Page 24 of Mason
I glance back out the windows of the balcony door and wish I hadn’t.Duke.He joins Mason on the balcony, giving him a weird look. “What the fuck are you doing out here?” His question is barely audible through the door, but I hear him nonetheless.
“Just watching our girl in action.” Mason juts his chin my direction, and I don’t know why I haven’t felt the need before, but I cross my arms over my chest, swallowing hard.
My face burns, flames licking at it as Duke’s eyes find me. They widen, and his jaw tightens. In two steps he’s at the door and throwing it open. “What the fucking fuck, you motherfucker!”
Bear holds his hand out, growling, “I see you’re pissed, but can we talk about this some other time when my dick isn’t still hard?”
Mason stifles a laugh behind his hand, his expression gleeful. Of course, he would think this is funny. Meanwhile, testosterone is being flung around like confetti, and these two are about to have a pissing match right here in my bedroom.
“Why the hell are you here?” Duke’s jaw twitches like mad, his glare focused on Bear.
Bear grits his teeth, sitting up in the bed. “First, did you have a reason for being here, or are you simply in asshole mode today? She doesn’t need your crap. We all had a long night.”
Eyeing the surly grimace on Duke’s face, I hold up a hand. “You don’t have to defend me, Bear. If Duke wants to be a dick, he can, but it’ll be his funeral because I won’t put up with it.”
Duke’s flinty blue gaze meets mine as he grits out, “What’s he doing in your room, Lennon?”
I frown at his audacity, tilting my head to the side and squinting at him because I can’t for a second figure out why he thinks this is any of his business at all.Fucker.He’s got a helluva lot of nerve. “And who are you to say who I allow in my bed? You were told to make sure I went to class and behaved. I must have missed the special clause about you getting to watch me fuck.” The blood in my veins heats quickly to the boiling point. My eyes flick to Bear’s, catching his surprised expression, but I rush on before any of them can say a word. “I must have missed the memo whereanyof you get to come into my room uninvited. You”—I jab a finger first at Duke, then at Mason—“and you. Get. Out.”
Mason holds his hands up in front of him. “No problem. I’ll let you two get back to it. But, Bear, next round? Try to get your dick inside her pussybeforeyou come.” He gives Bear an obnoxious wink, laughing to himself as he backs out through the open balcony door and disappears from view.
Duke shakes his head, his lips twisting. “I’m hitting the treadmill.” He strides quickly to the door, then pauses to toss back, “The incident last night? We’re going to need to talk about that, eventually. It put the entire house in an uproar.”
Before I can formulate a response, he’s down the hall and back in his room, the door slamming behind him like punctuation to his statement.
I turn toward Bear, a tight smile on my face.
Bear’s head tilts to the side, studying me, his warm hazel eyes taking in every nuance of my expression. “Lennon—”
I can’t handle questions right now, and I know he has some, but also that he’s probably going to try to make me feel better about what transpired over the last few minutes… or maybe make himself feel better about it. I don’t know. Either way, I can’t go there right now, don’t want his kindness because if there is something thatwillbreak me it’s that. So fucking stupid. I shake my head, closing my eyes for a brief second. “Please. It’s okay. I’m fine. You and I both know nothing crazy was going on in here. I just, um, I’m going to grab a shower and get dressed. You said to be ready to leave the house at eight thirty?”
He lets out a sigh. “Just so you know, I think you should expect some comments this morning. About last night. Prepare yourself.” He climbs from the bed, the hint of a boner still tenting his joggers.
* * *
I scoot downstairs at eight.The house is alive and crawling with brothers, which is exactly what I was hoping to avoid. But hell, the problem isn’t really who’s present now, it’s who was present last night—which is pretty much every single person. They’re mostly gathered in the kitchen and dining room, and of course, speaking so loudly that it’d be hard to miss a damn word they said. And I’m definitely beginning to learn their voices. It’s a good thing, too, because they’re talking shit aboutme.I guess Bear knew what he was talking about when he warned me.
“It was freaky.” That was that sophomore, Brendan.
His buddy Pierre snickers, “Yeah, but did ya see her outfit?”
“She was asleep, dumbass.” That’d be Warren, I think. “Did you expect her to get dressed before she wandered the house and then outside, all while unconscious?” Definitely Warren. I think I like that guy.
There’s a cackle, followed by a rude, “I don’t fucking care. I was watching from my bedroom once they got her turned back toward the house. And damn, those tits were swinging freely.” There’s a muffled noise followed by a yelp. “What the fuck. What was that for?” That little asshole Arik is the worst, I swear.
“You know what? If you can’t figure it out, maybe we can find some toilets for you to clean. And unlike Duke, who would make you use your own toothbrush, I’ll make you use your tongue, motherfucker.”
My eyes widen.Mason.Defending me? I’d rather not let any of them talk smack behind my back, so I walk in, head held high. “I feel like I’m late to the conversation. Anyone want to give me a recap?” I look around expectantly.
Mason looks pointedly at each of the douchebags who’d had something mouthy to say. “Don’t worry about it. They won’t be saying another word, will you?”
There’s suddenly a whole lot of head shaking, even from the guys who hadn’t said a damn word. I guess no one wants to lick a toilet, and that says a whole lot about what they think about Mason—in particular, what they think he’s capable of.
Duke comes into the room behind me. “What’s going on?” He scans the group, pointing to Warren. “You. Tell me.”
Warren works his jaw back and forth, stalling, but then he finally sighs. “At the risk of sounding like a fuckin’ tattle, I’ll just say some of these guys had rude things to say about Lennon’s sleepwalking incident.” He meets my eyes. “Sorry. I hope you’re feeling okay today.”
I nod. “I’m fine. Thanks.”
