by K E Osborn
My blood is boiling and I can’t wait to get my hands on Mason so I can kill him myself.
“Thanks, officer.”
I shake my head again more in disbelief than anything. “When did this all go down?” I ask.
“About an hour ago, when I got the phone call they’d been arrested. I didn’t want to tell you until they had been processed.”
I exhale and run my fingers through my hair trying to take in all this information. I can’t believe Mason could be so stupid. Cooper yes, Jayce definitely, but Mase? He has a daughter to worry about, he can’t be doing things that could land him in prison! A buzzer sounds and I turn to see a large door opening and a policeman walking out with a very sorry looking Cooper, Jayce and Mason. My anger bubbles to the surface again as my body flushes red hot. I walk over to them with Hunter. Each step I take my anger builds and builds feeling like it might explode at any second.
“How could you be so utterly stupid?” I yell loudly right in Mason’s face. His eyes don’t reach mine as they are half shut while he gazes at the floor sleepily.
He doesn’t react and it only enrages me further, so I move my arms out and push his shoulders hard. He stumbles back and finally looks up at me. His eyes are glassy and he looks vacant. My lip curls up in disgust and my stomach twists on itself.
“I was trying to have a little fun.”
My eyes open wide. “Fun? Fun! You’re a father, you can’t be involved with drugs. I thought you were smarter than this?” I say jabbing my finger into his shoulder forcefully.
He flinches with each jab but doesn’t try to stop me. “I was just partying with the boys, at least they’re not fake about wanting my attention.” I gulp at his words and take a step back gnawing on my bottom lip.
The harsh breaths through my nose are loud as the air whooshes in and out. “I expect this from Cooper, I certainly expect it from Jayce, but not you Mason. I’m so angry I can’t even express it, let alone look at you anymore.” I turn and storm out of the police station. I don’t even check to see if they’re following behind me. My heart is thrashing in my chest at the words spoken by Mason.
Did he get wasted because I’ve been showing him affection, and he knows it’s only because I’m missing someone else?
That would be hard to take, and if he has figured it out and went all wild child because of me, then I need to sort my shit out and now!
Stepping up to the curb, I wave down a taxi and it screeches to a halt. I wince at the noise as a hand caresses my lower back. I turn to see Mase and I purse my lips at him furrowing my eyebrows. He instantly lets me go as we all file into the cab, and I slam the door shut behind me. Hunter tells the driver where to go. I’m squished in next to Mason and he’s completely drunk. I can smell the stale alcohol oozing from his pores, and the glassy look in his eyes tells me he’s still flying high on that kite in the sky.
Stupid jerk!
I have to admit I’m worried about him. His head flops to the side as the taxi pulls over a bump, and he hiccups as Cooper and Jayce start to sing their version of ‘Summer Nights’ from the movie Grease. Shaking my head, I pull out my phone to message Clara and see if she can stay with Charli the night. I can’t let Mase be on his own like this. I don’t want him to choke on his own vomit or something equally as stupid. Clara replies that she’s happy to stay in my room with Charli while I tend to her imbecilic father.
As we make our way from the taxi and into the hotel and toward Mason’s suite, he watches me as I lean against him helping him walk to his room.
“Helping me to my room, sweet pea?”
“I’m going to stay with you. Make sure you don’t die or anything stupid like that,” I say as Hunter looks at me raising his eyebrow.
“You’re gonna take care of me?” Mase slurs and I look up at him and smile even though his alcohol breath is really off putting.
“Someone has to.”
“Amber, I have my phone with me if you need me. Any time at all. Don’t put up with anything you don’t want, okay?” Hunter says and I nod as Mase scoffs.
“She doesn’t want me. She’s still lusting after Braxton Hicks, right love?”
I roll my eyes and search his pockets for his room key. As I find it, he grins at me feeling him up as open the door.
