Resting my forearms on either side of her head, I stare down at her, taking in her gold flecked brown eyes that plead with me to let her go.
“Mason, please,” she begs.
It never used to be like this. I’d have given my life for this girl in a heartbeat. But then she had a hand in ruining my life and everything changed.
“You think Tasha begged on Saturday night?” Her eyes flash with disbelief. “How much effort do you think she had to put in to get Noah to put his lips on her?”
“Stop,” she demands, her tiny hands coming up to push on my chest. Nice try. I might be one of the slimmer guys on the team, but I still have at least fifty pounds on her tiny body and a fuck load more muscle. She’s got no chance in making me go anywhere.
“Do you think he used the same moves he uses on you?” She swallows as I reach out and take a lock of her dark hair between my fingers. “I’ve watched the two of you. This is his move, right? He grabs a piece of your hair and you melt into him. Do you think it worked on her?”
She wants to fight. Her body is practically trembling with the need to scream at me right now, but for some reason, while she’s locked in my stare and surrounded by me, she’s frozen.
Dropping my head slightly, I hover only a centimeter or two from her. Her increased breaths race past her parted lips.
“Looks like he’s not the only one who’d willingly stray. Get your head on straight, Lopez. Do you even love him?”
Taking a step back, I put some space between us.
“Fuck you,” she spits, able to speak now that she’s not cornered. “You have no right to drag me in here and ask me that. You made your choice years ago and walked out of my life. You don’t get to keep dropping back in when it suits you.”
Her words are rushed, her eyes flitting around the room trying to figure out what to do and how to get away from me. Her uncertainty only fires me up more. That is until the door opens, and someone joins us.
“What the hell is going on?” Amalie asks, looking between the two of us.
“We were just having a little heart to heart. Nothing to worry about.” With one final look at Camila, I walk out of the girls’ bathroom. Principal Hartmann is right outside, but if he’s at all bothered about watching me leave, he doesn’t show it.
I’m late to class, but after an apology and what I’ve discovered is a panty melting smile, even to fully grown women, the teacher waves it off and I take my seat between Jake and Ethan at the back of the room.
“Where the hell did you go?” Ethan whisper-shouts, but I don’t get a chance to reply because Camila comes rushing into class.
“A problem getting out of bed this morning, Miss Lopez?” Mrs. Peterson asks, her brows drawn together in frustration.
A smirk curls my lips. She didn’t even bat an eyelid at my tardiness.
“I’m so sorry, I had to use the bathroom.” Camila’s cheeks flush and I sit back to enjoy the show. Her eyes briefly flick to me before she focuses back on Mrs. Peterson once again.
“What the fuck did you do?” Jake asks.
“Me?” I lift my hand to my heart as if just the suggestion that I had something to do with this wounds me.
“You might act all sweet, but I know you, Mase. I know the deal between the two of you. Back off her.”
“Oh, that’s rich.” I laugh.
“Listen to some of your own advice. You remember telling me to leave Brit alone?”
“Different situation.”
“Is it?”
“Yeah. Amalie was innocent. Camila ruined my life.”
He lets out a frustrated breath but doesn’t say any more. He should know it would be pointless.
5
Camila
His eyes burn into me as I try to defend the fact that I was late to class. I didn’t really think Mrs. Peterson would be too bothered; it’s not like I show up late often. I’m a good student. I do my work, keep my grades up and contribute to school life however I can. Just because I’m not part of a sports team shouldn’t mean I get treated differently. If I were Chelsea, or Tasha, right now I’d already be sitting down and getting on with my work.
Eventually, Mrs. Peterson puts an end to me being the sole focus of her class and allows me to find my seat. Unfortunately, said seat is right in front of Mason. I’m always aware that he’s there. His hate filled stares aren’t new to me. But something’s different today. There’s more to his attention, and it has something tingling right under my skin.
I chalk it up to the way he made me feel as he pinned me to the wall in the bathroom. He was angry. He always is these days, so that’s not exactly a surprise, but there was a heat in his eyes that I haven’t witnessed before.
He was enjoying himself as he threw Tasha in my face. He can do that as much as he likes; my loyalties lie with my boyfriend, who thankfully isn’t in this class. The last thing I need is a pissing contest between the two of them. I think we all know who’d win that anyway. The football god everyone loves verses the IT geek. Yeah, there’s only ever one winner in that situation.
I try to focus on what we should be doing, but my mind keeps taking me back to the bathroom. The heat in his eyes keeps my temperature higher than it should be, and the memory of how close his body and lips were has butterflies fluttering in my belly.
It’s so wrong.
He’s gone out of his way over the past four years to prove how much he hates me. He totally ignored me to start with, and although it was excruciating at the time to go from having my best friend by my side to nothing, it was easier than what was to follow. He’s put me down and belittled me at any opportunity. Yet as he lowered his head, I swear he was just a second away from kissing me.
Did I want him to?
There’s the million-dollar question.
In that moment, closing my eyes and letting him sweep me away would have been so easy. My body was begging for it, my fingers pressed up against his chest and begging to grip on to the fabric of his jersey and pull him in the last little bit.
