The Price of Mason (Forbidden Men 10)

I eyed him curiously. He didn’t exactly sound loyal and loving there, so I bluntly asked, “Are you her boyfriend?”

“What?” he cried, his aghast expression telling me that wasn’t even a slight possibility, which cheered me up because it put him back in the running for me. “Hell, no. She’s my sister.”

“Oh,” I said, beginning to nod, before it struck me that he and Skylar weren’t exactly the same color. “Wait.”

He let out a sigh as if he were well accustomed to reactions just like mine. “I’m adopted,” he explained.

“Oh,” I repeated before sending him a sheepish grin. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to be rude.”

“You weren’t. It’s fine.” He shrugged. “I get it. It’d probably make me pause too. I mean, we’re nothing alike. She’s the overly cheerful, bubbly type. And I’m, you know, awesome.” When he flashed me a heart-stopping grin, all my girl organs melted. It took everything I had not to sigh over his absolute dreaminess.

“So, uh…” What the heck did I want to say? Some words, I’m sure, but I suddenly couldn’t recall what those words were. He was just so nice to look at I really didn’t want to think about anything else.

I swear, his brown eyes were peering straight inside me. I hoped he liked what he saw.

“Are you Skylar’s ride home today or something?” I had the presence of mind to finally ask. “Have to wait around here until she’s finished with her class?”

Lord, I hoped not. I didn’t want him to stick around long enough to realize I was actually a student.

His expression froze before he started to nod. “Yeah, yeah,” he answered, twirling his finger my way as if to congratulate me for guessing it right. “That’s exactly what I’m doing.”

Great. Kill me now. He was going to see me dance and learn just how much rhythm I lacked, then he was going to laugh his butt off and probably never give me the time of day again.

Shriveling up inside, I started to nod knowingly, when suddenly his shoulders fell. “No, okay, I lied. I’m actually a…” The rest of his sentence trailed off into a mumble I couldn’t understand.

Leaning in, I wrinkled my brow as I asked, “You’re a what?”

Sending me a chagrined glance, he sighed and admitted, “I’m actually a student. In Skylar’s class. But I am her brother; that part’s still true.”

I blinked. He must’ve taken that to mean I thought he was lame or something because he rushed to explain, “My football coach forced me into the class because I have absolutely no coordination. I think he assumed putting me in my sister’s class would make it less humiliating or something, but it doesn’t. Not at all. Anyway, I have a month to learn some balance or I’m probably not going to make the team.”

He looked so miserable, I sighed. “I guess I should confess I don’t have a little sister here. Or anywhere. I’m an only child. And… I’m also a student in the class.”

He pulled back in surprise. “Wait. What?”

“I tried to join a group in my own age range but they were all so advanced, I got shuffled around until I ended up here. And I’m still the worst in the class.”

He watched me a moment before saying, “For real?”

I nodded glumly. “Yep. My dad left my mom this last year, and what was supposed to be their twentieth anniversary is coming up in about a month. Before he left, the only thing Mom ever talked about was how she wanted to dance to their wedding song with him on their big day. So, now that he’s gone, I’m trying to learn how to dance so I can dance with her on their big day. Except.” I shrugged and sent him a rueful cringe. “I have two left feet. I mean, I’m so bad Skylar was literally the only person willing to let me into her class.”

He considered

that a moment before scooting across the floor toward me and holding out a fist. “Well, never fear, my lady. I am here to suck with you. We can be bad together.”

That had to be about the sweetest thing anyone had ever said to me. Charmed, I bumped my knuckles against his and we shared a smile. At that moment, I’d never been so happy to be truly bad at something.

“Hello, my lovelies!” Skylar called, interrupting my beautiful moment with her brother as she breezed into the room, her perky brunette ponytail bobbing merrily behind her.

Next to me, the boy groaned under his breath. “And so it begins.” His lack of enthusiasm was actually a relief.

God, he better be as bad as he said he was, or I was going to be pissed.

The kids in the front cheered, and the touchy-feely ones had to rush Skylar for a round of hugs. As she accepted them all at the same time, she glanced toward the boy and lifted her eyebrows, showing surprise to see he’d actually shown up.

He rolled his eyes back at her and drew his knees up to rest his elbows on them.

“Looks like everyone started some warm-up stretches,” Skylar noticed, nodding her approval. “Good. I’ll let you guys finish that up while I take roll call.”