Damn. I might love this girl.
Because the light inside her had to be so fucking bright it had helped me see through my darkness too. This past week, I hadn’t felt as miserable and downtrodden as I usually did. I had just been…happy. Because of her.
Soaking in her words, the sound of her voice, the very essence of her spirit that floated into the hall and cloaked me like a warm blanket, I sank to the floor and sat with my back to the wall. Then I rested my forearms on my bent knees and tipped my head up toward the ceiling so I could close my eyes and just listen to her.
“But…” she told Sarah, “if we sit here and keep thinking about all the beautiful hidden meanings in Harry Potter, we’d probably end up like someone in front of the Mirror of Erised and waste away, entranced by the wisdom of Dumbledore, so… Let’s get this story read, shall we?”
Her voice changed as she started in again, quoting the text. I listened for a few minutes before slipping away, silently escaping into my room so neither of them would realize I was home. I didn’t want to interrupt their special time together and, besides, I still felt kind of raw after what Reese had done to me with her few simple words to my sister.
Actually, I was pretty sure I would never be the same again.
Because if my light was inside me, and Reese knew how to trigger it into turning on, then she must be pretty damn integral to me. I wasn’t sure what the fuck to do about that.
Confession #16: But I usually followed a smart decision
with a really stupid one.
The next day, I had to work an afternoon shift at the Country Club. Since it was Labor Day weekend, the place was pretty dead. Waterford sat less than an hour from the ocean, meaning that’s where most people went on holidays or long weekends, which was fine by me. I didn’t mind the break.
The only people who showed up at the Country Club were some regular locals who pretty much came every Saturday for the seafood lunch special or a game of golf. Oh, and Alec Worthington pulled his Maserati up just before I finished my shift. When I noticed a brunette was sitting in the passenger seat—not a blonde like his girlfriend, Eva, was—my gut knotted with instant tension.
If Worthington had moved from blonde Eva to brunette Reese, I’d… Hell, I wasn’t sure what I’d do, but it’d probably be ugly. I hadn’t been busting my balls to keep her from being hurt by Patricia only for her to go off and get mixed up with an ass like Alec.
Before I thought it through, I’d bypassed the driver’s door so I could pop around to the passenger’s side and open it, holding my breath as I looked down at who was inside.
And I immediately felt like an idiot. But seriously, what had I been thinking? Reese was way too smart to fall for such an obvious player like Worthington.
When a complete stranger blinked up at me, looking slightly startled by how quickly I’d opened the door for her, I felt even more foolish. Offering her a nod and tight smile, I held the door open until she slid from the car, sending me an interested once-over before she sashayed around to meet Alec.
Patting her on the ass, he sent her inside ahead of him and smirked at me as he waited for me to close the door and make my way back to him so we could exchange keys and valet tickets. When he handed me a tip, he kept hold of it a second longer so I’d look up at him.
“A little extra there,” he said discreetly as he glanced down at the cash he hadn’t quite let me take yet, “so you won’t mention to Eva who I came here with today.”
Ah, so he was still dating Mercer, then. I held in a grimace. Cheaters always turned my stomach sour, and I never got why they openly flaunted their side pieces in public places where they brought their main girlfriends. Or was Eva supposed to be the secret side piece in this situation? I had no idea and I really didn’t care. Either way, it made Worthington a scumbag in my book.
“Of course,” I lied, although it wasn’t like Mercer and I really talked, so I doubted I’d have the occasion to tell her the truth, anyway.
Worthington finally let me have the tip. He smiled, nodding his approval. “Oh, and feel free to stop by her party tonight at her place.” He handed me a fly
er with all the details on it. “Her parents are out of town, so we’ll have the works. It’ll be fun.”
“Yeah? Thanks,” I said, taking the sheet, with no plans whatsoever to socialize with this creep or his pretentious girlfriend.
But then the more I thought about it, the more I wondered if Reese would be there. She and Mercer were friends, so it made sense that she might. And the more I thought about her showing up to Eva’s party, the more I worried.
The place would be packed with Worthingtons. Not like literal members of the Worthington family, but carbon copies of Alec. All rich, self-inflated pricks with pretty faces and fake smiles who’d only cheat on her like it was his God-given right to do so the moment she started dating one of them. My gut churned. I had a feeling she probably wouldn’t go for one of those douches, but they’d definitely go for her. She’d have all kinds of wealthy assholes sniffing around her all night long.
By the time my shift at the Country Club was over, I’d convinced myself I had to go to that party. I swore it had nothing to do with the fact that I ached to see Reese again; I had to go because she needed a…hmm, not a savior—as I’m sure she could take care of herself—but maybe a companion to run interference and help stave off the flood of jerks who’d want to approach with the sole purpose of getting into her pants.
So, I’d be like the opposite of a wingman. I’d be a…a cockblocker. Yes, and she’d thank me for showing up. Civil service Mason to the rescue.
But even as I showered and dressed for the party after I got off work, I knew I couldn’t just show up. I totally wouldn’t fit in. Not only was this not my crowd, but I typically didn’t attend any party. I was usually working or watching Sarah. My social life in the past few years did not involve partying. I’d stick out like a sore thumb. So I grabbed Reese’s Harry Potter book as I headed out the door, since Sarah told me she’d finished it herself that afternoon while I’d been at work. It only seemed right to return it to Reese now.
And that had to be the lamest reason to attend a party in all the reasons to do anything. It ranked up there with women telling men they had to wash their hair as an excuse why they couldn’t go on a date. But I’d already come this far; I wasn’t backing out now. I had to see Reese.
The place was already packed by the time I arrived; I had to park two blocks away. My heart kicked into overdrive. What if I was too late? What if some guy had hit on her, and she actually liked him, and I walked in the door to find her making out with him in some dark, intimate corner?
I nearly restarted my Jeep and kept driving.