Page 12 of Sapphire Spring

He had no choice but to see the situation in a new way—as anopportunity.

An opportunity to kill two birds with one stone, and maybewalk away feeling better than he had on most mornings since he’d been forced tomove back home after drinking his way out of a plum gig in LA.

Mason nodded and raised his hands in a gesture of defeat.“Deal.”

Looking skeptical, she seemed to gauge his sincerity withcold eyes. Having seen what she needed tosee,she droppedher phone back into her purse.

“See you Friday.”

When she was gone, part of his stomachache seemed to haveleft with her.

Was it just the excitement of having a goal, a project, asudden plan?

Twenty thousand dollars was a lot of money, but maybe he couldnegotiate a different figure if he stayed sober like she asked, put his bestfoot forward. And maybe he could make things right with Fareena and Naser atthe same time. Two birds with one stone and all that.

And then, maybe, he’d stop whispering Naser’s name in hissleep.

Or maybe he wanted to see Naser again for a very differentreason.

Eleven Years Ago

Mason wasn’t a liar.

Omissions, he believed, didn’t count as lies, so if theprice of being one of the most popular guys in high school meant keeping yourmouth shut about how much you wanted to kiss another guy, then so be it. But onthisparticular morning, Mason’s pants might as wellhave been on fire.

He’d straight-up lied to his two favorite running backs.There was no way around it.

The workout he was currently putting them through hadn’tcome from the pages ofMen’s Fitness. And no, Hugh Jackman hadn’t usedit to get Wolverine’s abs. The truth was, Mason had designed the frenziedintervals himself in hopes of distracting and exhausting his partners in crimebefore the bell rang for first period. So far, it was working like a charm. Acharm bathed in sweat.

Both guys had torn through the first few sets of push-upburpees in record time. But they were losing momentum now, their cheeks flamingred, their biceps flushed and bulging.

Nearby, Mason paced, not too far from where he’d thrownthe winning pass against the Tustin High Ramblers the Friday before. He waspretending to time them on his stopwatch, butreallyhe was counting the minutes until school started. If the guys didn’t bailbefore then, Naser Kazemi would make it safely to class, having been spared theusual bullying their crew gave him every morning.

And since everything they’d done to Naser for years nowwas basically Mason’s fault, it was the least he could do.

On the guy’s first day at Laguna Mesa High, Mason hadsidled up to him in the hallway, instantly drawn by the sassy swing in hiswalk, the scent of his elegant cologne—way nicer than the Axe Body Spray mostof the guys at their school spritzed themselves with—and his first glimpse ofthe guy’s beautiful brown eyes. For an instant, he thought he’d be able tocurve an arm around the little dude’s shoulders and play the whole thing off asa friendly hello to the transfer student. But when he saw the stunned looksChadwick and Tim were giving him, he realized how badly he’d messed up and usedthat same arm to steer the new kid headfirst into the nearest empty locker.

From then on, they were off and running. Knocking Naserinto walls, tearing his backpack off his shoulder and tossing it yards down thehallway before he could react. One time, Chadwick banged theshitout of the guy’s PE lock while he was showering, leaving it so mangled therewas no way he could open the locker and get to his clothes. Then he’d stolenthe towels from the locker room, giving Naser no choice but to strike out insearch of help, naked as the day he was born. But somehow, their target hadmanaged not to expose himself to the other students that day, which haddisappointed Mason’s buddies to no end.

And what had Mason done to stop it? Not much. As usual.

While he always tried to keep their antics fromescalating to dangerous levels, he hadn’t done squat to dial it down, terrifiedthat if he spoke up, his two best friends would realize what had reallyhappened on Naser’s first day was a total loss of no-homo composure triggeredby feelings Mason didn’t want to name, feelings that terrified him more thanthe prospect of losing a championship game.

Still, the flutter in his chest Naser Kazemi gave himdidn’t mean he was into guys.

At least that’s what he told himself every night as he lookedfor sleep on the ceiling of his bedroom. Hell, when Susie Hollingsworth’sparents had gone on that trip last summer, he’d spent a whole weekend with herdoing stuff that would have made her parents weep, and he’d enjoyed everyminute. If Susie wasn’t lying, he’d been pretty good at most of it too. He wasa ladies’ man, for sure.

So Naser made his pulse race. So what? It didn’t mean hewas a guys’ man too.

The whole thing was easy enough to explain. Naser Kazemiwas pretty, and pretty was something girls were, and so the parts of Naser thatturned Mason on were the parts that reminded Mason of a girl.

Enough said.

Then, just a few months earlier, Naser had decided togrow a mustache, a mustache that had filled Mason’s head with thoughts of whatit would be like to kiss someone who had one. Thoughts that made the sides ofhis face tingle and his neck get hot.

Way more than enough said, and in a frightened voice inMason’s head that not even a few beers stolen from his dad’s stash could quiet.

“How many more, dude?” Chadwick asked, breathless.

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