23. Chapter 23
Cameron
Sophia, Sebastian, and I were spread across various pieces of furniture in the living room, doing our own things.
Sophia was on her laptop in the armchair, Sebastian was putting together some Lego creations on the coffee table, and I was on the couch reading a book.
While the whole thing was very peaceful, I couldn’t shake the nagging feeling caused by our two missing members.
I knew Mason and Lucian were working downstairs and that he had a few deadlines to meet. But it was almost ten o’clock, and neither of them had come out of the basement since Lucian got home. The clock ticked on without a care in the world; unfortunately, I couldn’t say the same about myself.
I folded the page of my book and cleared my throat. “Should we go down and check on them?”
Sophia spared me a fleeting glance before going back to typing.
“I’m sure they’re fine.” Her tone lacked all concern.
Sebastian, on the other hand, sat up a little straighter. “I was just wondering the same thing. It’s kind of weird that they’re hanging out in the musty old basement.”
“ Musty old basement ?” Sophia snorted. “Mason had a remodeling company come in and finish it. It’s nicer than the rest of the house now. ”
Sebastian’s cheeks took on a little color as he went back to snapping his blocks together. I had to admit he was kind of cute when his mouth was shut. I shook my head to get that thought out of my mind.
Sebastian Castillo was a stone-cold murderer. He’d told me as much.
While I normally had no difficulty seeing that side of him, it was hard to picture this guy killing anyone. Maybe if we kept Seb on a tight enough leash, he’d be able to stay a while without driving me fuckin’ crazy.
“Did you not know Mason fixed the basement up?” I asked.
Sebastian slowly shook his head. This made the second thing she’d hidden from him. Sure, this was way smaller than not telling him our daughter’s name had changed. It wasn’t my job to intervene, especially because Sebastian was… well, Sebastian. But I wanted to help.
I just chalked that feeling up to wanting to stay on his good side.
“Well, do you wanna go down and check it out?” I offered. “Mae and Luce have been working long enough.”
Sebastian glanced at me for a beat before pushing his glasses up. “I trust that they’re not doing anything bad.”
Considering that the issue of trust wasn’t even brought up until now, I wasn’t sure if that was actually the case.
“Well, you can trust her all ya want. I’m gonna go check on’em.”
I grunted as I stood, and I could practically see a snide comment on the tip of Seb’s tongue.
“When you get down there, can you remind Lucian that while he can exist on caffeine and spite, Mason can’t.” The way Sophia looked at me was so cold that it made me wonder if she was still mad at me.
“I can… Ain’t you gonna come with us?”
Sophia’s lips pressed into a thin line as she looked at the clock on the wall.
“I would if I could… but I have something else to do.” She sighed, shutting her laptop.
Part of me wondered what she could be doing so late, but I did my best not to mind her before going downstairs. Sebastian followed closely at my heels. We’d barely made it halfway down when we were greeted with acoustic guitars and the sound of both Mason and Lucian singing.
Goosebumps erupted on my skin at the sound. For the most part, all musicians sounded better on their CDs than they did in person. At least, that’s what I thought until I heard Mason’s voice. But that moment of sheer awe was quickly shattered by her yelling at Lucian.
“You need to pay attention. You’re not taking this seriously ”
“Fuck you; you’re not taking it seriously.” Lucian snorted.
I looked back and noticed that the tension in Sebastian’s shoulders seemed to ease at the sound of Mason and Lucian fighting.
I’d never bothered to ask either of them how they felt about sharing a partner—not that I ever really talked to Seb enough to care.
But it was an interesting dynamic, to say the least.
That’s when I realized there was a small chance that Lucian might be naked, considering the fact that he and Mason couldn’t keep their hands to themselves.
Seriously, if she hadn’t already been pregnant when she moved in, she definitely would be now.
And, while it’d probably be entertaining to see how Lucian would react to Seb walking in on him, I really didn’t want to deal with the awkwardness that would ensue.
“Hey! Ya decent?” My voice echoed through the narrow stairs.
“Never!” Mason called, a laugh dancing across the word.
Once again, I stole a glance at Seb. He swallowed hard as he straightened his posture before plastering on a smile. I tried not to pay him any more attention as we stepped off the bottom step.
The soft gray carpet molded to my feet, and I looked around for just a moment before finding Lucian and Mason on opposite ends of the couch.
His shirt was off, and her hair was a mess.
