34. Mason
Mason
How many mornings am I going to wake up like this?
The nights are becoming less and less of a good time, yet I don’t know how to stop the cycle of doing it over and over again.
I can’t even fully open my eyes with the pounding headache behind them, and my stomach is revolting.
I just lie as still as possible…waiting for the waves of nausea to pass. Every time I think it’s fully gone, it rises back up.
My body is screaming at me to take better care of it, but I don’t have the time or energy to listen right now.
I have to make a two-hour drive to hell today, and I need to get up and pretend to be functioning enough not to get completely chewed out by my father when I see him tonight.
I stretch my arms out and hit something—jolting me from my sleep fog. I force my eyes open and quickly turn my head to see a pile of brunette hair on my chest.
What the fuck?
No.
There’s no way.
I wouldn’t have…
I don’t…
I never sleep with anyone…no matter how drunk I get.
But I can’t remember anything from last night.
What did I do?
“Hey,” I whisper, gently trying to wake the girl.
I don’t see who she is until she stirs, waking up and turning over.
It’s Sadie—a Gamma girl.
Fuck…
I know she used to like me, but I’ve never given her the impression that anything more would happen.
Yet…none of this is adding up well for me here.
I sit up slowly, the movement making my skull throb even more. I run a hand down my face, trying to piece together any parts of last night, but I think I drank away every memory I’ve ever had.
I look down to see I’m in my boxers. That’s it.
Shit.
Sadie stirs, groaning softly before blinking awake. Her eyes widen when she sees me sitting up.
“Oh—hey,” she says quickly, pushing herself upright. “You’re awake.”
“Yeah,” I rasp. “Uh…Fuck. Sorry. What…happened last night? Did we—?”
She shakes her head quickly.
“No. God, no. Nothing happened.”
I let out a relieved breath that I wish I could take back because it might have come across a little mean.
“So…what happened then?”
She sits up straighter, tucking her hair behind her ear. “Um…you were trying to go to the store last night for a beer run. Chase and I saw you getting in your car, and we stopped you.”
The disappointment in myself hits hard. “I tried to drive?”
“Yeah,” she says gently. “You didn’t, though. We got you back inside. Then Chase got pulled away by someone, and I told him I’d stay with you and get you to your room.”
I drag my hands down my face, the shame creeping in.
“I tried to just get you in your bed,” she continues. “But when I got you to lay down, you didn’t wanna let me go.”
Confusion and embarrassment hit even harder. “I…didn’t?”
“You um…you kept telling me to stay with you, to just lie with you until you fell asleep. Well, pleading would be more accurate. But um…” She pauses.
“Well, your exact words, if I remember correctly, were, Please, Simone. Don’t leave me.
Come lay with me. I don’t want you to go…
ever. Can you please…just stay? And, well, I felt bad and stayed.
I had planned to leave as soon as you fell asleep…
but I guess I ended up falling asleep too. ”
What the hell, Mason? How pathetic are you?
She must see the silent panic in my face.
“I…I won’t say anything,” she tells me gently.
I swallow and try to give her a grateful smile. “Um, yeah. Thanks. That would probably be best. Let’s just keep that part between the two of us.”
She nods, laughing a little. “I get it, though.”
I look over at her with my brows scrunched together. “Get what?”
“Her,” she says simply. “She’s really sweet, and obviously gorgeous. Plus…I’ve seen the way you look at her.”
“I…I don’t look at her in any kind of way. It’s not like that. We’re friends.”
“Okay,” she says, like she doesn’t believe me.
“We are,” I argue.
She puts her hands up as she gets up from the bed. “Like I said…it’ll stay between us, Sinclair.”
I shake my head. “Thank you. And um…thank you for stopping me last night. I don’t know what got into me. I never try to drink and drive.”
“We always look out for each other.”
When she leaves, I lie back on the bed with the room still spinning and groan.
You gotta get your shit together, Mase.
I don’t even remember telling Simone goodnight or how we left off. I told her I would stay with her at the party, then got too plastered to keep my word.
