Page 83 of When We Were Reckless
“I don’t even know why you brought it up.”
He rubbed the back of his neck, his eyes not meeting mine. I knew Mason. He was hiding something. I crossed my arms over my chest and waited for him to speak.
Mason winced. “I talked to her yesterday.”
I stared at him, trying to process what he’d just said. “Youtalkedto Alessia. Why the fuck would you do that?”
“She called the brewery. It’s not the first time she called either.”
“So what? You’ve been chatting with my ex all summer?” My eyes narrowed on him. “How fucking cozy. Are you having phone sex too? Did you two make plans to hook up—”
Mason held up his hand, cutting me off. “Stop right the fuck there. You know damn well I’d never go there. But like I said, feelings don’t magically disappear. Otherwise, you’d have a completely different reaction.”
Chastised, I lowered my head and rubbed the back of my neck. I knew he’d never do something like that, but I wouldn’t put it past Alessia to insinuate herself into Mason’s life just to get closer to me. Knowing her, she was probably plotting new and innovative ways to fuck up my life.
“Why didn’t you just hang up on her?”
“I don’t know. She was crying and shit. She kept going on and on about how she fucked up and how much she loved you—"
“Love?” I asked incredulously. “She doesn’t know what love is. All she ever did was use me.”
I worked my jaw, trying to contain my anger. I didn’t even know who I was angry with. I thought I’d put all this behind me, but just the mention of her name made all the muscles in my body tense and my hands balled into fists. I flexed my hands and shook out my arms, attempting to loosen up.
“Sorry I mentioned it.”
I was sorry I ever met her. “Sorry you had to deal with her shit.”
“No problem.”
I pulled on my helmet and gloves. Time to ride.
It was the only way to get this shit out of my system.
“Uncle Jesse!”
My gaze swung to Noah as he darted through the trees. He came to a stop in front of me, a big smile on his face. I took a deep breath and forced a smile. “Hey, buddy. What’s up?”
“We came to watch.” He jerked his thumb over his shoulder at Jude, trailing behind with Levi riding on his shoulders. When Jude set him down, Levi ran over to us on his little toddler legs.
He barreled right into me and wrapped his arms around my legs, looking up at me with his big blue eyes. I knew what he wanted. I lifted him off the ground and over my head, then dipped him down low and spun him around, pretending he was an airplane, sounds and all.
Levi loved this game. He was laughing so hard his whole body shook.
So carefree. So filled with joy. Not a care in the world. Some days I’d give anything to be a kid again.
When I set him on the ground, he stumbled around like a drunk for a minute before he landed on his butt, kicking up a cloud of dust. A second later, he was back on his feet again, running in circles with his hands balled into fists, pretending to rev the engine. “Vroom, vroom, vroom.”
We all laughed at his antics.
“Jump! Jump! Jump!” Levi jumped up and down, clapping his hands. Purple stains decorated his yellow T-shirt, and I suspected they were from a grape popsicle, his favorite flavor. He looked so much like Jude, with the same shade of brown hair that curled up at the ends and dimples in his cheeks.
“I think he wants you to do some jumps,” Noah said, speaking for his little brother while Mason and Jude exchanged greetings.
I chuckled. “Yeah. I got that.”
“I’m gonna take off. I need to get back to work.” Mason bumped his fist against mine, and I felt a twinge of guilt. He was my closest friend, and he’d been forced to deal with my ex. Meanwhile, I was going behind his back and fucking his little sister.
Shit.
