Forever Your Touch

by Apryl Baker

  “That sounds awesome. Let me grab a shower, and I’ll be ready to go in half an hour?”

  He nodded. “That works. Gives me time to finish packing.”

  Jo rushed through her shower in record time, blew out her hair, and then dug through the dresser for a pair of nice jeans and blue lace top, a black tank under it.

  She found Ray in the kitchen going through his phone. He looked up and whistled. “Looking good, babe. You ready?”

  “Yeah. Where are we going?”

  “Josh told me about this great burger place. Thought we could try it out. Make it a once a week kind of thing if I like it.”

  “Sounds good.” She followed him out to the car, and they spent the next half hour talking about the new project his construction company was working on. They were building a huge apartment complex. Ray said it would end up being close to three months before it was finished. Which meant she was going to be by herself for most of the next three months.

  Well, damn.

  They ended up at a place called Burgerz. It was all brick and wood on the inside, where cozy tables and booths rested under soft lights. It smelled delicious. The smoky air only heightened the atmosphere. A waiter walked by holding a tray with a smoking pan. So, that was where all the smoke came from.

  Once they were seated, Jo dived into the menu. The place offered a large variety of burgers, but they had salads and other sandwiches as well. This could easily turn out to be a favorite spot of hers, even if Ray decided he disliked it.

  “See anything you like?” Ray asked, taking a sip of his Dr. Pepper.

  “What isn’t there to like?” She grinned, trying to decide on one thing. “It all sounds so good!”

  “I’m getting the southwestern burger with onion rings. You want to try it too?”

  “No. I don’t like barbeque on my burgers. I think I’m going to get the chicken club. I had a burger for lunch.”

  “How’s school?” Ray asked after the waitress took their order.

  “Harder than I thought.” Jo shook her head ruefully. “The coursework is drowning me. Makes me miss my old school. We never had this much to do.”

  “NYU is a better university than the small college you went to in California. It’s bound to be harder, babe.”

  “I guess.”

  A loud group came in, and Jo turned to look. She spotted Mason right away. He and a group of friends had just entered. Jo started to wave but froze when she saw him slip his arm around a very pretty brunette. The girl giggled at whatever he said. Jo quickly turned back around.

  It bothered her. It shouldn’t, but it did. Seeing him with another girl, all hugged up and laughing, caused a pain in her chest. One she knew shouldn’t be there, especially with her boyfriend sitting across from her. As hard as she tried to push the feeling away, it stubbornly clung to her.

  “Hey, isn’t that your brother’s friend?” Ray asked, finally looking up from his phone. He gestured behind her.

  She looked again, and sure enough, Mason and the brunette Barbie were still attached at the hip. This time Mason saw her. He grinned and waved. She tossed her hand in the air and waved back but couldn’t force a smile.

  “Yeah, that’s Mason. Be nice if he comes over. He’s been really good to me.”

  “You okay?” Ray asked, concerned. “You look ready to hurl.”

  “I’m fine.” Her reply came out short and a little harder than she’d meant. “I just have a queasy stomach. Haven’t eaten in hours.”

  Mason and his friends were seated two booths down from them, Mason facing her. She didn’t look at him. Instead she focused on Ray. Like she should. He was her boyfriend, after all, and she loved him.

  “Can I use the car while you’re gone? I need to go grocery shopping and do some errands.”

  “No.” He put his phone down on the table. “I don’t want more miles put on it than necessary.”

  “But, Ray…”

  “No buts, Jo. I mean it. The less we use it, the less likely we’ll need to fix it.”

  That made no sense. Things went bad on cars all the time, whether you drove them or not. Parts rusted. She wasn’t going to push the subject, though. It wasn’t worth the fight.

  “Is there anything you need to pick up for the week before we head home?”

  “Nah, I got everything.” He toyed with the napkin.

  “What time do you leave?”

  “Josh is picking me up at eight. We’re driving down to the hotel we’ll be staying in. We start work at nine in the morning. We’re building it from the ground up.”

