by Apryl Baker
Keith whistled. “Three fucks in one sentence.”
“Keith…”
“Calm the fuck down, man,” Keith said. “I don’t tell anyone about my sister.”
“You didn’t even fucking warn me!” Mason hissed, still pissed. He’d acted like some starstruck kid around her.
“I would have paid good money to have seen your face.” Keith snickered.
Mason growled into the phone. “Motherfucker…”
“You really are pissed,” Keith said, the laughter leaving his voice. “You don’t normally cuss this much.”
It was true. He had a filthy mouth, but he had learned to control it, thanks to being around his niece so much. He hadn’t cussed this much since his last year at UCLA. But fuck…Keith could have fucking warned him.
“It’s not every fucking day I look up and see my girl crush standing there looking pissed off and ready to beat my ass black and blue!”
“Girl crush?”
“Fucker, you know I love that girl’s channel. Watch it every fucking day. And not once did you ever tell your best friend who always fucking has your back, ‘Oh, by the way, JoJo? She’s my fucking sister!’”
“I’m sorry,” Keith said quietly. “I shoulda told you.”
“Hells yeah, you shoulda told me.”
“How is she?”
“Pissed off at you for sending her a babysitter.” Mason let out a breath. Fuck, he needed to go to the gym and work this off. He hated being pissed and angry. Instead of turning back toward the school, he headed to Planet Fitness. Had to get this shit out of his system. He was supposed to go eat dinner with Viktor and the family tonight before the party. Best not to go there this worked up. He didn’t want to scare Delia. She’d spent enough time around her abusive sperm donor to be terrified when men were angry.
“I figured she would be, but how is she?”
“She’s fine. No bruises, nothing weird. Doesn’t look like he’s abusive physically. She’s not happy about living next door to his parents, though.”
Something spewed and Keith started coughing. “He moved her in beside his parents?”
“Yeah. Fucker thinks it’s okay for her to call a cab or use Uber to and from school too.”
“The hell you say?” Keith sounded as pissed as Mason felt over that one.
“Why the hell doesn’t she have a car?”
“Because she was using Mom’s car. If I knew the fuckwad wasn’t going to escort her to school, I’d have given her mine. The city’s dangerous. What is he thinking?”
“I handled it. Told her I’d pick her up in the mornings and then take her home when she was done.”
“You know what time she gets up for class, yeah?”
“Don’t fucking remind me!” Mason groaned.
“Thanks, Mase.” Keith got quiet for a minute. “I know you don’t have to do that, and it means a lot.”
“She’s your sister. You think I’m gonna let her asshole of a boyfriend get her into a bad situation? Hell no. You owe me, though, for dragging my ass out of bed at the butt crack of dawn.”
“You think it’s safe for me to call her, or will she take my head off?”
Mason laughed. “She’ll hand your head to you on a silver platter.”
“Shit.”
“Hey, text me her number. I forgot to get it from her.”
“Fanboying, were you?”
“Fuck yeah.”
Keith laughed and agreed to shoot her number to him before hanging up. Mason turned down the street, seeing the gym ahead. He needed to get in and out, shower back at the frat, and head to Viktor’s. Sara promised him homemade lasagna. He wasn’t missing out on that. Pulling into the parking lot, he grabbed his gym bag he kept behind the seat and rolled into the place, glad to be able to work off some of this frustration.
***
Viktor, Kade, and Dimitri all lived in the same small town right outside the city. They’d bought up about sixty acres of land and had homes built, except for Dimitri. His section of the acreage already had a house. He and Becca remodeled it, of course, but they’d been able to move in a lot sooner than Kade and Viktor. There was enough room if Mason, Conner, and Nik ever wanted to build on the family compound, as Kade referred to it.
Mason wasn’t sure what he wanted to do. He liked living in the city and would probably rent an apartment when he graduated. Nik and Lily bought an apartment in the city as well. Now that his sister-in-law had just had a baby girl, they might change their mind about that. The city was no place to raise kids.
