“Oh my God! I’m getting a ride home from Lily Bennett!” Tayla squeals while Mason glares at her.
“Are your parents home?” Mason asks quietly as we get into my car.
“No. I haven’t even heard from them.” I sigh.
“You want to stay?” he asks, and I nod enthusiastically.
“So how long has this been going on for?” Tayla asks, sticking her face between the seats.
“None of your business,” Mason snaps, pushing her face.
“Gemma is going to freak out.” She laughs as she falls back.
“How come?” I ask curiously.
“We saw you play when you were a freshman and have been totally obsessed since. We actually wanted to go to Ridgewood, but Callum and Mason packed a shit,” she explains.
I fight back my laugh.
“I told you, you can go there once I graduate,” Mason mumbles.
“And I plan on it,” she sasses.
“You want to transfer?” I ask, raising my eyebrows.
“The second he graduates I am,” she confirms.
“My coach actually asked me and Sky if we think you’d transfer,” I say casually, making Mason whip his head toward me.
“Wait, what?” she asks, putting her face between the seats again as I pull up outside their house.
“You’re a really good player. Lyall likes to have the best,” I shrug, killing the engine.
“Oh my God!” Tayla squeals and starts bouncing up and down.
“This is the best day of my life!” she exclaims before jumping out of the car and sprinting inside.
“She’s never going to shut up about this,” Mason sighs, taking his belt off.
“It’s cute,” I smile.
“You’re cute,” he smiles, making me burst out laughing.
“Are you ready to meet my other crazy sister?” He sighs again, looking at the house.
“I’m ready,” I nod. I mean, she can’t be that bad, right?
Mason and I walk slowly up to his door, and the second he opens it, a younger version of Tayla is standing there with her arms crossed and hip sticking out.
“And what the hell is this?” she snaps, making me take a step closer to Mason.
“What do you think?” Mason deadpans back.
“You’re being a hypocrite!” she sasses, throwing her hand in the air.
“Gemma!” Tayla scolds from the sofa.
“He is!” she snaps back before her eyes settle on me.
“Holy crap. I actually can’t believe I get to meet you.” She smiles widely, suddenly no longer angry.
“Go order some dinner,” Mason orders, grabbing my hand and tugging me toward the stairs.
“I already have. From Tayla’s boyfriend.” She smirks, making Mason freeze before he slowly turns around.
“Her what?” he asks, looking at Tayla.
“He’s not my boyfriend,” she denies quickly, giving her smirking sister the evils.
“Fine, she just has the biggest crush on him.” Gemma laughs while Tayla blushes.
“I think we’ll wait down here,” Mason says slowly, dropping down onto the sofa while I sit in the armchair.
The four of us watch TV for a little bit until the doorbell rings, and then both Mason and Tayla are on their feet.
He gives her a little shove, making her fall back down onto her butt before he runs to the door.
“This is so embarrassing,” she groans, covering her face.
The door slams and Mason walks back in holding two pizza boxes, looking very unimpressed.
“You like that douchebag?” he asks, dropping the boxes onto the coffee table.
“What did you say?” she groans.
“Nothing,” Mason smirks, opening the boxes up.
After eating the pizza and watching a movie with Tayla and Gemma, Mason shows me where the shower is so I can get all the sweat off me before we snuggle up in his bed together.
“Are you going to be here when I wake up?” he asks quietly, drawing circles with his fingers on my lower back.
“I will,” I confirm.
“When you left last time I was really pissed,” he mumbles.
“And sad,” he adds just as quietly.
“But I probably would’ve begged you to stay.” He clears his throat, moving his hand up my back to pull me impossibly closer.
“Then maybe this last month wouldn’t have sucked.” I half-smile, wishing I could go back in time.
“Maybe,” he agrees, closing his eyes.
LILY
“Are you doing anything this weekend?” Mason asks me on Thursday morning as we run around the trail.
“Nothing.” I shake my head, wanting to stop running, but we’re about to round the corner to the last straight.
“Liam and Brittany want to meet you,” he says casually, making me stop.
“They do?” I ask, breathing heavily.
“Yeah. I kinda told them about us yesterday.” He blushes, scratching the back of his head.
“What’d they say?” I ask nervously as we start walking around the bend.
“They cornered me, asking why I was suddenly acting normal.” He rolls his eyes.
“You don’t have to,” he adds when I don’t say anything.
“I’ll meet them,” I decide. I really like Mason, and if his friends want to meet me, then I will, for him. Even if I’m ninety-nine percent sure Brittany hates my guts.
“Race ya.” He winks, taking off, and I huff. He always cheats!
I push my legs to run as fast as I can, but there’s no way I can catch up with Mason and his stupid long legs.
“You’re the biggest cheat I know,” I huff, leaning down to catch my breath.
New Book: Back Home to Marry Off Myself
Loredana’s father left the family for his mistress, leaving them to fend for themselves abroad. When life was at its toughest, her father showed up with “good news” after 8 years of absence: To marry off Loredana to a paralyzed son of the wealthy Mendelsohn family.