“Get in.”
“I can’t, I’m waiting for Mason.”
“I know. I’m your taxi. Get in.”
“Ooookay.” I do as I’m told and drop down into Amalie’s passenger seat. “Where are we going?”
“My lips are sealed.”
Sticking my tongue out at her, I sit back and wait to see where she takes us. “So, I’m assuming you helped plan this, whatever this is?”
“Nope. It was totally him. I just agreed to pick you up.”
I start to tick things off as we drive through town as I attempt to guess what he’s been up to. We pass the cinema and bowling alley, so they’re out. We continue past Aces and a couple of other restaurants I thought could have been possibilities. When Amalie pulls into a deserted beach parking lot, I start to wonder if she’s made a wrong turn.
“Okay, out you get,” she says, dismissing me with a flick of her hand like she’s bored of me.
“Here?”
“Yep.”
“But there’s nothing he—” Just as I say that, a figure appears over the dune. “Mason,” I breathe. The sun’s just set and the horizon is still a dark orange hue that makes him appear larger than he really is.
“So are you going to get out now?”
Without taking my eyes from him, I unbuckle myself, thank Amalie and climb from the car. My feet eat up the space between us in only seconds, but still it feels too long. Amalie’s tires crunch against the gravel as she leaves us.
“Surprised?” Mason asks, grabbing my hand and leading me toward the beach.
We’re right at the end, the same place Dash was all those weeks ago. I think back to that night briefly as we walk. I was flying on the excitement of starting senior year with my boyfriend by my side and making sure Amalie took hold of her new life with both hands. I really had no idea that the next time I’d be here Noah and I would no longer be together, and that I’d be holding on to Mason’s hand like I need it to survive. I truly believed our relationship was dead. He sure made it seem that way. How things seem is a funny thing. Jake seemed like he was an asshole who had the world at his feet. Wrong. Mason seemed like he was going to forever hate me. Wrong. Ethan? Well, we all know he’s a party boy, but what’s he hiding right now while everyone’s assumed he’s just enjoying himself? I guess only time will tell.
“Oh my god,” I gasp when we hit the top of the dune and I get a look at the beach beyond. A bonfire sits in the middle of the sand. Tiki torches mark a path toward it and a blanket and picnic basket that sit in the warmth of the fire.
“You like it?” The hesitation in his voice has me turning toward him.
“It’s incredible. Thank you.”
“Anything,” he says, reaching for my cheek and resting his forehead against mine. “Anything to make you smile.”
My heart damn near shatters in my chest. I’m just about to tell him that the feeling is mutual when he takes my hand and leads me toward his bonfire, telling me that he’s starving.
I take a seat on the blanket while Mason unpacks the basket, showing me everything he’s brought for us to eat.
“Wow, were you planning for others to join us?” I ask with a laugh but soon realize that I’ll be gutted if he says yes.
“No, I just wasn’t sure what you’d want.”
I look down at all the food before glancing back up at him from under my lashes. “How about you?”
He reaches forward and runs his knuckles down my cheek. “All in good time, Cami-bear.”
Desire that was already sitting heavy in my belly races through my veins. “Here?” I ask skeptically, looking around at all the open space.
“Anywhere you want.”
I sit up straight and glance over my shoulder. The excitement of getting dirty down here where anyone could find us has me more excited than I’m willing to admit.
“Food first. We’ll see what happens later.”
With all the food laid out between us, Mason passes me a plastic cup before popping the top of a bottle of pink champagne and filling mine up. “This is fancy.”
“It didn’t cost much more than juice. It probably tastes like crap.”
“It’s only the company I care about.” He smiles at me before chucking a chunk of cheese into his mouth. I focus on his lips as he chews and realize that I’m really not interested in food at all right now.
“Eat,” he demands, and I’m powerless but to reach out and take something. “How was your day?” he asks, distracting me from my need for him as I run through my classes and the gossip I’d heard.
“Any more issues with Chelsea?” he asks begrudgingly.
“Nah, she’s steered clear since I ambushed her.”
“Good. If she knows what’s good for her, it’ll stay that way.”
32
Mason
My beach date was everything I hoped it would be. When I told Camila that I wanted to take her out, I didn’t have a fucking clue where we were going to go. As I ran through the normal options, I soon realized that none of them were good enough for her. The little effort that goes into arranging dinner and a movie just wouldn’t cut it. I can tell by the way she looks at me that she’s still a little dubious about my intentions with her, and it guts me every single time. I deserve it. No, I deserve worse than that. She should still hate me, not be agreeing to dates with me, let alone allowing me to spend every night in her bed, but that’s just who Camila is. It’s why I fell for her all those years ago and why I was never truly able to rid myself of her.
I breathe a sigh of relief when I walk out of the locker room on Thursday afternoon. My work hours might not be quite back to normal, but I’m already feeling the benefit of cutting back. I told Camila to be at home waiting for me when I finished; I have no idea what she’s expecting when I show up, but I plan on spending the evening with my girl in my arms, pretending to watch shit movies on TV while we make out. Knowing that Mom will sort out dinner for my brothers is a huge relief, although if I’m honest, it has left me feeling a little lost. I used to operate on a such a strict regime in order to function and not crack that I don’t know what to do with my sudden free time.
