The Price of Mason (Forbidden Men 10)

Okay, maybe this date thing really didn’t have anything to do with me. Riker had threatened me last night and he’d asked Reese out two days before that. Unless, he’d decided to strike back before even bothering to threaten me. Dammit. I wasn’t sure what his ulterior motive was here. Did he just like her—which wouldn’t be hard to believe since she was amazing—or was he using her to hurt me?

Suddenly, another thought struck me. “I thought you had study group on Tuesday nights.”

She’d purposely not told me about setting up a date with another guy, what else had she kept from me…or straight-up lied about?

Dammit, Riker was already coming between us, making me doubt and question everything.

“I do,” she blurted. “I mean, I did. He’s in my study group.”

I don’t know why that made me flinch, but it did. It just hurt knowing piss-ant Riker shared a class in common with her. And her Tuesday night study groups were for her virology course, which was her major. She and Riker both wanted to go into the medical field together. They already seemed to mesh more than she and I did.

Not that I should even think about a me-and-her scenario because that could never happen. But shit…it was all I ever thought about.

“When the library closed,” Reese went on, explaining everything to me in hyper speed.

“We weren’t finished with our assignment, so he came back to my apartment and we worked on it—”

“He did what?”

Oh, Jesus, he’d been to that cozy little apartment of hers above the garage, the one I’d fantasized about living in with her? The same place where I’d envisioned breaking in every surface and piece of furniture with her? Fuck, what if Riker took her out and it went so well that they had sex on that couch under the blanket she had draped over the backrest? Or in the bed of that little room that smelled so strongly of sweet pea? Or against the kitchen cabinets next to the fruit basket where I’d stolen an apple?

The haunting images struck so fast I felt physically ill.

And why in God’s name had he asked Reese out less than a week after his mother’s suicide attempt? Jesus, what a stellar son he was.

“Hey, what is wrong with you?” Reese asked, looking pissed.

“Oh, I don’t know,” I snarled, unable to stop myself. “Maybe it’s this irresistible urge I have to break Ethan Riker’s face.”

The bastard wanted to steal my happy place from me. He wanted to take away my Reese.

Reese’s mouth gaped open incredulously before she hissed, “Excuse me?”

“You heard me,” I shot back, wanting to go find Riker right that moment and do him some serious lasting harm.

I got that his mom was hurt and he was upset, but that did not justify messing with Reese.

“Mason,” she muttered, lowering her voice conspiratorially, “what the hell? It’s not like I have to babysit Sarah that night.”

“This isn’t about Sarah. And you know it.”

Even though most of my anger was directed at Riker, I was still hurt that she’d omitted the details of her date from me.

Tears swam in her eyes before she hoarsely rasped, “You said we were just friends. I thought—”

Oh, God. Now she looked as miserable as I felt. Shit!

“We are.” I had to close my eyes and turn my face away against that depressing reality. “Damn it. We are, but the only reason we’re just friends is because there’s no way we could possibly ever be anything more.”

“You want…” Her eyes went wide, and her voice went hushed before she whispered, “Do you really want more?”

&nbs

p; I stared at her, not quite able to believe she’d just asked me that.

The truth was so obvious to me, I figured anyone who’d ever looked at me already knew. Patricia certainly did. Monica knew. Eva knew. Even that fucking prick Riker knew.

“Don’t you?” I whispered back. Then I realized what I’d just asked, and I shook my head, laughing bitterly. “Or is this only sexual attraction for you?”