Authors: Amanda Boone,Amber Duval
6.
There were two men sitting next to Justin, a few years younger than him but, other than that, almost identical looking. An older couple sat in front of them, and the man looked just like Justin as well. A big family of great genes, just what I needed to face after being called fat on a date.
They all looked up at me at the same time, and my blush burned brighter. “Sorry to interrupt. Mason found me and I’m guessing he wanted to introduce me to his beautiful family.”
The woman clapped her hands together and grinned. “Oh, that’s so sweet of you to say! You’re Sara Jane, right? I know your father through the Chamber.”
I nodded and forced a smile to my face, despite how badly I felt like crying. “Yes, ma’am. I’m Mason’s counselor at school.”
Justin snorted and threw back whatever was in his glass. I focused on breathing in and out through my nose while clenching my jaw.
“I’m Mary, and this is my husband, Paul Steele, mason’s grandparents. You know Justin, I’m sure. This troublemaker in the middle is my son Devon. The one buried in his phone at the end is Avery.”
Avery’s eyes snapped up and landed on me. “Hey. I recognize you. You were a few years younger than me in school.”
I smiled and tilted my head to the side. I was embarrassed that I didn’t remember him.
Mary giggled and covered her mouth with a napkin. “Honey, it looks like you didn’t leave an impression.”
“I’m so sorry! Honestly, I was so stuck in my books in school, I barely saw anyone.”
He stood up and reached out to shake my hand. “Well, then. Let me introduce myself properly. I’m Avery, and the pleasure it all mine, Sara.”
The middle brother laughed. “I’ll be damned. When you walked over here, I wasn’t sure you could get any redder, yet you just did.”
I was going to die of shame. They were all staring at me, even Justin.
“Why
were
you so red? Did you get a sunburn today? You weren’t that red last night.”
Mary groaned. “Surely you didn’t, Justin. Please, tell me you didn’t already sleep with Mason’s counselor.”
I shook my head so hard my hair flew around my face. “No, ma’am. Never. Not in a million years.”
Avery laughed and slapped his knee. “Wow. Justin, I don’t think you have a chance.”
I quickly spoke up to avoid that line of conversation. “I actually didn’t get a sunburn. My mom sent me on another blind date and it’s not going well.”
Mason tugged on his dad’s hand and then leaned in to whisper something. I found myself leaning in, desperate to hear his little voice.
Suddenly Justin stood up and glared past me. “Not going well, my ass. He can’t treat you that way!”
Mason held my hand as Justin stormed off. Mary gasped and spun around to try to see what her son was doing.
Devon sighed. “Here we go. Sara, Mom, will you keep an eye on Mason? I’ve got to go make sure big brother doesn’t break his fingers on someone’s nose.”
Avery followed quickly after both of his brothers.
I looked at Mary with wide eyes. “What are they doing?”
She frowned. “My sons have never been slow to protect someone’s honor. Did your date say something in front of Mason?”
I blinked a few times and then groaned. “Yes. He called me fat. Is that what you told your daddy, Mason?”
He nodded. “That’s not a nice thing to say.”
I knelt in front of him and wrapped my arms around him. “You’re right. You’re so right.”
I had to blink back tears of happiness that he was finally talking to me. I pulled back so I could look him in the eye. “I’m so glad you’re speaking to me, Mason.”
He leaned in and pressed a kiss to my cheek. “I think you’re pretty.”
Mary
coo
ed at us over the sound of a fight erupting on the other side of the place. I glanced over my shoulder and saw that a crowd was forming. I wanted to get Mary and Mason out of there right away.
“Thank you, Mason. Now, let’s go on one of our walks. Mary, would you like to come with us? Paul?”
She smiled at us and shook her head. “I’m fine, honey. I’m used to those boys. Rowdy since the day they were born. Mason doesn’t need to see anything, though. I’ll tell Justin you took him outside.”
I nodded and scooped Mason up in my arms. He wrapped his arms around my neck and held on while I rushed us out through the kitchen and then the back door of the place. The parking lot out back was dark and Mason’s grip on me tightened, so I quickly carried us around the side of the building and then across the street to the little park.
