‘What?’I ask.
Mason leans back against the wall, crossing his heavily tattooed biceps over his chest.His arms are almost a mirror of mine, since we got a lot of our ink together.We became a little addicted to it.
‘Who?’he asks.
‘Huh?’
‘Who?’he repeats, giving me that ‘cut-the-bullshit-I see-rightthrough-you’ look he often directs at me.When you have been best friends with someone your whole life, there comes a point where you can communicate entirely through a look.
‘Who?’I echo, playing dumb.
‘Who are you thinking about?’He grins.‘There’s someone, I can tell.’
‘No, there’s not.’
‘You just had that girl all up over you and you couldn’t care less.’
‘I care!’I protest.‘Did it look like I didn’t?’
‘You reacted about as much as I would watching paint dry.’
‘I did not.’I scoff.
‘Did so.’
‘Did not.’
‘Oh my God,’ Christian groans, appearing out of nowhere and shooting us both a withering glare.‘You two are like toddlers with the way you argue sometimes.’
‘We are not!’we say in unison.
His eyes ping-pong between us before he shakes his head and turns to leave.
Mason is right.He knows me too well.
My mind has replayed that moment with Nora over and over again.The way she locked eyes with me and dropped her arm like that …goddamn.It was completely out of nowhere.
Knowing she was just down the hall made me feel hot under the collar.I’m a little ashamed to admit the things I did thinking about her, and how dirty it felt to be thinking of my sister’s best friend like that.
The next morning, the girls went for a walk and breakfast, and all of them were gone by the time I woke up.To be fair, it was close to lunch time by then, so that was a given.I’m terrible at getting out of bed in the morning.Always have been.I haven’t seen Nora since and it’s starting to drive me a little crazy.I even went down the rabbit hole of her social media last night.
Mason throws a hand through his dark hair, a smile on his lips.‘Fine, fine, keep it to yourself, brother.Have fun.’
Clapping my shoulder, he weaves through the crowd forming in the kitchen.I’m pulled into different directions as everyone wants to talk to me or has something to say.I do this – jump from group to group, making it almost a mission of mine to talk to every single person in the room.I love conversation and getting to know people.
When Mason reappears a moment later, I step towards him.
‘Hey, are the girls coming tonight?’I ask.
He raises a brow.‘Girls, as in, Anya and her friends?’
‘Yeah.’
He studies me.‘I don’t think so.Why?’
‘Just wondering.’
Not giving him a chance to probe any further, I slip past him and through the doorway.
