by Tijan
3
4—“Are you kidding me?!”
Becky shrank back.
“Do you know what I went through our junior year? Do you have any idea?!” I held up a hand, all my fingers spread out. “Five people turned on me that year. My mom. My dad. My two best friends. My boyfriend. All of them left me!” I held up one finger on my other hand. “You were my sixth. You were my salvation, until the guy you had a crush on made you choose. You chose him over me.” My sixth finger curled in with the others. “You left me when I had no one.”
“That year was when you started dating Mason—”
“And thank God I screwed him!” I registered movement from the corner of my eye, but I couldn’t stop. Not now. Not anymore. “My family blew up that year, and yeah, I got another one. Mason and Logan became my family, and things have been just fine, but now you want back in?”
“Yes.”
Her voice was meek.
I backed away, shaking my head.
Her face twisted. “I am sorry, Sam. I really am.”
“But it’s too late. I let you back in. I gave you a second chance, and you chose him over me. Again.” I turned to go back, and Adam stood there, his gaze stricken. Cass, Mark, and so many others lined up behind him. I had to laugh. “You all came for the show? Well, sorry. Show’s over.” I moved forward, ready to bulldoze my way through, but they all moved aside. As I returned to my spot behind the counter, Mason waited for me. His eyes stopped me in my tracks, and that was when I knew.
I hadn’t been yelling at Becky just now.
I’d been yelling at my mother.
Petey stayed away. Thank God, but he was the only one.
I was still standing at the counter, unsure what to do, when Adam burst through the tent’s opening.
“Thank you.” His jaw clenched.
I looked up, feeling haunted. I didn’t ask for what.
“She’s been wanting your friendship back from the moment she knew she lost it. I’ve been telling her to let go. She wouldn’t, though. She kept hoping and praying. That’s why I worked it so you were at our engagement. She wanted that moment, because if there was ever a chance, I thought it would be there. You were at an event she’ll remember for the rest of her life. You won’t remember.” He scoured Mason with a look. “I’ve no doubt you’ll forget all about us when you move on to the big leagues, but she’ll remember.” He leaned over the counter, closer to me. “I helped take away some of that regret. She tried being your friend, and what’d you do in return? You spit on her. Fuck you, Samantha.”
“Hey.” Mason faced him squarely.
Heather still sat on her stool, watching me.
Adam’s finger came down hard on the counter. “From this day forward, I want you to have nothing to do with Rebecca. You got that?!”
Heather grunted, rotating her barstool so she faced Adam as well. “Are you insane?” she murmured.
His eyes were heated and dilated, and the tips of his ears were pink. He threw her a look. “Excuse me?”
“You.” Heather frowned at him. “Are you insane? That’s what I’m asking.”
“What?”
“What?” She mocked him in a huff before standing. “Who works here? Who came here? Who’s continued to seek the other one out? Who’s the one asking for friendship without doing a goddamn thing to earn it?”
She’d moved closer with each question. If she took another step forward, she would’ve been touching him. She angled her head up. She didn’t give a shit how he stood over her, literally looking down.
“You have nothing to do with Sam,” she told him. “Your girlfriend should have nothing to do with her. Not Sam. She’s not done anything to deserve your treatment, and you better thank the assholes Mason’s beat up in the last month because they’re the only reason you aren’t knocked unconscious right now.”
She turned to Mason. “I get it. You have a monthly knockout quota or something?”
Mason didn’t answer, but one side of his mouth lifted.
Adam skewered all of us with a look. “I should’ve known nothing’s changed. Here I thought we were all moving past the bullshit from high school.”
He turned to go, but Mason was right there, blocking him.
“What did you think we were doing?”
Adam’s eyes narrowed. “What are you talking about?”
“You seem to have been under the impression we were friends?”
“Oh, please.” Adam started to move around Mason, but Mason kept in front of him. Adam let out a sigh, lifting his arms in a helpless gesture. “What do you want? Yes, I was the idiot. I’m now realizing there were no friendship promises made.”
“You just assumed?”
Mason was stone cold, no reaction or emotion showing on his face. His chiseled jawline was firm, and his eyes were almost dead. Even though I’d been writhing underneath him this morning, another sensual shiver slid down my spine. It was eerie, but I wanted him so damned much in this moment.