It was a sad excuse for a park, with just one swing and a slide. Mason seemed excited, though. He was back to being quiet, but there was a real smile on his face.
I kept an eye on the front of the building and had to remind myself to breath while waiting on Justin to leave the bar. My heart was pounding. I didn’t want him to get into a fight for me. Just the night before I was afraid
we
would be fighting. I felt guilty and embarrassed.
I gasped as the door flew open and Devon and Avery came out, pulling a furious-looking Justin after them. Mary and Paul walked out casually after them, like it was just a normal day.
I heard Devon tell Justin to get it together before Mason saw him like that. I looked down at Mason and saw that he
was
watching. I got on his level and touched his cheek with my hand.
“Hey, you okay?”
He frowned. “Daddy’s mad.”
I nodded. “Sometimes grown-ups get mad and turn all red and do silly things. He’s not mad at you, though. He’ll calm down in just a second.”
He looked past me and then back at me. “Daddy needs a walk to calm down.”
I nearly laughed. I had to bite my tongue to hold it in. Finally, I nodded. “You know what? Maybe he does.”
“You’ll go on a walk with Daddy?”
“Oh! You meant a walk with me? Um…”
“Of course she’ll go on a walk with me, Mason. Will you be good for Grandma if you stay with her tonight?”
I looked back toward Justin and couldn’t meet his eyes. Instead, I looked back at his family and forced a smile. “I’ll let you two talk.”
Justin caught my arm and leaned in close. “Don’t run, princess.”
I bared my teeth at him before I could help it and marched over to his parents. I crossed my arms over my chest and looked back at him. He was infuriating.
“Sorry, Avery. I don’t think you’ve got a chance with the counselor.” Devon clapped his little brother on the back and laughed when he saw my confused face. “You haven’t looked twice at me or Avery. It seems your eyes are drawn elsewhere.”
Mary slapped Devon on the back of the head. “Leave her alone. Don’t pay any attention to him, Sara. I raised wild animals instead of sons.”
I laughed, but it caught in my throat when I saw Walter walk out of the bar. He was holding an icepack to his face and flipped me off when he saw me.
His mouth twisted into a sneer, and I knew he was going to say something awful. “Tell your mom that she’ll have to pay a lot more to get people to date her fat daughter after this.”
Devon and Avery bristled beside me, but I put a hand on each of their shoulders. “Don’t.”
They stilled, thank god. If they’d actually tried to go after him, there was no way I’d be able to stop them. They each towered over me.
Devon turned to me and nodded to Walter. “Your mom really do that?”
I looked down at my toenails. They were painted pink and seemed a waste at that point of the night. “Apparently so. I guess she’s desperate for me to be married off. I didn’t realize quite how desperate, though.”
Mary pulled me into a sudden hug. “Sweetie, if you need anything, we’re here for you. You seem too sweet for this to be something you have to deal with. Don’t listen to that little shit, either. You’re beautiful. It seems at least one of my sons is having a hard time keeping his eyes off you.”
I looked behind me to see Justin walking toward us with Mason in his arms. His eyes were heated and on my ass. I spun around and put my hands on my hips.
“Eyes up, pal.”
He looked at my chest and grinned. “No problem.”
Mary sighed. “Animals. I raised a pack of animals. This is your fault, Paul. You did this.”
Justin handed Mason to his dad and ruffled his son’s hair. “Be good for them, Mason. I’ll see you in the morning before church, okay? I love you.”
Mason smiled at his dad. “I love you, too, Daddy. Bye, Miss Sara. Don’t forget to walk Daddy.”
I laughed at the same time as Devon and Avery. Justin smacked his two brothers and then casually draped an arm across my shoulders. I looked up at him and rolled my eyes. Maybe if he thought I wasn’t affected, he’d lay off. I needed a break.
We all said our goodbyes and then Justin and I were alone. I moved out from under his arm and stood a few feet away from him. “We don’t have to take a walk. Mason just believes in the power of my walks, clearly.”
