12. Mason
CHAPTER TWELVE
Mason
The gym smelled like sweat and metal, the way it always did.
The clang of weights, the rhythmic thudding of feet on treadmills, and the occasional grunt filled the space as I stood by the bench press, spotting Owen.
Ethan was at the punching bag, his fists landing with sharp, deliberate force, his usual brooding intensity cranked up a notch.
I leaned against the barbell rack, arms crossed, and smirked. “So, what's the plan for movie night at The Starry Night?”
Owen set the bar back with a grunt and sat up, wiping his forehead with his shirt. “No clue. Haven’t thought about it.”
I rolled my shoulders. “Well, I was thinking I might ask Aurora to be my date.”
Silence.
Owen’s head snapped toward me. Ethan froze mid punch, his knuckles hovering inches from the bag. The air in the gym suddenly felt heavier, charged, like the second before a thunderstorm.
“What?” I asked, glancing between them.
Owen scrubbed a hand down his face. Ethan grabbed a towel and turned away, shaking his head.
“You can’t,” Owen muttered.
I let out a short laugh, expecting some kind of joke, but neither of them cracked a smile.
“Oh, come on. You two aren’t actually,” I stopped, their guilty expressions hitting me like a gut punch. “Wait. No. No way. You guys are genuinely into her? I thought you just liked the way she looked. Plus, she's not from here, so she's a new face.”
Ethan let out a slow breath and grabbed his water bottle. “It’s complicated.”
I blinked, then laughed, because honestly, what else was I supposed to do? “Complicated? Are you kidding me? I said I was thinking about taking her to a damn movie, and you two are acting like I suggested marriage.”
Owen shifted awkwardly, then shrugged, trying for nonchalance but failing. “Well, I think she might be into me.”
I narrowed my eyes. “The hell does that mean?”
He scratched the back of his neck, avoiding my gaze.
“After bowling night, I walked her home. We talked, and…” He hesitated, then sighed. “One thing led to another.”
I blinked. My brain stalled for a solid five seconds before catching up.
“You slept with her?”
He didn’t answer, but the way he looked at the floor told me everything I needed to know.
A slow, hot wave of something I didn’t want to name crawled up my spine.
Before I could even react, Ethan let out a sharp breath. “Unbelievable.”
I turned to him, and my stomach twisted at the way his jaw clenched, his fists tight at his sides. He looked furious.
“Oh, don’t even start,” I said. “What's your problem?”
Ethan’s glare could’ve cracked concrete. “Because I was with her two nights ago.”
Silence.
Owen stiffened beside me.
I felt like someone had just knocked the air out of my lungs.
Ethan exhaled sharply. “After the Fall Festival, I walked her home. And yeah. Same thing. One thing led to another, I guess.”
His voice was tight, controlled, but there was no mistaking the edge beneath it.
My pulse pounded in my ears.
I let out a sharp breath, dragging a hand down my face. “Well, that's really interesting, Ethan.”
His eyes snapped to mine, sharp as a blade. “Yeah? And why’s that?”
I huffed out a humorless laugh and shook my head. “Because I was with her first. Not just before you, but before either of you even thought about making a move.”
Owen’s head jerked up, his brows pulling together. “What?”
Ethan’s grip tightened around his water bottle like he was imagining crushing it. “What the hell are you talking about?”
I crossed my arms, my stomach twisting with something I didn’t want to name.
“Not long after she came to Medford, I ran into her and took her to Lucky’s. We had drinks, talked, and, well…” I shrugged. “As you said, one thing led to another.”
Owen muttered a curse under his breath.
Ethan’s expression darkened. “And you never thought to mention that?”
I snorted. “I don’t exactly tell you about everyone I sleep with.”
Silence stretched between us, thick and suffocating.
I could handle casual. That's who I was. Hell, I’d built my whole damn reputation on it.
But this? This wasn’t casual.
Because, for once, I actually liked her.
Not just for the night. Not just for the chase.
I liked the way she held her ground with me, the way she looked at me like she saw something more than the smooth-talking, easygoing guy everyone assumed I was.
And now I had to stand here and listen to my brothers tell me they felt the same way.
I could feel it coming before it even started.
That split-second charge in the air, the way Owen’s shoulders tensed, the way Ethan’s jaw locked. We weren’t just pissed—we were on the edge of something we’d never done before.
And I wasn’t sure if we were going to walk away from it.
Owen was the first to crack.
“You think this is funny?” His voice was sharp, cutting through the heavy silence. “You just sit back and listen to this like it’s some kind of joke?”
My head snapped toward him.
“You think I’m laughing? You think I like standing here, finding out that both of you,” I pointed between them, my chest burning. “That both of you have been with her, too?”
Ethan scoffed. “You're acting like you didn’t start this whole damn thing.”
I barked out a bitter laugh. “Oh, screw you, Ethan. Don’t act like you're on some moral high ground here.”
He took a step closer, his fists clenched. “I didn’t say a damn thing about morals. I’m saying you're acting all outraged when you were the first one in her bed.”
Owen’s hands shot up.
