Page 32 of Never To Forever

She arches her brow. “Whatcha looking at?”

Scowling, I say, “Nothing, what are you talking about?”

“Oh, geez.” She rolls her eyes and groans. “You’re being so ridiculous. Both of you are.”

I frown at her, but before I can ask her what she means, a large figure enters the library. When I recognize Mason Rowland, a childhood friend who’d recently moved back to town to set up his contracting business, I can’t help my surprise. What’s he doing here? The library isn’t really a place I’d expect to find him.

Briefly, I wonder if he’s here for Marie. He used to have a thing for her back in the day—he had a thing for a lot of girls—and he was always charming and able to sweep them off their feet. What if he tries that with Marie? Jealousy and frustration burn through me, but Mason walks right on by the front desk. He’s looking around, as if searching, and when his eyes land on me, he grins and waves.

“There you are!” he declares, strolling right up to my desk. “Haven thought you’d be here.”

“Hey, Mason,” I reply, standing and giving him a back slapping hug. “You’ve been looking for me?”

He returns the hug and then steps back and gives me a once over. Arching his brow, he gives me an amused grin. “I tried calling a few days ago, but you never got back to me. Pure coincidence that I was passing the library and saw you through the windows.” He chuckles. “I didn’t peg you for a bookworm.”

“Yeah, not usually, but I’m working on finishing my degree. Being here helps me focus.”

Or, it used to. Not so much anymore.

“Impressive,” Mason says. “You need a break? I wanted to see if you were up for hanging out with me tonight. It’s been so long since we’ve gone out and partied together. I thought it’d be fun—relive the glory days a bit.”

Chuckling, I shake my head. “I don’t know if I can survive reliving our glory days, man.”

“Ah, come on!” Mason urges. “I’ve been so busy since moving back that I haven’t had any time to hang with you!”

“It’s good to see you,” I assure him. “But, I’m just not sure…” I catch Marie’s gaze over Mason’s shoulder. She’s watching us, with pursed lips and furrowed brows. She doesn’t look happy and, she quickly jerks her gaze away and pretends to be busy. My heart sinks at her blatant attempt to ignore me. I look back to Mason and say, “Actually, you know what? A night out might be just what I need. The distraction could be good. I’m in.”

“Great,” Mason grins. “I’ll text you where, but shoot for a meeting at eight?”

“Sounds like a plan.”

Mason leaves shortly after that, and as he goes, I look back over to Marie. She has her head down, seemingly focused on something in front of her, but her jaw is clenched and her cheeks are red. Taking a deep breath, I cross to her and stand in front of the desk.

“Hey, um, Marie,” I begin. “Can we talk…?”

“Sorry, I can’t,” she says in a short tone, not bothering to glance up at me. “Too busy.”

“Look, I just want to clear the air…”

“Nothing to clear,” she snaps, gathering up a pile of books. “I need to get back to work.”

She turns and walks away into the back room, leaving me staring after her in stunned silence.

Fuck.

Sighing, I sit back down in my chair and try to focus on my work. Ally is shaking her head with an irritated expression.

“Ridiculous,” she grumbles.

I don’t bother to ask her what she means.

* * *

Carson’sis busy, which isn’t a surprise for a Friday night. Other roughnecks enjoy their time away from the fields. A few townies unwind after a long week, and plenty of girls mill around, laughing and flirting as they convince guys to buy them drinks. It’s the typical scene for this place on the weekends, and when I was younger, it’d be just what I’d need to unwind and have some fun.

As I settle at a table with Mason, a bottle of beer in my hand, I’m not as interested in being here. I want to hang out with Mason, sure, but I’m just not in the mood to deal with other people. The image of Marie’s face after Mason left the library earlier won’t leave my head and I feel oddly… guilty.

“Hey, man, you good?” Mason asks, pulling me from my gloomy thoughts.

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