He smiled. “Don’t be scared. Despite what you may have heard, I don’t bite.”
I frowned. “Fine. Just don’t think this means anything.”
He laughed. “Like what, Sara? It’s just a walk.”
I was going to kill him.
7.
We walked toward the school with several feet of space between us. For a while neither of us talked. I glanced over at him every so often, slightly weirded out by the current situation.
“Mason really likes you.”
I blew out a breath. “I really like him. He’s a sweet kid. A
good
kid. I see a lot of brats, and he’s definitely sweeter than any of the ones I normally deal with.”
“You really think something is wrong with him?”
I frowned and stopped walking. “There’s nothing
wrong
with him, Justin. He seems to be going through something, though.”
Justin walked over to the school playground and sat on one of the swings. “He’s had a tough go of things, I guess.”
I sat down next to him and pushed off so I could swing. I hadn’t done it in years, and it felt so nice. “Tell me about it. Please.”
He reached out and grabbed the chain of my swing to stop me. “This isn’t anything I want to repeat, so listen.”
I pulled my swing away from him and frowned. “I can do both. If it bothers you, I’ll sit still, though.”
“Thanks.” He paused and then bent to rest his elbows on his knees. “I was married once before. Jamie was pregnant with Mason so we decided to just do it. The marriage was shit. We hated each other after trying to go through a pregnancy together without really loving each other. She left me when Mason was just a year old.
“Jamie never stayed away from Mason, though. When he was three a drunk driver hit Jamie when she was going home one night. Killed her instantly.”
I sucked in a sharp breath and gripped the chains hard to keep from reaching for him. It wasn’t my place to comfort him. “That’s horrible.”
“Yeah. Mason took it hard. He withdrew. He used to be this wild little hellion. When I did the rodeo circuit, he’d go out with the rest of the little kids to rope billy goats and he’d always win. At three he was a better roper than Avery is now.”
I smiled, but the situation felt too heavy for a laugh. “I can’t even imagine losing my mother at such a young age.”
He looked over at me and frowned. His eyebrows were drawn together, and I got the idea he was thinking something unpleasant. “How do you deal with your mom? That asshole said she paid for your dates.”
I looked out at the forest on the other side of the street to distract me from the pity I could feel coming from Justin. “I don’t know. I just do.”
“It’s crazy, Sara. You don’t need any help getting dates.”
I bit my lip and fiddled with the hem of my dress. I hadn’t had time to process what it meant for me that my mom was having to pay guys to take me out yet. A thought popped into my head and I stood up abruptly.
“She paid that piece of crap Bradley to take me out and he still made me pay for dinner! All I had was a salad, that I didn’t eat, and a glass of water. I paid forty bucks for that!”
Justin stared up at me and grinned. “You got suckered out of forty bucks, princess.”
The backs of my eyes stung and I blinked quickly in hopes of stopping the tears. “God. Am I such a bad date that men need to be paid to deal with me? That men as awful as Bradley and
Walter
think they’re too good for me?”
I sat back down on the swing and shook my head. “I don’t get it. No one else ever asks me out. The only dates I go on are the ones my mom sets up. I’ve literally never been on a date that wasn’t orchestrated by my mom.”
Justin grabbed my swing again and pulled me around to face him. “The men in this town must be some of the dumbest shits ever. Go on a date with me, Sara.”
I jerked away from him and marched over to the slide to lean against it. “I’m not going to accept your pity date, Justin. I’m fine. Let’s just be done here, please.”
“It’s not a—”
“
Please.
”
After a few seconds’ pause he finally nodded. “Okay. Can I walk you home at least?”
I smiled and lowered my face so he wouldn’t see it. “Sure. It beats being kidnapped and murdered, I guess.”
He opened his mouth like he was about to yell at me but stopped when he saw the grin on my face. “I thought you were being serious. You want me to cry, don’t you? You’ve turned me down more than any other woman in my life.”
I rolled my eyes. “I can’t take you seriously.”
