"Not hard to guess which one," Moira said with a roll of her eyes. "In the meantime, you two try to behave while you sort your issues out."
"You know," I said, turning my bad mood on her. "I think we understood what you were trying to say. We'll behave."
"Good," she said, narrowing her eyes at me and glancing over her shoulder. "Otherwise, it's my mother you'll be dealing with."
Mason scrunched his nose. “Trust me, if you haven't been on the receiving end of that kind of trouble. It's awful."
Not that I doubted their mother could be an effective...punisher. She had raised the likes of Mason after all, but just the fact that Mason brought it up was a sign. He was a man who had feared no teacher, no cop, no anything. So for him to straight up admit that I didn't want to be on the receiving end of what his mother was capable of said more than anything Moira might have said to warn me off.
"Best behavior," I said, holding up a hand like I was swearing in court.
"Good, because here they come," Moira said.
I glanced over and saw them making their way toward us. Once again, I was struck by how much of me showed in Micah's face, and I wondered how I couldn't have noticed it upon seeing him. "Christ, it's so much worse when you're paying attention and seeing it."
"Don't feel bad," Mason muttered under his breath. "You were distracted by my dazzling presence. It happens all the time. Welcome to the club."
"Fuck you," I hissed, leaning closer so my face would be blocked by the back of the chair, my voice low enough that Kayden and Moira could only hear my tone but not my words.
That prompted Mason to lean in close, his warm breath tickling my ear. “If you think you're man enough, go ahead and try. Might be as fun as the other night, who knows?"
I jerked back, hastily trying to school my features into something that didn't betray the horrifying mixture of outrage, disgust, anger, and an unexpected flush of desire, all happeningat once and leaving me to wonder what the hell was wrong with humanity that they could feel so many strong and conflicting emotions at once and still somehow get through their lives. No wonder people behaved in erratic and seemingly destructive ways if we were capable of being so...contrary.
"What's up, Punk?" Mason asked, twisting in his seat and snatching Micah up by wrapping an arm around his waist. The kid was still pretty skinny, and like me, Mason wasn't exactly little, so he didn't struggle to scoop up the protesting boy.
"Mason!" Micah protested, and while he might have managed a commendable amount of outrage in his voice, it was ruined by his sudden burst of laughter as he was all but flipped upside down. "Stop! I'm not a little kid!"
Mason stopped, but in a way I'd expect from him, he stopped immediately and just...hung Micah there. "But...you are a kid. And you're little."
"Mason!" Micah said, crossing his arms. If you ignored his size, his attempts at seriousness were ruined by the fact that he was helplessly upside down, his hair practically sweeping the ground as he hung there doing his best to seem as adult and intimidating as possible. It was such a stupid, insignificant thing to act defensive over, but he was willing to do his best anyway.
"Mason," Moira sighed as their mother finally walked up, shaking her head. "Quit."
"I did," Mason insisted, eyes going wide as if that was somehow going to make him seem more innocent.
"Mason," their mom repeated with another shake of her head. "Quit the nonsense already, he said stop."
"And I did," he insisted.
"Good God," I growled. "For someone who always wanted people to respect when he didn't want to do something, you're being a hypocrite right now."
Mason turned, his mischievous expression hardening as he stared back at me. I braced, ready for the acerbic comeback that was bound to tempt me to fire back. Instead, he rolled his eyes and quickly set Micah back on his feet, adjusting his hair so it fell back into place. "Better?"
It might have been my imagination, but I could swear there was a distinct but unspoken 'Dad' thrown in at the end. I huffed, biting back a comment, which wouldn't have been all that witty, and grunted instead. It was strange for him to listen to something I'd said, it was done with a dirty look and a sarcastic tone, but it was still more than he would have done before. Hell, the Mason I'd known growing up would have done the complete opposite just to spite me, so I guess that effect kids apparently have on people was coming through.
"A lot better," Micah muttered sullenly, brushing off his clothes, which hadn't seen the slightest touch of dirt.
"Micah," Moira said, raising a brow at her son and then looking at me.
"Oh. Right. Thanks," he said, then turned to Mason and huffed. "Jerk."
I snorted and went to say something until I caught the look from Moira, making me shut my mouth. What I was going to say, Micah had covered perfectly anyway? The kid knew exactly what his uncle was, and there was plenty of love there for sure. Not that I’d seen much of their relationship, but I knew enough about the family to know that, as weird, crazy, and often frustrating as they could be, there was no denying each member was devoted to the other with an intensity that confused me and left me full of envy.
I wasn't surprised to see that Mason chuckled and rubbed Micah’s hair again, but this time gently, as if careful not to mess it up. "Yeah, I know. But you knew what kind of person I was long before this, so no use complaining about it now."
"I can complain if I wanna," Micah said and turned to look at me. "Right?"
"Whether it's the right thing to do or not, you're not going to find me shying away from complaining," I said with a shrug, resisting the urge to look at Mason as though daring him to say something smart. "So feel free to complain if you want."
