Mason (FALLEN CREST SERIES) (13 page)

THE HEADS-UP

There was a knock on my door, but I already knew who it was. Logan always yelled my name on his way inside. He wasn’t home and there was only one other person who lived with us. “Yeah?”

My dad came inside. I saw the tension on his face and knew what he was there for. It’d been six months since we were arrested, since Nate’s parents shipped him off, and the disastrous meeting with Analise. At first there’d been nothing. It was like my dad’s girlfriend went away and I had hoped she was gone for good, but when he didn’t bring any other women home, I knew Analise wasn’t out of the picture. That stopped three months ago and she was over more and more lately. I sighed, shaking my head. “I suppose I should just be happy you haven’t force-fed her down our throats.”

He stopped, the grim look doubled, and he sat on my couch. Leaning forward, he rested his elbows on his knees. Still dressed in his business suit, the top three buttons were undone and he reached up now, tugging at the collar. My dad looked in pain, but I doubted it had anything to do with the shirt. He cupped his hands together. “I don’t know where to start.”

I tossed my pen on the desk. “I’ll do it for you. She’s moving in, isn’t she?”

He opened his mouth, ready to say something and then closed it. He nodded slowly.

Fuck. “I don’t like her.”

He held my gaze, flinching a bit, but let out a sigh. “I’m aware.”

“Logan won’t be happy.”

“Logan hasn’t been happy for a while.”

We shared a look. We were thinking the same thing. It’d been a year ago when Logan’s girlfriend came in here. My lips pressed tight at the memory. Logan was still working through those issues. He had loved Tate.

I said, “She’s just like her.”

“No.” He shook his head.

I leaned forward on my chair. “Yes.”

“No, Mason. You have this irrational anger at women—”

“They’re both cheaters,” I stopped him. “They’re both manipulators. They’re both liars. They both don’t care who they hurt.”

“That’s not fair.”

“Does she cry when she thinks of leaving her husband?” I didn’t need to wait to hear the answer. I knew she didn’t. “Or is she the one pressuring you to let her move in? Because she’ll be so happy to be with you? I’ve met her husband, Dad. He’s not that bad of a guy. He’s a good coach too.” I paused a beat. He looked away. “He could’ve been my coach.”

“Stop.”

I was getting to him, but I knew it wouldn’t do any good. I shook my head. “Why this woman?”

“What do you mean?”

“She has you wrapped around her finger. Why her? Does she have magical lube or something?” I channeled Logan. “Is her vagina some fairyland for your prick?”

“Stop it. My god. You and Logan. You’re both so crude sometimes.”

I shrugged. “I say it how I see it. Sometimes.”

He shot me a look, tugging at his collar again. “I’m aware. You’ve been barely tolerable since the divorce.”

I snorted. “You mean since you started cheating. Wait, that’d be your entire marriage, wouldn’t it?” Even thinking about it was making me angrier. “Why’d you marry her? It’s obvious you didn’t love Mom. Did you think you did at some point?”

He closed his eyes and hung his head. His shoulders slumped downwards. “I tried. I really did, Mason. It just wasn’t meant to be.”

“You didn’t even try.”

“I did too. You have no idea. You don’t remember the beginning, dealing with her family, dealing with her father’s threats.”

“Right. Because Grandpa’s such a controlling asshole.”

“He was.” The intensity in his eyes made me pause. He softened his tone and ran a hand through his hair. “He was before he died. Your mother never listened to me. It was their way before us. We were doomed from the start.” He grew bitter. “You don’t put someone else’s wishes before your partner’s. You don’t do that. When you marry, that’s your first priority. It should’ve been. I tried, but your mother didn’t see her loyalties like I did.”

“You thought you loved her?”

He grimaced. “I tried to love her.”

I grunted. He never answered the question.

Then he said, softly, “She got pregnant, Mason. That’s why we got married.”

She had been just another one of his women. A hollow laugh ripped from me. Fuck. I’d been the doom of them. I’d been the reason for all the pain for everyone. A lump formed in my throat and I swallowed it down. “That’s a hard pill to swallow. Shit.”

He shook his head. “I tried. I really did, Mason. Your mother wouldn’t take my side in things. She wouldn’t listen to me. It was about what her family wanted. To give Helen some credit, she’s the oldest daughter and they’re old money. They have a lot of expectations for her to live up to. I know that’s part of the reason she held onto our marriage as long as she did.” A soft curse slipped from him. “She’d still be here if I hadn’t ended it. I am sorry for how things worked out.”

