15. Mason

Mason

15

It's pouring rain when we make it back to the apartment. Reed flips her hoodie over her head, and we run for the gate, quickly making our way up the stairs.

We're soaked through, and our clothes are dripping.

Stepping inside, she pulls her hood off her head, and her hair is damp from the water that drenched her sweater. Her mascara is smeared the slightest bit under her eyes, and she's gorgeous.

Dressed up. Dressed down. I've got no preference when it comes to her because one smile and she can pull off anything.

"That rain is intense." She wipes her hair off her face, shrugging out of her hoodie so she's standing in front of me in a tank top.

Even with her bra, she must be cold because her nipples peak, and it takes everything in me to pretend I'm not noticing that the sight of her is tugging every nerve in my body. I'd give anything to grab her and plant my mouth on those strawberry lips.

The sight of her has me anaphylactic, so I can't imagine what one touch would do. There's no coming back to life after getting a taste of Reed Jackson.

Something her asshole ex-boyfriend seems to also be realizing as he gets bolder in stalking her.

For the first couple of weeks, we assumed he was too chickenshit to be in LA. But then Sage caught word that he'd come to town a couple of times quietly. And when he's not here, I have no doubt he has men lingering around keeping an eye on her for him.

He's trying to find an opening because I'm sure he's convinced that once he can talk to her, she'll go running back. It gives me all the more reason to never let that happen.

"This winter is wild." Reed laughs.

"Tell me about it. I didn't realize LA was so wet." I pull off my hoodie and catch her gaze dropping to my chest when I do.

Her eyes quickly dart away. "It's not always. Depends on the year."

We're talking about the weather. Wonderful.

Everyone knows the way to a girl's heart is droning on about storm cycles.

"How was it with the girls?" I change the subject.

"Fine." She shrugs, but I get the impression she's hiding something when her lashes flutter, and she sinks her teeth into her lower lip. "How'd it go with my brother?"

"Fine."

We're both avoiding the question, but I really can't answer her even if I want to. She has plenty on her mind without worrying about what Sage is planning for Carter.

I spent most of the afternoon with Blaze, Sage, and the rest of the members of the council. We had a call with some guy named Ghost, who's on Steel's crew in Vegas. They've been watching my dad's operations for some time now because apparently, he's been causing issues for the Twisted Kings-owned businesses on the Strip.

And as much as I'd like to care and worry about taking down my father, that's not what I'm focused on at the moment. All I care about is Carter.

Luckily, those dominos are falling into place already.

Carter took on a silent partner recently. He's been struggling, but he must have kept it quiet with Reed. He needs the Zane Hotel project, or he'll likely go bankrupt. So as much as I'd like to destroy my father's entire empire, right now, tanking this singular investment is more important.

"Did you know Candy is pregnant?" Reed asks.

"No." I dip into the bathroom for a second and grab two towels, coming back out and handing one to her. "Babies are spreading like wildfire over there."

"That's what I said." Reed dabs the towel through her hair, trying to dry it off.

Her sweatpants are splotched with water, and her nipples strain against her tank top. It's torture trying not to look at her.

Turning to the kitchen, I search the fridge for a beer. "So that's what you talked about? Babies."

"And how you make them." Her tone has me glancing back at her.

Reed's cheeks turn the prettiest shade of pink, and I think she's embarrassed she said it. But it has me wanting to know how exactly that conversation went.

"How you make them, huh?" I pop the top off my beer.

Talking about sex isn't going to stop the images playing in my head right now, but I'm too damn curious not to ask.

"Yeah, they had lots to say on the subject." She rests against the counter, twisting the towel in her hands.

"And you?"

"What about me?" Her cheeks heat a little more.

"What did you have to say on the subject?"

I'm being bold.

She makes me stupid.

I want to know everything about her like it will help me figure out why I've been addicted to this girl since the moment we met.

"I don't know much on the subject in general." Reed frowns. "Carter was my first."

Every time I hear his name, I want to punch a hole through a wall. And every time I hold it inside, it's for her.

"Why does that matter? You were with him for six years, right?"

She nods. "Yeah. But he wasn't adventurous in that part of our relationship. At least, not with me."

"What do you mean, not with you?" As if the gasket can stand any more pressure, the building heat of it is near a bursting point inside me.

"I caught him talking to other women." Her gaze drops to the ground. "That's where our fight started the night I showed up here."

My teeth might break I'm clenching them so hard. "He cheated on you?"

"He avoided outright saying it, but I saw the texts. That was the final straw." Reed sets the towel on the counter and starts pacing the room. "Not that I should be surprised."

"Why would you say that?" My grip on my beer is so tight, I set it down before it shatters.

"It's like I told you, Mason. I was a virgin when I met him. I didn't know what I was doing."

I'm shaking my head now, trying to process what the fuck she's talking about through the whistle of rage between my temples and a car alarm going off down the street.

"What does you being a virgin have to do with him cheating on you?"

"I was boring in bed." She freezes in place, like she meant it, but she didn't want to say it.

Her eyes move to me, and they're wide as she chews the inside of her cheek.

"Let me guess." I slowly make my way over to her. "Carter said that shit?"

She doesn't release her cheek when she nods, and there's a little indent from where she's chewing on it. I stop in front of her, and she finally lets out her breath, rolling her shoulders back.

"I didn't want to be, just for the record." Her arms hug her stomach. "But every time I suggested anything he'd call me a—" She pauses, taking a breath. "He'd just say he didn't want to do it."

I'm pretty sure that's not how it went, but for her sake, I let that go and add it to the list of reasons I'm going to use this guy to take out all my aggression when I finally do get my hands on him.

"I shouldn't be telling you this. I'm sure you've had plenty of experience with plenty of women who know what they're doing. You do not want to hear about my pathetic sex life."

Reaching up, I can't help myself. I grab her chin and pause her shaking head, tipping her face up to me.

"There's nothing wrong with you, Reed. And I can guarantee that there's nothing wrong with how you fuck either."

"You don't know that."

"I do." I brush my thumb over her chin. "Because you give your all to people. More than they deserve. So whatever bullshit lies he fed you, they were just that—something to keep you from leaving him sooner."

"I'm not who you think I am, Mason."

"You're right. You're better than anything I could think. So good you're impossible to imagine." I release her chin, but she doesn't break my stare. "And for the record, he was a fucking fool to even look at another woman when he was with you, much less touch her. Because if I was ever lucky enough to have a girl like you, I wouldn't be able to think about anyone else. You're absolute perfection."

"You don't mean that."

I shake my head, wishing she was right. "Yes, I do."