“No, Mason.”I straightened my shoulders.“You don’t understand.I’m not eighteen anymore.I’m not running just because you’re scared.I’m here, and I want you.The question is, are you ever going to admit you want me, too?”
Silence stretched between us, thick as smoke.
Then he muttered a curse under his breath and stalked toward the door.“I need to get back to the bar.”
I let him go, but not without saying the one thing that would haunt him the rest of the night.“You can keep pretending, Mason.But we both know the cameras don’t lie.”
Back on the floor, the Social Club buzzed like nothing had happened.But inside me, a fuse had been lit.I wasn’t sure how long Mason could hold out against it, but I knew one thing for certain.
I wasn’t hiding anymore.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Tonight felt different.The pool tables were mostly empty, the jukebox hummed low in the corner, and even the axe-throwing lanes had only one group playing.For once, I could take a second to lean against the bar without someone hollering for another round of beers.
But I couldn’t take my eyes off Mason.
He was behind the bar, sleeves pushed up, forearms flexing as he dried pint glasses one by one.The cameras were up in their corners, their little red lights blinking, but all I could see was him.The set of his jaw.The way his shoulders filled out that black T-shirt.The quiet control in the way he moved.
I forced myself to look away before someone noticed, and that’s when the door swung open.
Alice.
She breezed in like she owned the place, and hell, she practically did, being Wrecker’s ol’ lady and the queen of chaos in Weston.Her hair was up in a messy bun, hoop earrings swaying, and she wore a denim jacket with paint splatters that looked more like intentional art than accident.She slid onto the barstool right in front of me, with a smirk as if she already knew something.
“You figure that out yet?”she asked.
I blinked.“Figure what out?”
She tipped her head toward Mason, who was now restocking liquor bottles like the responsible grown-up he was.“That.”
Heat shot up my neck.“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
Alice laughed, loud, unbothered, and way too knowing.“Oh, sweetheart, don’t play dumb.You’re good, but you’re not that good.”
I busied myself by straightening the stack of coasters in front of her.“Want a drink?”
“Mm-hmm,” she hummed and leaned in.“I’ll take an amaretto sour.And while you’re at it, how about you admit you’ve been eyeing Mason like a starving woman at a buffet.”
My hand froze on the glass.“Alice.”
She raised her brows.“What?You think I haven’t noticed?Adley, you light up like a damn Christmas tree every time he walks by.”
I tried to laugh it off, but it came out weak.“You’re imagining things.”
Her smirk widened.“Nope.Wrecker and I figured it out months ago.”
That made me snap my head up so fast I nearly dropped the glass.“What?”
“Christmas,” she said simply, like that explained everything.
I furrowed my brow.“What about Christmas?”
Alice shrugged and reached for a napkin to doodle on, like this was casual.“You and Mason had a little chat after presents, remember?Wrecker stepped outside to head to the barn for a little roll in the hay with me.He overheard you two talking.”
My jaw dropped.“Oh my god.”
“Relax.”She winked.“We agreed it wasn’t our business.Kept it to ourselves.”
