Page 2 of Mason
And fuck this, they’re talking about me in there. Hearing the volume of the voices in the other room slowly beginning to rise, I kick off my flip-flops and shoot from the step. On quiet bare feet, I creep toward the room they disappeared into. Cautiously, I lean in, barely able to make out their distinct voices through the door.
“You’ll take responsibility for her. Watch her. I’m not asking. This is the way it’s going to be if you want to maintain your position in this house,” growls Tristan.
“She’s not staying here.” Duke’s voice is a low rumble. “No fucking way. I have my hands full with the incoming freshmen this year. They’re due any fucking minute.”
“You will. And you’ll see to it that she goes to classes and does well. Keep her in line. She’s been sneaking out of the house, and I don’t know where she’s been or what she’s been up to. But I think dangling the carrot of a solid education in front of her, well, it’ll be what we need to keep her here.”
“Awesome. So, you’re saddling me with her for the entire year? Fuck this!”
Tristan’s voice is calmer. Deadly calm. “Like I said, you’ll do as I say. It’s necessary.”
My brows pinch, confusion weighing heavy on my mind. Then there’s the sound of what I think is a hand slamming down on something, but I have no way of knowing who did it or what they hit. A desk, maybe? My heart thunders in my chest. I don’t understand...
Several seconds go by with no noise at all, and I’m torn between returning to the step and staying where I am. Before I can decide, Duke mumbles, “This is going to be a goddamn disaster.”
Whatever Tristan’s talking about, he doesn’t say it loudly enough for me to hear. I strain closer, gripping either side of the doorframe and placing my ear directly on the door. “Go ahead, require anything of her that you’d put the grunts through.”
My eyes go wide, and my heart rate ratchets higher.Shit. Grunts?What on earth?
“What are you doing?”
The smooth voice behind me makes me simultaneously yelp and jump in place, almost forcing me out of my skin. I whirl around, breath heaving from me as my gaze connects with a pair of chocolate-brown eyes. I sigh in relief, but there’s an odd light to them that sets me off-kilter. It’s distinctly possible I’d be better off in the office with the other two.
I go to back up but find I’m trapped between this guy and the solid hardwood door behind me. I lose all track of the conversation I’d been listening to. He leans in, the longish hair on the top of his head sweeping over his dark brow while his forearm plants above my head. I blink hard, unsure what to do. I don’t know who he is but can only assume he lives here. He’s got about half a foot of height on my five-foot-seven, and as I peer up at him, his tongue peeks out to slide slowly along his perfectly full lower lip as he assesses me.
It’s mesmerizing. I stutter out a breath, finally dragging my eyes up to meet his, and as I do, he shifts, bending at the hip to bring our noses—he wears a small silver hoop there that I find totally sexy—within an inch of each other. His breath feathers over my lips, smelling of mint and something I can’t quite place.
“I asked you a question,” he says softly. His tone shouldn’t scare me, but it kinda does. My stomach drops as his free hand lands on my black tank, just below the valley between my breasts. Steadily, it moves upward.
I should scream. I should tell him to stop. But all words are caught in my throat, and I’m powerless to set them free. Entranced, I stare into his eyes as his hand moves slowly, my chest rising and falling with shallow breaths. “I—”
When I don’t finish, his jaw twitches, his lip curling ever so slightly. “Were you sent here to punish me?” His fingers crest the top of my tank top, then skim over my collarbone before he grasps the front of my neck. “Answer me,” he rasps as his grip tightens. “Fucking answer me.”
TWO
LENNON
This guy isnotplaying around.We’re so close, he focuses first on one of my eyes, then the other as I struggle to pull air into my lungs. My heart picks up speed, pounding so hard, I wonder if he can hear it. I don’t know what he sees when his gaze roves over me with those sinfully decadent brown eyes, but whatever it is isn’t good. His strong fingers clench reflexively for another moment before he reluctantly releases me and backs away, leaving me to find support for my trembling body against the door.
Now that I can finally breathe since the asshole no longer has my oxygen cut off, I gulp in a breath and am ready to fire back at him when all at once the door behind me is forcefully yanked open, and I’m freefalling into nothing. An undignified noise escapes me as I land in strong arms and am scooped up before I can hit the unforgiving hardwood floor. Blinking up at my savior, I realize with dismay that it’s Duke.Fuck.I groan internally, but quickly admit to myself that his dad coming to my rescue wouldn’t have been one iota better.
“She was listening at the door,” the jackass offers with an uncaring smirk and a shrug. “I told her it was a bad idea, but she didn’t seem to want to listen.” His body language is very muchI don’t give a fuck,even with my stepfather glowering.
“Deal with her,” Tristan grunts, shaking his head as he steps around us and walks out the door.
Rude asshole.And he’s leaving me here with these two. I hardly know Duke and already have a ton of misgivings about his friend.
Duke dumps me unceremoniously from his hold, his lips pursing in displeasure as his brows pitch sharply at his father’s command. With every step that carries his father away from us, his jaw hardens. From the foyer, the sound of the door slamming shut makes me jump.
What the fuck kind of craziness have I been dropped into? This dynamic between them that I’ve just witnessed is far different from anything I’ve seen from them on the few occasions our blended family has been together. Whenever Duke came home from KU for holidays or breaks, each interaction between father and son had seemed oddly… polite. So this? It’s caught me off guard, almost as if they’d been putting on a show for my mother and me.
Several seconds later, Duke’s gaze flicks to the dark-haired guy—haven’t forgotten for a second what he’d uttered right before I fell through the doorway—and gives him a cold glare. “Don’t say it, Mason.”
“What? That you’re busy jerking your daddy’s—”
“Better than what you deal with, I’d wager. But how about we set that aside for the moment, huh?” The tension spikes between them as Duke’s blue eyes glitter with ice-cold hatred. Those same eyes then dart toward me, and I swear he’s trying to signal Mason to shut up, no matter that they seem to not like each other very much.
I don’t claim to understand the relationship between these two, but it doesn’t matter. There’s no way this is going to be my life for the next year. I don’t need or want a babysitter. Tristan can pay for my college degree if he really wants to, as I’m sure it’s the image he wants to present to the rest of the world, but I sure as fuck don’t have to put up with Duke, this guy Mason, or anyone else who materializes inside this beautiful hellhole. I cock my head to the side and let my lips twist, drawing his attention to them. “Don’t worry. No way in fuck I’m staying here with you clowns. I’ll find a spot in a dorm.” I can’t resist reaching out to pat Duke’s smooth cheek and watch with satisfaction as his eyes widen from the surprise of it, especially when I let my hand linger.
