Chapter 12
What a piece of work. I shouted for Hudson to use his inside growls as the kid tried his hardest to yank the rope free. Hudson was in heaven.
The grandma didn’t even look our way as she backed out of the driveway and drove carefully down the street. Who drops off a kid at a strange place really fucking far from home and doesn’t even stay long enough to have a full conversation.
Now that I thought about it, she never even acknowledged the kid other than to push him toward Mase. If this was the other side of Mase’s family, no wonder he hated people.
The thought made me sad.
Wind whipped past my sweatshirt, and I shivered. I should have grabbed a coat. Sunshine streaming through the pine trees made it look like a nice day outside, but the wind chill was brutal.
Hudson let go of the rope, causing the kid to fall on his butt in a fit of laughter, and glanced back at me panting. I recognized the look. He wanted a different toy. Before he could decide to start chewing on the kid, I threw his rubber duck at him.
When we’d gotten it, not long after discovering a pet duck lived next door, we’d thought it would be funny. To our surprise, Hudson took it completely seriously. He carried the duck around in his mouth as if it were a real baby and mostly tried to show it off to everyone.
Heaven forbid anyone tried to take it away from him though.
Hudson scooped up the toy and brought it to the prone kid, who sat up and petted him instead of trying to take it. Smart kid.
I glanced over at Mase, tossing the luggage into his house while angrily whispering at his roommates. After last night, I’d decided to try to take things as they came. Casual. No quick movements.
Kind of a wait and see attitude since we had time to figure this thing between us out.
Not anymore. Mase must be losing his mind at not having control of this situation, and my own life wasn’t as simple as it had been an hour ago.
I knew my face reflected a state of calm, but I was freaking out on the inside. My phone burned a hole in my pocket as I ignored the email I’d just gotten. Congratulations, Taryn. We’d like to offer you a spot in our upcoming tournament…
It was quite the day for surprises considering I hadn’t applied for any tournaments in at least a year. Not since the stalker incident and the move.
None of this had anything to do with me.
It was interesting in a bad reality TV kind of way, but I didn’t have to throw myself into the ring.
Yet here I was letting a kid I didn’t know play with my dog.
If nothing else, it functioned as a pretty effective distraction from making any future decisions.
The door opened behind me, and warmth covered my shoulders. My coat. I glanced back at Mom, who stood just inside the entry watching the kid. She didn’t say anything out loud, but the raised brows she sent my way clearly communicated I should be careful of this situation.
I nodded, and she retreated back into the house.
Across the lawn, Mase slammed the door in someone’s face—I thought it was Reece—then jogged over to me. “Thank you for helping.”
“Am I helping?” I asked, returning my attention to the boy and dog.
“More than my roommates, who are more concerned with another person in the running for Sunny’s affections.”
He posted himself next to me, both of us avoiding direct eye contact. “Are we going to talk about this?”
“Which this? Last night? The kiss this morning? The cranky old lady with amazing driving endurance?”
Mase let out a puff of breath as his shoulders slumped. “The last one. We can deal with the other stuff later.”
I didn’t love the way he relegated the part between us as less important, but I understood. He’d kissed me. I’d liked it. Neither of us was looking for a relationship. Things had the potential to be murky, but we could also try to deal with it like adults. Adults who sometimes slept together.
Adding in the family drama did not make anything easier. Then again, who was I to talk? I embraced my family drama. If we weren’t in a relationship, there was no danger I’d get roped into taking on another responsibility I didn’t have time for.
There was also the potential for Mase to be full of shit. Maybe this was a regular occurrence for him. Though to be fair, we’d lived next door for months, and I’d never seen him with any people other than his small group of friends.
“Okay,” I started, going for the easy answer. “What’s his name?”
“Andrew. He’s my brother. I didn’t know he existed until today.”
That part I believed one hundred percent. The growing panic slowly fading from his face wasn’t manufactured.
“What about your mom? She never mentioned him?” I immediately knew I’d stepped on a hidden land mine.
His slumped shoulders stiffened, and his mouth formed a thin line. “I haven’t heard from my mom in ten years. She left me and my dad—which I don’t blame her for—and never looked back.” Mase nodded toward Andrew. “I guess she had her reasons.”
I let out a long breath. “I need more guidance. Is your mom an off-limits subject or can I ask questions?”
He was silent for a while, but I knew he was considering his answer from the way his jaw ticked. “Ask your questions. I’ll try to let you know if I’m done answering before I become an asshole about it.”
I opened my mouth intending to do exactly as he’d said, ask nosy questions, but closed it again without spitting out the most obvious one. What the fuck was wrong with her that she’d left a child with an abusive parent so she could escape by herself?
The details didn’t matter. I decided I was on Team Mase, and his mom could go fuck herself. Not that I’d tell him that part either.
“Are you going to keep him?”
Mase closed his eyes for a brief second in relief, and his tense posture relaxed into the brooding giant of a man I knew. “He’s not a pet. There’s so much I don’t know about the situation. I don’t think Grandma Katie would lie about this, but she also probably wouldn’t put in much effort either.”
I nodded slowly. “That doesn’t answer the question.”
“I know.”
“Do you want to keep him?”
“Yes,” he replied quietly. “He looks like me, but he doesn’t act like me. What if I ruin him?”
I put a hand on his arm, and he finally met my eyes. “You didn’t ruin Sunny. She’s basically a toddler with no thumbs, and you take good care of her. How much harder can a kid be?”
Mase let out a laugh. “I have no idea, but I’ll bet your mom will have some strong opinions.”
I snorted. “She always has strong opinions. What did the roommates say?”
“They said he’s not allowed to enter the duck off, but they’re fine with him staying. We have a game tonight, and we agreed he shouldn’t be left alone. Kenzie offered to babysit, but she’s supposed to be trying to reconnect with her family tonight.”
My eyes narrowed. “So you’re not going to accept the help?”
He sent me a considering look. “I will if I get the right offer.”
“I’ll take the boy,” Mom’s voice startled me, since I hadn’t heard her open the door again.
Mase turned to her with a relieved smile. “Are you sure?”
“Absolutely. Let’s get him inside out of the cold. Then we can get to know one another.”
I watched the exchange with an edge of suspicion. He’d known my mom would be home and free. Had he come over here just to foist off his immediate problem on the lonely lady next door?
Mase caught my eye and held up his hands. “I’d planned to take him with me and beg Avery—Coach’s daughter—to hang out with him. She’ll be at the game, and she won’t let a kid take advantage of her. I can still do that.”
Mom snorted. “Nonsense. I’m perfectly happy to help. Do you think he likes cookies?”
As if Andrew heard the magic word, his head jerked our direction. “Cookies?”
I switched my suspicion to the kid. Had he been listening the whole time? I mean, I couldn’t blame him. The thought of losing my mom was devastating, and if my joke of a grandmother had driven me across the country to dump me on a brother I’d never met, I’d be on high alert too.
With an exasperated sigh, I admitted I was outnumbered by the sneaky people surrounding me. “Okay, everyone inside so we can work out some details.”
Andrew whooped. “Cookies!”
Mom held the door open with a smile, and he rushed past me. The kid didn’t seem to have a slow setting. They disappeared into the kitchen discussing which cookie was goated.
I sent Mase a quelling look. “I can’t believe I’m offering this again, but one night. He can stay over so you don’t have to move him after he falls asleep. Tomorrow, you’re going to start dealing with the problem.”
He braced his arm across the doorframe before I could go into the house. “What about me?”
“You can come too, but you’ll be sleeping in the living room with him.” I ducked under him and shouted for them to leave my fancy chocolate chip stash alone.