He threw his arm around my shoulders and walked along like it was no big deal. “Have dinner with me tomorrow night.”
Did he really want to take me to dinner? I was quiet as I debated his intentions. He could have any woman in town and was well on his way to doing just that.
“We’ll just talk about Mason. You can even call it a business meeting. I won’t even make you pay anything.”
I frowned, not able to help the disappointment I felt. It hadn’t been a good day for my pride, and I was worried his pity date was going to be the push that helped me over the cliff. It wasn’t even a date. More like a pity appointment. “Okay.”
We walked in silence the rest of the way to my parents’ house. When we reached the driveway I turned to face him, feeling desperate to hide the fact that I lived over my parents’ garage. I needed to save some of my pride.
“Thanks for walking me home.”
He reached out and grabbed my waist. “Don’t thank me yet.”
I gasped as he yanked my body into his chest and stared down at me. While I expected a smile or laugh to be playing at his lips, I found a serious expression instead. “What are you doing?”
His eyes roamed over my face, touching everywhere without actually touching. His hands never moved from my waist, but his fingers spread out so it felt like he was grasping all of me at once. “If you could feel how much I want you, you’d never look at me with questions in your eyes ever again.”
I opened my mouth to call him crazy and he kissed me. His mouth was warm on mine, his lips firm as he silently demanded I kiss him back. It seemed like the most natural thing in the world to wrap my arms around his neck and pull myself closer to him.
Justin grunted when my chest pressed against his. He picked me up and moved his hands to rest under my thighs. “Inside. Now.”
I nodded. “Okay. Yeah.”
He carried me up the driveway while I held on to him and pressed my lips against his neck. He tasted slightly salty, like he’d been sweating, and it was exactly what I craved in that moment.
“Where are your keys?”
I shrugged and tugged on his hair to get his mouth back on mine. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d been kissed, but I knew it’d never been as good. I just wanted to keep kissing him. I’d never experienced anything as intoxicating.
My back hit something solid and I gasped. Justin stroked his tongue into my mouth, teasing me within an inch of my sanity. His mouth grew rough against mine, and I fought to give him as good as I was getting. He took control of the kiss and nipped my lower lip before moving down my jaw.
“If we don’t get inside I’m going to take you right here on the porch.”
It felt like he’d poured ice-cold water down my back. I wasn’t ready for that. I tried pushing away from him just as the solid wall behind my back gave away. I felt myself falling and shrieked.
Justin reacted instantly and caught me in his strong arms. “Are you okay?”
“What in the world is going on here?!” If my own urge to put the brakes on our make-out session wasn’t enough, my mother’s voice was.
I twisted until Justin had to put me down. Then I noticed my surroundings. We were on my mom’s front porch. In my haste to kiss Justin’s face off I hadn’t directed him to the garage apartment.
“Well?”
Justin wrapped an arm around my waist and tugged me back against him. “Wrong house?”
I laughed before I could help it. He sounded so calm and collected. When all I felt was panic, it was a nice juxtaposition. “Wrong house. I live in the apartment above the garage. This is embarrassing.”
My mom stepped out onto the porch and shook her finger at me. “I can’t believe you, Sara Jane. I set you up with a respectable gentleman and you come home with a
bull rider
?”
My face heated and I wanted to kill my mom, for not the first time. “We’re leaving. Sorry for any confusion, Mom.”
Justin didn’t budge. “So, you think respectable men take money to date your daughter and call her names?”
My mom wrapped her robe around her tighter. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
I pulled at Justin’s shirt. “Please, Justin. Let’s just go.”
He glared down at me and shrugged. “Sure. Why not? Let’s not confront your mother about making you feel like shit.”
I couldn’t stand there anymore. If he left with me, then good. If not, it wasn’t my problem. I turned around and moved off my parents’ porch and then across the small drive to my apartment.
I had my hand on the doorknob when I glanced back. Justin wasn’t behind me. He wasn’t in front of my mom, either, though. He was marching down the driveway and down the street. So much for that make-out session going anywhere.