As I drive past my old house, movement around the back catches my eye. Pulling up in the driveway like I’ve done a million times before, I get out and walk around to make sure everything’s okay.
What I’m not expecting when I get to the back of the house is to find a woman, probably Mom’s age, staring in through the window with her hands blocking out the light in the hope of actually seeing something.
“Can I help you?” I ask, my voice booming across the space between us.
“Oh shit. Fuck.” She jumps back like I’ve just shot her, her eyes wide, her hand covering what’s probably her racing heart. “I’m-I’m so sorry. I’m not going to break in or anything. I just… I came looking for you.”
“For me?”
“Yeah. You’re Mason,” she states, her eyes softening. “You look exactly as I was expecting.”
My eyes narrow in curiosity and suspicion. “Who are you?”
“I think we should probably sit down.” She nods toward our old swing bench and I reluctantly follow her lead.
I sit but she hesitates despite this being her idea. Eventually, she blows out a shaky breath and lowers beside me. She stares ahead at our old overgrown garden that my dad would hate if he ever saw it.
“I’m... um... I guess I’m your stepmom.”
My jaw drops as I turn to stare at her.
Her blonde hair is in tight curls and hangs just above her shoulders. She’s got light makeup on, but to be fair, she doesn’t really need it. She’s pretty. If what she’s saying is true, then I could understand why my dad would be interested. I notice that her looks aren’t all that different from Mom’s. It’s a slightly unsettling thought.
“How’s that?” Dumb question, and I almost regret asking it, but I’m going to need more information than her ‘guessing she’s my stepmom.’
“I first met your dad about three and a half years ago at a rehab group. We chatted a bit, but due to both our reasons for being there, it was never more than that. Then two years ago we quite literally bumped into each other in the store. We started meeting up regularly—dating, I guess.”
I’m silent as I listen to her tale, trying my best to read her expression to figure out if she’s telling the truth or not, but I can’t help but believe her.
“Six months later I discovered I was pregnant. Your dad asked me to marry him and we had a city hall wedding a few weeks later.”
I’ve got another brother or sister? “Boy or girl?” The question is out before I realize. I need to know, but equally I don’t want to fall into her trap by being distracted. This could all be bullshit. “This little trip down memory lane is nice and all, but why are you here telling me about it? If you’re married to my dad then you’ll know that he’s had no contact with me or my brothers since he walked away.”
“Sister,” she says, her eyes softening as she thinks of her. “I promise you that is something he battled with every single day.”
“Because that fixes everything. Why are you here?”
“He…” She pauses, her chin trembling, her eyes filling with tears. Dread twists my stomach. “He died.”
Those two words are like a baseball bat to the chest. “No. No, you’re lying. How do I even know you know him? You could be making all this up.”
“W-Why?” She sniffles. “Why would I do that?”
“I don’t fucking know. People do all sorts of crazy shit.”
“I-It’s true. Look.” She rummages in her purse and pulls her wallet out. She opens it and turns it toward me. My world crumbles in on itself as I stare at the man I used to idolize standing with a new family.
“Fuck.” I stand, looking out at the jungle of a garden, unable to stare at that picture any longer, although when I close my eyes, it’s right there, burned into my memory.
“I’m so sorry to spring this on you like this.”
“Really? If you were that sorry then you wouldn’t have bothered,” I snap.
“He wanted to come and see you himself. He’d been putting it off for years. But then he got ill and—”
“This is bullshit. It’s so easy to try to convince me of all this crap now he’s gone.”
“It’s true, Mason. Not a day passed when he wouldn’t talk about you or your brothers. I’ve never met you before but I feel as though I know you, know this place,” she says, waving back toward the house. “Things weren’t supposed to end as they did, but your mom broke him. He loved her so much, Mason. When he discovered…” She trails off, not that I need her to fill in the gaps. “It broke his heart. When we first met, we were in a group session trying to find our self-worth once again after being in a relationship that almost ended us. I may not know everything that happened between your parents, Mason, but trust me when I tell you that I know how he felt about leaving you, how much it gutted him.”
“Then he should have come back.”
“I know, and I can’t argue. I tried to get him to do it, but he was scared. Scared you’d hate him.”
“Well, he should have been. Are we done here? I’ve got shit to be doing.”
Her mouth opens but she doesn’t say anything. I take two steps before her words make my legs stop working. “He’s left you and your brothers everything.” I turn and pin her to the spot with my stare. “H-his parents died last year. He got all of their estate. Now it’s yours.” Anger swells within me. He never spoke to his parents. I’ve never even met them. Why would I want their money?
“I don’t want anything from him. He left us. He found a new family. He. Chose. You.”
“He didn’t. He found himself with us. His heart never left this place. He yearned to be back here, and I prayed every day that he’d love me like he did her. He loved me, in his own way, but it wasn’t like it was with your mom. He loved Megan, but she could never make him forget you. If anything, it made him worse.” She digs into her purse and pulls out an envelope. “Here. It’s from him. Please, take it. He was planning on seeing you, he got tickets to your final game. He wanted to watch you play, tell you how proud he was of you but... he didn’t make it.”
