“You planning my death, Hunt?” I ask when she still staring at me as the doors open on the ground floor.
She blinks a couple of times, then grunts, “Huh?”
“I asked,” I say a little louder, “are you planning my death?”
She lifts her chin, and walking out of the elevator, she says, “No need to. I planned that shit a long time ago.”
That mouth of hers…
When we walk out of The Hope Diamond, Lake lets out a groan when he sees Serena, and urgently whispers, “Get your assess to the Bentley!”
“Who am I riding with?” Serena asks.
Lake walks so damn fast to where the Bentley is parked, with Kingsley and Layla right behind him, you’d swear they were having a competition to see who can get away from Serena the quickest.
My eyes snap to Serena, and I take a couple of steps closer to her. “I didn’t know you liked to bake.”
She gives me a vexed look. “What on earth are you talking about?”
“The pie you gave Layla just before she was rushed to ICU.” I keep my face blank even though anger is quickly filling my chest.
“I don’t have time for this, Mason,” she snaps.
When she takes a step toward Falcon, who’s watching us from where he’s standing a couple of feet behind me, I grab hold of her arm.
Her eyes flick to me. “Let go of me this instant.”
I close the distance between us and leaning down, I whisper, “I know what you did.”
Pulling back our eyes lock and I see the manic rage burn in hers.
“Falcon,” she calls out, “are you going to allow your friend to treat me this way?”
I glance over my shoulder. “Wait at the car for me.”
Falcon nods and walks over to where everyone is standing, watching us with worried expressions.
“Just because you’re the future President of CRC, it gives you no right to treat me this way,” Serena spits at me.
Letting go of her arm, I take a step back and let my eyes go over her. “Where are you going?”
“The Christmas Eve function, of course. Mrs. Reyes invited me.”
A slow smile forms on my face. “Ahh… I see.” I let out a breath and shaking my head, I give her a look of pity. “I hate to break this to you, but as the future President of CRC you’re officially banned from attending any function held by my company.”
Even with all the makeup on, her cheeks turn red.
“See what I did there?” I ask as I sneer down at her, and I snap my fingers in front of her face. “That’s all it takes, Serena, and you’re cut off.” A smile splits over my face again as I begin to walk away from her. “If I were you I’d start worrying about my next move.”
“Why, Mason?” she yells.
The shrillness of her voice tells me I’ve succeeded in scaring her.
“Because you fucked with my friend.”
Chapter 6
Kingsley
Sitting in the back of the car with Layla and Falcon, I keep staring at the side profile of Mason’s face.
He doesn’t look upset after his argument with Serena, and wondering what it was about, I ask, “What did Serena do?”
When Mason and Lake keep quiet, Falcon says, “It’s just time we severed ties with her.”
I lean forward so I can see Falcon because Layla is sitting between us. “Not that I’m best friends with her, but should I distance myself from her, as well?”
“Hunt,” Mason says, and my eyes dart to him. He doesn’t look up from his phone, as he continues, “You have a choice. Serena or Layla.”
“What?” Layla gasps. “You don’t get to decide who can be friends with me.”
Hurt by his words, I sit back and stare out the window.
So, I’m only here because of my friendship with Layla.
Well, that sucks.
“At least, now I know where I stand,” I mumble. “So much for thinking I was a part of the group and not just Layla’s sidekick.”
“Of course you’re part of the group,” Layla says, and taking hold of my hand, she squeezes it.
I give her a thankful smile and decide to let it go seeing as it was Mason, and seriously, does it even matter what he thinks?
When we reach CRC, and Lake parks the car, I open the door and climb out. My ankle has pretty much healed, but I’m still careful with each step I take, so I don’t go and sprain it again.
As we walk toward the entrance, Lake falls in next to me and holds his arm for me to take.
“It’s healed,” I remind him.
He smiles warmly at me, “I know, but let me be a gentleman.”
I grin at him as I take his arm and give it a quick hug. “You’re special people, Lake Cutler.”