Lifting my fingers to my lips, I allow my mind to wander back to a time in my life I’ve tried to forget.
My first kiss.
I was fourteen. I’d missed curfew and was getting a roasting from my parents for disregarding their rules. I’d been with Mason, just hanging out in his garden, and we’d totally lost track of time before he walked me home.
He must have heard them shouting at me for being irresponsible and making them worry, because when I made it up to my room with tears streaming down my face, there he was.
I had no idea how he got in, but when he opened his arms for me all I could do was to run at him.
He was my safe place. My sanctuary when things weren’t going right.
I had a good life. My parents loved me and gave me everything I needed, but as their only child, they could be a little overprotective.
Mason was my release from the pressure they put on me.
My tears soaked into the fabric of his jersey. He was tall, even then, so my head rested against his chest. I felt so safe in his arms, like nothing or nobody could touch me. Our friendship had been solid for as long as I could remember. We’d never argued or fallen out. I always thought I was so lucky when I used to see others at school falling out with their best friends. I truly believed that would never be us. When I was brave enough and lifted my head from his chest, he stared down at me with such love and adoration it made my breath catch.
“Mason,” I whispered.
“Shhh.” He lifted his hand and stroked the backs of his knuckles down my cheek. Right there and then was the moment I fell head over heels for my best friend.
He lowered his head and his lips pressed against mine. It was the single most perfect moment of my life.
We stayed still for a few seconds before his tongue snuck out and teased the seam of my lips. My heart was thundering in my chest. I’d talked about kissing a boy with my girlfriends time and time again. I’d imagined what it might be like, how nervous I’d
be when it happened, but standing there wrapped in his arms, reaching up on my tiptoes, there were no nerves. It was just so... right.
I opened my lips and his tongue hesitantly slipped past them until he found mine. I knew this was his first time as well. We’d talked about it before, but I never expected to experience our firsts together. It was everything and more that I’d ever hoped it would be. Until it was over.
“Dinner,” Mom called from the bottom of the stairs, and we jumped apart as if we’d been caught.
His chest was heaving, his eyes dark and hooded. I knew he was turned on. I knew about sex, but I was still naive enough to be shocked by it.
It was the perfect time and one I’ve wished to go back to many, many times over the past four years so I could ensure what happened next turned out differently.
I was still feeling out of sorts when I got down to the dinner table. My parents looked stressed, more so than they should be for me missing curfew. I would soon discover why, but I never could have imagined how it was going to change my life.
The next time I saw Mason, everything had changed. Gone was the sweet, caring boy I’d fallen so hard for, and in his place was a cold and callous teenager who hated the world and everyone around him.
* * *
“Earth calling Camila.” When I look up, I find the concerned stares of Noah, Alyssa, and Shane all staring back at me.
“I’m sorry,” I whisper.
“Where’d you go? Anywhere good?” Alyssa asks, elbowing me in the ribs.
“Nah, just planning an assignment I was given this morning.” The lie rolls off my tongue a little too easily, and I hate myself for it.
In truth, I can’t get that memory of Mason and me in my bedroom four years ago out of my head. I have no idea if that’s what he was trying to achieve this morning, to get under my skin, but shit if he hasn’t succeeded.
“You sure you’re okay?” Noah asks, as perceptive as ever. His hand squeezes mine under the table.
“Yeah, promise.” Lifting my free hand, I gently run my thumb over the cut on his lip. “Does it still hurt?”
“Not enough to stop me from doing this.” His lips brush over mine and I lose myself in his kiss, only in my head it’s not him I’m kissing.
Damn him and his games.
6
Mason
Fuck this shit.
Getting up from my seat, I swipe my tray from the table and deposit what’s left into the trash on the way out.
Fire burns through me as I think about finding him on Friday night with Tasha pushed up against the bathroom wall. I fucking hate cheaters, even if the person they’re cheating on is someone I don’t care about.
That’s not true, a little voice says in my head, but I push it down.
“Mason, where you going, man?” Ethan shouts as he passes me on his way into the cafeteria.
I ignore him. I’m not in the mood to have a heart to heart right now. Instead, I head to the gym. I need a distraction, and short of spending next period inside a cheerleader, this is my only option.
There are a few freshmen working out when I walk in, but they mostly keep their heads down and ignore me. I can only imagine it’s the murderous look on my face that ensures that happens.
Heading over to the bench, I load up some weights and lie down. My whole football career I’ve had grief about my size. I’ve spent the past few years working tirelessly on building myself up so I don’t look like the weed of the team. It’s worked to a point—I’m bigger than I’ve ever been, but I’ve also managed to find something to keep me focused along with football. When I have the time.
I push my arms until my muscles burn. I love the pain. It makes me feel alive and like one day I might be able to leave this bullshit life I’m forced to live.
If he was still here, everything would have been different, only they sent him away. Thoughts of the hand that the Lopezes had in my dad’s absence from my life spurs me on.
By the time I drop the weight back onto the stand, I’m alone in the gym. I find my phone from the bottom of my bag, shove in some earbuds and turn it up as loud as I can stand.
