Page 34 of Coastal Rewind

“Why not stay?” Maeve whispered, not looking up at me.

My heart cracked at the low tone and hurt that showed on my youngest sister’s face. She had no idea why I was the way I was, and I couldn’t tell her.

Not yet.

“All I’m saying is that Mason is great and it would be fun. I’ve seen the way he looks at you. That man wants you. Bad.”

I was grateful that Maggie jumped in and stopped me from having to lie about why I had to leave at the end of the summer. I was skilled at avoiding the subject and I loathed lying.

“He doesn’t look at me any special way.”

Right?

Rori barked out a laugh. “Whatever helps you sleep at night.”

“I remember a day you called me out for saying almost the exact same thing about Nolan. Sometimes we’re just blind to it.” Maggie shrugged.

“You’ve spent a lot of time with him, right?” I asked Maggie. “Do you know anything about MJ’s mom?”

She shook her head. “He doesn’t talk about her. All I know is that they were together in Atlanta, and when he moved here she didn’t move with him.”

I sat back as the conversation shifted to talking about Maggie’s job and grilling Rori about when Aiden was going to propose. The girls’ words were swirling in my head. Was it really that obvious that Mason finds me attractive? I mean, I knew we flirted a little, but what if he was just being nice? The man was sex on a stick—he could have any woman he wanted in this city. A floating nomad with no roots, no education, and no future plans couldn’t have been appealing to him.

Mason didn’t come back up in conversation for the rest of the night. We laughed and had drinks. Every time I looked at Maeve, I realized she was all grown up now. Her, Maggie, Keegan, Lottie, and Rori were practically inseparable. They had a bond that I now noticed I wasn’t part of.

Maybe if I had been around for the past ten years, we would have a relationship like theirs where we talked about boys and gossiped over martinis. But I wasn’t, and we didn’t. I was a guest here—and I had to remember that.

Maeve and Maggie dropped me off later that night, and I walked up to the dimly lit house. Mason had left the lights on for me and when I walked into the kitchen, I noticed a glass of water with two ibuprofen sitting next to it. The kind gesture made tears well in my eyes.

He told me earlier it was time I got used to someone taking care of me, but I didn’t want to because that would go away. In a few months I’d be back on my own and the only person who would look out for my survival would be me.

I slipped the pills into my mouth and took a sip of the water before turning toward my room. I glanced toward the end of the hall where closed french doors led to the master bedroom. I debated knocking on his door to thank him for leaving the water out, but instead I took a deep breath, turned the doorknob on the guest room door, and slipped inside.

Mason and I were a bad idea, no matter how much my heart rate picked up when I thought about him.

fifteen

Mason

I leaned against the railing in the dugout as I watched the team take the field. We were winning by a landslide so Coach pulled me to let my arm rest. It was a long season and it was important to not push it when you didn’t have to.

We were in the final game of our three-game series in Chicago, and we were due to be home tomorrow. Being on the road so often was alluring at one point in my life, but now I always had this pull that I should be there. It had been a month since Ryleigh moved into my house, and it was going almost too smoothly.

She FaceTimed me at bedtime every night when I was available, and MJ was always beaming when I walked back in the door after a trip. He would talk nonstop for hours about the adventures they went on from hikes to trampoline parks to pool days. She kept him constantly busy, and part of me was jealous I didn’t get to do those things with him. Sometimes I felt like I was missing his entire life as it flashed in front of my eyes.

The game ended and we filtered to the away team locker room. I was walking out of the showers when Nolan pushed through the door and sauntered in with confidence not many possess.

“Good game,” he said as he flopped onto the bench while we all changed.

“Why are you always hanging out in here, Kelly?” Tucker asked as he slipped on his shirt.

“Obviously to sneak a peek at the goods.” Zane winked as he dropped his towel.

We all groaned and turned away.

“No one wants to see your goods, Grant. Haven’t enough women taught you that?” I said as I grabbed my clothes.

“Not true, I have a way with the ladies.” He grinned as he grabbed his pants, still standing buck ass naked.