Chapter 27
CHAPTER
TWENTY-SEVEN
Rory
“You broke up with him?” Kenna lays back on the couch, popping a cheeseball in her mouth. “Why? He’s hot, nice, caring—the whole package.”
“Well, something must’ve been wrong.” Li swipes one of the cheeseballs from the container Kenna holds hostage. She perches her butt on the coffee table, the two of them looking at me in the armchair, waiting for some kind of explanation.
Kenna gasps and sits up, some of the little orange balls flying out of the top and onto the floor. “He doesn’t have erectile disfunction does he? I know he’s young, but that shit happens to guys any age.”
“Kenna!” Li laughs, shaking her head.
I blush, hiding behind my hair. “Um, not that I know of.”
“What do you mean ‘not that I know of’?”
I lift the cup of freshly brewed coffee to my lips, testing the temperature before I scald my mouth. “I never had sex with him.”
Kenna chokes on a cheeseball, which doesn’t bode well for the gag reflex I’ve heard her brag about. “You didn’t sleep with him? Why? He’s hot!”
I shrug, wrapping my fingers around the warm mug. “I wasn’t interested in him like I should’ve been—and he’s nice. I’ve used guys for sex plenty of times but I knew he wanted more from me than that. I didn’t want to lead him on.”
Li shakes her head, stifling laughter, while Kenna looks flabbergasted.
Shaking her head, Kenna leans against the cushions. “Damn, the restraint you have. I could never.”
I look away from her and out the window at the parking lot. I feel bad for breaking things off with Cole. The look on his face when I told him I didn’t feel for him the way I knew he did me was heartbreaking.
“Are you sad?” Li, always the mama bear, inquires.
“I’m sad I hurt him. He’s a good guy. But I’m not sad I broke things off.”
She nods like this makes perfect sense while Kenna is still flabbergasted I didn’t take a ride on his pogo stick.
Finally, Kenna snaps herself out of it. “If you’re not sad then we don’t have a legitimate excuse to stuff our faces with ice cream and junk food.”
I eye the plastic container she’s been digging into the for the past ten minutes. “I don’t think that’s stopping you,” I joke.
She throws one at me and I dodge it, but some of my coffee escapes over the lip of the mug. I lick it off my fingers.
“I’m on my period and all I want is junk food.”
“You live your best life, honey.” I grab the cheeseball off the floor and toss it back at her.
“Now that you’re single again does this mean we can go out to some bars and find some guys? Obviously once shark week leaves.”
“We do that anyway.”
“Don’t knock sex on your period,” Li blurts at the same time. We both look at her and her cheeks pinken. “It heightens sensation.” Her voice softens as her shoulders draw up to her ears. “Besides, don’t act like sex isn’t messy. The fluids are just usually clear.”
“Wow,” Kenna ponders her statement, “you learn something new every day. Li likes bloody sex.”
“Oh my God.” She hides her face, sliding off the coffee table and onto the floor to curl into the fetal position. “I hate you guys.”
“Lies, we’re the best roommates you could ever ask for.” Kenna tosses a pillow at her.
Li grabs it, hugging it against her chest.
“When do you guys leave for break?” I decide to save Li from more torture.
“Friday after classes.” Kenna gives me a sympathetic look. She pulled me aside and said I was welcome to go home with her, but while I appreciated her wanting to make sure I’m not alone for Thanksgiving I also didn’t want to spend the holiday with people who aren’t anything to me.
“Saturday morning.” Li sits up frowning. “Are you going to be okay here on your own?”
“I’ll be fine.” I dismiss her concern. “I love you guys but it’ll be nice to get some alone time. I’ll have more hours to work too.”
It sucks that I don’t have a home to go to, but it is what it is. I long ago accepted my situation and I’m okay with it. I’m not the only person in the world with a broken family.
“All this talk of leaving is making me sad. I know it’s a short break but I’m going to miss my girls.” Kenna pouts, her eyes filling with tears. Her period is clearly making her more sentimental than usual. “Let’s put a movie on.”
“What are you thinking?” Li gets up, padding into the kitchen. I’m not surprised when she digs in the cabinet and procures a box of popcorn.
“Something sweet and sappy. I’m not in the frame of mind to do anything sad.”
“Sweet Home Alabama?” I suggest. It’s one of my go-to movies when I want what she’s asking for.
She crinkles her nose in thought. “That’s the one with Josh Lucas, right?” I nod. “He gave me a country boy fetish from that movie. That accent.” She licks her lips, then stuffs a handful of cheeseballs in her mouth. I’m beginning to think I’m going to have to stage an intervention with the snack. “It also gave me a plaid shirt kink.”
Li snorts, spitting out the White Claw she just opened. “Plaid shirt kink?”
“It’s a thing!” Kenna defends, her bottom lip jutting out. “Don’t mock me.”
I start the movie and Li comes over with the popcorn, the two of us joining Kenna on the small couch so we’re all squished together but can see the TV.