“Amber—”
“I know. I’ll be careful,” I interrupt Hunter as I walk through Mase’s door with him attached to me. I don’t look back, I don’t want to see Hunter’s judgemental eyes on me. I know he thinks I should leave Mase to fend for himself, but if something happened to him, I couldn’t handle it. I couldn’t do that to Charli. She needs her dad. We stumble into the bedroom and I position him standing upright near the bed. Grabbing the hem of his shirt, I lift it over his head and his eyes light up.
“Hey, don’t look at me like that. I’m putting you to bed. That’s it! You’re on my shit list tonight.”
He chuckles and moves his hands to his jeans and starts to undo them.
“Okay, okay. I get it. Thanks for watching out for me.”
“I’m doing this for Charli,” I say grabbing his hands as he starts removing his briefs. “They stay on!”
“Oh, right.” He chuckles and looks at me smiling like a Cheshire cat. His eyes glaze over so much I wonder if he will remember any of this in the morning. I huff and push his chest making him fall backward onto the bed. He chuckles again and rubs his face.
“You’re funny when you’re bossy,” he says. I scoff and pull my jumper off followed by my shoes and jeans, so I’m left in my underwear and camisole.
His hands come away from his face and his eyes light up when he takes in my naked legs.
“Hey, don’t look at me like that, remember?” I berate and he exhales and huffs lying back down on the bed and shaking his head.
“You make not being in love with you tough, you know that?” he murmurs and I tense up wondering if sleeping in the same bed as him is a bad idea. “Come here, you’re not sleeping on the lounge,” he says as if to read my mind.
I slide under the sheets and he pulls me into his side. I decide not to fight it, and to just cuddle into his side, it saves any arguments. I rest my head on his chest and the gentle rise and fall of his chest is soothing in a way. He nuzzles into my hair and inhales then leans in kissing my head. I tense slightly hoping he doesn’t start taking this further.
“Go to sleep.” It’s more of a demand than a request. I don’t want to spend the night in an awkward state where he’s dreaming of us being together and I’m trying to fight him off.
“I can’t, I’m wide awake.”
I look up at him and furrow my eyebrows. “Well then, you shouldn’t have taken drugs should you?”
He grins and tilts his head. “Touché.” He grins again and leans in kissing my forehead. I rest my head back down on his chest. “I love this feeling—”
“Drugs are not something you should love—”
“No, being in bed with you in my arms.”
I pause as my entire body goes rigid. “It doesn’t mean anything, Mase. I just want my baby’s father to be alive in the morning.” I don’t want to sound harsh, but I don’t want him to read anything more into this than me taking care of him. Surprisingly, he chuckles which shocks me and I look up at him seeing he’s actually amused by my statement.
“What?” I ask.
“You must like me a little bit?”
I giggle and shake my head. “Of course, I like you. But this, what’s happening right now, it doesn’t mean anything Mase.”
“Of course not,” he says, his rough, calloused fingers grab my chin and force me to look up at him. I look into his eyes and they’re bloodshot, but I can see nothing but love oozing from them. I think of Brax and how I wish I could be looking at him. How I wish he were looking at me the way Mase is right now, and I get lost in the thought when Mase leans down and plants his lips to mine. My eyes open wide in shock. I hesitate lingering on his lips longer than I should, but I soo
n realise that I’m thinking of Brax. I’m wishing I was kissing Brax and lying in his arms, instead of a drunk and high Mason. I quickly pull back and swallow hard as Mason grins at me widely.
“See, I knew you liked me,” he says resting his head back on the pillow seeming satisfied with himself.
My heart is racing a million miles a minute and I feel sick to my stomach. I don’t know why I let that happen. I miss Brax so much and I’m vulnerable, but I never should have let Mase kiss me like that. I bring my head back down onto Mase’s chest to try and stop him from seeing the tears forming in my eyes.
“Maybe I can sleep after all,” he murmurs and I can only just hear it through the ringing in my ears. My blood pressure is sky high and I feel like a fine sweat beading all over my body.
