by Linda Kage
When Reese went taut and her expression filled with apprehension, I frowned, wondering why she looked so worried.
Clutching her shoulders in my hands, I gently turned her around and lifted her hair out of my way, only to find a nasty scar that made me suck in a heavy breath.
“So you see,” she said, “that’s why I don’t pull my hair up anymore.”
“This looks deep.” I gently prodded the wound. “What happened?”
She paused, then said, “I was cut.”
“I see that.” But… “What cut you?”
“A knife.”
“A knife,” I repeated. Things inside me went tense and alarmed. A knife had cut her…on the back of the neck? “Did it cut you on purpose?”
“Maybe,” she hedged, which totally meant yes.
Holy shit. Someone had gone after her with a knife. Why? Why would someone want to hurt Reese?
Protective rage roared through me. I wanted to damage whoever had hurt her, and I wanted to hit myself for not being there to shield her from this, all the while realizing I was the one exposing her to more danger right this very moment by merely being here in her presence.
When she shuddered against me, I pressed a kiss to the scar.
She murmured a regretful sound as I pulled away.
“If you don’t give away freebies,” she said, looking up at me, “then are you going to charge me for that?”
A spark of enraged pain roared through me at the reminder of what I was and why I shouldn’t even be here. But then… Shame flooded my bones, because I actually needed the prompt.
God, I was an ass. I was such an inconsiderate, idiot ass. I never should’ve even come here tonight to see her.
“No.” I kissed her scar yet again. “It wasn’t mouth to mouth, so no charge.”
She turned to me, her eyes full of agony and censure. “So if you kissed me, say, on the breasts, that would be free since it’s not mouth to mouth?”
Irritated that she was pressing this, I muttered, “No. That’s part of foreplay; it’s off-limits.”
Her gaze hardened. “And what you just did isn’t foreplay?”
No.
Maybe.
Yes.
Definitely.
“That was a friend comforting another friend,” I said, clenching my teeth because I knew I was lying to both of us. And it was obvious she knew it too.
“I see.” With a disappointed nod, she continued, “So, you weren’t about to kiss me—mouth to mouth—just before you discovered my scar?”
“Jesus.” I stepped away from her and ran a harassed hand through my hair. “Yes, okay. I almost kissed you. But I didn’t. Mistake averted. No harm done. We’re good.”
Except she said, “Are we?”
My mouth fell open. Why the hell was she so mad at me right now? Because I had almost kissed her? Or because I hadn’t? “What’re you saying, Reese?”
With a whimper, she closed her eyes and pressed a fist to her forehead. “I don’t know. It doesn’t matter. We can’t ever kiss or anything else, because you sleep with women for money. End of story.”
“Why do you always have to remind me of that?” I growled. “Trust me, I haven’t forgotten.”
Except for one brief, stupid moment, I kind of had.
“I’m not reminding you,” she snapped, opening her eyes and dropping her hands. “I’m reminding me.”
Oh.
Oh, holy shit, she was just as tempted and conflicted by this as I was.
Joy sprang to life inside me. I took a step toward her before I even realized what I was doing, just so relieved that she understood, that she knew what I was going through, because she was too. Thank God I wasn’t the only one experiencing this.
But she pulled away from me. “We’re just friends, Mason.”
Dammit. Right. What the fuck was I doing?
“Right,” I repeated aloud. Knowing I needed to go—now—I took the book from her hands that she was still holding and I waved it once. “Thanks for loaning this to me…friend.”
Then I kissed the scar on the back of her neck one last time and left.
I don’t think I dared to even draw another breath until I slid inside my Jeep almost two blocks later. And when I finally exhaled, a stream of curses fled with it.
That had been close. Too close.
If we had actually done something, it would’ve only been one night for me—a dream come true—but still only one night out of my entire life. But for her, it would’ve been something else entirely.
I needed to stop being so selfish. I needed to think about what was best for Reese.
And that was not me.