We spend the whole day watching romantic comedies and pigging out on snacks.
I don’t tell them, but it’s one of my favorite days ever.
“Enjoy your meal.” I smile at the elderly couple who both look ready to dig into their spaghetti.
Breezing by my other tables, I do a scan to see who needs refills, if anyone needs napkins, or who might be ready for their check.
“Busy night,” Aldo remarks, shaking up a cocktail.
“It’s always busy.”
“Thank goodness for that,” Izzy inserts, running by.
Heather comes up beside me, tucking her tray under her arm. “Aldo, think you can do us all a favor and slip something into Izzy’s drink to calm her crazy ass down.”
He gives a laugh, pouring the blue colored drink into a fancy glass before popping an umbrella in. “I wish, but alas we all must deal with my sister.”
“Ugh, that’s what I figured.” Heather sticks her tongue out and crosses her eyes. She gives me a light tap on my butt and heads into the kitchen.
I grab refills for a few of my tables and drop off the check at two of them. I’m glad the night is busy. It keeps me distracted from the fact that tomorrow is Friday and Kenna will be leaving, and then Li on Saturday. I know I’ll be fine on my own, but I will miss them.
For some stupid reason, I keep expecting Mascen to come with one of his ‘dates’. But he hasn’t shown all week. I’ve seen him on campus once this week and he was in line for coffee with Mallory. My heart instantly dropped. I’ve never seen him multiple times with a girl like I have with her. It makes me think maybe they are dating—according to campus gossip he’s still free real estate, which is the dumbest saying I’ve ever heard.
Approaching the elderly couple’s table, I ask, “Would you guys be interested in some dessert this evening?”
“Not tonight, sweetheart.” The woman smiles kindly at me.
Rubbing his round tummy her husband adds, “I’m stuffed.”
“Okay, are you ready for the check then? No rush.”
“Bring it by when you have time.”
Bustling back to the kitchen I bring out an order for another table and then drop the check off to the couple. He immediately slides a bill into the sleeve.
“No change.”
“Thank you. You both have a good evening.”
They both stand, the man reaching for his wife’s coat first to help her into it. “You’re welcome. Goodnight,” they tell me.
It’s another two hours before my shift ends, which is a little earlier than normal. Still, it’s dark outside when I walk out to my car. The streetlights are bright, but the lot for staff isn’t as well lit.
When I first notice the body leaning against my truck my heart freezes in fear, a scream lodged in my throat. I quickly recognize the body frame and my heart doubles in speed. Mascen must hear my shoes on the gravel because his head flies up and somehow even in the dark our eyes make contact.
“What are you doing here sulking in the dark, Edward Cullen?”
“Waiting for you.” He doesn’t move away from my truck.
“Why?” I stop a few feet away from him, my purse drawn across my body like a shield. Sadly, the feeble and fraying fabric isn’t going to protect me from the heartbreak that is written all over a guy like Mascen.
“Heard you don’t have a home to go to.”
“Where did you hear that?”
He cocks his head. “I know everything, Aurora.”
“So, what? You came all the way to my job to mock me?” An incredulous laugh bursts from my lips. “Wow, you know, despite how much of a dick you are to me you still manage to surprise me.”
His lips quirk. “Gotta keep you on your toes, Princess, but you shouldn’t insult me when I’m riding in on my white horse attempting to be … not a prince,” he wrinkles his nose like the thought disgusts him even though that’s exactly what he is, “maybe a really naughty knight?—”
“Is there a point to this?” I interrupt. I’m tired, cranky, and my feet hurt. A shower is calling my name and I plan on stuffing my face with the brownies Kenna made because she feels bad for leaving me.
“You’re coming home with me.” He grins from ear to ear like this is the greatest news ever.
“No, I’m not.”
“Yes, you are.”
“ No , I’m not.”
“Yes, Rory, you are.”
“Don’t call me Rory.”
“I’ll call you whatever I want.”
I throw my hands in the air. “What are we? Twelve? This is ridiculous. Do you even hear yourself? Telling me that I’m going home with you? We don’t even like each other!”
Lie. I like him very much. At least in a ‘I find him very attractive and want to jump his bones’ kind of way. As for his attitude and what comes out of his mouth, I don’t like that so much.
“Why are you so stubborn?”
I gape at him. The man has lost his mind. “Me? Stubborn? Look in a mirror, bud—or wait, maybe you can’t see your reflection. Vampire and all.” I give a shrug. “But we’re not friends.” I wag my finger between the two of us. “Me going home with you makes zero sense. I am fine alone.”
“Just because you’re okay alone doesn’t mean you should be.” His lips soften. “It’s Thanksgiving, Rory. Do you really want to be by yourself?”
I square my shoulders, my chin rising slightly. “My roommate Kenna invited me to go back home with her and I said no.”