Mason’s deep breathing relaxes me letting me know he’s asleep. I mentally slap myself for letting this go way too far, and my thoughts go to Brax and whether I should tell him what happened tonight or not.
My scalp is prickling and the movement of my hair slowly wakes me up. I open my eyes to feel Mason stroking his fingers through my hair and I glance up at him. He looks pale with a slight tinge of green.
“Shit, are you okay?”
He chuckles and then winces grabbing his head with his free hand. “Just one hell of a hangover.”
I raise my eyebrows at him and nod. “What do you remember?”
He exhales and continues to play with my hair. I wish he would stop that. “Not much, did we…you know…sleep together?” he asks raising an eyebrow questionably.
I roll my eyes and slap his chest. “No Mason, we did not, nor will we ever sleep together again.”
He half smiles. “Damn.”
I can’t hold back my giggle. I’m pretty sure he doesn’t remember the kiss, and I’m sure as hell not going to remind him. I don’t want him thinking there’s something here when there’s absolutely nothing.
“Right, let’s get dressed. You need to eat,” I say and detach myself from him and get out of bed. I feel his eyes on me, but I don’t turn to look at him. Instead, I get dressed. “Well, c’mon get some clothes on. You can’t get food in your underwear.”
He chuckles and slowly climbs out of the bed and starts to pull on his clothes when there’s a knock at the door. I’m dressed, so I figure I’ll go and answer it while Mason fumbles with his clothing. Walking to the door, I glance over my shoulder to see Mason hopping on one leg trying to yank his jeans on. I giggle thinking today will be a struggle for him. He deserves every second of it, too. Pulling the door back with a smile, I open it to a frowning Hunter. My smile falls as I take in his gruff demeanor.
He looks at me and then peers through the door to Mase, who’s still shirtless and trying to put on his pants. The stiffness in Hunter’s face and the pulsating vein in his neck tells me everything he’s thinking.
“No, I did not sleep with him! Who do you think I am Hunter?” I whisper to him and he glances at me as his tension ebbs and his shoulders slump.
“Good.” He walks past me and it’s only now that I notice he has a newspaper in his hands. I huff closing the suite door and walk in behind him.
“I hope you guys had fun last night because it’s all over the news.”
My eyes open wide just as Mase’s do, and Hunter hands Mase the paper. Mase grabs it flaring his nostrils and looks down at the article. I glance over to see pictures of Mase and Cooper being handcuffed in a hotel room, and beer bottles and a white substance lining the tables. Not to mention the naked women scattered throughout the room.
I grab the paper from Mason and my heart races as I look at the image again while staring at the headline.
Up and coming band, Red Velvet, spend their night living up to the rock star image.
My hand clenches the paper scrunching it, the crinkle ripping through the frigid air as if it were a thousand decibels through the stale silence.
“Jesus Mason, it was the last night of the tour and you had a wild sex orgy or something?” I berate and Mason frowns.
“Or something…” he says trailing off. I clench my fist tight and punch his arm hard. “Ouch! Fuck, Amber!”
“Well, what do you expect? This is our name you’re tarnishing. My name! They will think I was there too,” I say and throw my hands in the air and pace the floor.
“Who’s they?” Mason asks.
“I don’t know? People, the fans, agents, critics, record labels—you know, the people we need to make our band big?” I yell as I continue to pace.
“Amber calm down, this isn’t a big deal. Rock bands do drugs all the time. They have parties all the time. It’s not a problem,” he says and I scoff.
“Yeah, until social services come knocking on our door. What then, huh?” I stop and say right in his face. His posture stiffens and he looks down at the floor and swallows hard. “Yeah, didn’t think of that did you, arsehole? Think about Charli in this. She’s the one who suffers because of your stupid behaviour,” I yell and he exhales as Hunter places his hand on my shoulder and tries to calm me down.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t think—”
“Too right you didn’t think, you fucking idiot! I don’t believe you,” I yell and start to pace again. “Get out,” I say pointing to the door.
“What? This is my room?”