  “It sounds like a big job.” She risked a glance at Mason. He had his head buried in Barbie’s neck. Her stomach cramped. This should not be affecting her like this, but it was.

  The arrival of their food pulled her attention away from Mason. Her appetite seemed to have fled as well. She picked at her food while she listened to Ray tell her all about the apartment complex and how excited everyone was to have a steady gig for the fall.

  “You should eat more than that, Jo.” Ray nodded to her almost untouched meal. “It’ll settle your stomach.”

  “I know, I just can’t bring myself to. I’m afraid I really might hurl.” Lies, but it was easier than admitting the truth, even to herself.

  “You ready to go home?”

  “Please.”

  Ray called for their check and a to-go box for her food, saying she might get hungry later. She nodded, not really paying attention. All she wanted was to get out of here.

  She felt him before she saw him. It was a sensation she’d gotten used to over the last few weeks. It was odd, really, to know the moment when someone walked into a room or to feel them before they came into one’s line of sight. She’d never experienced this with Ray, but it was like breathing when it came to Mason.

  “Josephine, Ray.”

  “Mason.” Ray’s smile was tight, and she rolled her eyes. Ray did not like Mason and hated that she spent time with him. She wasn’t too fond of Josh either, but she wasn’t rude to him like Ray tended to be toward Mason.

  “You guys heading out?”

  “Yeah. Jo’s not feeling well.”

  “You okay?” Mason squatted so he could look her in the eye, his expression full of concern. “You were fine at lunch.”

  “I think I have a stomach bug or something. It struck all at once.”

  “That seriously sucks.” Mason moved out of the way so the waitress could set the check down.

  Jo pulled her wallet out, glancing at the check. Taking out a twenty, she handed it to Ray, who did the same.

  And it pissed Mason off. He tossed her money back to her and took out his own wallet to pay her half of the check.

  “Mason…”

  “Not a word, Josephine.” She glanced up at his hard tone. His eyes were glacial. “When you take a woman out, whether it’s your girlfriend, wife, sister, or friend, you damn well pay the bill. It’s disrespectful to make your woman pay half of it.”

  Ray snarled at him. “This is none of your business, frat boy. Jo and I…”

  “That’s where you’re wrong. I’m her FIBB, and that makes her my business. Does Keith know you make his little sister foot half the check? Wonder what he’ll say when I tell him.”

  “Mason, please don’t.” Jo grabbed hold of his hand to get him to look at her. “I have enough problems without adding Keith to them. Please don’t tell him anything.”

  His eyes softened a fraction when they looked at her. “Moye dragotsennyy…”

  “What the hell does that mean?” Ray’s fist curled.

  “None of your fucking business.” Mason smiled, but it wasn’t at all friendly. His almost nonexistent accent thickened as well, making Jo swallow hard. “All you need to know is if you don’t start treating her right, you won’t only have Keith to deal with, you’ll have me. And I guarantee you don’t want that.”

  “Can both of you please tone down the testosterone?” Jo rubbed her temple, a headache starti
ng to bloom. “I just want to go home. I’m tired, and I’m sick. I don’t feel like sitting here listening to two idiots growl at each other.”

  With that, she got up and walked out of the restaurant.

  She wanted to hit them both. For different reasons, but still, they’d both pissed her off.

  Ray caught up to her by the time she reached the car. He didn’t say a single word, just unlocked the door and got in. The ride home was deathly quiet, but she didn’t care.

  He barely said two words to her the rest of the evening. He picked up his suitcase and walked out when Josh pulled up, not even telling her goodbye.

  Now that hurt.

  Sure, Mason was an idiot and embarrassed Ray by paying her half of the bill, but not to tell her goodbye? That was just mean. She sank down on the couch, pulled her legs up, and rested her cheek on her knees. When had her life gotten so difficult? And painful?

  Since that day Mason showed up on her front porch.