Confession #18: Thank God I answered that call.
Two weeks of hell followed that night.
Why? Because I actually did the right thing. I stayed away from Reese. And it was more miserable than I thought it would be.
I missed her. I missed sitting next to her at lunch and talking to her and teasing her and stealing her food. I even missed her when I did my damn calculus homework, sure she’d give me a hard time for every equation I calculated wrong. I missed her sweet pea scent and her full, open laugh. And I missed that feeling of peace she brought me. I just missed her.
I knew I should follow her advice and look for my own light inside myself to escape the misery, but damn, it was really fucking dark in there. Without her glow nearby, it was hard to see anything but the black I’d stupidly covered myself with these past two years.
It didn’t help that Sarah kept me updated every time Reese babysat her, either telling me something funny Reese had said or something crazy and creative they’d done together. It only made the ache grow deeper. My little sister had a serious case of hero worship, and I loved that as much as I hated it, because it just made things more miserable for me.
Then Patricia and Monica completed the wretchedness by showing up at the Country Club one evening, which happened to be a Friday the thirteenth—coincidence?—with a third woman in tow that I’d never met before.
“Oh, is this him, then?” the stranger cooed as soon as she slid out of the driver’s seat when I opened her door for her. “Nice. Very nice.” Smirking up at me, she flashed a twenty-dollar bill before deliberately slipping it into the front pocket of my slacks. Then she winked and snagged her valet ticket from my unsuspecting hand. “I approve.”
“Not yet, Deborah,” a woman called from the other side of her car.
My skin chilled ice-cold just hearing that dreaded familiar voice.
Glancing past the woman in front of me, I made eye contact with Satan herself as Patricia stood from the open passenger door. Then her sidekick, Monica, exited the back passenger seat, and I took an instinctive step back.
“Oh no,” the woman next to me said. “The poor thing’s gone all gun-shy.” She made a tsking sound and sent a reprimanding glance toward her friends as they came around the car to join us. “You two didn’t break him, did you?” Turning back to me, she patted my cheek. “And here I was so looking forward to my turn.”
“Pass,” I snarled, tilting my face out of her reach.
Surprise splashed across her features. Pressing a hand to her chest as if offended and completely innocent of any wrongdoing, she said, “Excuse me?”
I glanced meaningfully at her two companions. “If you actually like to keep such shitty company, then I don’t want anything to do with you.”
Patricia paused her step and lifted a reprimanding eyebrow as if to say, Watch yourself, boy, as Monica tossed her hair with an amused laugh. “Said the little whore.”
In return, I sniffed out my boredom because I swear she’d used that line on me already and I snipped back, “Who all three of you want but can’t have.”
“Well, well, well,” Patricia murmured, strolling forward. “Look who’s grown a backbone. How cute.” But her smile turned dark when she stopped in front of me and flicked me under the chin with a sharp-tipped fingernail, feeling as if she slic
ed skin open. “Remind me to punish you extra-long for that quip the next time I have you on my bed and you’re asking me what my fantasy is.”
As I scowled and swiped the back of my hand across my chin before checking myself for blood, her two minions laughed.
“Come along, my darlings,” Patricia told her posse, hooking her arms through theirs. “Mason’s too moody to play tonight.”
Deborah lifted her chin. “Apparently.”
Monica batted her lashes. “He must not have recovered from our last round in my office. Have you, sweetness?”
I narrowed my eyes at her, silently warning her not to fuck with me, even as my stomach churned with unease because I realized she really had been the last person I’d been with. It made me want to go home and take another twenty showers, scrubbing myself with bleach and a wire brush.
Surprisingly, the glare I sent her worked. Monica paled and shrank back, only for Patricia to step forward, blocking her, as if to protect the weak link of her little threesome.
“Keep up the disrespectful act, boy, and I’ll be forced to report your behavior to your supervisor.” She arched an eyebrow. “His name’s Tyler, isn’t it?”
