His eyebrows shot up. “You did?”

“It wasn’t right and I feel horrible about it. So does Mason. He hasn’t said much, but I can tell it’s been weighing on him.”

“I know.” He expelled a deep breath and sank onto the other couch. Resting his elbows on his knees, he caught his head in his hands. He scraped his fingers through his hair before he lifted those same haunting eyes to mine again. “I feel horrible about it. He tried to talk to me at school, but I couldn’t. I just,” he took another deep breath, “couldn’t. I didn’t know what to say.”

“I texted you. We texted you.”

He looked back down, and his head bobbed up and down. “I know. I got them. I didn’t know what to say, Sam. I feel horrible about everything and how Miranda spun it. It was wrong. Shit.” He ran his hands through his hair again before letting them fall to his lap with a thud. “Sam, what she was going to say was wrong. I dated her to protect you. I wanted her to shut up and not go after you anymore. She couldn’t if she was dating me and she’d look like an idiot when I dumped her, but I had no idea she would figure out to spin it this way. I mean, seriously, Mason setting me up to do that?”

Wait. What? I frowned.

He kept going, “Then she started spewing about how I had feelings for you and that she told you, I didn’t know what to do. I don’t even know how she figured that part out, but everything else...I had to leave. I had to think about everything and what to even say to you about it.”

He didn’t believe her. He did have feelings for me. Both realizations shattered me. Then I realized the actual significance of it. He left because of him, not because of Mason. I started thinking over the text messages.

Can we talk?

Where are you?

Please call me?

I knew Mason had sent similar ones, but there’d been nothing about Mason’s manipulation. Nothing. There had only been questions from us about where he was, if he could call us, etc.

Oh my god.

I lifted horrified eyes back to him. He had no idea. Miranda had been telling the truth.

“Logan,” I choked out. My voice was hoarse. “Wha--what did she say to you?”

He frowned and anger flashed over his face for a moment. “You mean that bullshit about Mason manipulating me? She didn’t tell you?”

I could lie. I could cover everything. I took a breath. “What did you say to Miranda? She hasn’t said anything to me the last few weeks.”

“Because I f**king told her not to touch you.” He grew heated. “I threatened her, if she didn’t leave you alone, I’d tell everyone her secrets. Trust me. She’s got them. She did some dirty shit with me.”

I grew sick. “You recorded it?”

“Fuck no,” he snorted. “But I remember. I have a photographic memory, so does Mason. I remember every little detail. People would believe me because she told me things about all her little friends too.”

“Secrets about them?”

He nodded, looking away. His hands went back to twisting around each other. “Yeah. I have enough baggage on all them. If it came out, they’d go ape-shit on her. She won’t say a word. I promise, Sam.”

Logan hadn’t believed her. He made her not believe herself. I bit my lip, wondering if that was true, but it didn’t matter. Miranda did know. She was silenced, but she still knew. So did we. I didn’t know what Mason would’ve told me to do, but I knew what to do. With the decision made, I knew what else I’d have to do afterwards.

My stomach shrunk. I grew nauseous. I wanted to throw up, but I couldn’t. My hands started shaking, but I heard myself speak, “Logan,” I paused. This would change everything.

He asked, “Yeah?”

I started saying goodbye to them in my head. I had to prepare myself. Then I said, “She was right.”

His eyes narrowed and his eyebrows furrowed together. “What do you mean?”

My throat was dry. “She was right.” Shit. “About everything. About Mason, about Nate. I knew.”

I stopped and waited. The storm would come.

He grew still, eerily still. A minute passed. Another, then a third. He jerked forward. “What are you saying, Sam? What exactly are you saying?”

“Mason wanted her to be shut down. He used you to do it.”

“Nate? You said Nate?”

My voice started shaking. “Nate told you to date her. He--”

“He set me up?”

My neck was stiff, but I jerked my head in a nod. “Yes.”

“Mason set him up to it?”

I couldn’t say it again. I sat and waited. I couldn’t do anything else.

“And you knew?” He stopped, scowling now. He sounded confused. “But...my feelings?” His gaze swung to mine again. They were piercing. “You knew?”

“I,” stopping, I swallowed. I couldn’t talk. “I think I always knew.” It came out as a whisper.

“My god,” he murmured. “My god. Mason. You. Who else knew?”

I shook my head. “We didn’t talk about it until Miranda. I don’t know who else knows.”

“Nate?”

“I don’t know.” That was the truth. “I didn’t know he did it because of your feelings until Miranda said it. It clicked then, but I knew it was the truth. I knew he was worried because of Tate. He didn’t want me to come in between you guys.”