Page 21 of Mason
As if the reminders aren’t seared into my very being. Punched into my soul.
TWELVE
BEAR
My knuckles hurt like a motherfucker,but that’s always the way of it. I grip the steering wheel hard, feeling the sting of a couple split knuckles. I’m bone-weary and exhausted when I pull up at the house. It’s late—one in the damn morning—and we’ve got our first day of classes tomorrow. Do you think my father gives a shit?No.Everything continues right on schedule, as usual. Doesn’t matter if I’m sick or in the middle of finals or even if Coach Cambridge told us to rest. If my father sets it up, I’m expected to be there. And I’m expected—no, wait, more like it’s demanded of me—to fuckin’ win.
At least when I checked over our class schedules earlier—even Lennon’s—I discovered no one had a class until nine, so at least we can take our time getting out the door. I feel bad that she’s so lost and has no idea what’s happening with her first day, but she holed up in her room after telling us exactly what she thought about this entire situation during lunch, and I felt it was best to give her the time to herself.
As I pull up the driveway, I note that all lights are off. I told Mason and Duke to stay back tonight, which is an anomaly because they always come to watch me—they’re my support system—but I’d been concerned about leaving Lennon alone, even if she didn’t want to come out of her room. I doubt any of them spoke to each other the entire time I was out of the house.
I exhale heavily. This is going to be one long-ass year if we have to deal with these two motherfuckers and their inability to communicate effectively or see reason, especially when their issues mix with Lennon’s. Stir that shit up, and this brotherhood is set to be obliterated by all of it.
I’m not innocent in this mess, either. I might not be half off my rocker or angry to be saddled with my stepsister, but I have my own problems, and they’ll exacerbateeverything.
I should walk away. No one ever thinks the jock is the smart guy. And if I were wiser, maybe I would, but I can’t. Not now. Not anymore.
The idea of leaving Lennon alone to fend for herself tonight while I was out had been worrisome. Mason and Duke are my friends, sure, but Lennon—that sassy hellcat brings another layer of difficulty and strain into our already delicate friendship balance.
I wish I knew what’d happened among the three of them while I was talking to a few of my football teammates at the party. It’d gotten glossed over when that dickhead Chris tried to put his hands on Lennon and all hell had broken loose. I can’t get a good read on any of them, but the vibe in the house has definitely changed.
I let out a hard breath and, slipping from the SUV, I grab my duffel out of the back and sling it over my shoulder, then jog up the steps and let myself in, carefully punching the code into the alarm panel to the side of the door to reset it. Ambling to the kitchen for a bottle of water, I take notice of every sore muscle in my body. If it’s this bad now, I’m really going to be feeling it by tomorrow. The overhead light flickers on as I flip the switch.
Movement to my right has me jerking in place. “Jesus.”
It takes me a second while my heart is up in my throat to recognize that it’s just Warren, probably one of the only decent souls in this place. He’s got a tumbler of amber-colored liquid in front of him and a glassy-eyed look that tells me he’s three sheets to the wind. He lifts a hand. “Hey.”
“What the hell are you doing down here? It’s late.”
“I know.” He groans, and it’s a miserable sound. “Maria and I had a, um, a disagreement.”
I nod. The girlfriend.Again.“That sucks.” He and Maria have an argument just about every other week like clockwork. He gets clingy, she gets bored, they fight. She realizes no one else will put up with her shit, he takes her back, clinging to her again. Wash, rinse, repeat. I feel for the guy, but he really should find someone who appreciates him and doesn’t get bored with him wanting to spend every waking moment with her. My advice would be to cut ties with her. He can do better, but I’m afraid he won’t listen or take it well. “You got an early class tomorrow?”
Warren takes another sip of his drink, moaning with a nod. “Yeah. An eight o’clock. The only thing saving me from banging my head against this counter is that it’s actually a class I’ll enjoy.” He frowns through the haze of alcohol. “What’d you do to your hands?”
I glance down at them. They are a mess. “Happened at practice. No big deal. You should get some sleep. Come on. I’m heading up in a sec, too.”
He tips the glass to his lips and roughly swallows the rest. “Yeah. You’re right.” Slipping off the stool he’d been sitting on, he wanders back down the hall.
I shake my head. If it’s not one thing around here, it’s another. Definitely don’t need him getting too curious about what I’m up to on a Sunday night. It obviously wasn’t football practice, but he’s too drunk to care, which is fine with me. I pull a bottle of water from the fridge and follow him. At the top of the stairs, he turns left. His room is the first on the left, sharing a wall with Duke’s. Mine’s on the other side of Duke’s at the very end, across from Lennon’s.
I can’t fucking wait to fall into bed, though I’ll probably read for a bit before my eyes get tired, and I give myself over to sleep.
The quiet padding of bare feet going down the opposite stairwell has my head snapping up.What the?I pause on the steps, squinting across the darkened entryway. It’s Lennon. I lift my hand in greeting, but she continues down the stairs in some sort of short-and-camisole pajama set. Fuckin’ weird that she’d be wandering around at this hour. Maybe she needs something to eat. I don’t claim to know her that well yet, but I have the distinct feeling she wouldn’t have left her room for dinner with everyone around. Not after this afternoon. She’d been really pissed off. I reach the landing and glance back down to see her stumble a bit, but then keep right on going.
I don’t like it.
I jog down the hall to my room, drop my bag and the bottle of water on the bed, and hurriedly strip out of my T-shirt, swiping it over my body and face to remove most of the sweat, grime, and blood from this evening’s activities. I drop it on the floor in my haste and hurry back out, heading downstairs. I take them two at a time, then dash down the hall to the kitchen. This time, when I flip on the light, I fully expect to find Lennon here, but instead find it empty. I frown, my concern ratcheting higher with each passing second and each room I duck into.
I feel it in my gut. Something’s not right.Click.That’s the sound made by the latch on the heavy front door disengaging. It has me freezing in place. Everyone knows not to open the door unless they have the code, and she definitely doesn’t have the code. Maybe it’s someone else coming in that I wasn’t aware was out.
Beep. Beep. Beep.The warning tones that our alarm system makes just before it triggers begin to sound.Beep. Beep. Beep.My breath hitches in my throat as I run toward the entry, catching sight of Lennon in her sleep shorts and top through the wide-open door as she begins her descent down the stairs from the house.The fuck! She knows damn well she’s not supposed to leave the house.Tell me I’m not going to have to chase her ass down again. I suck in a breath and shout, “Lennon! Stop!”
But she doesn’t, and the alarm blares before I can get to the panel to disarm it, sending off several blasts of noise into the night. Skidding to a stop, I jab at the numbers with one impatient finger. A large commotion from upstairs tells me the brotherhood has stirred and are in the process of exiting their rooms to find out what the hell is going on.
But watching Lennon, a chill races down my spine. It’s as if she doesn’t hear a damn thing. The way she’s walking without flinching across the asphalt driveway where there are assorted rocks and debris gives me pause. What the hell? That’s gotta hurt her bare feet.
Mason and Duke are with Warren, hurtling down the left staircase. Duke grits his teeth and points at the grunts, growling at Warren to make them stay put on the landing. The three sophomores, Kai, Brendan, and Pierre cautiously come partway down the other staircase located closer to their wing and stay there to watch the action. Tucker is the only one missing, and he sleeps like the dead, so I don’t expect that motherfucker to make an appearance at all. One time he slept through the mandatory fire drill the university requires us to perform every year.
