Masyn slept like the dead through the night, and when her alarm went off, she jumped at the obnoxious noise. We both had to be at work in an hour, and I still had to go home to change. She bolted upright, twisted over me, and slapped the snooze button on the nightstand, and the realization hit her that she'd spent the night with me in her bed."Oh, God. Lee...what did I do?" Her hands went to her head where her fingers massaged her temples. There was no doubt she'd have one hell of a hangover to contend with today. "Did we...?" She looked down at my swim trunks and then back at my face. "You know?""No." I'd never take advantage of any woman who was drunk. "After your confession, you threw up, and I brought you in here. You asked me to stay, but we didn't do anything." I hated being the one to remind her of all she'd admitted last night, knowing how much would change between us."My...confession?" she repeated, unsure she'd heard me correctly. With pursed lips, I nodded. "Yeah
I managed to clock in before the buzzer rang, signaling the start of the shift. I hadn't had time to look for Masyn. My head was far too fucked up to try to interact with her, anyhow. She may want to forget everything that happened last night, but I'd done nothing other than agonize over every word she'd said, trying to make sense of it. None of it aligned with what Beau told me at the diner, and I had a hard time believing Masyn would twist things around to create reasons to talk to him when he was at school. That was the kind of shit every other girl in town would do, not Masyn Porter. I had to remind myself over and over, I specifically asked if she was talking about Beau, and even through her rambling, she'd answered yes without hesitation. As much as my mind wanted to convince my heart that I'd misunderstood, there was no misconstruing her message-not even as tired as I'd been. My head pounded from all the noise in the shop, coupled with a lack of sleep, making it harder to wor
"Lee, I'm really sorry about last night."Inhaling deeply, I counted to ten and then exhaled before speaking. "It's not a big deal, Masyn. You cleared the air. I know where we stand. It's all good." I ground my teeth, trying to soften my tone."It seems like a big deal. You're obviously upset. I just want to talk about it.""For God's sake, Masyn, I nearly cut off my fucking thumb. It isn't about you being in love with your best friend." And not me.I stared out the window waiting for her to come back at me, yell, tell me what an ass I was, yet it didn't come. The minutes ticked by with not even a peep from the driver's side of the vehicle. When I turned, a scowl lining my brow, Masyn stared out the windshield. Tears streamed down her cheeks and cut through the dust that lined them."Fuck. Don't cry, sweetheart. I didn't mean to lash out at you."She sucked her lips between her teeth and nodded. Even when I grabbed her right hand with my left, she didn't utter another word.
Going to the shop had been an utter waste of a day, except that I still got to collect hours on my paycheck. I couldn't do shit without my right hand, and it was still too tender to use it to pick things up. I wasn't worried about tearing the stitches out, it just hurt like hell. Farley put me back in receiving so I could check trucks in and deal with shipments going out. An inbred monkey could do this job. There was nothing worse than boredom and idle time at work. If I had to be here, I wanted something to occupy my mind, and this wasn't cutting it. I'd spent the better part of the day thinking about what Masyn and Beau's wedding would be like. When she'd move to Atlanta. How many kids they'd have. It was torture, and I was inflicting it upon myself-they hadn't even gone on a date, and I already had their life planned. The longer I spent thinking about it, the more outlandish my thoughts became. By the end of the day, I had them married with two-point-five kids and a white picket
"Masyn, it's okay to want to get married and have kids. I want to settle down at some point, too." The light in her eyes dimmed a bit, yet not being able to focus on her expression and drive, I couldn't evaluate it. "Anyway, it dawned on me that Beau's not really a part of our lives anymore. I mean, he is, but not daily. The two of us aren't anywhere near as close to him as we were in high school. And let's be honest, his life isn't going to lead him back to Harden...ever."She had a point. One that I'd rolled over in my mind about a thousand times today, thinking I'd lose them both when Masyn joined him in Atlanta. "And what's the likelihood Peyton will ever come back to Georgia?" She chuckled at the thought.I guess that all depended on how foolish the two of them decided to be. She hadn't really engaged in any of his advances, although he'd been shameless in making them. "Probably not great.""Right! So at the end of the week, it's me and you again...the way it always
When I rejoined the conversation, Lani delivered a tray of wings and fries and another bucket of beers. "What have you two done all day?" I asked, once the waitress left.Peyton and Beau glanced at each other like teenagers caught skipping school. Then Peyton answered, "I went over to the Chastains' house, and Beverly helped me go through the contracts from the wedding to see what was owed and what needed to be taken care of. And the two of us made some phone calls."I nearly choked on my beer. "Beverly?" I'd known the woman my whole life and only once dared to call her Bev-right before I smacked her on the backside. Needless to say, it didn't go over well, and I never tried again."Yeah, what do you call her?" Peyton asked with humor in her voice.Masyn and I answered at the same time, "Mrs. Chastain." "I don't think Ryland even calls her Beverly," I joked. "We used to laugh about Beau's parents calling each other mister and missus while they were having sex, and how formal
Masyn and I stayed at Sadler's for a while longer and ended up playing pool while Peyton and Beau danced, played darts, and talked to people Beau knew and hadn't seen in ages. They were far more comfortable together than I'd ever seen him act with Felicity. Yet once we were able to separate from the two for a bit, Masyn and I had a good time doing what we always did. Some random guy tried to hit on her, and I made sure he knew she wasn't interested-I didn't care if she was or not. Masyn wasn't my property, but she was my friend, and everyone in town needed to respect her. Then she beat me at four out of five games of pool. I refused to admit it had anything to do with the stitches in my right hand. Personally, I think her accidentally pressing her ass against my crotch and grabbing my sides from behind at critical moments in the game was cheating, but either way, I now owed her omelets and a foot massage. And every time the jukebox stopped playing the two of us raced to drop quarter
Masyn finally managed to escape to the stairs and sat there facing the pool. Her eyes shimmered with happiness, and her chest heaved as she tried to catch her breath. I could do this all night if that was the reward I got at the end of it. I loved Beau like a brother, but he'd never appreciate the little things about her: the way her nose scrunched when she thought something was gross, or the fact that she preferred jeans to dresses or barbeque to fine dining. He'd want her to change to fit into his circle-the one his family expected him to grow into. There would be no job in a machine shop, no tiny house on a mill hill, and certainly no clunker car he wouldn't know how to fix if he had to. All the quirks that made Masyn who she was-the things I loved-would be altered. And I couldn't let that happen without at least trying to fight for her. I'd never managed to tell her what I went to her house to say on Monday-not all of it, anyway. She'd been so hell-bent on telling me what she