“Yeah, with the patience of a Saint seeing as he has to deal with you,” Mason mumbles as he walks past us.
I glare at him as he tucks his phone into the inside pocket of his suit jacket.
“Aww… Mason, cute as always.” I roll my eyes at him, even though he can’t see.
His voice rumbles as he walks into the building, “Always a pleasure, babe.”
“Asshole,” I grumble after him.
A damn hot asshole in the suit he’s wearing, but an asshole nonetheless.
“This is nothing like the Thanksgiving function,” Layla whispers, where we’re standing to the side.
I lean closer to her, and whisper back, “Yeah, I know what you mean. It feels more intimidating with just the families.”
“Right? Talking about intimidating,” she mutters as Mrs. Reyes comes toward us.
Mrs. Reyes holds a wine glass in her hand, her pinky sticking in the air all dainty like. There’s a disgusted look on her face as if she just stepped in crap with her satin pumps from Prada.
“Miss Shepard,” she pauses and lets her eyes slowly sweep over Layla, “you’re here.”
Woo-oowwww!
“Mrs. Reyes,” Layla inclines her head as if she’s greeting royalty, “I hope you’ve been well.”
Mrs. Reyes’ eyes crawl over to me, and I actually have an eye-spasm when I fight the urge to roll my eyes at her snootiness.
“You brought a friend,” she sneers condescendingly.
Fight it, Kingsley.
You can beat the urge of the eye roll.
“Kingsley, this is Falcon’s mother, Clare Reyes,” Layla introduces us.
Yeah, and now I’m just plain stuck.
How do I greet this woman?
Can’t say it’s a pleasure…
I’d say you’re a cow, but that would be an insult to all the cows out there…
I have to suppress the grin brought on from the last thought, and instead, I just nod at her. It’s better for everyone here if I keep my mouth shut right now.
“From which family?” she demands.
“Hunt.” I let a wide smile spread over my face. “Doctor Stephen Hunt is my father. You might have met him already? He’s a plastic surgeon.”
Mrs. Reyes eyes narrow on me, which means she got the insult I subtly threw her way.
“The name is unfamiliar,” she sneers. “But it’s to be expected, seeing as you’re a friend of Miss Shepard.”
Falcon and Mason come up behind her. They must’ve heard what we were talking about because Mason throws his arm around Mrs. Reyes shoulders, and smiling at her, he says, “Don’t be so vain, Clare. No one will judge you for having some work done.”
Dude… bravo!
I want to high-five him, but instead, I settle for grinning at him.
When Mason actually smiles at Layla and me, my eyes widen, and I stare at him with surprise.
He should definitely smile more. It transforms him from beast to beauty… one hell of a sexy and fu –
My thoughts screech to a halt when he winks at me.
I start to blink as if I’m malfunctioning, which has him chuckling as he steers Mrs. Reyes away from us.
“Mason, how dare you!” she snaps at him while t
rying to shake his arm from her shoulders.
Mason tightens his hold around her and with authority lacing his words, he says, “Seeing as I’ll be taking over the finances soon, let's talk about how much you spend on your face every year.”
“Did he just wink at you?” Layla asks, sounding as surprised as me, then she takes a sip of her soda.
“Probably got an eye spasm,” I mumble. “It could be an allergic reaction to Mrs. Reyes, seeing as I had the same problem.”
Layla snorts when she tries to keep from laughing out loud and quickly covers her face. She rushes from the room, and I set after her, covering my mouth as laughter bursts from me because she just snorted her soda.
I haven’t formally met Falcon, Mason, and Lake’s parents. Well, with the exception of Mrs. Reyes. So, when Mr. Reyes announces it’s time for dinner, I feel all kinds of uncomfortable. I follow Layla to the dining room, aka the ballroom, which has a table big enough to seat half the students at Trinity.
Oh. Fun.
Julian takes a seat at the head of the table, with Mr. Reyes at the foot. For a moment, I forget myself, and I pull a this-isn’t-weird-at-all-face as I watch the older generation split from the younger.