“You heard me, get out. I’m so mad right now and if anything happens as a backlash because of this, I’m ripping your balls off,” I say and he nods and skulks toward the door.
“I am sorry. I never want to upset you or Charli. You girls mean everything to me…everything,” he murmurs and walks out of the hotel room.
I exhale and slump down on the bed as Hunter looks at me and inhales.
“Are you okay?” he asks coming to sit next to me. The mattress dips and I wish it would keep descending and swallow me whole.
“I have no idea what’s going through that man’s mind,” I say and he nods.
“He wants to be a rock star and live it up, but he wants to be a good dad too. The guy’s confused—”
“So that gives him an excuse?” I glare at Hunter.
“No, not at all. Just give him some time to figure himself out. I’m sure this will wake him up.”
I exhale running my hand through my hair and nod. “I fucking hope so, for Charli’s sake,” I say and flop back on the bed.
“Let’s go grab some breakfast and then hit the road. It’s time to go home,” Hunter says and I nod.
I need to return back home.
I need to see Brax.
Brax: I just saw the news about the party and the arrests. Please tell me you’re okay?
Sitting for a moment, I tap my foot up and down repeatedly in nervousness. I hate that Brax found out via the news. I should have told him myself, I’ve just been so caught up with Mase and Hunter that I forgot to call Brax. I take a deep breath and hit reply.
Me: I’m fine. The guys threw a party. I wasn’t there and they got arrested. Mase was off his face. I stayed with him overnight when he was let out of custody, I didn’t want him to choke on his own vomit or something equally as gross. The guy’s a dickhead for doing that. I’m sorry you were worried. I should have messaged you sooner, but I promise I'm okay. Just missing you like crazy! Will I see you when I get home?
Hitting send I hope like hell Brax will be home when I get there. I’m aching to see him, it’s been over two months and I know he wants to be completely better before he sees me again, but I don’t know if I can survive that long without a taste. I miss his touch, just a hug and a kiss is all I need to tide me over.
Brax: Thank God you’re okay. I was drowning in worry. It’s good you looked after Mase. I’ve moved all of my stuff out, and I won’t be there when you get home. I think it’s for the best. But I’ve left a surprise on the kitchen bench for you :)
My lips turn down and practically slide off my face. I’m so disappointed. I really want to see him, but if not seeing me is going to allow him to recover quicker th
en I guess I can hold off a little longer. The fact he’s left a surprise for me though has me intrigued.
Me: You didn’t have to leave, but I understand. Where have you gone?
I hope he hasn’t gone back to Aberdeen. I know it’s not a million miles to Scotland, but it is nine hours by car and just over an hour by plane. So it’s still a fair distance. But I would travel it to see him, without question.
Brax: I’ve moved into a small condo not that far from you, just a few blocks away actually.
I can’t help the smile that forms on my face. Knowing he’s close by, and not on the other side of the United Kingdom, is doing wonders for my aching chest.
Me: We should catch up for coffee? Soon?
I hit send hoping he will be up for the idea. I need a Brax fix. I’m desperate to see him.
Brax: Soon, when I’m better. I feel guilty about what I did to you, and I’m not quite ready to face my demons yet. I hope you understand?
Swallowing the lump in my throat, I take in a deep breath. I understand. I don’t like it. I hate that he’s blaming himself, but I understand.
Me: I understand. I’ll see you when you’re ready, but I miss you and I hope you’re doing okay.
Brax: Hopefully it won’t be too much longer. I’m working on my guilt, and I know I need to face you. I just can’t do it yet.
I feel bad for him, I hate that he’s struggling so badly with his guilt. I want to try and ease it any way I can.
Me: I don’t blame you Brax, not at all. Please don’t be hard on yourself. If I don’t feel bad about it, you shouldn’t either. Don’t make yourself sick over this…please!
There’s a long pause and my heart starts to race wondering if he’s actually going to reply or not. I begin to move the screen to dial his number when the next text message comes through.
