Bang (Blast Brothers #2) - Sabrina Stark Page 0,91
you do have it bad, don't you?"
When I replied with only a shrug, she said with obvious reluctance, "Well…I guess I should tell you something."
Oh, no. What now? Bracing myself, I asked, "What?"
"Mason called me looking for you."
In spite of everything, my heart gave a traitorous flutter. "Really? When?"
"Maybe an hour ago, when you were in the tub."
I shook my head. "And you're just telling me now?"
"Honestly, I didn't want to upset you. But you should know, he sounded really worried."
I tried to laugh. "Of course he is. He thinks I’m insane."
"It didn't sound like that to me," she said. "You want the truth?"
Judging from her expression, I wasn't so sure. Still, I nodded anyway.
Arden's tone was gentle. "He sounded like a guy in love."
I couldn't help but scoff. "Yeah. He is. With his family."
As soon the words left my mouth, I felt like a terrible person for saying them. Deliberately, I softened my tone. "You know what's funny? I actually love that about him, how protective he is and how much he cares for the people closest to him. But maybe…" I sighed. "…I was just thinking there might be a little room for someone else, you know?"
Arden's eyes filled with tears of her own. "Yeah, I know."
Great. Now I was spreading the misery. This was the last thing I wanted.
With forced cheer, I said, "Who knows, maybe he was calling to fire me. Or maybe he thinks I quit." I bit my lip. "Maybe I should quit. Or maybe I already did."
Regardless of the logistics, cussing out your boss was generally a pretty good sign that your job was over.
"Or maybe," Arden said, "you should sleep on it, and see how you feel in the morning."
It was good advice. And I took it with gratitude. I spent the night in Arden's extra guest room, where thoughts of Mason haunted my thoughts and my dreams.
But then, when morning came, I found myself more confused than ever. And why? It was because sometime in the night, Mason had managed to surprise me yet again.
Chapter 55
Mason
I opened the front door expecting to see Brody with Willow. Instead, I saw Brody's fiancée, looking as pissed off as I'd ever seen her.
Arden's long brown hair was in a loose ponytail, and she was wearing jeans and a thick winter coat along with heavy winter boots. No gloves.
It was the day after the car-jacking, and Willow had spent the night at Brody's place due to the blizzard, which hadn't let up until near dawn.
Now it was early afternoon, and although snow remained thick on the ground, the main roads were clear enough to be passable as long as you didn't get too crazy with the gas pedal.
But me – I was a different kind of crazy. I hadn't slept. I hadn't eaten. And forget working.
The house felt cold and empty. It would be easy to think that it was because Willow had spent the night at Brody's.
But it wasn't.
After all, this wasn't the first time Willow had spent the night away from home. And yet, it was the first time I'd wandered through the house like a mental patient, looking for signs of someone who wasn't there.
And that someone wasn't my little sister.
It wasn't the person on my doorstep either. I gave Arden a long, cold look. "Where's Brody?"
Uninvited, she stomped past me, saying, "Home."
I turned to follow her movements. "And Willow?"
Over her shoulder, she said, "The same."
I felt my jaw clench. It was Christmas Eve. A couple of hours ago, Brody had texted me asking if I'd be home around two o'clock. I'd assumed he wanted to drop off Willow. Instead, he'd set me up for an ambush.
Asshole.
As I watched, Arden stomped deeper into the house, calling out, "I brought cookies, not that you deserve them."
I shut the front door and strode after her. I hadn't seen any cookies.
As if reading my mind, she said, "They're in a baggie. I put them in my pocket so they'd get nice and crushed." She paused. "I hope."
"So that's why you're here?" I said. "To bring me crushed cookies?"
"Oh, please," she said. "If it were up to me, I wouldn't be bringing cookies at all. No. They're from Willow. We made them yesterday."
Willow had grown up without a mom – and without any aunts or grandmothers either. If I were in the mood to be reasonable, I might admit that it was nice that Arden took such an interest.