“Alright, that's enough.” But he wasn’t looking at Ethan. He was looking at me. “You're the one always talking about how nothing ever gets serious with you. That women don’t mean anything beyond a good time. So why the hell does it bother you so much?”
I felt that one like a punch to the ribs.
Because it was different. Because she was different.
But I wasn’t about to admit that to them.
Instead, I let my own anger take over.
“You really wanna stand there and act like you're any better?” I snapped at Owen. “Like you weren’t doing the exact same thing?”
His expression twisted, and just like that, we were past the point of no return.
Ethan shoved me first. Not hard, but enough to knock me back a step.
I met his glare head on. “Try that again, big guy. See what happens.”
Owen groaned. “You two are ridiculous.”
But Ethan wasn’t backing down. “No, what's ridiculous is all of us pretending this isn’t a problem.”
“Oh, it's a problem,” I said, voice low. “The question is what the hell we’re gonna do about it.”
Owen exhaled sharply. “Well, we’re sure as hell not gonna start swinging at each other like a bunch of idiots.”
Ethan’s nostrils flared, but he didn’t make another move.
I clenched my jaw so tight it ached. “I can’t do this.”
Owen frowned. “Mason.”
But I was already grabbing my bag. Already storming toward the door before I did something I couldn’t take back.
Because the truth was, we’d never been in this position before. It was never an issue.
Until now.
And for some damn reason, all I could think about was Lila.
And the firefighters.
Jaxon, Colt, and Ryan had been just as stubborn, just as possessive when it started. Everyone in town thought it would blow up in their faces, that there was no way three men could make it work with one woman.
But damn if they hadn't proved everyone wrong.
They weren’t just happy—they were rock solid.
They had their own place, a life that fit them, a relationship built on trust and understanding, and the kind of passion that made people jealous as hell.
I’d seen them together at the Fall Festival, the way Jaxon had his arm around her waist while Colt whispered something in her ear, Ryan watching her with that quiet, steady kind of love.
They didn’t fight over her.
They fought for her.
And now? Now they were the kind of thing people envied. The kind of thing no one saw coming, but that made perfect sense once it happened.
The thought made my stomach twist.
Because the question was no longer what happened with Lila and the firefighters. It was whether something like that could ever happen with Aurora.
With us.
I shoved the gym door open and stepped into the cold air, my pulse still hammering.
I had no idea what came next. But one thing was for sure—nothing between us would ever be the same.
I drove to the shop on autopilot, my brain still trying to make sense of the disaster back at the gym.
I wasn’t even sure why I went there.
Maybe because working on cars was the one thing that usually helped me shut off my damn thoughts. Maybe because I needed something— anything —to get my head straight.
Or maybe I just didn’t want to go home and deal with whatever the hell came next.
I didn’t want to spend too much time thinking about it. But the second I pulled into the lot, I spotted her.
Aurora .
She stood by the front office, arms crossed, shifting her weight like she was itching to be anywhere but here.
Her hair was pulled up in that messy, effortless way that somehow still made her look stunning, and she was chewing on her lip, her expression tense.
She didn’t see me at first, too busy frowning at her phone. But when she looked up and our eyes met, something flickered across her face, something I couldn’t quite place.
She hesitated for half a second before offering a small, uncertain smile. “Hey.”
I forced myself to breathe. Forced my heart to quit acting like a goddamn idiot. “Hey, yourself.”
I hopped out of my truck, shutting the door harder than necessary, and shoved my hands into my pockets as I approached.
“What brings you here?”
She sighed, glancing toward the garage. “I was just wondering how long my car is going to be.”
“You that keen to get out of here?” She didn’t say anything. “Ethan has been working on it, but let me take a look.”
I opened up the shop, focusing on the problem—her car, not the fact that every time I saw her, it felt like the damn ground shifted beneath me.
I held the door open, letting her step inside first.
The shop smelled like oil and metal, the kind of scent that was familiar, steady. Something I could count on.
Unlike the mess in my head.
Aurora tucked a strand of hair behind her ear as she followed me through the garage, her eyes flicking around like she was committing every detail to memory.
I wondered if that was because she wanted to remember it or because she wanted to be sure she never had to come back.
The thought shouldn’t have stung as much as it did.
I grabbed a rag from the workbench and wiped my hands, even though they weren’t dirty. “Ethan was working on your car this morning. He said something about the steering column still needing an adjustment, but I can take another look.”
“Thanks.” She shifted her weight from one foot to the other. I could feel her watching me, like she was waiting for me to say something.
Or maybe she was trying to figure out what the hell was going on in my head.
I wasn’t sure what she saw there, but whatever it was made her exhale softly.
“You okay?” she asked, her voice softer now.
I let out a short laugh, running a hand through my hair. “Yeah. Long day.”
She didn’t look convinced.
I bent over the hood of her car, focusing on the engine, on the mechanics, on anything that wasn’t the way her presence messed with me.
But my fingers hesitated on the tools, my brain still replaying what had gone down at the gym.
Ethan. Owen. The unspoken war brewing between us.
And then there was her. Standing right here.
Unaware of the firestorm she’d just set off between three brothers who had never let a woman come between them before.