Page 49 of The Ruthless and the Strong

Max

The sun was barely upwhen I got outside, and Mason was already out, waiting by his car.

He grinned when he caught sight of me, and he handed me a cup of coffee. “You look like shit.”

I grunted, taking a huge gulp of the warm coffee. “Thanks.”

His grin widened. “Got to keep you humble. We don’t want you to get a big head just because you’re pretty.”

I looked over at him, a small twist in my lips as I tried to keep the smile from showing on my face. “Pretty?”

He nodded. “Oh, yeah. Now come on, old man. I am ready to kick your butt at the gym.”

He moved to the driver’s side of the car before I could even say anything, and I shook my head, smiling a bit. Mason was in a good mood this morning. Which wasn’t all that surprising, considering how everything was going right in his life now. I wished I could say the same for myself.

But things were still pretty confusing, especially between Lizzie and me. We didn’t say anything more to each other that day, and after she let me hold her for a bit, she went back to drinking her coffee and our conversation was pretty light, avoiding any topics of the past, or her marriage, or even my mistakes. Then she went home, and I didn’t know where that left us.

I climbed in the car and buckled in, looking over at Mason. Despite our busy schedule, I tried to make some time with him every other day, going to the gym and doing a little workout or kickboxing before work.

“Ready?” he asked.

I nodded. “Yeah, I’m ready to kick your ass.”

He let out a snort at that. “Yeah, whatever you say.”

* * *

By the timeour session ended, we were both sweaty and breathing hard.

It was a draw, and though these sessions could get pretty intense between us, we tried not to inflict any serious injury to each other. But my little brother was a huge little fucker, and even though it was a draw, I knew I would be feeling the workout for the rest of the day.

He handed me a protein shake that he got from the membership counter. “Thanks, man,” I said, taking it from his hand. We were off in the corner on a bench in the gym. It was pretty isolated here, but we could still see the gym from this view. I took it in as it got more busy.

It was why we’d left the house so early, to avoid the busy hours when everyone was getting up.

“How are things?” Mason asked after a moment of silence. I paused mid-drink and took him in. Bringing the glass down, I held it on my lap.

“Good,” I answered.

“Yeah?”

“Yeah. Why do you ask?”

He didn’t answer me at first, just took a gulp of his drink and wiped the remnant of it away with the back of his hand. “How are you holding up now that Lizzie is back?”

“What do you mean?” I asked. I’d always wondered how much Mason actually picked up on when it came down to my feelings for Lizzie. I thought I hid it well, but after that night when we went and crashed girls’ night, I wasn’t sure, especially since he had been making those comments about Lizzie being my woman. But she wasn’t mine. She never had been, and now that she was home, I questioned whether I should even try anything with her.

I wasn’t good enough for her, and what was even more so was that I wasn’t good enough for Hunter. I couldn’t be selfish with them.

Mason played with the condensation on his glass. “You know, there was a time in your life when you shared everything with me.”

“We’re not little kids anymore. There’s no reason to share everything with each other.”

He smiled a little at that. “I know. Doesn’t mean I don’t miss it.”

I didn’t think he realized that I stopped sharing everything with him that night at the cabin when we cornered Terrance Hughes and I forced the man to commit suicide. Technically, it wasn’t by my hand, but I hadn’t given him a choice. Not with the videos I gathered on him. Videos that would damage his career and reputation. Videos that would send him away for a long time, and he knew prison inmates didn’t look too kindly upon child predators.

Mason hadn’t been his only victim. He wasn’t even the first.

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