He pulled into Viktor’s drive and cut the engine. The place was nice. Two stories of stone and natural wood, it blended into the forest like it belonged there. The place had plenty of room for kids to run and play. He saw Delia’s pink bike laying on its side in the grass. He shook his head. They’d all warned her about leaving it out to get rained on. The chain would rust up and might cause her to crash.
Getting out, he picked up the bike and rolled it into the garage. Girl was never gonna learn. He used his key to get in the house and called out, “Princess Peach!”
He heard the pounding of footsteps down the stairs and braced for it. Seconds later, she barreled into him, and had he not been ready, he’d have fallen backward. Picking her up, he swung her around and around, loving her squeal of laughter.
“Uncle Mason!” She wrapped her little arms around his neck and hugged him tight. “I missed you.”
“I missed you too, Princess.” He gave her a sloppy kiss on the cheek. “Where’s everyone?”
“Mommy’s upstairs with the twins, and Papa’s in his office. I was watching cartoons.”
Storm gray eyes smiled at him amid her wild mess of blonde hair, and his heart swelled. He loved this kid more than anything. He loved the twins, of course, and Mateo, Kade’s little boy, but Delia was special to him. After everything she’d gone through with the sperm donor, she deserved as much love as she could get.
“Found your bike in the grass.”
Her eyes widened, and she ducked her head against his shoulder. “I forgot.”
“Supposed to rain tomorrow, Peach. Bike’ll rust up.” He started walking toward Viktor’s office and kept her in his arms. She was almost eight now, but to him, she was still a kid and needed to be held and loved. Hell, he’d probably be giving her piggyback rides when she was sixteen.
“Yo, Viktor!” he called as he headed down the hall and found his brother sitting at his desk, head buried in his computer.
Viktor rolled his shoulders and turned off the monitor. He looked rough, his eyes bloodshot with bags under them. The twins must not be letting them get much sleep.
“You look like shit.”
The glare his brother shot him would have felled most, but Mason merely grinned.
“You try working on two hours of sleep a night. I fell asleep at the office today and missed an online meeting with a client. Kade nearly took my head off.”
“The boys haven’t settled into a routine yet?” Delia squirmed, and he put her down. She went over to where Viktor had his medals from the Marines showcased on the wall. She did that a lot. Mason had a feeling the girl would join the Marines when she got older. Good thing they were teaching her to fight now.
“Do I look like they have?” Viktor stood and stretched, a yawn overtaking him. “You ready to eat?”
“Starved.”
The three of them walked into the kitchen, Delia telling him all about her new classroom. They’d had orientation a few days ago where the kids got to meet their teacher, and school lists were given out. Viktor had a heart attack when he’d seen the long list of things he needed to buy. It was more like he was stocking the classroom instead of things for Delia, but like Becca pointed out, the schools had no budgets for these things. What the parents bought wouldn’t even come close to what the teachers spent out of their own pocket over the year to keep the classrooms stocked.
Sara was already there, pulling the lasagna out of the oven. The
heavenly scent hit his nose, and his stomach growled. Delia giggled at the sound, and he winked at her. Sara looked a lot like her daughter, but Delia’s hair was a true blonde, while her mother’s was a more brownish shade.
While Viktor mauled his wife, he and Delia got the salad and a gallon of milk out of the fridge and took it to the dining room. The table was already set, so he got Delia settled in her chair and took a seat across from her. Viktor and Sara would bring everything else.
“I got new makeup.” Delia shot him a sly smile, and he groaned. Last time she dolled him up, it took two hours to get that shit off his face and out of his hair.
“Uncle Mason has a party to go to tonight, Peach.”
Her lip wobbled, and he knew it was over before it even started.
“Please, Uncle Mason?”
How the fuck was he supposed to say no to that face?
“Fine, kid. Do your worst after dinner.”
Her face lit up like he’d just given her a puppy.