“Yes. I just assumed. Happy now?” Adam spat.
Becky and Cass came to the beer garden’s tent entrance, and Adam looked over Mason’s shoulder. “I’m coming. I just had to grab something.”
Becky’s face was wet from tears, and Cass had a hand on her shoulder.
I felt kicked in the stomach, and the fight left me.
Becky had been a good friend, in her way. She’d never stabbed me in the back. It was time I moved past it. I came out from behind the counter. “Becky—” I started.
Her eyes widened while Cass’ narrowed. “Stop right there,” Cass said. “You’ve done enough damage. Thank you.”
Ignoring her, I asked Becky, “Can we talk? Please.”
Her head jerked in a nod, and she wiped the tears from her face.
I headed for a far table. It was empty, and I didn’t know anyone sitting at the neighboring tables. Becky sat across from me, her movements cautious and slow. I noticed and wrung my hands together on my lap.
She folded her hands, laying them on the table in front of her. Her shoulders seemed to shrink in size. “What else is there to say?”
“Your timing sucks.”
A harsh laugh came from her. “Don’t hold back, Sam. Please.”
“My mom is back in town. Did you know that?”
Her head had been lowered. She raised it now, her eyes finding mine. I tried not to wince at the compassion that flooded her gaze. Tried. Guilt coated my insides, and I failed.
“She came back last year, but I’ve been avoiding her since then.”
“That’s why you stayed at Cain last summer?”
I nodded. “And why I’ve barely been here for holidays. All of it was because of her.”
“But you’re here for the entire summer now?”
I nodded again. “And so is she.”
“Has she said anything to you?”
“No.” Maybe the joke was on me? “That’s the funny part. I saw her SUV and knew she was in it, but that’s been all. Every day I’m waiting for her to show, like she’s going to pounce on me or something.” I raked a hand over my face. “I’m wound up tight, and you’re the one who got it. I’m sorry for that.”
“For that?” A soft frown marred her features. “But not…”
“But not for the rest. You can’t trick someone into being friends with you, especially if there’s bad blood. I suddenly found myself at your engagement, but I didn’t ask to be there. I was put on the spot to congratulate you, and I did mean it, but now you guys are here, and you’re coming at me like we’ve been friends this whole time. If you really want to be friends again—”
She leaned forward. “I do. I really do.”
“—then you need to ask if we can. And you need to respect my answer, whatever it is.”
“Oh.” Her gaze fell to the table again.
“It’s not that I don’t want to.”
“Yeah?” She looked up again, hope in her eyes. She began to smile.
“
It’s that I need time.”
“Oh.” The smile fell away.
She began to get up, so I covered her hands with mine. “I was stabbed in the back by so many people in high school, it caused some damage inside me. I’ve only been able to trust Mason, Logan, and Heather for the last few years.” I squeezed her hands gently. “But more people have shown me I could trust them, and that doesn’t mean I can’t make some room for you, too.”
Ice ran through my veins. The more I talked, the more fear spread through me.
“I just need time. That’s all.”
She nodded, and her tears fell on our hands. “I can give that to you. Thank you, Samantha.”
She left, and a moment later, Mason and Heather came and sat with me.
“Did I just make a mistake?” I asked.
Mason didn’t reply. He just held my hand under the table.
Heather shrugged. “Fuck if I know. She was your friend in school.”
I sighed and over my shoulder I heard, “Uh…is this a bad time to announce my awesome arrival?”
I turned to see Nate coming over with Matteo. Both wore crooked grins. Nate spread his arms out.
“Come on, you guys. I know you want to line up to hug this motherfucker here. Don’t be shy. My awesomeness is contagious.” He winked.
Mason got up, shaking his head. “You were just on the phone with Logan, weren’t you?”
“Hell yeah, my Mason motherfucker. Come here, you gorgeous son of a bitch.”
The two clasped each other in a bear hug. Heather and I hugged him after, then moved back so Mason, Matteo, and Nate could converge, and a second later, they were laughing like giggling girlfriends.
