Page 22 of Sapphire Spring

“Is dread a sport?”

Mason went to ruffle Naser’s hair and encountered a solidplate of hair product that would have had him wiping his hand with a napkin ifhe’d been more sober. “Hey, listen, we lovedNas. Imean, look at those eyes. How could you not love those eyes?” Thesonthe end ofeyeslasted longer than it should have.

“What happened to relatively sober, Mason?” Fareena asked.

“One glass of wine. That’s all.”

Fareena pointed a manicured nail at him. “Thisisnot one glass of wine.”

Mason shrugged, as if to say,Women,amIrite?

He glared back at him, but what he was thinking was,DidMasonWortherjust compliment my eyes?

“All right, all right,” Mason slurred. “It’s true. We didkindagive Naser someshitin highschool. I mean, just aliitttllle”—Mason raised histhumb and forefinger as if he were indicating the world’s tiniest penis—“just a little shit, right?”

“Actually, more like awhoooollle”—Naserspread his hands as if indicating a giant loaf of still-baking bread, whichforced Mason to drop his arm from Naser’s shoulders and take an unsteady stepbackward—“lot of shit. Like a whole, whole footballfield ofshit.” He kept spreading his hands until hisarms were thrown open wide. “I mean just year after year afteryearofshit.”

Fareena gripped one of Mason’s shoulders to keep him fromstumbling into the swimming pool behind him. “Before this exchange drowns me inclass, may I ask how we’re definingshithere?”

Mason sputtered and waved a hand through the air in front ofhim. “Oh, you know. Just guy stuff. Right? Just guys being guys. And stupid. Youknow, stupid guys. Right,Nas?”

Maybe if he hadn’t looked to Naser for confirmation, forunearned split-second forgiveness, Naser could have held his tongue and let itslide. But MasonWortherwas as smug and arrogant andgood looking as he’d been back then. And Naser wasn’t a scared teenageranymore.

“Yeah,guy stuff. Like when you and your buddiesused an anonymous email account to write a letter to the assistant baseballcoach—who was a huge homophobe, by the way—and you pretended to be me andprofessed my sexually explicit love for him. Even though I was a minor and notout of the closet yet. That was an amazing piece of guy stuff that resulted inso manyamazingconversations with my mom. And the school.”

Mason’s mouth snapped shut. His labored breaths caused hischest to rise and fall. His crew had never been held responsible for thatlittle stunt, but this stunned reaction was all the confirmation Naser needed.

Fareena’s professional mask cracked down the middle. “JesusChrist, Mason.”

The guy swallowed and squinted as if Naser and Fareena wereflickering in and out of existence before his glassy eyes.

Then he cleared his throat. It seemed like an attempt togather himself, but the sound was so stuttering and weak it only made clear howwasted MasonWortherwas.

“What can I say? I’m a piece ofshit.”He shrugged as if the fact was too obvious to occasion comment. “And like allpieces ofshit, I should be flushed.SoI’m going to head out. You and I can settle our thinglater, Fareena. But for now, MasonWorther’sjustgonna—”

Mason was underwater before he could finish the sentence.He’d turned and walked right into the pool.

The splash wasn’t big enough to draw much attention.

In an instant, Naser and Fareena were slack-jawed, watchingthe man they’d just been talking to swim toward the pool’s opposite end,ducking under floating candles as he went. He’d only break the surface for asecond or two, like he thought he was invisible when submerged.

Jonas, who’d been conferring with security near the entranceto the restaurant, raced in the direction of Mason’s most likely destination.

Suddenly Naser was doused in Fareena’s elegant perfume. Herarms were around him. He returned the hug as best he could, but his head wasspinning. Maybe because he felt like he’d just stumbled out of a time machine.“I amsosorry,Nas. He asked if Pari had abrother, but I had no idea.”

“Are you guys dating?”

She rolled her eyes. “No. God, no. Wewerefucking, but that’s been over for a week. He owes me money,and I thought I’d have him pay off the debt by investing in Pari’s line.”

“Why does Pari need investors?”

Fareena’s eyes glazed over, and she sipped wine. “Oh, youknow, she’s just trying to raise some side money for some projects outside ofher comfort zone.”

“How does Bliss Network feel about that?”

Fareena sipped more wine. “They’re figuring it out.”

On the other side of the pool, Jonas, along with J.T. andKeoni from the security team, were swaddling Naser’s high school bully intowels they’d swiped from the cabanas. As they led him inside, Jonas lookedback, met Naser’s stare, and opened his arm in a clear gesture ofWhat justhappened with this guy?

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