I force myself up and put on some clothes before heading over to the other house.
Simone answers her room door—arms crossed, hair pulled up, no makeup on, and ridiculously beautiful.
She also looks…mad?
Why is she mad?
And why is she so cute when she’s mad?
“What, Sinclair?” she snaps.
“You mad at me?” I ask, confused.
“No.”
“Liar.”
“So.”
I stare at her for a moment and can’t help the small smile that creeps onto my face.
She slaps my arm. “What’s funny?”
I try to bite back my smile. “Nothing.”
“Now who’s the liar?”
“I am,” I say, fucking with her. “Now let me in.”
“I don’t want to.” She keeps her arms crossed and moves a little to block me from her bedroom door.
“Don’t make me do it.”
She narrows her eyes at me. “You won’t.”
“I will if you don’t tell me what I did.”
She just stands there—silent.
I quickly pick her up, and she squeals as I rush her back into the room and onto her bed.
“Mason!” she yells, trying to stay serious.
I have her pinned on her bed, looking down at her as she gives me a deadpanned expression.
“Five…four…three—” I start counting down.
“Don’t you dare.”
“Two…one.”
I start tickling her, and she starts fighting me immediately, but I hear her laughing.
“Fuck! Fine, Sinclair! I’m kinda mad at you.”
I stop and look back down at her. “How did I fuck up this time?”
She goes back to pretending to pout. “You drove while you were drunk last night…”
I let out a sigh. At least she wasn’t a witness to what I did after I tried to do that.
“You’re cute when you’re mad,” I tell her.
“Don’t try to deflect.”
“I didn’t drink and drive, Sim.”
I should probably move from on top of her now…but the view is so perfect.
“Then why did everyone say you did?”
I roll over and lie beside her on the bed. “I tried to…but a couple of people stopped me—rightfully so.”
She hits my arm again. “You could have hurt someone…or yourself! Why would you try to do something so stupid?”
“I don’t know. I was drunk…and stupid…and—” I pause, smiling. “And I like that you care so much about my well-being.”
She shakes her head. “Of course I care. And…well, I’m sure if anything would have happened to you, you wouldn’t have been able to end your night with Sadie.”
My eyes close for a second.
Fuck, she did see that.
“Nothing happened. I swear.”
She lifts her hands. “You don’t have to explain your sex life to me. Who am I to judge?”
“It just…wasn’t like that,” I say quickly. “She helped me to bed, and we both passed out.”
She studies me, weighing it. Then shrugs it off. “Like I said, I’m not your parent or anything. Why would I care if you had sex with her?”
Do I want her to care?
Of course I do.
You’re so fucking stupid, Mason.
“I’m sure she’s not your first or last college girl conquest,” she continues. “Just don’t go around breaking too many hearts, yeah? Especially Gamma ones that I’ll have to hear crying about it.”
I want to tell her that I don’t sleep around, but everyone already has this image of me they like to believe…so what’s the point in trying to explain otherwise?
I brush it off and change the subject. “Hey…you wanna…drive down to Naples with me for a day?”
“Like…overnight?” she asks, cautiously.
“Yeah…there’s plenty of rooms, though. I…I don’t really wanna go back there alone. And…you’d be the perfect company. You always are.”
She thinks about it for a moment.
“Yeah…sure. I’ll be your scapegoat,” she says, smiling.
I roll on top of her and give her a bear hug. “Ugh, you’re the best.”
“Mase!” she screams, laughing. “Get your big ass off of me!”
I take her face in both of my hands and kiss her head. “Come on. Take a little road trip to meet the devil who raised me.”
She looks up at me, a little worried, then lets her smile slip through. “Let’s go.”
* * *
The drive feels so easy with her…everything does, though.
When we pull up, I hear her gasp and almost swerve the truck.
“What’s wrong?” I ask, looking over at her, worried.
She giggles, looking at me. “Oh, don’t mind me. I was just temporarily going into cardiac arrest from how big your fucking house is, Mase.”
