Chapter 17 #2
“I’ll let you two catch up. Find me when you’re ready to leave.” Cassidy walked away, and when she glanced back over her shoulder, I mouthed, Traitor.
She smirked as a reply, so I returned my attention to Mason. “Are you dressed as a prisoner?”
“Very intuitive, Shepard.”
“You cheated. You knew how I’d dress and made sure we would match.”
“No. It’s a pure coincidence. We already ruled out it happens a lot with us.”
I poked my tongue out. “You wish.”
“Believe me, I do. Go ahead and arrest my heart. I’m begging you. Please, just put the handcuffs on me already, Shepard.”
“Gosh, cheesy much. Do you know how many times I’ve got served lines like these tonight?” I raised a brow, waiting for him to answer.
“But none of these fuckers meant it. I do. I mean it all. Arrest me, torture me, do whatever you want with me, but don’t ignore me.”
“Jesus, Mase. Are you for real?”
His proud grin reached both ears. “Always. Also, I was thinking… If you don’t wanna do some role play with me, then we should exchange costumes since you’re the one who stole my heart. I should arrest you.”
“Mase, you’re impossible.”
“Some say I’m irresistible.” His grin grew larger. “Later, I’ll let you try on my jumpsuit, but for now, keep wearing the cop outfit because you look very hot in it.”
“That’s what I heard.”
“Lola’s?”
“And the guy who greeted me when I walked in here. Some people tonight were very verbal about my outfit. It’s not even a sexy costume.”
“Sexy Halloween costumes are overrated. This,”—he indicated the length of me with a hand—“is much more appealing in my opinion. You really do look hot, Shepard. And I’m not saying this because I wanna get into your pants. It’s the truth.”
I slapped his chest. “Don’t say things like that.”
“What? That I wanna get into your pants?”
We stared at each other for a long beat.
“For what it’s worth, getting into your pants is not my main mission here. Getting you to fall in love with me is.”
I felt like I was burning under his heady gaze, and yet my heart was cartwheeling.
“How much did you have to drink?” I asked, my tone challenging, trying to regain some control over myself and the situation.
“Zero. None. I’m cold sober.”
My eyes rounded. “You are?”
“Yes, which means everything I just told you is the whole truth. It’s not my drunken brain making me say stuff I don’t really mean.”
That piece of information lingered between us.
“Remember the night you climbed up my bedroom wall when you were plastered?”
“How could I forget? This night is etched into my memory forever. You let me… I touched…” He swallowed. “What about it?”
“You were drunk and telling me stuff. It felt less scary to be with you then. There was just something sweet about drunken Mase that appealed to me.”
“You want me to get wasted, Shepard?”
I chewed on my bottom lip and shook my head many times, unable to hide my amusement.
“Then what?”
I shrugged. “I don’t know. I felt like saying it. We never really talked about that night ever again.”
“I thought you wanted to forget all about it.”
“No. I was just too embarrassed. I’d never done any of that before. It was all new to me.”
He grabbed my hand in his, pressing his palm against mine. We both exhaled at the same time. “Why would you be embarrassed? Because I touched you?”
“Because…”
“Mel.”
“Mase.”
“Talk to me. I’m right here.”
I glanced at my feet. “Because you had so much experience, and I was loving everything you were doing to me, and then you stopped me…and I felt…huh…I felt like I shouldn’t have tried to make you feel good too.
I was convinced I’d read all the signals wrong.
I don’t know. When I say it out loud, it sounds silly. Forget it.”
He pulled me to him, molding his hand to my hipbone to keep me close.
“Mel, listen to me. It’s not silly. I was drunk.
I didn’t want you to feel like I was making you do things you were not ready for.
As if I was taking advantage of you. I would lie beside you a thousand times without either of us touching if it meant you were there with me.
Please, never be embarrassed around me again. ”
“It’s not that simple.”
“It could be. If I asked you here and now, in front of a hundred witnesses, would you go out with me? Like, really go out with me?”
I shook my head. “I’m sorry. I wanna focus on me right now, and anyway, I think we’re better off as friends. It’s way less complicated—and scary. We were good at it the last time.”
He scratched his head. “Friends. Right.”
Tension rose between us. I hated when we ended up in this kind of limbo. I needed to say something so we could get back to the easy conversation we’d been having just seconds ago.
“Mase, that’s all I’ll ever be…your friend.
” Not that it’s what I wish, but it’s what I think is right.
Was I making a mistake because there was some undeniable chemistry between us even I couldn’t refute?
Yes, it was for the best. I was too afraid I’d go back to my old habits if I got sucked into his vortex once again—no matter what Cassidy had said.