“You don’t know her family, but you know mine,” he counter-argues. Stuffing his hands in the pockets of his school sweatshirt, he leans closer to me, like he hopes his laser- hypnotic gaze can convince me. “Surely you haven’t forgotten my mom and dad. Or Willow. Or Lylah.”
I look away. Of course I haven’t forgotten them. His family was a part of some of my best memories, but that was a long time ago. “I doubt they remember me.”
“Sure they do. Do you really want to disappoint my mom, Princess? I already told her you were coming.”
His mom was always kind to my sister and me. She was the real motherly type, baking with her kids, teaching them to garden, all kinds of things, and she always let Hazel and I pitch in.
I exhale a lungful of air, looking away from him. I can’t think straight when I’m staring at his annoyingly smug face. “I’m fine by myself.”
He lets out a gruff laugh. “Look, I’m not doubting your ability to be fine on your own, but it’s a family holiday and you shouldn’t be alone when you don’t have to be. I’m loaning you my family. Just say thank you and that you’ll come.”
I look back at him. “I’m scheduled to work. I need the money.”
His smirk intensifies. “I already spoke with your boss letting her know I was surprising you with an unexpected trip back home. She told me I was a wonderful boyfriend.”
He’s so fucking pleased with himself, meanwhile I’m stuck on him saying back home , because I haven’t been back to Virginia since we left and now that I’m reminded of that fact I do want to go.
“Don’t ever talk to my boss again.” I try to sound as stern as I possibly can. “But…” His annoying smile grows further, knowing he’s about to win. “I’ll go.”
“I knew you’d see things my way, Princess.” He finally moves away from my truck, walking backwards toward his SUV. “Pack your shit. We leave tomorrow after your last class. Psychology, right?”
My mouth pops open. I don’t even have to give him a reply. How does he know what class I have tomorrow afternoon? I laugh to myself as he gets in his car. This is Mascen Wade I’m talking about. All he’d have to do is bat his eyes and any number of people would let him know my schedule—my roommates included.
I watch him pull out before I get in my truck, already wondering if there’s any way I can get out of what I’ve just agreed to.
Sitting down in my psychology class the following afternoon, I feel confident in my resolution not to go with Mascen today. I didn’t bother packing my bags, because going home with him would be the worst idea ever. I was conned by the potent power that is him last night, but as soon as I got away from him it faded. I’m sure he’ll be waiting for me after class and I’ll tell him no. As simple as that. He won’t argue with me in such a public place.
Pulling out my computer, notebook, and pen, I set up the small workspace in front of me so I’m ready for class.
Someone slides into the seat beside me and I bend down, moving my backpack out of his foot space.
“Brought you a coffee, Princess. Black just like your stained soul. I hope that’s how you take it, but if it’s not complain to someone else.”
My body shoots up quickly from my bent position. I nearly knock over my laptop as I straighten but his large hand grabs it before it can wobble off.
“Mascen,” I hiss, glaring at him. “What are you doing?”
He releases my computer, sitting back. Crossing one foot over his knee he waits to answer me. After he’s pulled out a notebook and pen, the pen pressed against the side of his lips, he finally puts me out of my misery and replies. “I would think that would be quite clear but you’ve proven to be ridiculously oblivious. I’m here for Psych one-oh-one.” His lips exaggerate the word one .
“You’re not in this class,” I state the obvious as the seats fill in around us for the two o’clock lecture.
He mock gasps, throwing a hand to his chest in a fit of dramatics. “You mean I’ve been in the wrong class all this time?”
“We both know you don’t belong here. Leave.”
“No can do.” He scoots his long legs forward, scrunching down in the seat. “I’m sure you’re a flight risk, so I’m here to make sure you don’t take off on me.”
I square my shoulders, looking straight ahead at the podium standing empty in wait for the professor, willing him to hurry up.
“I wouldn’t take off on you.”
I would.
“Don’t lie Princess or you’ll end up as Pinocchio.”
I glare at him. “Do you live to irritate the shit out of me?”
He leans back, the cocky grin on his lips too fucking hot for someone so infuriating. “I am beginning to think it’s my sole purpose in life.”
“This is my class, can you go now?”
“Did you pack your bags?” Silence is my only response. “Mhmm,” he hums, balancing his pen on his top lip. “You didn’t did you? Which is exactly why I’m here. Try to tell me to leave again, Aurora.” He moves suddenly, leaning in so his mouth is right by the side of my face. “I. Dare. You.” I desperately want to look at him but I know better than to move my head. “You think there are certain things I won’t do, but believe me, I won’t have a problem throwing you over my shoulder and carrying you out of here kicking and screaming. You agreed to go, you’re going. No takebacks.”
My breath catches with the last two words and when I look at him his eyes have widened. I’d forgotten it until he said, but no takebacks was something we said to each other a lot growing up.
“No takebacks,” I find myself whispering to him as the professor finally enters the room.
Sadly, I don’t remember a word of the lesson.