“Everything alright, Miss Hunt?” Mr. Reyes asks, catching me red-handed.
Shoot.
“Oh yes, just a cramp in my foot. I recently sprained it,” I lie through my teeth. “Thank you for asking, though.”
“Good. Good,” he murmurs.
Mason sits on Julian’s right with Lake next to him. Falcon takes Julian’s left side, but he first pulls out Layla’s chair for her, which is next to his.
I’m glad my friend found such a caring guy. I sit down next to Layla and glancing up, I catch Mason looking at me.
I smile brightly at him, which instantly makes him frown.
I need to start keeping score of all my wins.
When everyone is seated, Julian rises to his feet, and holding a flute in his hand, he says, “This is a first for me. I’ll appreciate your understanding if I fumble a bit.”
My impression of Julian is the same as the night of the Thanksgiving event, he comes across as the perfect businessman. His behavior is professional, his eyes are sharp, and the invisible wall he has around him will knock you flat on your ass if you try to get close to him.
Almost like Mason, who’s just missing the professionalism because he’s too busy being a jerk.
“It’s been quite the year,” Julian begins his toast. He smiles down at Falcon with affection, and it makes my heart go aww. “Falcon has met this lovely woman,” he looks to Layla, “Thank you for joining us.”
Layla gives him a grateful look, “Thank you for having me.”
Julian glances over the table, then he frowns. “Where’s Stephanie?”
“Oh, she’s just taking a call. She’ll join us soon. Do carry on,” Mr. Reyes answers.
“Give me a moment. I need to check my speech,” he chuckles, making his half of the table chuckle.
He quickly scans over the card next to his silverware, then continues, “Mason,” Julian locks eyes with Mason, and it feels as if there’s a lot being said between them with just one glance. “I’m looking forward to working with you. I would like to believe Jennifer would’ve been happy for us.”
My eyes widen at his words, then they jump to Mason’s face, and seeing the flash of pain, I turn my head and look at Mr. and Mrs. Chargill.
Mr. Chargill stares at the table cloth, while Mrs, Chargill downs her glass of wine.
I have to wonder if Julian’s really oblivious to the wave of heartache his statement caused.
He’s just about to continue when Stephanie comes into the room. She hurries over to Mr. Reyes and whispers something near his ear.
Mr. Reyes gets up, then glances around the table. “Please continue with dinner. We’ll only be a minute.” He gestures to where Stephanie is waiting by the door. “Julian, join us.”
The older generation murmurs amongst themselves, then Mrs. Reyes snaps her fingers in the air, making staff stream into the room with plates of food.
“We might as well eat. No use in letting Stephanie spoil dinner.”
My jaw drops, and under the table, I pat Layla’s leg.
“Have another glass of wine, Clare,” Mason’s mom expresses with annoyance. “You’re going to give me indigestion.”
Good for Mrs. Chargill for speaking up, and I now see where Mason inherited his knack for sarcasm.
Mrs. Reyes leans forward and glares at Mrs. Chargill. “If there’s any left after you’re done with it.”
Mrs. Cutler lets out a sigh, “Thank you for that, ladies. You’ve just added a wrinkle to my forehead with your bickering.”
I hunch over and duck my head, pressing my lips together. Squeezing my eyes shut, I try not to laugh, but a snort escapes. My hands shoot to my face, and I try to hide behind it.
“You’re going to burst a vein, Hunt,” Mason states wryly. “No one will blame you for laughing at our dinner drama.”
“Barbara,” Mrs. Reyes scowls down the length of the table at Mason. “Maybe if you indulged less, you would have more time to reign in your son?”
Ouch. Low blow, Lady. Low blow.
“Oh, for god’s sake, Clare,” Mrs. Chargill snaps. “Drop your holier than thou attitude. It makes you look like you’re constipated.”
I glance at Mason, and seeing his mouth lift at the corner makes me feel better about wanting to crack up.
“Who said family gatherings were boring?” Mr. Cutler mumbles. He looks down at his food, then calls out, “Son, bring your plate.”
