For fuck’s sake.I walked back to the front doors. Then back to the truck. Then back to the front doors. And then I turned around again and ran straight into someone. It felt like running into a brick wall. I fell backward, and he wouldn’t have moved at all if it wasn’t to reach out and steady me.
“Sorry,” said a deep voice. “I wasn’t looking where I was going.”
I knew that voice.I looked up at Matt’s brother.
Mason looked down at me. And blinked. And then he immediately let go of my arms and took a step back.
He looked almost exactly the same. Just a more grown-up version. More domineering, if that was even possible. And his similarities to Matt made my throat feel dry. The same chocolate brown eyes. The same dirty blonde hair. The wide shoulders. It was like I was standing in front of Matt instead of Mason. And my stupid heart started racing even faster. And I wanted to slap him even though he wasn’t Matt. Or maybe my heart wasn’t racing. Maybe it was breaking all over again. It wasn’t even Matt and I could feel the tears coming to my eyes. I could hear him laughing in that pool all over again. Living happily without me. Ifelt like a stupid teenager staring at a boy who would never love me back.
“You look just like someone I used to know,” Mason said. He shook his head. His face had grown pale. Like he was literally seeing a ghost. And I guess he kind of thought he was.
“It’s me,” I said.
He shook his head. Blinked again. “Brooklyn?”
I nodded.
“But you’re…you…” his voice trailed off.
“Mason, I’m so sorry,” I said.
And then he closed the distance between us and pulled me into his arms. He hugged me so tightly I could barely breathe. “Sis,” he whispered.
I don’t think I would have heard it if his lips weren’t right next to my ear. I could feel tears welling in my eyes. I used to love when he called me that. But I didn’t deserve that nickname now. I wasn’t sure how long we stood in the middle of the sidewalk like that. But I didn’t want to let go. Mason had been like the brother I never had. He’d always looked out for me. He’d had my back. And I’d missed him so much.
Mason finally pulled back. “How is this possible?”
“It’s a really long story.”
Mason looked toward the front doors of MAC International. “I’m guessing you’re here to see Matt,” he said. “I was just going up. You can tell us the story together. Or…maybe I should let you go alone. Matt and I were going to have lunch. I’ll call him and tell him I got held up.”
“Wait, you don’t work here?”
He shook his head. “No, this was always Matt’s dream. Not mine.”
“Yeah.” It was. Mason being the heir to this company was one of the reasons my father wanted me to be with him rather than Matt. But my father was wrong about most things.
Mason pulled out his phone to call Matt.
“Stop. I can’t,” I said. My heart hadn’t stopped pounding. I needed more time. I couldn’t do this. Seeing Mason made me realize just how hard this was going to be. It wasn’t a matter of slapping Matt and walking away. My mind was racing. I felt like I’d slap him and kiss him and slap him again. And then cry for hours and tell him to fuck off. I needed to calm down. I needed more time. And as soon as I thought it, I heard the clock ticking down in my head. Just like it always did when something bad was about to happen.
I took a step back from Mason. “I’m so sorry, I can’t. I can’t…” I’d promised everyone I’d do this. I had to do this. “I can’t breathe.” I hadn’t had a panic attack in years back home. And now that I was back, it was like they were plaguing me all over again.
Mason grabbed my hand and pulled me into the restaurant next to Matt’s building. He found us an empty booth, told a waitress to fuck off, and ran his hand up and down my back.
“Breathe,” he said. He kept rubbing my back. “Just breathe.”
I closed my eyes and imagined being back home. I pictured being on the lake with Miller. The sun shining on my face. It was like I could hear his laughter in my head. I hoped that never went away. I hoped I’d always be able to hear him.
Mason shot off a text. And I prayed that he wasn’t telling Matt to come meet us here.
I pulled my knees into my chest and stared up at him. “I know I have to talk to him. I promised James and Rob…”
“James and Rob knew you were alive this whole time?”
“What? No.” I shook my head. God, the last thing I needed was to cause a rift between the Hunters and Caldwells again. “My son ran into Scarlett on Monday at the zoo and…”
“You have a son?” He looked down at my hand. “You’re married? How the fuck could you marry someone else?” He pulled his hand off my back.