“You gave up.”

“Mason,” he sighed.

“Were you ever faithful to her?”

He pressed his lips together and glanced away.

He couldn’t look me in the eyes. I was so tired of the lies and the manipulation. I was sick of everything.

Then he murmured, “I did try.”

“Not hard enough. What? A month?” I was disgusted. “That’s not a marriage. I don’t blame Mom for not giving up her loyalties to Grandpa. I wouldn’t either if my wife had another dick in her after a month of marriage.” I laughed. “What a riot. You tried. That might be one of the biggest lies I’ve heard from you.” It was killing me because he wouldn’t cheat on this new one. I had sensed it in him for a long time. He would be the husband to her that he hadn’t been for my mom.

“I am sorry for putting you guys through all of this. We should’ve been more discreet, your mother and I.”

“Just stop.” I sneered at him. I sneered at my own father. That was wrong, but somehow it seemed so acceptable in our lives. “I don’t want to hear about your failed marriage. I lived it. Say what you came to say.”

“She’s moving in.”

“When?”

“Next weekend.”

I felt sucker punched. We had less than a week.

“Do you want me to tell Logan or—”

I didn’t even let him finish. “No. I will.” He had to hear it from me. “I’ll tell him.”

He stood, nodding to himself. As he went to the door, he wiped his hands down the front of his pants and I had to laugh. He looked up. “What?”

It was like he’d been nervous, but that was the irony. It didn’t matter what we wanted or what was best for us, he was going to do whatever he wanted. We never mattered. For him to be nervous now? It didn’t make sense.

“What?” he asked again.

“I think you’re a coward.”

He took a step back, looking like I had sucker punched him instead.

I didn’t care. “After all the stuff you’ve done and now you give me a week’s heads up that some new woman is moving in? Should I thank you for the consideration of even telling me?” I gestured to his hands. “You were sweating. That means you were nervous and that means you cared how this would go. Why? You haven’t cared this whole time.”

Pain and regret flashed over his face and he didn’t answer for a moment. I didn’t think he would. His throat jerked up and down as he cleared his throat. When he spoke, his voice was hoarse, “I’m sorry for threatening to send Logan away. I’m not a great father. I know that. I wasn’t a good husband at all, but this is a new beginning. That’s what I’m hoping for.”

He started for the door, but I stopped him again. “Were you with her the whole time?”

“What?”

“Logan saw her around years ago, but I know you were with other women. Have you been with her this whole time?”

“No.” He shook his head. “I didn’t want to leave a marriage and jump into another serious relationship, but you’re right. Analise has been around. She’s been patient. She waited for me. I love her, Mason. I love her a lot.”

I knew he did. I hated that he did. “What about her kid?”

“She’s coming too.”

I narrowed my eyes.

So did he. He hesitated and then said, “I’m quite aware of what you are capable of, Mason. I’ve watched you grow up.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“You will leave Samantha alone. If you have any idea of pursuing her to hurt me or hurt Analise, let it go now. That girl has no idea about any of this. Her entire world is going to be turned upside down in five days. You let her be when they move in.”

I laughed again. “I don’t have to hurt that girl. You and her mother have already done enough. If I did anything, it’d be to help her.”

He studied me for a long minute. “You just let her be. Logan too. I don’t want either of you to even talk to her.”

Of course. As he left, I had to appreciate even more irony. He was telling me to be a stranger to his old mistress/new girlfriend’s child when they became our roommates. Only in our lives would that make perfect sense.

Then my phone buzzed and Logan’s name appeared on the screen. He needed to be told too.

TELLING LOGAN

We were at a party, but I couldn’t hold it in. Nodding to Logan, I gestured away from everyone. This had nothing to do with them. This was family business. This was private. When Ethan and Strauss started to come with him, I shook my head. They fell back immediately. They never questioned me, but Logan saw the exchange and he frowned.

We went to a back room. Once we were there, he said, “What’s going on? You’re acting weird.”

Shit. I didn’t want to say it, but he had to know. “She’s moving in.”

Logan was silent.

I waited. He was my kid brother and I was scared. What would he say? How would he react? Then he shrugged. “Okay.”

I frowned. “Next weekend.”

He hung his head.