Shit, she was right. I had to behave at the Country Club and be pleasant to customers. Glancing away, I blatantly ignored her.
She and Deborah laughed as if amused by my surrender, and Deborah brushed her hand along my arm before the three of them went inside. Once they were gone, I finally grimaced after them, wishing I could do something to truly convince them how much they disgusted me.
“Hey,” Landon called, walking up from the parking garage. “You going to park that thing or not?”
I glanced at Deborah’s car still idling beside me. Loath to go near it, I pulled the keys along with the twenty she’d given me from my pocket and held it out to him.
“They actually requested you as their valet.”
“Really?” Landon’s eyebrows popped up with interest as he eyed the money. “Sweet.”
He took the keys and cash and hopped into the Lexus. I blew out a breath of relief, glad I didn’t have to get into that vehicle as Landon pulled it away from the valet station. About the time he returned, Mac—the third valet working tonight—had returned from his supper break, and the three of us shot the shit a few minutes, waiting for someone to pull up when my cell phone rang.
I grimaced, figuring it was probably Patricia. But when I checked my screen, I didn’t recognize the number.
She must’ve borrowed her friend Deborah’s phone. I rolled my eyes and considered ignoring it. But then the front doors of the club opened, and Patricia reappeared arm in arm with Deborah and Monica, and none of them had a phone out.
Curious who was calling me, I frowned and pulled the phone from my pocket again. Clients never called—they texted—so that eliminated just about any foreign number that showed up.
“Hello?” I asked cautiously, preparing to hear a telemarketer.
“Mason!” the caller blurted, her voice high-pitched and frantic, in full-on panic mode. “I need you; I don’t know what to do. Sarah’s having a seizure, and I don’t know what to do. She won’t stop shaking, and Dawn’s not answering her phone. I’m so freaked out right now. I don’t know what to do.”
At first, it was hard for me to understand what she had even said. Each word ran into the next, making a huge, long, run-on sentence with no pause for air.
A second later, I was able to at least recognize her voice. “Reese?” I blurted in utter shock. I glanced up and made eye contact with Patricia, who’d obviously heard me, so I turned my back to her and walked a ways away, letting Mac or Landon deal with them.
“Yes!” Reese screeched. “Who the hell do you think it is? Did you hear me? I said your sister’s having a SEIZURE.”
Oh, shit. “Yeah, okay. I heard. I think. Just… First of all, calm down.”
I glanced back and waved at Mac before pointing at my phone and mouthing a quick explanation, letting him know I had a family emergency before I raced off in the direction of my parked Jeep.
Meanwhile, Reese was yelling, “Calm down? Calm down?”
I nodded, smiling a little over her hysteria. “You can’t help her if you’re flipping out. Did you get her out of her wheelchair? Is she lying down?”
“Yes,” she babbled, tears in her voice. “We’re on the floor in the hall. I was giving her a bath when—”
“Good,” I said. “Keep her there and just stay with her. Talk to her. Let her know she’s not alone. I’ll be home in a minute.”
“Do I call for an ambulance?”
“Is she turning blue or changing any colors?”
“No.”
I blew out a relieved breath, my worry easing even more. “Not yet, then. This is fairly typical, but I’ll know more when I get there.”
“Okay. Okay.” Reese hiccupped a sob. “Hurry.”
“I will.”
I hung up, and once I reached my Jeep, I leapt behind the wheel. I had a feeling Sarah would be okay. My heart always stuttered a little with fear whenever she had a seizure, but she’d ended up fine after them every single time so far, so I had that reassurance.
I think Reese was the one I was more worried about. She sounded as if she were on the verge of having a panic attack. So I floored it all the way home, running a red light when I didn’t see anyone else at the intersection.
I didn’t bother pulling into the drive, just stopped at the curb and killed the engine. When I flew through the front door, the living room was quiet and dark, which made the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end. Mom usually left the television on as background noise. It felt weird for it to be turned off.