That alone suggested there might have been more than work going on down here…
. And I was a little envious that I may have missed it.
Mason slipped the guitar off her lap before turning to us. “Are we being too loud?”
If they always sounded that good, they could stand to be a little louder. But before I could answer, Sebastian was on his way to Mason .
He extended both his hands, and she happily took them, allowing him to pull her to her feet. Mason smiled for Sebastian, but not in the way she smiled at Lucian or even Sophia. And, deep down, I think Seb knew that.
“You could never be too loud,” he promised before kissing Mason’s forehead.
Lucian scoffed and rolled his eyes as he draped an arm over the back of the couch. I shot him a warning look, silently reminding him to be nice. But, when I looked at him I noticed a black bandage on his hip… Did he get a new tattoo?
“It’s late. You two missed dinner,” Sebastian continued.
“Fuck.” Lucian scrubbed his face with his palms. “We lost track of time.”
No shit, you lost track of time.
“Well, that’s okay.” I rubbed the back of my neck as I laughed. “We still got some leftovers we can reheat, and we can enjoy our nightly movie.”
Mason scrunched her nose at the mention of leftovers .
She always said things smelled and tasted different when they were reheated.
I thought that was just a quirk of hers, but looking back on it, I wondered if that was just me ignoring her autism.
But if I asked her, it’d hint at the fact that I knew more than I was supposed to.
“Princess, why don’t you get dressed, and we’ll go grab something?” Sebastian offered, his hand slipping down to hers.
His touch was so unbelievably gentle as he brought her knuckles to his lips.
We all loved Mason. That was just how polyamory worked.
But I could literally feel Sebastian’s devotion to her radiating from him like light from the sun.
It was warm and bright, and it was just nice to bask in, even if it wasn’t for me.
Unfortunately, Mason wasn’t quite the same.
“Can we get fast food?” Mason chirped.
Sebastian hesitated as he fought a grimace. “Anything for you.”
“And you’ll eat with me?”
Her request caused him to stiffen.
“Mason, you know Seb doesn’t eat that shit. His body is a temple or whatever,” Lucian mocked, causing Sebastian to almost shrink in size.
I wanted Seb to stick up for himself and say one time wouldn’t kill him, even if he turned back to say no once he and Mason got to the drive through. But he didn’t. And why the fuck didn’t he? Sebastian had told me to my face he hated me. He wasn’t some meek, scared child.
“All I really want to do is go stargazing, but maybe I’ll steal a couple of fries,” he admitted.
And Mason’s smile fell a little. I knew Seb loved Mason, maybe a little too much, and all I wanted to do was take him by the shoulders and shake some sense into him. But that would require me to be personally invested in Sebastian… which I wasn’t.
At least, that’s what I told myself.
“I’ll probably just have some pretzels and call it a night,” Mason mumbled.
“Ahht, no.” Lucian finally stood up, only to wrap his arm around Mason’s shoulders.
She looked at him like he was the moon.
“Your therapist has literally said skipping meals is your only no ,” he scolded.
But my heart stood still.
“Mason has a therapist?” Sebastian’s question echoed my thoughts, and she reddened like that was something we weren’t supposed to know.
Just how many secrets was Mason hiding, and why?
“It’s not really has .” Mason picked at the Band-Aid on her thumb as she mumbled. “I just started seeing her when my dad died. It’s so you guys didn’t have to deal with me grieving.”
The room fell deathly silent, leaving Mason’s words to hang in the air like poison. Sebastian seemed to be the first person to take in her words.
“Mason, why wouldn’t you tell me?” The quiver in his voice betrayed his hurt.
She looked away and withdrew her hand from Sebastian’s. “I just know I’m a lot, and everyone here has their own thing to deal with.”
Sebastian seemed personally offended by her statement, not that I felt any different.
“Mason… I’ve been there for you through everything . Why didn’t you tell me?” His tone was sterner now, but that damn shake still lingered.
Mason didn’t answer, keeping her attention cemented on the floor .
“We’re supposed to be together forever,” Sebastian continued. “How are we ever going to get married and live a normal life if you keep hiding stuff from me?”
Lucian laughed just once, but I had no idea what the fuck was funny about this situation.
“I’m going to go grab dinner for me and Masie,” Lucian explained before pushing past Seb, making sure to pat his brother on the back. “Cam, if you want something, just text me.”