Lake gets up and carries his plate over to where his dad is, and I watch as Mr. Cutler swaps some of his food for Lake’s.
“There’s one more, Dad,” Lake says, pointing to a piece of liver.
“I need new glasses. Darling, remind me to go for a check-up,” he mutters to Mrs. Cutler.
When Lake comes back to his seat and sits down, he sees me staring. “I don’t eat livers, and my dad gets heartburn from the sauce.”
“Oh, I forgot again,” Mrs. Reyes says way too nicely, which tells me she knows but didn’t care.
Smiling, I whisper, “I think it’s sweet of you to swap out what you don’t like.”
“Hunt, you think everything Lake does is sweet. You do know he’s engaged, right?”
Turning my face away from the parents, I take a page out of Falcon’s book, as I use my middle finger to wipe an invisible tear from under my eye.
Mason grins, “Such a lady.”
“I’d get up and curtsy but that would totally ruin your impression of me.”
He lets out a bark of laughter which startles the parents. I quickly glance at them, and when I see Mr. Chargill staring at Mason with a look of awe on his face, it makes a wave of emotion crash over me.
When was the last time he heard his son laugh?
Chapter 7
Mason
I’m not going to lie, Layla and Kingsley totally made the evening more fun than it normally is.
When we get back to the campus, Lake stops in front of the dorms for us to get out before he goes to park the car.
“The girls are out cold,” Falcon says from the back. “Mason, can you carry Kingsley?”
As I open my door, Lake grabs hold of my arm, “Don’t throw her in the pool or do something stupid just because she’s sleeping,” he warns.
“I wasn’t even thinking about it, but now that you mentioned it…” I tease as I wag my eyebrows while getting out.
“You’re making me old before my time,” Lake grumbles.
Walking to Kingsley’s side, I open the door, and slipping my arms under her, I lift her to my chest.
She lets out a groan when Lake shuts the door for me. He quickly hushes her, “Shh… go back to sleep.”
Kingsley’s hand pats against my chest, and she mumbles, “’Kay.” And then she snuggles her face into my shoulder, stunning the hell out of me. The
re’s an unexpected burst of tenderness in my chest, and I try to ignore it as I begin to walk with her.
Lake jogs past me so he can open the door to Layla’s suite, then he heads back to the car to park it. I follow Falcon into Layla’s bedroom and wait for him to first lay her down before I walk to the other side of the bed with Kingsley in my arms.
My first instinct is to just drop her on the bed, but then I glance down and see her face. Holding her in my arms, with her face so close to mine makes the tender feeling from before come rushing back.
“Mason,” Falcon whispers. My eyes dart to him, and he indicates for me to put her down.
Bending over, I place her on the bed, and before I can pull back, she lifts her head and presses a kiss to my jaw, then sleepily whispers, “Night.”
My fucking heart all but stops as I turn my head and stare at her, shocked out of my mind.
What the fuck just happened?
“Mason,” Falcon whispers again, yanking me out of the stupor.
I quickly pull back and walk right out of the room. I keep going until I reach our suite and go to stand in front of the windows.
Why am I breathing so fast?
’Cause you rushed back to the suite. It’s not because she kissed you.
“What’s wrong with Mason?” Lake asks behind me. “He looks like he’s seen a ghost.”
“Nope, worse,” Falcon chuckles.
Lake comes to stand next to me and stares at my face, “What’s worse?”
I shake my head and growl, “Kingsley kissed me.”
“Say again?” Lake leans forward trying to catch my eyes.
I give him a disgruntled look. “Hunt’s lips touched my face.”
He quickly pulls back while pressing his lips together.
“If you laugh, I’m going to beat the shit out of you,” I warn him.
Lake darts away from me as laughter explodes from him. I turn and begin to stalk after him but the fucker ducks behind Falcon.
Falcon pulls a face as if it’s actually killing him to not laugh.
Mason (Trinity Academy Book 2) Page 4