“Reese?” I called, fearing the worst.
“We’re here,” a trembling voice answered from the hall.
I held my breath and hurried there, only to find my sister lying on her back on the floor with Reese kneeling next to her, gently smoothing Sarah’s pajama shirt over her torso.
“I was just getting her night clothes on,” she explained, wiping the back of her hand over her nose. “She passed out after the seizure stopped. I didn’t know if that was normal.”
I bent down beside her and checked Sarah’s pulse. “Sometimes. How long has she been like this?”
“Umm.” Reese shook her head and then kept shaking it as if she couldn’t seem to stop. “A few minutes. Three. Four.” She looked up at me, her face pale but nose bright red, which made her eyes look extra blue. “You got here fast.”
I wanted to touch her, just to soothe her. “You sounded pretty shaken.”
The movement of her head morphed from side to side to up and down. “How… How long will she be like this?”
“Not much longer. So you need to keep it together, okay. If she sees you upset, she’s going to get upset too. We don’t need anything triggering another episode.” But mostly I couldn’t handle seeing her so shaken. “Think you can do that?”
For a moment, her eyes looked wild, as if she were going to lose it all over again, but then she drew in a deep breath, her chest heaving, and she nodded again before wiping at her still damp cheeks.
“Good,” I said, shifting closer to her. “She’ll probably need a drink when she wakes up.”
“Okay.” She popped to her feet as if relieved to have something to do. “I’ll get her some water.”
I grasped her wrist, and she immediately froze, zipping a worried look to me as if she’d done something wrong. Her pulse jumped under my fingers, worrying me more.
“I’ll get it,” I said, pushing to my feet and encouraging her to sit with Sarah.
When I returned, Reese’s face was brightening with relief, and Sarah’s lashes were fluttering open.
“Hey,” I told her as I crouched beside Reese. “Welcome back, kiddo. You had a little spell there, but you’re okay now.”
Setting the water aside, I took my sister’s shoulders and propped her up so she could sit with her back against my chest. Th
en I grabbed the cup and tipped it up to her mouth, letting her drink her fill. Once she finished, she glanced around as if looking for something specific, stopping only when she found Reese.
Reese sniffed and forced a big smile, crawling forward until her knees bumped into mine. “I guess my knock-knock jokes were just too funny, huh?”
Sarah giggled. “Knock-knock.”
“Who’s there?” Reese asked.
“Boo,” Sarah answered.
Together, Reese and I quipped, “Boo who?”
Sarah cracked up even more. Reese’s eyes turned huge as if she worried her little buddy was going to fall into another seizure, but I laughed with my sister and lifted her up into my arms as I stood.
“Let’s get you into bed, kiddo. We’re missing out on some valuable Harry Potter story time.”
“Well, we can’t have that,” Reese added, trailing us into the bedroom and even pulling the blankets back for me to set Sarah on the bed. Then she settled in beside my sister, so I took the other side, and the three of us read chapter seven of The Chamber of Secrets together.
Seizures usually wore her out, so Sarah fell asleep before I even finished the scene.
Realizing she was starting to snore, I quieted my voice and glanced across her sleeping form to check on Reese.
As soon as her gaze met mine, her chin trembled and tears flooded her eyes. I closed the book and placed it on the nightstand. After setting my mouth against Sarah’s forehead, I crawled off the bed and moved to the doorway of the room, pausing to watch Reese fuss over Sarah a moment longer, smoothing her blankets around her and then kissing her cheek.
“’Night, little buddy. I love you so much,” I heard her say.
When she stepped into the hall and shut the door behind her, I finally asked, “Are you okay?”
She sniffed and rolled her red-rimmed eyes before hugging herself. “I’m not the one who just had a seizure.”
I shook my head. “Don’t worry about her. She’s going to be fine.” Then, because I couldn’t handle not touching her a second longer, I took her hand and tried to tug her down the hall. “Come on. Let’s get you a drink.”