There he was. He was my little brother again. We didn’t talk about our parents’ relationship or lack of one. We talked about people who were trying to hurt us or use us. We were a united front against them, but this was different. Logan had always clammed up when it came to Mom and Dad. He needed to talk about it, but fuck. I had no idea what to say.

I tried, “I’m sorry.”

“Why?” He bit out a bitter laugh. “You didn’t force Dad to sleep with all those women. You didn’t make him give up on their marriage or Mom to put up with his shit. You fucking raised me. That’s what you did.” He wiped at his eyes, swallowing for a moment. “Shit. For real?”

I nodded. “Dad told me today.”

“Christ. My god. FUCK.” He closed his eyes and turned away. His shoulders shook.

“Logan.”

“Stop, Mason.” He turned to me.

The sight of his tears silenced me. He had cried in front of me before, but this was deep. This had been going on for so long. My own emotions were coming up in me. I didn’t want to deal with it.

He asked, his voice hoarse, “Why the fuck can’t we have normal parents? You know, where the dad and mom don’t lie all the time? Maybe some of the time, but they fight, make up, and the family pretends everything’s fine. Why’d we have to have ours?” He shook his head. “We’re not even a family. It’s you and me. Who the hell is Dad to us? He’s not a father.” His arm jerked up to me. “You’re my father. You raised me. He didn’t. She didn’t. FUCK.”

He turned back away, but it didn’t matter. He hurt. I hurt. No one could deny it or ignore it anymore. Everything he said was true. It was us against the world. It had been for a long time.

“He loves that bitch, doesn’t he?”

I nodded. “Yeah.”

“He’s going to marry her.”

“Probably.”

“She already hates us.”

“Yeah.” I closed my eyes. I’d been protecting him for so long, but I couldn’t anymore. “I have no idea what she’ll do, but I’m assuming she’ll want us out eventually.”

Another harsh laugh came from him. “So it’s over.”

It was. A resounding ache was in my gut. It was worse than ever before. “Yeah. It’s over between Mom and Dad.”

“They’ve been divorced for a while. She moved out years ago.” He sighed. “Why is this still hurting? It’s like the pain will never go away.”

“Yeah.” The ache deepened as he spoke.

His voice dropped to a whisper. “Why do I feel like I’m that little kid again, listening to Mom cry as he ignores her?”

We were both there, reliving that moment. I was on the stairway with him, hearing their argument from our floor. Logan said, “We shouldn’t have had to go through that.”

“We’re not the first.”

“I know.” I wouldn’t do that, not to my own child. “It hurts because it’s done, for real this time. He moved on.”

“Mom hasn’t.”

“She will.” She would have to. “He left her alone a long time ago, she just didn’t let him go.”

Logan cursed again. “This sucks.”

“I know.” The ache was still embedded in my chest. It wasn’t going anywhere. I’d have to live with it. I already had been. “I want to get drunk tonight.”

He flashed me a grin, brushing at his eyes at the same time. “I thought you stopped drinking for football.”

“Really?”

He laughed. “Coach says you can’t drink, remember? It’ll screw up your training.”

“Fuck my training.” I shook my head. “Fuck this night.”

“Fuck our life.”

I nodded. “Fuck our family.”

Logan stopped grinning. The sadness appeared over his face again. Sometimes I didn’t think it ever left him. He said softly, “You and me.”

“You and me.” It always had been. It always would be. “Let’s forget what’s going on for tonight, just one night. Let’s have fun. Then we’ll deal with whatever happens.”

He nodded. “Okay.” He cursed then. “We’re going to have a stepsister. Shit. How’s that going to go?”

I grinned.

“What if she’s ugly?”

I frowned. “Does it matter?”

“What if she’s hot? Would that be worse?”

I didn’t know. In that moment, I didn’t care. Logan knew she was moving in with us. He had handled it better than I thought. Then I said, “I love you, brother.”

He murmured back, “I love you too, big brother.”

We didn’t leave the room, not at first. We didn’t say anything else either. It was a comfortable silence between us. Our lives were changing again. We’d deal. We always did. I didn’t want to go back to the party. For a moment, just one moment, I sat in that room and I wasn’t the Mason Kade everyone expected to deal with. I was hurting. I was angry. I felt like we had no parents, but I did have a brother. Logan met my gaze. He was thinking the same thing. We had each other. We would continue to have each other, but at that moment, we were still the little boys who were hearing their parents break up a family.

I could’ve sat in that room for the rest of the night.