Page 135 of Slapshot Bride

It’s been two days.

Two days since I walked into that restaurant, and my entire world crashed before my eyes. Two days since she looked at him and said the words that I haven’t been able to forget.

It’s fake.

I roll onto my back and stare at her small form beside me.

She’s fast asleep, her back against my arm, curled up with the covers riding low. She’s in one of my t-shirts, and she looks so peaceful, I can’t help staring at her.

Everything has been different since we returned.

She’s barely looked at me. Barely spoken to me, and I don’t know how to fix it.

I want her. Lord, I want her so badly. I want to sit her down and tell her there’s nothing fake about what I feel for her. But she’s told Mason how she sees it.

And she knows I’m hiding something.

Maya…

How do I tell her the truth? All of it?

Fuck! She’ll run. It’ll be the perfect excuse. The perfect reason to truly end it all and go our separate ways.

My heart squeezes painfully at the thought of losing her. The pain is so much that I subconsciously reach for her, a way to anchor myself that she’s still here, with me.

I wrap my arm around her waist and gently pull her close.

She makes a sound in her sleep but doesn’t move away. I lean in and kiss her head.

Mine.

I’m still holding her when my phone buzzes on the nightstand.

I glance at it, and it’s Mason.

It’s six-fifteen in the morning, and I know what it is. The call I’ve been dreading.

I know my best friend too well to foolishly believe he let it slide just by hearing her call it fake.

Slowly, I slide out of bed, grab the device, and head for the living room when I’m sure Riley is still fast asleep.

“Mase.”

“Don’t.” A breath on the other end. The silence stretches, then he speaks again. “I’ve been thinking about it for two days. I’m going to say it once, and I need you to just take it.”

I swallow.

I know what’s coming, but it doesn’t make it any easier. My chest constricts, and my jaw clenches before he says the words.

“End it.”

“Mason…”

“I’ve watched you for fourteen years, and I know you too well to take this from you, Easton. The Vegas girl. The girl from the gala. The one whose name you didn’t know even after three months, and then Maya. I never said a word, because they were adults and it was your life and none of it was ever my business.”

“Mason—”

“No, Easton. It’s my business now, and I won’t let it happen. Not with you. Not to my sister.”