Page 42 of Savoring Addison

The results.

Not only were they in. Mason already knew what they were.

“Oh. My. Fucking. God.” Olivia’s exclamation drew every eye in the room. She looked like Christmas arrived ten months early. “It’s Mason. Ho-ly shit.”

Mason gave her the kind of Dom look that brought Addison to her knees. “What on earth are you going on about?”

Olivia practically jumped up and down in her excitement. She wasn’t kidding about the gossip obsession. “You two are one hundred percent fucking, aren’t you?”

The look on Mason’s face would’ve been bland on anyone else. But the minute widening of the eyes, the way his lips parted the tiniest bit—on him, it was an expression of utmost shock.

Addison couldn’t help herself. She burst out laughing.

Her laughter died off abruptly when Zach walked out of the room without another word. He didn’t even take his espresso.

“What’s his problem?” Olivia muttered, a troubled frown replacing her look of manic glee. She started to say more, but then seemed to notice that Mason clearly wanted her to follow Zach out of the room. Her eyes narrowed in the most joyfully scheming way. “Oh, do you want to be alone? I’ll give you two some privacy then.”

“Did...did she just skip out of the room?” Mason sounded dumbfounded.

Though her heart pounded against her ribs as she both longed for and dreaded the news Mason brought, she had to smile. “She did. I think she’s happy cause she just won a bet.”

With a shake of the head, he said, “Whatever you say.” Slowly, he turned away from the door, facing Addison again.

She studied his eyes, his mouth, his hands. The tilt of his brows and the slope of his shoulders. Searching for any clue of what the results might be.

He was so unreadable to her.

Fuck, she could hardly even breathe.

“I read the results,” he said at last, his voice as steady and unrelenting as an empty blue sky.

“What do they say?” Nerves made her throat so tight, she hardly got the words out. “Do you know who my dad is?”

Looking her right in the eyes with such intense kindness that her heart pounded for a different reason entirely, he said softly, “Yes. I know.”

Downtown Fairford had a single pub called O’Shea’s or O’Brien’s or some other generic Irish name, the inside decorated with a stereotypical Irish theme. Lots of dark wood and emerald green, Celtic designs carved into the front of the bar, old metal advertisements for Guiness and Jameson—the whole shebang.

Addison checked the cocktail napkin under her untouched glass of water. O’Leary’s. That’s right.

“We’re back!” Olivia announced as she and Nell scooted up to their table, plunking down another trio of tequila shots and a small dish of lime wedges.

“Hang on a second,” Addison said, laughing. “You said you were just going to the bathroom.”

Nell grinned. “We had to pass the bar on the way back anyway. Don’t worry, this round’s on us.” Winking, she shoved one of the shot glasses in Addison’s direction before lifting another. “To the ladies of Fairford Manor.”

“To the queens of the Manor,” Olivia corrected, donning a hilarious attempt at a regal expression. “Forever may we reign.”

Laughing, Addison hoisted her fourth shot of the evening into the air. “Forever may we reign,” she echoed, knocking back the shot and swallowing it in a single gulp. “Fuck.” Coughing, she sucked on her lime, not that it helped too much. “That fucking burns.”

Nell, who had decided at the last second to tag along on their little outing, smirked at her. “The more you drink, the less it’ll burn. Want me to go grab round number five?”

“Oh God, you two are definitely trying to get me drunk, aren’t you?” Addison answered with another laugh. “Do you realize how old I am? If we drink much more, it’ll take me days to recover.”

Giggling, Olivia leaned in and stage-whispered, “And you know what Aiden and Rafe will do to us when we have to call them for a ride. They both told us not to drink too much tonight. It’ll take a week to recover from that.”

“Oh no, a spanking,” Nell said, her grin positively devilish. “Don’t threaten me with a good time.” All three of them cracked up at that, laughing so loud they got a few glances from the surrounding tables. “Yeah, we definitely need another round.” Nell bounced off to the bar.

“What about Mason?” Olivia asked, leaning in and whispering conspiratorially. “Do you think he’ll spank you when he finds out?”

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