I let out an annoyed sigh. “Don’t do that. You scared me.”
She blows me an air kiss, and I shake my head.
She swings her door open, but before she can step out, I reach over and grab her arm that’s still on the doorknob, making her look over at me.
“Simone Edwards. Get your hand off that door, and get your ass back in that seat.”
She doesn’t say anything, just smiles and turns to face forward in her seat, slowly closing the door back.
I get out and walk around the truck to her side, opening the door and sticking my hand out for her to take.
She takes it without saying anything, but I can see the way she wants to laugh.
“Good girl.”
She stops mid-step down and glares at me. “Okay. Please don’t ever say that again.”
I give her an innocent look. “What? Did it do something for you?”
She rolls her eyes. “Don’t test your luck of bringing me here with you. I can still make this little trip hell for you.”
I lean closer to her ear as she fully steps down from the truck. “That sounds like more fun to me than you think.”
When I bring our bags in, nobody but the housekeeper is here. My dad and stepmom are out, and my brothers are still in school for the day.
I toss our bags onto the hardwood floor just inside the bedroom door and roll my shoulders, trying to shake off the feeling I get being here. Simone steps in behind me and stops short.
The room is big, bigger than it needs to be—California King bed, balcony doors thrown open to let the ocean air drift in, white walls, neutral furniture that costs more than most people’s rent—that part disgusts me, always has.
She turns in a slow circle, hands on her hips. “Damn, Sinclair.”
I bend down to unzip my duffel. “There’s plenty of room for Queen Simone here.”
“You really live like this?” she asks, incredulous. “Like since you were a kid?”
“Not by choice,” I mutter, pulling out a hoodie and tossing it onto the chair. “You can take my bed. I’ll grab the couch or one of the guest rooms down the hall—”
“Or…you could not leave me alone, and also not hurt your body sleeping on a couch.” She points to my bed. “That thing is big enough for ten people. Sleep in your bed.”
I give her a playful look. “You just love sharing a bed with me, don’t you?”
“Don’t make it weird, Sinclair.”
I walk closer to her, smirking. “Admit it. You loved cuddling with me.”
“Hey,” she says with a serious face. “That was a very vulnerable time for me.”
My voice gets softer. “I know. And I’m glad you wanted me there.”
Our eyes lock, and I see the silent appreciation she’s trying to give me.
She clears her throat, breaking our trance. “So…what trouble can we get into around here while everyone is still gone?”
“Anything your heart desires.”
There’s a long moment of silence, and then a very mischievous look in Simone’s eyes that both worries and intrigues me.
“Have you ever…smoked weed before?”
I almost double over, laughing from the shock of that question.
I look back up at her. “Wait, hold on. That was a serious question?”
She nods, smiling.
“Yeah. Yeah, I’ve smoked weed before, Simone.”
“Yeah…like, you’ve smoked once? Or yeah, like, you know what you’re doing?”
I run my hand over my lips, trying not to laugh at her. It’s cute…really.
Simone is a party girl, sure, but she’s also so innocent. It’s endearing. I can see the way she wants to break out of the good-girl shell she’s always kept herself in.
“Yeah, like, I’m not a cop, Simone.”
“Do you have some?”
“Do I have some? No, I’m a college athlete…I don’t have weed on me. I don’t smoke anymore. I haven’t smoked since freshman year, actually.”
Her shoulders drop, and she looks a little disappointed.
I let out a sigh, shaking my head. “But…I know where to get some.”
She perks back up. “You do?”
“Have you ever smoked before?”
She tries to give me a little innocent look. “No…but I wanna…try it.”
“I can’t be the one to corrupt you.”
“Please,” she begs. “It’s spring break. I wanna have fun and do something I’ve never done before.”
“How about we go snorkeling or something, not get high?”
“How about we do both?” she counters.
I tap the entryway table in my room, shaking my head and thinking about it. Then I look back up at her. “Come on, pretty girl. Let’s go have a little fun.”