“Suckered you into a makeover, did she?” Viktor laughed when he and Sara came in carrying the lasagna, bread, and a bottle of wine.
“Like you’re any better.” Sara smiled softly up at Viktor. “She had you wearing a man-sized tutu and helping her practice her ballet.”
Mason burst out laughing at the verbal picture she painted. “I hope to hell you got that on video.”
“Oh, I did.”
Viktor glared at his wife. “Don’t you even think of sending that out to the family, woman.”
“Maybe I will, and maybe I won’t.”
“How are my nephews?” Mason took the plate of lasagna passed to him, inhaling the aroma. So good.
“Sleeping during the day and keeping us both up all night.” Sara took a piece of garlic bread then handed the basket to Viktor. “I think they’re secretly plotting our deaths from lack of sleep.”
“You got plans for next weekend?” Viktor asked, his voice a little too casual.
“Depends.”
“On?”
“What you want.”
“I need sleep.”
“And?”
“We were hoping you’d babysit on Friday and Saturday night so Sara and I can get some sleep. We are not going to last much longer. Between Delia and the boys, we’re wiped.”
“You want me to take care of babies?” Mason nearly choked on the wine he was sipping. “I don’t know shit about babies.”
“It’s not hard.” Delia slurped her milk. “They sleep most of the time. Just eat, poop, and drool.”
“People are eating, malyshka,” Viktor admonished, but he couldn’t hide the grin on his face. Mason remembered when they were kids they used to try to gross their mama out at the kitchen table too. Their father reprimanded them, but he’d secretly loved it.
An idea popped in his head. “I’ll do it on one condition.”
Viktor raised a brow.
“I need a background check on a guy. Ray Daniels.”
“Who’s he?”
“You remember Keith? My best friend from UCLA?”
Viktor nodded.
“His sister shacked up with the guy. Keith’s worried about her. He moved them here to New York away from all her family. She’s been with him since high school, but there’s a lot of things that can be hidden. Just want to make sure there’s no reason to worry.”
“Not a problem. Just get me his details.”
“Then I shall be here Friday night, ready to man up and be Uncle Mason, the weekend nanny.”
“Will you play princess with me?”
“Sure thing, sweetheart. We can dress up to your heart’s content. I’ll even shove my legs into a mermaid’s tail if you want me to.”
Sara had tried to thank him for everything he did for Delia once, but like he told her, Delia was his family, and he’d do anything he could to make her smile every day for the rest of her life.
Including put on dresses, tutus, and mermaid tails.
“You’ll never believe who Keith’s sister is. I was ready to murder him when he let me walk in with no warning.”
“This sounds interesting.” Sara put her fork down, the writer in her coming out.
“My favorite YouTuber. Watch her every single day. I had a serious fanboy freak-out moment, there.”
Viktor shook his head. He knew Mason had his own channel but didn’t think it was going anywhere. He thought it was a phase. What he didn’t realize was Mason was getting some serious cash out of his channel. He might not be in the upper tier of ads, but between merchandise, Patreon, and the tips he got, he made more than a decent living.
“Her boyfriend is a total ass, though.”
Sara sighed at his language. She still thought she could break the Kincaid men of cussing. Wasn’t gonna happen. It was like breathing to them, something vital and ingrained.
Delia steered the subject away from Ray and onto her ballet recital coming at the end of the month. Mason was glad because he felt all that anger rushing back at the thought of Jo alone in a cab or an Uber. Most cabbies were on the up and up, but some weren’t. No need to put her into a bad situation if it could be helped.
The rest of the dinner was spent listening to Delia chatter and catching up before she hauled him off to the living room, where he sat for over an hour and let her apply makeup to his face and put ribbons in his hair.
The things he did for this kid.
He wouldn’t have it any other way, though.
Chapter Four
The sound of the rain hitting the roof woke Jo long before her alarm went off. Ray snored beside her. She laughed softly when she heard him. He swore he didn’t snore, but the man was louder than a lawnmower.
