Spite Club (Mason Brothers 1)

I should have a guy like that. Hot, muscled, and dirty. A few hours of no-holds-barred fun for once, instead of it always being about who’s acceptable, who’s long term. Just… fucking. Like Nick had said.

Except not with Nick.

The phone rang, startling me out of my crazy thoughts. “Are you kidding me?” I said when I answered, because Josh didn’t deserve hello.

“Evie.” Josh’s voice was slightly muffled, probably because his nose was swollen. “We have to talk.”

“No,” I said. “We really don’t.”

“I get that you’re mad. What I did was wrong. Just don’t say anything at work, okay?”

“People already know,” I said. “In fact, people at work knew before I did.”

Now he sounded panicked. “Who told? What did they say?”

For God’s sake. Why did he sound so freaked about a secret that was already out? “Ask everyone yourself. Goodbye.”

“Wait, Evie, wait! Just give me a minute. I fucked up, I know. But our relationship wasn’t working. You know that.”

That hurt. “It seemed like it was working to me. But then again, I guess I’m not very smart.”

“Evie. You and I didn’t have very much… spark.”

This day, this awful day, blew past my limit at a hundred miles per hour. The words were out before I could stop them. “I have plenty of fucking spark!” I shouted into the phone, my voice bouncing off the close confines of the car.

There was a moment of stunned silence—from both of us.

“Okay,” Josh said at last. “But I’m worried about you, because you left with that guy last night.”

“Nick?” I said.

“Oh Christ, you know his name. Did you not see what he did to me? That guy is violent and crazy. He nearly broke my nose!”

“You slept with his girlfriend,” I pointed out.

“It was assault!” Josh was worked up now. “First degree! I could have had a concussion or something! I could have called the cops! That guy is a complete fucking animal. Don’t you know who he is?”

“Am I supposed to?” I asked. “Is he a rock star or something?” I could kind of see that, actually.

“No, he’s not a rock star, for God’s sake. He doesn’t do anything at all.”

“What does that mean?”

“It means he doesn’t do anything. He has no job.” This, in Josh’s world, was a cardinal sin. “Gina told me all about him,” he ranted on. “He’s a spoiled rich kid. He lives off his trust fund. His own parents hate his guts. All he does is party—he does nothing but live it up. Stay away from him, Evie. He’s completely irresponsible and he has no respect for anything. He’s a loose cannon. He’s not the kind of guy you want to date.”

For a second, I almost said How do you know what kind of guy I want to date? Then I remembered that the kind of guy I wanted to date had been him. Until last night.

Strange. Nick hadn’t given any indication he was rich. His clothes certainly hadn’t given it away.

But I was sure Josh was right about this. If for no other reason than because Josh was so mad, and the only thing that could work him up like this was a guy who was cooler, better-looking, and richer—without working!—than he was.

“I thought Nick was hot,” I said, just to make Josh angrier. “All those muscles. And the way he punched you—definitely sexy.”

“Stop it,” Josh said. “I know what you’re doing, Evie. You’re trying to get back at me, and it’s childish. I’m just trying to help you.”

“Help me?”

“Nick Mason is scum. He’ll take advantage of you. Of your hurt feelings. You’re vulnerable right now.”