Was it an excuse I was feeding myself to avoid getting too close to him, though?
Right now, I couldn’t tell if it was a defense mechanism or not.
My stomach grumbled again, cutting short my inner tug-of-war.
“Shepard, are you hungry?” The weirdness died between us, and I thanked him in my head for not pressing the issue of dating any further.
“A bit. I worked out a sweat tonight. Lola’s was bustling with people, and I didn’t take a single break.”
“Wanna get out of here? We could grab a pizza and eat at my place. I’m done with this crowd anyway. Unless you want me to drive you home. Your choice.”
“Pizza and your place sound fine. Did you finish the paint job?”
“Yeah. Craig helped me. It wasn’t as fun as working with you since he’s not very talkative these days, but it looks good.”
“Cool, I wanna see it then.” I squeezed his hand. “Before we go, let me check with Cassie first.”
“All right. Let’s find her.”
Holding on to Mason’s hand because it was easier to part the crowd next to him than by myself, we found my roommate in the kitchen, doing shots with a guy I didn’t recognize.
“We’re leaving,” I screamed in her ear so she could hear me over the loud music and chatter. “Do you want a ride?”
She brought her gaze toward the guy she was with, made some sort of grimace, and nodded. “Yeah, I’m done here.”
As if she’d just heard what I said, she watched me and asked, “We? Who’s we?” Then her eyes found Mason, deep in conversation with a guy dressed like a pickle cowboy. “Anything I should know about you two?”
“Nah. We’re only getting food. Wanna join us?”
“Nah. I would much prefer my bed. Can you drop me at the dorms?”
“Sure.” I hooked my arm through hers. “Come on, let’s go.”
She pressed her head onto my shoulder, and I could tell by the simple gesture she had drunk quite a bit. Cassidy always became much more tactile when she had booze traveling through her bloodstream.
I shot Mason a look and jerked my head toward the door. He followed us outside, leading us to his car.
Twenty-five minutes later, we parked in his driveway, a large pizza box resting on my lap.
“You sure it’s okay if we go in?”
“Yes.” He grabbed the box and exited the car, and I followed suit.
Craig and another guy were busy playing video games in the living room when we walked in.
“Hey,” Craig said, his eyes leaving the screen for just a fraction of a second, not sparing us a look.
He seemed to realize a minute later it was me standing there because he stabbed the pause button on the remote and turned to face us, confusion swirling in his eyes. “Mel?”
I waved at him. “Hi.”
His eyes searched his brother’s next, asking a silent question. Beside me, Mason shrugged. “Pizza?” He asked the guys instead of explaining my presence in their house.
“No, thanks,” his brother said.
“I’ll have one,” the other guy replied, rising from the couch.
“Mel, this is Bailey, our roommate and teammate. Bailey, this is Mel.” He opened the box, and Bailey grabbed a slice.
“Thanks. Nice to meet you, Mel.”
Only then did I notice the hamster perched on his shoulder. “Seven?”
“Nah. One slice is enough.”
I chuckled. “I was talking about your friend.” I pointed at the pet with a finger. “Him.”
“Oh yes. Sorry.” He frowned. “You’ve heard about him?”
“Yes. Mase told me all about his roommates.”
“Sweet.” He extended his arm at Mason, his fist closed, and Mason bumped it with his own. “How do you guys know one another?” His attention traveled between Craig, Mason, and me.
“We used to be neighbors. Same high school and shit. Mel and I are best friends.”
My eyes widened at Mason’s admission, but I didn’t correct him in front of his roommate.
“And you all go to college here?”
“Yep.” That was Craig’s clipped answer. “Small world.”
Bailey frowned, and I bet he could sense the tension building between all of us. “Cool.” He went back to the living room and resumed his seat next to Craig after inhaling his food. “You guys joining us? We have two more remotes.”
Mason raked a hand through his hair. “Nah. We’ll be upstairs. Rain check?”
Craig studied us for a beat, with furrowed eyebrows, before nodding. We were halfway up the stairs when he called, “Nice costumes, by the way. Mel, if you end up handcuffing this sucker to his bed, leave the key in my room so I can free his sorry ass in the morning once you’re gone.”
I froze, not sure what to reply. Was it a joke, or was he being serious? Right now, I couldn’t tell.
“Just kidding.” Craig pressed pause on his remote and returned to his game.
“Since when does your brother have a weird sense of humor?” I asked Mason in a whispered tone when we neared his bedroom.
“The second he chased Paige away.” He sighed. “He’s been bitter since the moment she left. He hasn’t been himself in months.”
“Oh. It’s really that bad?”
“You have no idea.”