The Price of Mason (Forbidden Men 10)

I had to play this cool. Smart. Low-key.

Approaching Reese in public was probably what had gotten me into all this trouble in the first place. But I figured if I shied away from her now and kept my distance that would raise a bigger flag to Patricia, making her think I was trying to protect Reese. But if I continued to hang out with her as if I wasn’t worried about her safety, it would send Patricia the message that I didn’t care as much as Monica might’ve made her think I did.

At least, I hoped that was how it would play out. No matter what I did, it was a risk either way, one that made me break out in a cold sweat whenever I thought about it. I didn’t want Reese falling victim to anything Patricia-related.

But Patricia knew me; she knew the lengths I would go to for the people important to me. And whenever Monica told her what I’d done just now in that office, because of Reese, she would know my first instinct now would be to stay as far away from Reese as possible in an attempt to show that I wasn’t into her. Meaning, I had to do the exact opposite of my instincts.

It felt all kinds of wrong, but it also felt like the safest bet. Besides, if I stayed closer to her, maybe I could divert Patricia’s punches before she threw them.

So…

The next day at lunch between classes, I approached Reese again, my palms sweating the entire time, hoping this plan didn’t backfire like the last one had.

Eva Mercer sat next to her, which normally would’ve kept me away, but I had to make this look real—casual—and not like I wanted to flirt. A friendly encounter. Ergo, Mercer’s presence might actually help. Nothing about Mercer being around would put me in a flirty mood.

I blew out a long breath as I moved close enough to hear their conversation. They were talking about a party when I sat on the empty bench seat at the table across from them, surprising them both. When I stole one of Reese’s chili cheese fries, because that seemed like something a friend might do and because I just liked to tease her, she rewarded me by sassing back about my thievery.

Instant warmth filled my chest, and I realized the true reason why I was here.

I could tell myself all I liked that I only wanted to protect her and keep her out of a bad situation that I might’ve put her in, but the fact of the matter remained: I just wanted to be around her, to learn more about her, to simply be able to look at her up close and see the details of her smile, hear all the different inflections in her laugh, experience the warmth of her joy.

I was freaking hooked.

When Eva rudely tried to shoo me away, it didn’t take Reese long to realize her friend and I had some serious beef with each other.

“Okay, okay, okay,” she broke in, waving a hand to interrupt. “I’m sensing a disturbance in the Force between you two. Is there some kind of history here I’m not aware of?” Then she gasped. “Oh my God. You two have slept together, haven’t you?”

Impressed she could sense a personal difference between us so quickly, I shook my head even as I internally frowned over the very idea of me and Mercer ever hooking up. “Wow,” I told her. “Your curiosity has no filter whatsoever, does it?”

I guess I didn’t answer her question sufficiently enough because she scowled at me before turning to Eva. “E?”

“It’s nothing,” Eva muttered, growing engrossed in a planner she was flipping through.

Reese sighed and lifted her eyebrows expectantly at me.

“What?” I asked, pulling back, not liking her probing stare. It made me want to confess all my sins. Except none of them had anything to do with Eva Mercer. “She said it was nothing.”

To which Eva sniffed and slapped her planner shut. “Nothing?” s

he screeched incredulously before whirling to Reese. “Okay, fine. One night at a party about, oh, a year ago, I’d had a little too much to drink and I ended up throwing myself at him.” Her gaze pierced me with a hateful squint. “And he turned me down. Flat.”

Her glare seemed to say, how dare the worthless hooker think he was too good to be with me?

I narrowed my gaze right back, because to me, it had been a kind, chivalrous gesture, not something to hate me over. “And she proceeded to call me a pretentious bastard for it,” I told Reese.

“Well, you are,” Eva muttered.

“…who had no right to act so self-righteously because I’m nothing but a high-priced whore with a pretty face, who’ll end up an overweight, broke, balding no one by the time I’m forty.” I lifted my eyebrows Eva’s way. “Isn’t that how you worded it?”

With a gasp, Reese pressed her hand to her chest. “You called him a whore?”

I grinned, always pleased when she defended me.

Eva merely shrugged, unrepentant. “He is a whore.”

I flashed out my hand in a see-what-I-mean gesture for Reese. “So that’s what I get for trying to be a gentleman and not take advantage of the stumbling, slurring drunk girl.” I picked up the cup Reese had been drinking from and took a big sip through the straw, only to pull back and wince. “What is this?”

Reese wrinkled her nose at me. “It’s a diet cola.”