Chapter Four Mason
F uck.
My chest has been in agony since I ran into Daphne yesterday, a twisted knot that I can’t seem to shake.
I knew that an encounter with her was inevitable, especially with her being a skater. We were bound to run into one another at the rink. I just didn’t expect it to hurt so damn much. Like a hot, burning iron being plunged down my throat.
It’s been four years since I held her, kissed her, claimed her as mine. Four long years of torment and regret for ever walking away.
I was fucking stupid—I know that. I was trying to do the noble thing and not date my sister’s best friend. I was graduating high school and moving hours away.
There’s no way it would have worked out … right? And honestly, I was fucking terrified of the things she made me feel. I ran … like a coward.
Seeing her again felt like getting hit by a train. She looks incredible. So goddamn beautiful. She always has been, but now, her features are sharper, fiercer. Her hair is longer and somehow more vibrant. And her curves have filled out in all of the best places.
I force the thought of my hands palming her round hips and full breasts out of my mind, but the image is too goddamn hot; it’s burned permanently.
Get it together, Mason.
But her eyes are what have changed the most.
Not the color or the shape, but the new harshness in her gaze toward me. But I don’t blame her. I deserve all of it, and I’ll take whatever anger she dishes out my way.
Maybe I should just talk to her to try to clear the air. We’re going to cross paths more than she’d probably like. I’ve been secretly looking forward to having her on campus. Of being near her again.
I think I convinced myself over the last couple of years that I never liked her as much as I remembered. But I was wrong. It couldn’t be more the opposite. She might never want to see me again, but I can’t say the same.
I haven’t been with anyone since I shared that perfect night with her. I haven’t wanted to. Being a college hockey player keeps me busy enough to stay distracted from any … distractions.
I’ve been hers all this time, even though she doesn’t know it. Even in the moments late at night with my hand wrapped around myself, her name is the one I whimper, the mouth I imagine, the voice in my head begging for more.
I’ve been in denial the last couple of weeks, or years, trying to actually believe that I don’t want her back.
I was lying to myself. Aggressively .
Pulling the rink door open, I try not to talk myself out of what I’m doing. Telling myself that this isn’t too far. But it’s too late.
Ross told me that Daphne would be coaching for the Mini Mammoths, the youth training program offered here on campus. It wasn’t too hard to find out what class she’d be in charge of. Especially since I’ve been stalking the rink since this morning, waiting for her to arrive.
Approaching the door to rink three, I peer through the window, looking for a glimpse of her, but all I see are little kids.
And then she comes into view, and I suck in a breath.
She glides like an angel, effortlessly skating around and correcting the kids’ form and positioning.
Her hair is pulled back into a high ponytail, revealing every inch of her stunning face. She’s so mesmerizing; I can’t take my eyes off her.
Is it painful for her to skate?
I heard about the accident after it happened. Maeve told me about it. Yet another way I fucked everything up between Daphne and me.
I typed, deleted, and retyped a message to her about a thousand times before I realized it was too late to reach out without seeming even more like an ass.
So, once again, I was a coward, not stepping up for her when she deserved it.
She used to tell me about how she wanted to skate when she got to college. And I wasn’t there for her when all of that changed. When I should have been.
I’ve let her down time and time again. A mistake that won’t be repeated. I’m not the same boy that she once knew. I’m now a man, hopelessly in love with the one girl who despises me.
First things first. I need to apologize to her and hope she doesn’t just punch me in the face. Although, if she does, I probably wouldn’t stop her. Her fiery side has always turned me on.
She used to tease me relentlessly, and, fuck, I’d be lying if I said I didn’t fantasize about it happening again. Just the thought of her jabbing her finger in my chest and telling me off has my dick stirring awake.
Her angry glare flashes in my mind, killing the mood instantly. I don’t want her genuinely mad at me. That’s the worst feeling in the world.
I hate that I ever caused her to frown. But I’ll make it up to her one way or another if it’s the last thing I do.
The kids circle around her as she skates and spins, addressing them all before she claps her hands.
The Mini Mammoths skate off, and I watch as one of them eats shit, crashing to the ice.
I stifle a laugh as he smiles, his face turning bright red.
The kid immediately gets up and continues on without so much as a blink. It’s amazing how resilient they are.
When I shift my attention back to the redhead at the center, my blood turns to ice in my veins.
Her dark blue eyes are locked right on mine.
Shit .
Everything around us fades as we look at one another with unbreakable intensity. And it’s like every memory between us crashes into my mind.
The laughs, the longing looks, hugs that I never wanted to end, and moments that will always be special.
