Page 31 of Forever Your Touch

He’d lost his temper when she forked over half the bill. In hindsight, he shouldn’t have overreacted, but dammit, it pissed him off! His father taught him better than that, and he wasn’t about to stand there and let her be disrespected.

The line at the bathroom was long, and he really did have to piss, so he went outside and found the privacy of some bushes. When he was done, he looked back at the house, and the thought of Angela pawing him didn’t give him a good reason to go back inside. Instead, he found the darkest corner in the back yard and pulled out his phone.

No new messages from his brothers, so his papa hadn’t made it back to the States yet. That particular worry was heightening every emotion he felt these days. He should probably apologize to Jo for losing it.

It was after midnight, though. She was probably asleep.

Didn’t stop him from calling.

She picked up on the fifth ring, her sleepy voice a balm to his frazzled nerves.

“Mason?”

“Hey, JoJo.” His voice was only slightly slurred. Six beers and countless shots would do that to a person.

“Are you drunk, Mason?”

“Not nearly drunk enough to deal with Angela.” He yawned and plopped down on the ground, leaning against the fence. “You okay?”

“I’m fine. Why are you calling so late, and who is Angela?”

“Because you said you were sick, and I wanted to check on you. Angela is Jack’s girl’s friend or some shit.”

“She’s the girl you were with earlier?”

“Yeah.” He yawned around the word. “He suckered me into a blind date.”

“Not going well?”

“She’s clingy.” He cleared his throat. “I wanted to apologize too. I shouldn’t have gone off like I did on Ray. It’s just this thing with my papa has my temper flaring at the smallest things.”

“How is your dad? Any news?”

The concern in her tone eased some of the tension in his chest. She wasn’t overly mad at him. “Not yet. Conner hasn’t called to tell us when they’re coming.”

“I’m sorry.”

He let out a humorless laugh. “I’m the one who needs to apologize, not you, JoJo.”

“You’ve never called me that before.”

It was her YouTube screen name. He’d purposely not called her that so he wouldn’t seem like a star-struck fanboy. But…

“I’m drunk. Don’t hold it against me.”

“I’m sorry I blew up too.”

“You had every right. Is Ray still mad?”

“No clue. He left for work and didn’t say a word to me.”

“Work? I thought he did construction.”

“He does. They’re gonna be out of town every week for the next couple of months. He may not be home some weekends. He and Josh left tonight. They start tomorrow.”

“He left you alone for months?” He blinked, his vision blurring.

“He has to work, Mason.”

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