Slipping out of bed, she reset the alarm for Ray then took a quick shower. Jo was nervous, and not just because it was her first day at a new school. Mason was picking her up for breakfast.
Fill-in big brother.
She shook her head as she pulled on a pair of well-worn jeans then tugged on a baby blue t-shirt. Leave it to Keith to find a way to keep an eye on her. He’d called her yesterday, and as pissed as she was, Jo couldn’t fault her brother for looking out for her. It was actually very sweet and something Keith had spent his entire life doing. She just wished he could get behind her and Ray.
Why her family didn’t like him, she had no idea. She loved Ray, and he made her happy. He wasn’t perfect, but neither was she. No one was perfect. She could only hope they’d come around, because Ray wasn’t going anywhere.
She looked at the clock. Six twenty. Mason would be here soon.
How had she let herself get roped into not only breakfast, but being chauffeured by the guy? Not that she minded the rides to and from school. It would save her a lot of money, but Mason stirred up feelings in her she shouldn’t be having. Feelings that made her feel guilty because she did truly love her boyfriend.
The honk of the horn pulled her out of her thoughts, and she grabbed her bookbag and let herself out the house, locking the door. Mason’s truck sat in the drive. It seriously needed a paint job.
“Morning,” she said after she’d gotten in and put on her seatbelt.
He just grunted.
Mason did not look like the same vibrant person she’d seen on Saturday. His hair was messy, his eyes bloodshot, and he was still wearing his pajama bottoms and a white t-shirt. Definitely not a morning person.
“Thanks for picking me up.”
He nodded, still not saying anything.
“So, you go to this place a lot?”
“You’re one of those people, aren’t you?”
Boy, he was grumpy. “Those people?”
“Those bright and chipper morning people who have sunshine and rainbows shooting out of their ass before they even get a cup of coffee.”
She laughed at the surly note in his voice. “Yeah, I guess I am.”
He shot her an even grumpier look.
“You’re the one who volunteered to come get me,” Jo reminded him. �
��I can easily catch a bus to school…”
“No.” He put a hand up, cutting her off. “Absolutely not. Keith would beat my ass black and blue.”
“Then don’t complain about my morning personality.”
He huffed. “Did you get the text I sent you last night?”
“That was you?” An unknown name came up, and she ignored it.
“Yeah. Keith gave me your number, so I shot off a text. You need to be able to reach me.”
Jo pulled out her phone and opened the unknown text then added Mason’s name into her contacts. While she and Mason might not know each other well, it was nice to have at least one friend in New York.
The rest of the drive to Mae’s was spent in silence. She decided to leave Mason in peace. He had gotten up before dawn to pick her up.
Mason let out a relieved sigh when he pulled into Mae’s parking lot. He needed coffee in a bad, bad way. He led the way in and took the first empty booth he came to. It was just starting to get busy in here.
Another waitress who knew him by name came over. Heather worked here part time to help supplement her scholarship funds. He had two classes with her last semester.
“Morning, Mason.” Her gaze bounced to Jo, curious, as she handed them menus. He never came in here with a girl. “What can I get y’all?”
“Coffee,” he muttered. “Four cups of coffee. Three for me, one for Jo.”
“Three?” Jo asked, her eyebrows waging a war with her hairline.
“Don’t judge, Josephine. Not all of us are born with the ability to be so perky at this godawful hour.”
“What’s good here?” Jo picked up her menu and started looking it over. Mason watched her study the specials, her teeth worrying her bottom lip.
“Everything.” He tapped his foot impatiently, needing Heather to hurry up and bring his coffee. He’d barely dragged himself out of bed in time to pick Jo up. His eyes felt like sandpaper, and all he wanted to do was lay his head down and sleep.
“Here you go.” Heather set four cups of coffee on the table. Mason wasted no time in picking one up and taking several long drinks. It burned his tongue, but he didn’t care. He needed the caffeine.