Watching them, seeing the love between Mason and Nate, I couldn’t help but remember how Nate had messed up. He’d treated me badly at moments in high school, had sided with his fraternity against Mason in the beginning, and I knew he’d done other things, but Mason always forgave him. I asked him once why he did that, and his answer had been simple: “Because he was there for me at my lowest.”
Becky had been there at my lowest.
Maybe actual forgiveness was the right thing to do, and as my gut approved that decision, the tightness in my chest eased.
I felt Mason ease into the room.
My back was turned as I stared out the window, but I knew I was right when I heard the door click closed.
“You okay?” he asked.
I had no reason not to be, but I wasn’t.
“I’m trying to remember why we hated Becky and Adam so much in high school. I can’t remember.” I turned around, hugging myself. “I felt the anger. It was this surge. It was overwhelming. Mason, I haven’t felt like that since my mom, since I moved in with you and Logan in the first place. I…” What was going on with me?
“We’re older. The wounds are still there, but I get it.” He shrugged. “I’ve been having a hard time remembering why I loathed Quinn so much, too. I mean, I remember when he tried to take you from me, but the guy’s been easy to work with. I’m glad he got in your face tonight. It was a good reminder. That’s the guy I hated.” He sat on the edge of the bed. “I wanted to hit him.”
“Yeah.” I moved to sit with him. He leaned back, his hands finding my legs and helping me settle astride him. “What are you doing in here? Nate’s back.”
“And he’s talking to Matteo.”
One of his hands moved under my shirt. I felt its heat on my back, and I shivered.
He leaned closer to me. “I wanted to check on you anyway.” His mouth nuzzled under my jawline. His breath tickled me and warmed me at the same time.
I closed my eyes, already feeling the sensations of being too close to Mason wreaking havoc over me. My body warmed, and those flutters begin building in my stomach. I was a little breathless as I tipped my head forward, my lips searching for his.
This.
He answered, his lips finding mine.
The kiss was a gentle touch, a mere graze, and then he applied more pressure.
My need was building, and I sunk lower on his lap. His hands moved around my ribcage, sliding up and slipping under my bra. He cupped my breast, his fingers resting just next to my nipple. I wanted him to touch it, rub against it, flick it. He waited, our kiss deepening. I opened my mouth, and his tongue touched mine just as his fingers brushed over my nipple.
I surged in his lap, molding myself almost completely to him. He was teasing me. I moaned, just wanting more. I would always want more.
“Sam.” He pulled back, but kept his hand on my breast. The other went to my hip, and he pushed me down so I could feel him through his pants. Why were we still clothed?
“Hmmm?” I reached for his lips again. I just wanted them on mine.
He tensed when my mouth met his again, and he growled, “Fuck it.”
His free hand dipped into my pants, and ten minutes later, Mason was above me.
I wrapped my arms around his neck, feeling him everywhere, and as he thrust into me, I knew all the talking was done.
MASON
I slipped from the room after Sam fell asleep. When I entered the kitchen, Nate was waiting with a beer in hand for me.
“Matteo took off. Something about a chick waiting for him?”
“He’s got a girl in Roussou.” I took the beer from him, gesturing for us to head outside.
He nodded, and once outside, we sat around the bonfire cage even though there was no fire. It was just the two of us, drinking beer in complete darkness.
That was when Nate asked, like I knew he would, “So what’s going on?”
I told him about my arrangement with my dad and about Caldron.
He let that sink in for a minute. “And your plan?”
“I can’t find anything on Adam because I don’t know what to press him with. I was thinking of taking a road trip to see if we can find something.”
“Road trip?”
“Way I’m thinking, if I was doing something illegal, I wouldn’t want it in my office.”
“Or at home,” Nate added, taking a drag from his beer.
“Both places that could get raided.”
“You’d put it somewhere off the grid.”
“Like a cabin.”
Nate was thinking just what I was.
“Does Adam have a cabin?” he asked.
“Becky mentioned a cabin on the ocean up north.” I used the exact words I’d overheard one night in the beer garden, making air quotes. “‘A big white house in the middle of nowhere.’ They talked about having us up there. Don’t know if they meant it or not.”
Nate grinned. “We have an address?”
