Page 23 of The Masks We Break

There’s a moment of silence before she speaks. “But if you had no clue. If your mom never gave you any, and no one ever pointed chocolate out and said ‘that’s what it is.”

“I guess I wouldn’t know.”

“And if you liked it, would you want it again?”

I rest my head on the side of my couch, suddenly exhausted all over again. Lily has never been one for vague riddles, so I decide to entertain her just a little longer. “If I liked it, yes.”

“Even if still no one told you what it was or what it’s called?”

“Yes, dammit. Now, what are you going on about? Make it make sense now.”

She laughs even though I find nothing funny. “I don’t think I will. I’ll wait until you taste the chocolate cake again and start to wonder what the hell it’s called. Anyway. Good luck tonight. I’ll see you in the stands.”

With that and my annoyance at a dangerous level, she hangs up.

I swipe a hand down my face and groan. If anything could kill my mood from earlier, its cryptic warnings, but fortunately enough for me, a missed text is from tonight’s main show with a picture. It’s red, silky, and strings I can’t wait to cut.

* * *

We win sixty-four to twenty-three,and the adrenaline running through the team is palpable. Too many shots are taken, and I know if I don’t leave now, I won’t make it home before the alcohol hits. And Ihaveto make it home.

“Bro? You good to drive?” Bellamy grabs my bicep, turning me to face him.

I nod. “If I get there within the next five, I’m good.”

“Text me as soon as you land. I mean it. Don’t have me pay outlandish fees to some Uber, looking for you.”

Waving him off, I hold up my phone. “As soon as I get there, Bell.”

He knows I don’t lie, and I damn sure wouldn’t get on my bike if I felt the liquor yet, so he nods, releasing me and staggering back a step. This goads a laugh from the back of my throat. “Lightweight.”

“Your momma!” he calls out as I leave the locker room.

I shake my head and glance at my phone for the time, but when my eyes read the screen, a strange sensation kicks up my pulse.

New Email

Remy Solace

My eyebrows furrow as I stare at my phone longer than I should before shoving it in my pocket. I have to make it home soon, or I won’t be driving, and there’s no way in hell my bike’s sleeping at the school overnight. Not to mention Willow will be at my house in about an hour, and I still need a proper shower.

The ride to the Square is quick, and the cool breeze pushing against me as I whirl through the back streets helps calm the aggressive thumping in my chest. The modern lamp posts lining the apartment entrance pull into view not three minutes later.

I haven’t looked at my phone, but I would swear there’s a shortage in the damn thing, and it’s burning a hole in my pocket. Still, I don’t look when I take it out and toss it on my bed. There’s a sort of certainty I feel, scratching at the back of my head. It’s telling me if I open that email, no matter what it is, I’ll cancel my plans.

That’s the thing about Remy—always has been. She’s the surprise rainbow after a storm. Something beautiful, alluring, but also unobtainable. Doesn’t mean I won’t consider what I’d find at the end of it, though, and I’ll rework my whole day’s plans to chase after it.

During my shower, I try to focus on Willow coming over. She’s tall, lean, with honey strands that pass her ass. The polar opposite to the girl across the yard. The girl that told me to leave her alone. And the very same one who mustered up some type of courage, or perhaps naivety, and emailed me.

My leg bounces as I lean back on the couch and check the time. Twenty minutes and I’ll be too preoccupied to worry about it.

Nineteen minutes. I flip my phone face down.

Eighteen minutes. Squeezing my eyes closed, I try to think of Willow bound by her wrists.

Seventeen minutes. The unwelcome image of black hair replaces her blonde, and my dick instantly stirs to life.

Fuck.

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