Chapter Six Mason #2
He stumbles backward, crying out, and I catch him by the back of his neck.
Digging my fingers into his skin, I tear him off of my sister, turning him to face me. His eyes widen, fear taking over his features as he holds his hands up. I have tunnel vision, tinted red.
“Whoa, whoa! Mason, I didn’t know she was your girl!”
I don’t recognize who this piece of shit is, but he clearly knows me.
I make a mental note that he’s wearing a Mammoths basketball shirt.
Staring down at him, I put my face in his. “My sister told you to get off of her.”
He nervously chuckles, holding his hands up at his sides. “Look, I’m sorry, man!”
In my peripheral vision, I see another guy approach Maeve, but she welcomes him with open arms, and he engulfs her.
If he wasn’t comforting her right now, I would have the back of his neck in my other hand, smashing the two guys together like rag dolls.
Turning to the new face, I growl, “And you are?”
He ignores me for a second, pulling back from Maeve, cupping her face, and looking down at her with kind eyes. “I’m guessing that’s the guy that wouldn’t leave you alone?”
She nods, clearly shaken up.
Maeve’s guy turns to me with an evil smile on his face. “Mason, right? Maeve’s brother?”
I nod sharply. “This really isn’t the time or place, dude.”
He gestures to the guy in my grasp, cracking his neck side to side and shaking his hands out. “I’m Jackson. Would you mind if I get one in?”
A sense of satisfaction settles between my shoulders. I turn the guy in my grasp around to face Jackson, and Jackson cocks his arm back and nails the guy across the cheek.
He goes limp in my grasp and suddenly weighs a thousand pounds.
I release him, letting him crumple to the porch.
Holy shit, he knocked him out cold.
Nodding with approval, I turn back to the guy Maeve’s with and smirk. “Not bad.”
“Thanks,” he mutters with a proud grin before wrapping his arm around Maeve and tucking her into his side, planting a kiss on the top of her head.
There is something familiar about him, but I can’t place it. He glances inside, the front of his backward cap twisting into view, and the logo on it makes me suck in a sharp breath.
I know exactly who he is. I’ll blame the lack of recognition on the situation at hand.
“You’re Jackson Ridley, forward for the North Stars,” I state matter-of-factly.
He smiles. “Yeah, I am. Nice to meet you. Maeve’s told me a lot. You’re going to the Avalanche, right?”
My gaze drops to Maeve, who is no longer cowering with fear in her eyes, but is now looking at Jackson like he hung the moon.
“Yeah, I am. After this year.” I return the conversation to the present. “Maeve didn’t mention she was seeing you. It’s quite the surprise.” I glare slightly at her.
“Well, technically, this is the first time we’re meeting in person.” Which I couldn’t tell at all. They seem very comfortable together. “She called me. I came.”
I nod in approval. I may be blinded by who he is, but he seems like a good guy so far. Probably one of the only ones I would ever consider good enough for my sister based on everything I’ve heard about him.
“Maeve, are you okay?” I study her closely for marks, but thankfully, I don’t see any.
“Yeah, much better now.” She stands up taller, leaning into Jackson. “This isn’t exactly how this party was supposed to go.”
“Sorry, Sass,” I mutter her childhood nickname. “Go enjoy yourself now. Don’t let this prick ruin it.” I nudge him with my foot and see that he’s breathing. “Where’s Daphne? I haven’t seen her.”
“She’s upstairs, probably sleeping. She got glutened earlier from this smoothie place and has been out for, like, three hours. She felt bad, but I told her to stay upstairs and rest.”
I direct my attention to Jackson. “Are you staying for a bit?”
“Yeah,” he says instantly.
“Keep an eye on her for me?” I ask, trusting this fellow hockey player to not be a tool tonight.
“I’ve got her,” he assures me with genuineness in his eyes.
I’ve never met him, but I’ve heard a lot about him through the grapevine, and he seems like an all-around good guy.
Moaning and groaning pull our attention to the guy on the deck, who is now rolling over onto his back. He starts to sit up, one hand on his forehead and the other on his balls.
Shaking my shoulders back, I clear my throat, and he looks up at me.
“Hey, Ross?” I cross my arms.
“Yeah?” He steps beside me, matching my pose. “Need me to take care of him?”
The guy’s eyes widen, and I contemplate if I should get one last hit in. What are the odds I could knock him out in one punch like Jackson did?
Should I? Should I not? Should I? Should I no ? —
I decide quickly and clock him across the jaw, driving my fist through his face.
He groans loudly, falling over on his side, whining in pain.
“Make sure he doesn’t step foot back in this house, please.” I shake my hand out, not used to fighting like the rest of the guys on my team.
“You got it.” Ross grins.
“I’m going to go check on Daph. Are you okay?” I ask Maeve.
Ever so slightly, she cocks her head to the side, and her eyes dart toward the house, clearly telling me to fuck off.
“I’m all good. Thank you.” She smiles.
“Don’t thank me for that. You had it pretty much handled before I grabbed him.” I chuckle, and Jackson’s eyebrows arch in surprise. “Which room is hers?”
“Upstairs. First door on the right,” she tells me, already turning her attention to the all-star forward holding her.
“Got it.”
I walk inside and make a pit stop in the kitchen to grab a bottle of water from the fridge before walking back through the busy house and heading upstairs, following her instructions.
Remind me to never let them throw a party again. Or at the very least, have it hosted at our team house.
Daphne’s door is shut as I approach.
Part of me wants to knock, but I know the second she gets up and sees it’s me, she’ll just tell me off and shut the door in my face. I just want to make sure she’s doing okay.
Twisting the doorknob, I crack the door open slightly, and my chest warms.
She’s out cold, mouth hanging open and breathing even. She’s sleeping on her side, aggressively cuddling a stuffed animal that I recognize—a skunk she had years ago named Pepper, who looks well-loved.
Stealthily, I slip inside and shut the door behind me. The only light is from her TV playing across the room. Lightly padding over to the side of her bed, I set the water on her nightstand, next to her almost-empty water bottle.
Her makeup is smudged under her eyes, and her hair is in a messy bun that is falling apart, the scrunchie nearly out of her hair. She looks just as beautiful as she does every other day.
Fucking hell, she is still perfect.
I hope her stomach is doing okay. I know how hard these incidents can be on her, some symptoms and episodes lasting her days at a time. At least, it was like that when we were kids, but I’m guessing that isn’t something that changes.
My gaze flicks to the empty space behind her, and an ache sinks deep into my chest. I want nothing more than to kick my shoes off and crawl into bed next to her, wrapping her up and sleeping with her in my arms.
But I can’t and I have no one to hate but myself.
Biting down on my bottom lip, I stop myself from leaning down and kissing her cheek. I don’t deserve it. Especially not when she’s not awake to consent to it. But, fuck, it hurts as I turn on my heel and walk out of her bedroom.
Shutting her door behind me, I head downstairs and find a seat on the chair closest to the stairs. I want to make sure no one goes up there.
Maeve and Jackson are snuggled up on the porch swing out back, pointing up into the sky. As grateful as I am for his help tonight, if he hurts my sister I won’t hesitate to give him the same treatment as we gave that piece of shit from earlier.
A beam of light falls across the sky, and it takes me a second to realize what it is.
Its light grows brighter as it falls faster and faster.
Closing my eyes, I take a deep breath and think of what I want. That’s what you’re supposed to do when you see one, right?
But it doesn’t take me long to figure it out. There’s only one thing I’ll ever want. I send my thought out to the universe and sigh. For every shooting star, she will always be wish. If only a wish would give me a second chance with Daphne.