“My partner. He wasn’t gay, but he was always there for me. He was my wingman whenever we went out, always trying to find me someone, always making sure the guy who caughtmy eye was worthy of me. He was always trying to help me out, always had my back.” His voice broke. “Then I fucked up when I was supposed to be watching his.”
I reached across the table and touched his hand. His pain was palpable, and I felt it as strongly as I had the first night. I didn’t react to it. “I’m sorry, Mason.” I wasn’t sure what else to say. There was nothing that would make it alright. He placed his other hand on mine as we sat there silently for a moment.
He finally cleared his throat. “Okay, let’s eat. You must be starving.” He tried to shake off the pain, but I could tell he’d never worked through it. He looked up at me and sighed. “I can tell you want to help me, but right now we have more pressing issues. I’ll figure it out. I’ll talk to someone, okay? My parents are trying to get me to go to my old psychiatrist anyway.”
He paused and glanced at me to see if I caught it. I had. “Your old psychiatrist?”
He looked down. “Yeah, I was seeing one in high school. I told you my head was all fucked up. It was even more fucked up after I hurt you. But I know I deserved it.”
“Mason . . .” I touched his hand again.
He looked up and attempted a smile. “So I’ll go. I know I need to. But I can’t rest and take care of myself until we figure out what’s going on in this damn town and I know you’re safe. Let’s eat, then we’ll work on figuring it out, alright?”
I just nodded and went back to my food because he was right, I was famished. Mason paused in the middle of dinner to text someone, and even though I didn’t ask, he looked up right after he did. He got a sheepish grin and said, “My mom’s worried about me. I had to tell her I’m staying here with you. I told her I was worried about you, but I have a feeling she already suspects what else we’re getting up to here.” I just laughed. He went on. “She was so disappointed in me in high school. Probably almost as disappointed as I was in myself. She loved you, you know? She’s really glad we’re talking again.”
I looked him in the eye. “Yeah. I think I am too.”
He gave me a crooked smile. “Well, I definitely am.” Wefinished our dinner in silence, like we hadn’t eaten all day, because we hadn’t.
???
I tried to clean up the kitchen, since he made dinner, but he shooed me into the living room and told me to turn on the TV and he’d join me in a minute. He said I’d had a long day and needed to chill. I sank onto the couch, unsure of how to handle someone taking care of me, and my guard was up becausethisMason had to be too good to be true. Was it all a fever dream? Maybe I was actually dying, all those warnings had already happened and I didn’t even know it. Was my brain dreaming up this Mason, the one I’d always hoped he was, back when I told him I hoped we would live together in a cottage in the woods? I knew the other shoe would drop eventually, but I’d try to enjoy it while I could.
Enyo curled up on the chair beside the couch, purring. Mason joined me after putting the food away, filling my dishwasher, and wiping down the counters and table. I half watched him from the corner of my eye, because itcouldn’tbe real. I’d made dinner for guys in the past, but I always did all the cooking and cleaning, no matter whose house we were at.
Almost as soon as he sat down, Mason said, “Okay, I know you don’t want to think about any of this, but your life is literally on the line here.” I groaned inwardly, wondering if all the cooking and cleaning had been to butter me up for the detective that was coming. “I have access to more info than the average Joe thanks to Chris. We know they found a bracelet,yourbracelet, but if you never had it there, we need to figure out how it got there. So first, are youabsolutelycertain you never had it there?”
“Yes, I’m certain.” I rolled my eyes. “I lost it before I started hooking up with him. I know that because I was sad when I realized it was gone. But I told you, I don’t remember for sure where I had it last. I could have lost it anywhere, but the last place I remember being aware of it on my wrist was at the motel inGreenview.”
“With Will.”
“Yeah.”
“I want to know more about this Will guy. Tell me everything.” There was that detective voice again. The deep, demanding,do not argueone that had me almost climbing into his lap. I hated that he could elicit that reaction in me so easily, and I had a feeling he knew he could, especially as he watched me with a little smirk.
The smirk made me want to push his buttons a little bit. “I don’t know what you want me to say about him. I hooked up with him a couple of times there. A few.” He raised a brow. “The last time was when I remember having it last. What do you want to know? He was older than us. Late forties, probably. I don’t know much about him other than that he was a good lay. He had salt and pepper hair, a trimmed beard. He was good-looking and in good shape physically. He was always nice to me, and attentive.”
Mason’s eyes were boring directly into my soul.
“What the hell do you want me to say?” I cried. “He was a good fuck. Why else would I have kept going back there? I don’t know anything else about him other than that he said he lived in Greenview, and he wasn’t out so he didn’t want anyone to find out about us. That was fine with me. I didn’t want anything more from him.”
I could hear Mason’s teeth grind together, but he said, “So you don’t know anything about some guy you met in a sleazy motel on the highway. Fine. Can I see his profile? His messages to you?”
“It’s gone.” I shrugged, and he wrinkled his brow. “He either deleted his account or blocked me a long time ago. I don’t know why he’d have blocked me, it’s not like we ever argued, but whatever the case, I can’t see his account anymore.”
Mason dug in his pocket and pulled out his phone. “Well, let’s check to see if you’re just blocked,” he said.
I watched him pull up the app and I chuckled. “I see,” Isaid, trying to sound as judgmental as he did.
He looked over at me. “What, did you think I was a eunuch? I told you I had hookups. Sometimes an app was easier than going to the bar. I haven’t checked it here, because I certainly haven’t needed to when your legs are always open for me.” I huffed because he was justtryingto piss me off. “But let’s make sure he didn’t block you after stealing your bracelet to frame your trusting, naïve little ass for murder.”
I scoffed. “Are you fucking serious right now? Why the hell would he try to frame me for murder, and how would he even know about Brandon and Brock when I was with them after him? I told you he was always nice. We got along, never had any issues. What the fuck would his motive be?”
Mason hummed. “I don’t know yet. Maybe it broke, he found it after you left, took it home to remember you, and someone else found it. A wife or boyfriend? They got pissed, went through his phone, found you, and have been following you the whole time.” He held up his phone to show me guys around Greenview named Will.
I sighed and responded to each picture. “Not him... Nope... No... I said he was good-looking, Mason. If you think my standards are that low, you might want to rethink your sky-high self-esteem since I’m obviously attracted to you. No... Not him... I said late forties, for fuck’s sake. That guy can’t be older than twenty-two.No. I’m telling you, I think he deleted it. And anyway, do you seriously think the guy had a significant other who found a bracelet that he stole for some reason, then infiltrated his hookup account, found me, figured out who I am, where I live, and who I dated after that?” It was way too far-fetched for me to even wrap my brain around.
Mason looked me in the eye. “Never underestimate anyone, Elijah. That’s important.”
