Page 91 of Sapphire Spring

Despite his claim, Chadwick was dressed for a wild nightout—designer, quad-hugging jeans and a tailored bright purple dress shirtunbuttoned midway down the hard chest he always kept perfectly waxed. Mason hadgrown into his body after high school, but somehow Chadwick had managed to keephis almostexactly the same. His face was anotherstory. It was loaded up with fillers and injectionsin anattempt togive it contours his natural-born skull barely allowed.

Mason had avoided this moment for as long as he could. “I’msober now, C.”

“All right, well, we can fix that.” He patted his frontpocket, suggesting it had a nice fat eight ball of coke sitting in it. Asalways.

“No. I quit, Chadwick.”

The guy flinched, swallowed. “Wait…quit? Quitwhat?”

“Everything.”

“Everything.” Chadwick nodded in dumb shock. “Like…for howlong?”

“Forever.”

“Forever?What the fuck,dude? Why?”

“Because I was a mess.”

And here it was, one of the major reasons he’d been duckingthis conversation for so long. If Mason was a mess, what did that makeChadwick, his partner in crime?

The guy sputtered, batting his hands through the air infront of him. “You were late to work a few times. What’s the big—”

“I was late to work for five years.”

Chadwick studied the pavement.

“And I lost a job in LA most people would kill for,” Masonadded.

“So that’s why you hid the key?’Causeyou were afraid I was going to bust into yourhouse and start partying?”

“Isn’t that why you’re here?”

“The girls are at Lenny’s, waiting for us.”

“I don’t feel like hanging out with random girls tonight.”

“They’re not random. Starla was a Playboy Playmate, and Jennifersells vitamins based on your astrological sign or something.” Chadwick wincedsuddenly as if Mason’s denial of access had leveled a second blow. “You took mykey away, dude.What the fuck?”

“Look, I can’t have you just doing whatever you want in myhouse. Not right now. It’s a transitional period for me and it’s…it’s aboutrespecting boundaries, okay?”

“Boundaries? Jesus, fag. What, are wegirlsnow?”

“I don’t know what we are, okay?” Mason’s shout echoedacross the railroad tracks behind his house, up the palisade that towered overthe beach. Chadwick jerked like a gun had gone off. It was the slur that hadset Mason off. Chadwick said it just like Mason’s dad did, all venomouscontempt—a single syllable designed to shame and silence in an instant. “Idon’t know what you and I are when we aren’t blasting lines off my kitchencounter until three in the morning or going so hard on theweekendwe wake up at a house in Malibu with a bunch of people we don’t fucking know.And clearly you don’t either, which is why you’re freaking out because I don’twant to party ’till dawn on aTuesday.” Chadwick was stunned silent.“I just…need a breath here, okay? So would you relax and back off and maybetake no for an answer for the first time in your life?”

Headlights bounced across Chadwick’s stunned, horrifiedexpression. Mason heard the gate lift behind him.

A car slowed next to them, Shirley’s Tesla. He’d left herchatting in the hospital parking lot with two of her AA friends. Now she’dcaught up. She powered the passenger side window down, leaning sideways overthe armrest to get them both within view. “Everything all right here, boys?”

Chadwick stepped up to the car and gripped the edge of theopen window with both hands. “Everything’s fine, Grandma Moses. Run along nowbefore you miss the nightly news.”

Shirley’s jaw tensed, and her eyes blazed. “I wasn’t askingyou,squirt.”

Her eyes met Mason’s.

“I’m good,” he answered. “I’ll check in.”

Shirley nodded, then looked at Chadwick. “Get your hands offmy car,kid.”

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