I glared at him. “You're going to?—"
"Sit."
With a growl, I sat down hard. “Fine!"
Kayden's eyes lingered on me before snapping to Mason. “And you...I don't care what kind of issues you two have with each other, or how much of a jackass you are, that was cruel, it was cruel and it wasn't fair."
Considering the Mason I knew, I expected him to turn on Kayden and give him a piece of his mind without relent or mercy. Instead, he leaned back and for a moment, I thought I saw a flash of genuine regret in his eyes before he turned away with a snort. Then I remembered once, years ago, Moira telling me how Mason could be a pain in the ass, but he had never been the type to deny sense when it was given to him properly.
"Properly," she had said with a laugh that was exasperated and fond. "For Mason, anyway, it means giving it to him straight, without mercy, and without backing down. You need to slap him in the face with it."
"I used to do that all the time," I’d muttered, mostly because the topic of her brother had always been one we'd avoided and for good reason.
"No," she'd said fondly, grabbing my chin and giving it a little wiggle. "You used to do it because he got on your nerves, not because he was doing anything wrong. He needs to know it's wrong, and that the person getting on his ass is thinking about how it's wrong, not about how much that person can't stand him and would willingly jump down his throat at the first chance to moralize at him."
"I don't moralize."
"Yeah, you kinda do."
I suppose she’d been right, moralizing was kind of my thing. It was something Mason had always liked to throw in my face, but I’d always fought it because...well, it was a lot like what Moira had said about her brother and was true for me. The truth coming from someone you can't stand, and who you know hates you, isn't a truth you're going to accept. Maybe that was why it was so easy for people to deny the truth about themselves, because they convinced themselves that anyone who said anything critical was automatically a bad guy, which meant their views could be ignored.
And here was Kayden, giving Mason hell for something that really had been shitty to say. Not because he hated Mason, but because it had been wrong to say. And there was Mason, his face turned away, but even I had seen the guilt and shame on his face before he'd turned. Against all odds, Mason was actually feeling bad about something shitty he'd said and was dealing with it.
"Right," he said after a moment, clearing his throat roughly. "Wasn't your choice. My dumbass of a sister was the one who made that choice. That is, unless you're going to yell at me for calling her a dumbass?"
I wanted to, but again, because hearing something from someone you didn't like was enough to make you fight that up was up and down was down. Instead, I saw the way Kaydenstared at me, and I swallowed. “No. Well, I want to, because,fuck you."
At that, Mason laughed, and I was startled to realize that was the first time he’d ever laughed genuinely at something I'd said. It wasn't the sound of condescension, derision, or mocking, but the sound of a man who was genuinely delighted by what I'd said. For the first time, I could see he was laughing with me rather than at me.
"Fair," he said, his posture becoming slightly more relaxed. "But?"
"But...it's kinda hard not to think worse things about her for that choice," I admitted, my face warming more with that admission than at his thinly veiled sexual comments about...what had happened.
"Yeah, well, stupid and selfish choices run in the family," he said with a shrug, then eyed me as he continued. "And she can be quite the ball-busting bitch."
Which produced an even stronger struggle in me. Mostly because,again, I didn't want to agree with anything he said. On the other hand, I'd dated the woman, and I knew damn well how much Moira could drag you through the mud if she were so inclined. As a matter of fact, I was pretty sure I’d once called her something very similar in an argument. Hearing it from Mason was hard to deal with, considering my dislike of him, but I also knew that he didn't deal with people treating those he cared about badly either.
Once, when a guy in our class made the mistake of talking about how many times he'd slept with Moira, and how bad she'd been, lies, of course, but...mysteriously, a picture of his, admittedly tiny, dick had passed through the school with seemingly no source. When Mason’s little brother, Milo, was in middle school and had a bully on his case, said bully's parent refused to admit any wrongdoing. It was no secret that it wasMason and Moira who had shown up to a parent-child meeting about the two kids fighting again, and magically, the bullying had stopped. Those were only two instances where Mason's name had been attached, even loosely, to an example of how trouble for his family had stopped seemingly without his direct interference.
So yeah, my feelings about the guy aside, he didn’t tolerate criticism or focus on his family members without good reason.
"I guess," I said, because although yes, she absolutely could be a ball buster, and he said it first, I didn't want to push my luck by agreeing with him. Even as an only child, I knew the rule 'I can say what I want about my siblings, but you better be careful what you say about them around me' extended well into adulthood.
"Amazing," Mason chuckled, pulling the zipper of his riding jacket down and revealing only a tank top underneath. While still clothing, it left my apparently overactive imagination to contemplate a little too much for my liking. "I finally got him to agree with me about something, and it's about my sister's ball-busting behavior."
"Whose balls?" a new voice piped up, and I winced as I turned to find Moira standing behind me, a brow raised. She'd gone with heels high and thin enough that I wondered when her ankles were going to give out, but I'd never seen her falter in them before.
"Anyone you can get your hands on," Mason said without looking, not at all surprised by his sister's presence. In fact, despite the fact that I hadn't heard her approach and his back was to her, part of me suspected he’d known she was coming. Moira had never really spoken about their bond and shrugged it off when people brought up twin senses or a twin thing, but she’d always been a practical woman with her feet firmly planted on the ground. Yet there were times when I’d noticed theywere always aware of the other one's presence and had a good read on the other's mood and well-being. It was a quiet thing, and I avoided bringing it up around her because, well, for one, she scoffed at that sort of thing even though she unconsciously listened to whatever voice told her about Mason, but also because anything related to Mason was strictly off limits during our relationship.
"I have never had my hands on your balls."
"Mmm, I distinctly remember you having them in your hand and threatening to crush them."
"We were ten and you deserved it."
"Was that when I was trying to use your favorite dolls as test dummies?"
"No, it was when you'd raided my clothes to go with the heels you took from Mom's closet."
