party and started a massive brawl.”

“Logan did?” A harsh laugh ripped from me. “Really? Sebastian went to the trouble of making us roommates, of planting a spy in my own room? You think your brother was going to drop everything, but it’s Logan’s fault. It’s because Logan crashed a party and started a fight. That’s why your brother won’t drop this whole thing?”

My hands were up. My eyes were bulging out. My face felt hot, so it must’ve been red all over. I wanted to grab ahold of my hair and try to pull it out.

Instead, I yelled, “Are you an idiot?”

She jumped back, startled. Her eyebrows bunched together.

“All of this started because Mason wouldn’t be some stupid trophy for your brother to use. Sebastian couldn’t control him. That was it. Because of that, he tried to run Mason down with a truck.”

Summer’s mouth fell open. A dumbstruck expression had her pinching her lips together. “No.” She started to shake her head. “No, he wouldn’t. That doesn’t seem like—”

“You’re clueless.”

Her eyes jumped to mine. A cloud of disbelief was there, and I saw another no forming on her mouth.