Page 13 of Forever Relentless

They all agreed, but the last thing I wanted was a meal with two couples. Even if they were my friends.

“I have to call my brother,” I told them, tapping my jeans pocket. “Catch you on the flip.”

I walked away before they could argue about why I couldn’t do it later. I went straight back to the dorm, knowing it would be empty, and enjoyed the silence, even if just for a little while.

I really liked Savvy, and Hadley was fun, but together? They never stopped talking.

At all.

I wasn’t one for a lot of conversation because not everything has to be discussed and digested.

In my room, I shut the door behind me, locking it just in case, and shrugged off my jacket. Kicking off my boots, I lay on my bed and let the silence wrap around me.

There it was. Peace at last.

And inevitably, it went as soon as I started thinking about earlier. I wondered whether Mason would have been more forthcoming if he hadn’t felt cornered or ambushed. I thought about the look on his face when Dante said we’d found him. There was something in it — something I recognized.

I wondered if his sister tasted—

“Nope.” I sat up.

She was hot. She was more than hot. She was freaking gorgeous. I’d said it the first time I saw her, and I hadn’t changed my mind. The fact that she was a couple of years older than me and fiercely protective of her brother just made her hotter.

I liked a woman who knew what she wanted . . . especially in the bedroom.

“Not the time, not the woman,” I reminded myself as I got off the bed. “And she’s obviously devious,” I added. “You don’t need devious women in your life.” I sniffed. “You have Savvy and Hadley for that.”

I grinned as I sat at my desk and opened my books. I picked up my phone to call Tate.

“Okay, I lied. Apparently, we’re debating ‘the observer’s responsibility in controlled violence.’ Tell me that’s just a fancy way of saying ‘don’t be a jerk with power’.”

“You really need to stop letting your adviser pick your electives,” he grumbled, and I heard him shuffling around. “I was on the big boss battle in God of War.”

“I can call you back?”

Tate made a buzzer sound. “Are you kidding? And miss out on ‘don’t be a jerk with power?’ Dude . . . who are you even talking to?”

I grinned. “Right. Okay, well, hit me with your big brain, bro. I’m ready.”

After all the shit that went down today and surrounded me in this program, it wasn’t only Mason Sterling who needed his sibling’s support.

Chapter 4

Briar

The cemetery was pretty at this time of year.

Spring was just around the corner; the flowers were ready to bloom at any moment, the trees were starting to show their leaves, and winter was clearly on its way out.

Tiffany’s gravestone loomed high above fresh green grass, her picture etched into the stone in the upper right corner. Her wide smile, so familiar, shone from the stone, dazzling even in death. A picture of a young girl, frozen in time.

I wiped at the corner of my eye. My other hand loosely clasped my brother’s wrist. His head was bowed, his eyes on the grass, refusing to meet anyone’s gaze.

Not because they’d see his sorrow, but because they’d see his rage.

Fury held Mason in its grasp, and the only thing keeping him here was my loose hold on his arm.

Diana stood with her aunt and uncle, both of whom were weeping. I forced my gaze to the ground at my feet. The word hypocrites danced on my tongue, and I had to bite it back every time I saw them.