Page 66 of The Fate of Us

“Get out,” Mason orders as he points at the door.

The two guys leave without a word just as a girl walks up to me with a bag of ice. “Anna would have gotten all hot and bothered with you defending her like that.”

I grab the ice from where the girl is holding it. I squint up and see Seraphina. “I don’t think she cares.”

Sera snorts. “Think about it, Noah. That girl is in love with you. That’s why she was so mad. And she only runs from those she loves, so think of it as a romantic gesture.”

“That’s fucked up, Sera,” a deep voice says next to me. It’s when I realize he was the one who pulled me back, Dee, Anna’s friend from college and Mason’s business partner.

Mason drags a chair over and pushes me into it.

“It’s fucked up but it’s true,” Sera responds.

“Alright party’s over,” Mason shouts.

I grab his arm. “You don’t have to end it over this,” I say, gesturing to my eye.

“I know. But I am going to anyway. Too many people here as it is.”

Dee lights up a joint next to me and I couldn’t care less about it.

Sera stares at me. “I told you not to text her.”

“I haven’t texted her since this morning. I’m stopping. I swear.”

She takes a sip of water before answering. “I told you not to text her from the get-go.”

“It was hard not to.”

Mason comes back over to us and sits on top of the table next to us. “That was stupid.”

I know he is referring to me trying to punch that guy. “Did you hear what they were saying?”

“Yeah and I ignored it. Anna would never give those two fucktards the time of day.”

“I forgot about her. I finally put her out of my mind for the night.”

“I don’t know who put that song on, Noah. I mean it.” He takes a drink of his beer. “I was enjoying watching you be a shit show for once. I knew if you heard her voice you would fall apart.”

“This all sucks. God, I wish Claire didn’t come back. I wish we could have just kept going on living our lives. I want to marry her. I want everything with her.” I realize my drunk ass is saying more than it should but I can’t fight the feeling inside of me, regardless if it’s drunken thoughts.

“And on that note, we are leaving,” Dee says as he grabs Sera.

“What no! I want to hear this.”

Dee shakes his head as he pulls Sera away.

Mason stands up and pulls me with him. “You guys stay. I didn’t kick everyone out. I just need to talk to my brother alone.”

Mason pulls me into one of the recording rooms and pushes me onto a couch. He grabs two beers out of a small fridge in the room and hands one to me. “How’s the eye?”

“Hurts like a bitch.”

“I bet.” He takes a swig. “So, you really want to marry Anna? You just moved in together.”

I adjust the ice on my face. “I didn’t mean to say that.”

“But you meant it.”

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