Page 113 of Wild Thing

“That’s bullshit, brother. I never saw you look at Zara the way you looked at Karli. And the way she looked at you—I could almost hear angels singing when she looked at you. I don’t know what happened between you two, but you need to fix it.”

I want to fix it so damn bad. But this is one of those things that can’t be fixed. It’s too much of a damn mess.

“I understand that you guys like Karli. It’s impossible not to like her. But I don’t think she wants me. I did everything I could do to make things work between us. She’s not interested.” I chomp into a piece of rubbery toast, just about ready to give up on life.

There’s a long silence and I’m hopeful that the girls have finally got the message, that they’ll finally give me a break.

But then Maya speaks again. “Did you write her a poem?”

My eyebrows jerk up.Huh?“Um, no.”

“Did you put your feelings for her into a song?” Ruby wants to know.

“No. I didn’t put my feelings into a song.”

“Did you paint her face on a mural overlooking town square?”

“What? You know I can’t draw for shit.”

“Did you spray-paint her name on the side of the police station? Did you do that? Did you at least do that?”

“Why are you trying to get me arrested? I thought you lunatics liked me.”

Maya takes a breath. “Well, Mason, every now and then, a person’s got to get arrested in the name of love. It’s not the end of the world.”

I chuckle. “Obviously the two of you have been reading too many Emma Westbrook romance novels.”

“True,” Ruby hedges. “But that’s not the point.”

“What’s the point?” I say, humoring her.

“The point is, you don’t get to say that you tried everything to make it work when you haven’t tried everything to make it work,” she says. “Just be honest with yourself. Admit that you’re too scared toreallyput yourself out there. Toreallygo after what you want.”

Maya chimes in. “You don’t get to lie here in a comatose state, feeling sorry for yourself because the outcome you want didn’t automatically fall into your lap. You’ve got to be willing to fight for it. You need to try again, Mason.”

“Jeez—since when are you such a hard ass?” I fling a pillow at Maya’s face. “And you? You’remean.” I glare at Ruby.

They just laugh at me.

Maya flings the pillow right back at me, knocking my piece of toast right out of my hand. “A wise man once said to me, ‘If a guy is worthy of you, he’ll put in the work. He’ll make it clear what he wants, and he’ll go after it. And he won’t let anything stop him until he gets it.’

The words spin around in my head. They sound familiar. “Wait—didn’tIsay that?”

Maya rolls her eyes. “I said awise man. That’s not you. You’re being a dumbass right now.”

Ouch!“Okay, I’ve had enough of you. Both of you,” I say, hating the mirror they’ve thrown up in my face.

Giggling, they head for the door.

“Good luck, big brother.” Ruby exits first, giving me two thumbs up.

Maya follows behind her, pausing briefly at the threshold. “We love you, Mason, even when you’re being a dumbass. And we’re proud of you no matter what. But the ‘wise man’ version of you is in there, buried deep down, I promise. I think it might be a good idea to go looking for him.” A kind smile unfolds across her face. “Take another swing, brother. And this time, put some muscle behind it.” Then, she’s gone.

Their words are really sinking into my skull. But what do they know about relationships anyway? What about obligations? Loyalty and honor? What do they know about any of that?

They’re just my little sisters, after all. They don’t get it.

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