My heart pounds in my chest so hard that I start to feel a little lightheaded. Is she telling the truth? Was he really going to come?
“What killed him?”
“Brain tumor. He’d been complaining of headaches for weeks, months even, but refused to go and see a doctor. By the time I convinced him to go, it was too late. They gave him six months at best. That was only six weeks ago.” She sobs, her hand coming up to cover her mouth. “I’m sorry, I just had to see you. To explain to you that he never forgot you, or your brothers. Take it, please.”
My hand trembles as I raise it to take the envelope. I stare down at it the second she releases it.
Mason.
Seeing his handwriting makes my knees buckle, but I force them to hold my weight, taking a step back instead. She doesn’t say anything as I walk away from her.
Yanking my car door open so hard I’m surprised it doesn’t come off its hinges, I rev the engine and gun it onto the street. I have no idea where the fuck I’m going, but I need to get the hell away from here—from her.
I have no idea how long I drive around town for, trying to make sense of all the bullshit that’s running around my head, but at some point, my need to drown it all out has me pulling up to Ethan’s house.
I don’t bother knocking, we never have in the past, and it’s only his car sitting in the driveway. I make my way past all the empty yet perfectly presented rooms before climbing the stairs and walking toward the end of the hallway.
I knock on his door but only in the hope it’ll alert him to a visitor and stop me from walking in on something I’d rather not see if he’s got a girl in here.
To my shock, when I open the door I find Ethan alone, sitting on his bed and resting back against his headboard. He’s got a cigarette in one hand and a bottle of whiskey in the other. The room is in darkness aside from the glow from the light in the en suite at the other side of the room. There’s no music, no TV, just Ethan.
“What the fuck do you want?” he barks without even looking at me.
“I get it, you don’t want to talk, nor the fuck do I.” Walking into the room, I fall down onto his sofa and rest my head back. It still spins with everything she told me, and the photo she showed me is still front and center. “What are you waiting for? Chuck me the bottle, asshole.”
He doesn’t move, and when I eventually pull my head up to find out what the fuck his problem is, he’s staring right at me, deep frown lines between his brows.
“You fuck things up with Camila already?”
“I said I don’t want to fucking talk. Drink. Now.”
He complies with my demand this time and I reach out to grab it as he throws it at me. Twisting the top, I lift the glass to my lips and swallow, one, two, three shots. By the fourth I don’t feel the burn and my head slowly starts to swim. Exactly what I need.
33
Camila
All fucking night I sat there waiting for him, but he never showed. He never answered his phone, and when I spoke to anyone else who I thought might know where he was, they hadn’t seen him either.
By the time he doesn’t show up to school Friday morning, I’m starting to go out of my mind.
“Where the fuck is he?” I ask Jake, coming to stand toe to toe with him. It wasn’t so long ago that I was terrified of being anywhere near him, but now I don’t bat an eyelid at confronting him.
He swallows, and it tells me everything I need to know.
“What do I need to make Amalie withhold from you to get the answer?”
“Hey, don’t drag me into this,” she complains.
Ignoring her, I continue to stare into his mesmerizing blue eyes. “Tell me.”
“Ugh, fine. He’s with the other idiot who’s skipp
ed all week. Happy?”
“Not at all.” I storm off down the corridor.
“Camila, please don’t do something stupid,” Amalie calls, but I know for a fact that if it were Jake hiding that, she’d be there demanding he speak to her.
I’m at Ethan’s in no time, feeling stupid for not thinking he’d be here before. I pull up next to his car and jump out of mine, leaving the door wide open in my haste to find him.
I slam my fists on the door but I know it’s pointless. The music inside is so loud that there’s no chance either of them will hear me.
With my frustration growing, I march around the back of the house, but finding those doors also locked, I growl in frustration.
What the fuck happened for him to go from messaging me about waiting at home for him to locking himself in Ethan’s house?
Some movement catches my eyes and my heart jumps into my throat that he’s about to walk into the kitchen, but when someone appears, it makes my stomach falls to my feet.
A girl, dressed in only a guy’s white shirt, pulls the fridge open and grabs a six-pack before disappearing the way she came.
“You’re a fucking asshole, Mason Paine,” I scream, tears streaming down my face as I try to tell myself that everything between us this week wasn’t one big joke to him. I told him I loved him, for fuck’s sake.
I don’t remember the drive home, but when I get there to find my parents’ car parked outside, I almost reverse back out. The last thing I need is them digging into what’s wrong with me and why I’m not at school where I should be.
Wiping at my face, I pull my visor down and attempt to clean my face up, but my red-rimmed eyes practically shine like a fucking homing beacon.
Blowing out a long breath, I wrap my fingers around the door handle and prepare for what’s to come.
The house is silent when I step inside. I go to the kitchen but find no one. It’s not until I walk toward the stairs that I spot my parents’ heads out on the love seat in the garden. They’re laughing together and the sight makes my heart ache. Is that kind of happiness so hard to find? I’ve been screwed over by two guys in less than two weeks. Can things get any worse?
PAINE: ROSEWOOD HIGH #2 Page 24