  And it didn’t look like her life was going to get any less messy any time soon.

  With that thought, she curled up on the couch and drifted off to sleep, her headache starting to pound right behind her eyes.

  Chapter Nine

  Mason tossed the beer bottle in the trash and grabbed another. His date was hanging on his arm. He couldn’t shake her loose. Bad idea letting Jack talk him into this. Normally, he didn’t date, period. He hooked up, and that was it, but Jack begged him. His girlfriend’s best friend was in town, and she wanted her to have a good time. Mason knew it was a mistake from the moment her eyes landed on him. She looked way too eager.

  Her name was Angela, maybe? He honestly couldn’t remember.

  “I gotta piss.” He shoved away from the table the keg was on and wandered down the hall toward the main floor bathroom. They’d all come back to the frat house after dinner, and his brooding started. Hell, he’d been brooding before then. The second he spotted Jo sitting with Ray, his mood soured.

  He’d barely paid attention to the conversation at his own table. Jack had to ask him a question twice at one point. When it was evident Jo was leaving, he’d excused himself to talk to her. It would be rude not to. At least that was what he’d told himself when he ambled over to her table.

  He’d lost his temper when she forked over half the bill. In hindsight, he shouldn’t have overreacted, but dammit, it pissed him off! His father taught him better than that, and he wasn’t about to stand there and let her be disrespected.

  The line at the bathroom was long, and he really did have to piss, so he went outside and found the privacy of some bushes. When he was done, he looked back at the house, and the thought of Angela pawing him didn’t give him a good reason to go back inside. Instead, he found the darkest corner in the back yard and pulled out his phone.

  No new messages from his brothers, so his papa hadn’t made it back to the States yet. That particular worry was heightening every emotion he felt these days. He should probably apologize to Jo for losing it.

  It was after midnight, though. She was probably asleep.

  Didn’t stop him from calling.

  She picked up on the fifth ring, her sleepy voice a balm to his frazzled nerves.

  “Mason?”

  “Hey, JoJo.” His voice was only slightly slurred. Six beers and countless shots would do that to a person.

  “Are you drunk, Mason?”

  “Not nearly drunk enough to deal with Angela.” He yawned and plopped down on the ground, leaning against the fence. “You okay?”

  “I’m fine. Why are you calling so late, and who is Angela?”

  “Because you said you were sick, and I wanted to check on you. Angela is Jack’s girl’s friend or some shit.”

  “She’s the girl you were with earlier?”

  “Yeah.” He yawned around the word. “He suckered me into a blind date.”

  “Not going well?”

  “She’s clingy.” He cleared his throat. “I wanted to apologize too. I shouldn’t have gone off like I did on Ray. It’s just this thing with my papa has my temper flaring at the smallest things.”

  “How is your dad? Any news?”

  The concern in her tone eased some of the tension in his chest. She wasn’t overly mad at him. “Not yet. Conner hasn’t called to tell us when they’re coming.”

  “I’m sorry.”

  He let out a humorless laugh. “I’m the one who needs to apologize, not you, JoJo.”

  “You’ve never called me that before.”

  It was her YouTube screen name. He’d purposely not called her that so he wouldn’t seem like a star-struck fanboy. But…

  “I’m drunk. Don’t hold it against me.”

  “I’m sorry I blew up too.”

  “You had every right. Is Ray still mad?”

  “No clue. He left for work and didn’t say a word to me.”

  “Work? I thought he did construction.”

  “He does. They’re gonna be out of town every week for the next couple of months. He may not be home some weekends. He and Josh left tonight. They start tomorrow.”

  “He left you alone for months?” He blinked, his vision blurring.

  “He has to work, Mason.”

  “It’s just shitty, you being alone.”

  She laughed. “That’s what I have my FIBB for, I thought?”

  “Fuck, yeah. This FIBB is there for anything you want me for, baby girl.” He took another long swig from his beer bottle.

  “You’re insane.”

  “And proud of it, sugar doll.”