Memories that I managed to shut down years ago have started to threaten to bubble back up to the surface. I might have wished that karma would come and bite her in the ass, but witnessing it with my own eyes has stirred something within me. My need to protect her is slipping back in. It’s a feeling I remember all too well, seeing as when we were kids it was my one and only focus. She was the most precious thing in my life, and I’d have done anything to keep her safe. I’d have happily taken her pain as my own in the hope to save her from it.
Then everything changed and my need to protect her soon turned into a need for revenge. But even that started to wane as time went on and I realized that I didn’t really have it in me to hurt her. I wanted her to suffer, sure. She needed to know what they’d done to me, to my life. Will exposing her scumbag boyfriend settle that little need for revenge that still lingers inside me or, like earlier, will it get me too close to her once again?
I turn the speed up on the treadmill as the image of her large, dark eyes as she stared up at me earlier fill my mind. I haven’t looked at her like that for years, or more so, she hasn’t looked at me like that for years. The want, need, adoration that I remember all too well was right there in her eyes, or maybe I was imagining it because after the way I’ve treated her over the past four years, she’d be right to hate me.
When I first discovered the truth about what happened, I ignored her. I was too angry to even be able to mutter a word to her. I could see how much it hurt her, I could see her devastation as she looked at me from across the classroom or cafeteria, her need for me to wrap my arms around her and tell her everything was okay. But it wasn’t okay, because my world was on a downward spiral that would only get worse. It hurt when she stopped searching me out in the crowd, supporting me at games and finding any excuse she could to try to talk to me. That’s when things changed. She started to look happy; all the while I was continuing to fall apart.
I never wanted to humiliate her, not in the public way that Jake did to Amalie, but my need to make her suffer just a little bit of the pain I’d experienced was too much to ignore. I’d do pathetic stuff, stuff I’m even embarrassed to admit, but mostly belittling comments that I knew would eat at her. Having my best friend turn into my enemy meant I knew exactly what to say to get a rise out of her. I knew that calling her out in class, in front of a crowd, would piss her off, so I did it. I knew how much she hated being the center of attention, so I forced her into it any chance I got. The redness of her face and the hardness of her eyes as everyone looked at her made it so worth it. It helped to squash down my memories of just how important she once was to me.
“You been in here all afternoon?” Jake asks when he sticks his head into the room. I wasn’t supposed to be in his last class, but there’s no doubt Amalie’s already filled him in on what happened with Camila earlier, so he was probably worried I’d gone to do something stupid, like shove Noah’s smarmy face down one of the toilets for disrespecting her.
“Yeah, I needed to escape.”
He narrows his eyes at me but doesn’t say anything. “You’d better not be too exhausted for practice or Coach will be pissed.”
“I’m good,” I say, although in reality, my muscles feel like jelly as I follow him out to the locker room. He’s yet to see my fucked up knuckles, so that should distract him if I’m a little sluggish.
Our practice session is grueling. Coach doesn’t let up for even a second, but knowing our away game against Penshore is approaching, I can’t blame him. The Chargers are the ones who ended our season before it even really began last year and ruined any chance of us getting to the playoffs. Thankfully he takes one look at my scabbed up hands, tuts and shakes his head.
I can barely put one leg in front of the other by the time he lets us leave the field. In hindsight, my hours in the gym might not have been my best move.
“Fuck, man. If he keeps that shit up we’ll all be dead by Friday night.”
“He knows what he’s doing,” Jake grunts, slapping Ethan on the shoulder.
“I know, but fuck, it hurts.”
“Growing a pussy or something, Ethan?”
“Nah, just worried about my stamina for the girls tonight.”
“You’re so full of shit,” I mutter, following both into the locker room and then into the showers.
“Aces?” Jake asks. “I told Brit I’d meet her there.”
The thought of sitting and watching the two paw all over each other doesn’t sound like my idea of fun, even if I could. “Nah, got plans tonight.”
“Okay, well... I’ll see you tomorrow then.”
Jake knows exactly what I mean by ‘plans,’ and being the loyal friend that he is, he never outs me.
Slinging my bag over my shoulder, I head out to the parking lot on shaky legs. I desperately want to just go home and fall into my bed, but that won’t be happening for a few hours yet.
“Evenin’, Mason,” Heather sings when I walk through the entrance to the store I work in, now fully dressed in my yellow and green Price Chop uniform.
“Sorry, I’m a few minutes late. Practice ran over.”
“No problem, sweetie.”
I dump my bag in back before heading toward the checkout to find out my list of jobs for the night.
I should be at home starting the homework assignments I was given today, but instead I’m here making sure we’ve got enough money to feed the boys. It shouldn’t be my concern, but sadly this is my reality.
Thankfully it’s fairly busy for a Monday night and time passes quickly. That is, until my entire world grinds to a halt and three girls enter.
I look around for Heather but she’s out back on break, leaving me to keep an eye on the small store alone. Normally that wouldn’t be an issue, but then on any other day no one I know walks through the front door. There’s a very good reason why I found a job as far out of Rosewood as possible.
PAINE: ROSEWOOD HIGH #2 Page 3