Dancing in the rain in my backyard. Driving her and my sister to school every day, with her squished between Maeve and me in the bench seat of my pickup.
Trailing my hand across her side every time I passed her in the hallway.
Memorizing every inch of her and the feel of her skin on mine.
She has no idea that I would drop to my knees and do whatever the hell she wanted. I would be at her beck and call.
I should have never let you go.
In one motion, she rips her stare from me, spins away, and skates off with vigor.
As if she took a piece of me with her, my heart aches in the dark absence of her gaze.
I want to chase after her, catch up to her, and tell her everything. But I also want to respect her space as much as possible. And I have no clue how to do both.
An idea pops into my mind, and my feet are moving before I realize, carrying me out to the parking lot. Leaning back against the hood of her black Jeep Wrangler—the same one she drove in high school—I wait for her to walk out of the double doors.
They push open, and a few kids and parents walk through, but then the crowd parts, and she appears. Pissed off, scowling, and glaring right at me.
She storms across the parking lot, a fake smile flashing as she waves at a few of her students before the grimace returns my way.
I expect her to stomp up to me and tell me off.
But instead, she does something even worse.
She walks right past me, her shoulder brushing my arm as she ignores me altogether.
“Daphne,” I murmur, rounding the side of the Jeep to where she’s standing at the driver’s door, fumbling in her bag for her keys.
She doesn’t say anything as she presses the Unlock button on the key fob. Grabbing the door handle, she tries to throw the door open, but I flatten my hand on it, keeping it sealed in place.
This time, finally , she pays attention. Turning her nose up at me, she crosses her arms, her blue eyes burning into mine.
Her voice is sharp. “What do you want?”
My body catches fire beneath her stare. “To talk to you. Just for a few minutes.”
God, I forgot how short she is compared to me. I know she didn’t shrink, but she seems smaller than before. I guess I probably grew a little, but regardless, I just want to pick her up and take her home and never let her go again.
She taps her foot incessantly on the pavement. “Hmm, let me think.” She pauses for less than a second. “No. But thanks for the offer.”
“Sunset, come on.” Her old nickname slips out without thought, and pain lances through her stare, slicing into my heart. “ Please .”
She swallows hard, pulling as far away from me as she can into the door of her Jeep. “Mason, I have nothing to say to you. And frankly, I don’t want to hear anything from you. So please, move your hand because I have somewhere to be.”
As painful as it is, I listen to what she wants and drag my hand off her door. “Where are you going? It’s, like, eight thirty right now.”
She hops into her Jeep and starts the car, rolling the window down a second later.
“I have a date.”
Flashing a cruel smile at me, she slowly begins to back away, and it takes everything in me not to dive through her window and stop her.
But I know that would only piss her off more.
Her date had better hope I don’t find out his name. I wonder if Maeve knows it or if she’d even tell me.
Daphne continues to back out of the parking spot, not caring how close her tires are to my feet, and I jump back just in time to not get run over.
She holds her hand out of her window, flipping me off as she pulls away, and I can’t help but smirk. She is going to be the death of me. I watch her drive away, staring into the horizon long after she’s gone before finally digging my phone out of my pocket.
I shoot Maeve a text, wanting to see if she knows anything about Daphne’s date tonight. I love my sister, but there’s a fifty-fifty chance of her answering my text as my sister or as Daphne’s friend. I’m hoping our blood runs a hair thicker than water at this moment.
Me: Hey, Daphne just told me she has a date tonight. As your brother and someone who cares about Daphne, I need to make sure he’s not a creep. Who is it?
She doesn’t answer me instantly, so I shove my phone in my pocket and walk over to my pickup, unlocking the door with the key and hopping inside.
Every minute that passes without a response as I drive home feels like an hour. The thought that she could be sitting across from some guy at a nice restaurant has me wanting to storm into every place in town until I find her.
Or worse, that she’s at some guy’s place, and they’re cozying up on the couch, watching a movie while he tries to?—
NOPE . Not going there. I’ll become inconsolable.
My phone chimes, and I grab it instantly, reading the text.
But it’s not from Maeve.
It’s from Ross.
Ross: Hey, we got an invite for a party this weekend. I thought you might find it interesting that it’s being hosted by your sister. Are you in?
A party? What the hell is she thinking? And inviting hockey players?
The guys will quickly learn that both women who live in that house are completely off-limits.
Me: Oh, I’ll be there.
My phone chimes with a text from Maeve.
Maeve: Relax. She doesn’t have a date. If you leave her alone, she won't have to torment you
Me: Never.