  “You really are drunk.” Again, her laughter floated over the phone, and it calmed him even more.

  “Yeah, but not so drunk I don’t remember you were sick. Stomach bug, right?”

  “Mmhmm.” Mason heard ruffling and the sound of her mattress. “I’m feeling better now, though.”

  “You sleepy?” Another yawn tackled him.

  “I think you need sleep more than I do, Mase.”

  “Can’t go inside.”

  “Why not?”

  “The date’s inside. I think I’ll sleep out here against the fence.”

  “Mason, you can’t sleep against the fence.”

  “Why not?” It felt damn comfortable.

  “Well, because you can’t.”

  “I like it out here.”

  “You won’t when you wake up cold with a big crick in your neck.”

  “A what?”

  “A crick.”

  “Why the hell would I have a cricket in my neck?” The longer he talked, his accent became more dominant. Hell, he barely understood himself, it was so thick.

  “Not a cricket, a crick. A pulled muscle in your neck. Feels swollen and stiff. It’s an American thing.”

  He snorted. “I got something swollen and stiff, all right, but it ain’t no fucking cricket.”

  She went completely silent, and he frowned, trying to figure out why. His eyes widened. “Did I say that out loud?”

  “Yes.”

  “Shit. Sorry, moye dragotsennyy.” He needed to hang up the damn phone before he said anything else he didn’t mean to.

  “You never told me what that meant.”

  “Google it.”

  “I tried, but I think I misspelled it or something.”

  “It means ‘my precious.’”

  “You seriously are not calling me ‘my precious’ like Sméagol does in Lord of the Rings, are you?”

  She sounded so outraged, he bent over laughing. He hadn’t even thought of that movie when he started calling her that.

  “My precious,” he said, mimicking Sméagol perfectly.

  Her gasp almost made him drop the phone, he laughed so hard.

  “This is not funny, Mason.”

  Anger burned in her words, and it only set off another fit of laughter.

  “I’m hanging up.”

  He brushed tears from his eyes. God, he hadn’t laughed like that in a while. “No, JoJo, don’t hang up.”

/>   “Don’t call me that, then.”

  “It’s meant as a term of endearment. I never even thought of the little ugly guy. Really.”

  “I still don’t like it.”

  “You don’t like someone thinking you’re the most precious thing in the world?”

  “I…you really think that?”

  “Sure do, my borrowed sister. You’re my only friend who’s a girl, outside of my family, so that makes you precious to me.”

  “That’s actually kinda sweet.”

  “What can I say? I have a way with all the girls. They can’t resist me.”

  “Is that so?”

  “Yup, baby, it’s a fact.”

  “Now you’re getting cocky.”

  “That’s not a bad thing.” He drained his beer. “Shit, I’m outta beer, but I don’t wanna go back inside.”

  “If you weren’t drunk, I’d tell you to come over.”

  Damn. Why had he decided to get drunk?

  “Ray left and didn’t even say goodbye.” The hurt in her voice sobered him like nothing else could.

  “That’s because of me. I’m so sorry, Josephine.”

  “He’s never left like that before. I even texted him to be safe, and he hasn’t texted back. How hard is it to take two seconds and reply? You called, even though I know you were mad. Why hasn’t Ray called?”

  Because he was a selfish bastard, but he didn’t say that out loud.

  “I’m sure he’ll call in the morning. Hard to know if he’s within cell reception. Probably late when he got to the hotel too, and he didn’t want to wake you up.”

  Why the hell he was defending the bastard was beyond him, but he hated her hurting.

  “You’re a good friend, Mason.”

  He wanted to be more than a good friend, but as long as Ray was around, it was all he could be. And he’d have to settle for that or risk losing her.

  Fate sure handed him a curveball, and there was nothing he could do about it.

  “Get some sleep, JoJo. I’ll be by to pick you up for school in the morning.”

  “Go inside and go to bed.”

  “I will.”

  “Promise me you won’t sleep outside?”