Hannah nodded, but still had a hard time with the feelings that were rolling around in her body. She believed Todd, she believed that she owned his heart…that he loved her and her alone, but, boy, was she wrong. Ryker seemed genuine as well, and she knew she could trust him, but there was always that feeling in the back of her mind that was telling her, Ryker could be like Todd. She would never voice that thought, because the last time she compared Ryker to Todd, she hurt him and drove him away, but she couldn’t help but wonder. That’s what happened to a damaged girl; she never quite trusted anyone ever again. She always waited for someone to break her trust.
“Thank you for letting me know,” Hannah croaked out, her throat feeling dry from holding back tears.
A gentle smile crossed Ryker’s face, as he placed the palm of his hand against Hannah’s cheek. “You’re my girl, right? You’re my boo?”
Smiling back at his hopeful eyes, Hannah said, “Yes, I’m your boo.”
Ryker fist pumped the air like a dork, and then kissed her on the nose, apparently his new favorite place to kiss her. He sat down on his chair and rubbed his hands together, “Now, this looks good. With you being my boo now, I’m going to have to watch what I eat, because with meals like this, I’m going to turn into a fat motherfucker…”
“Ryker…” Hannah teasingly chastised him for swearing.
Clearing his throat, he said, “I mean a fat…uhh…” he scratched his head as he tried to think of a word, and then laughed. “Damn, I can only think of insults.”
“You could say fat man, or football player,” Hannah suggested.
“Where’s the fun in that?” he asked, as he shoved a large piece of lasagna in his mouth. In an instant, he opened his mouth wide and spit it back out, making Hannah cringe from the half mashed piece of lasagna on his plate. Quickly grabbing the wine, he guzzled it down. “Shit, that’s hot,” Ryker swore, as he panted like a dog.
“That’s what you get for swearing,” she winked, blew on her lasagna, and then took a bite.
**Mason**
Fuck, he was lonely. Almost too lonely. He didn’t realize how much he enjoyed having Piper over until she was actually gone. Mason was so sick of pasta by now, but he kept eating it because he reminded himself that Piper made it for him, and he was holding on to every last thing that reminded him of Piper.
What a douche, he thought. He put on a front that he was a non-emotional ass, but deep down, he was a pussy. He had feelings, and it bothered the hell out of him. He didn’t want to feel; he didn’t want to yearn. All he wanted was a quick fuck and a good beer, or at least that’s what he tried for, but deep down, he knew that would never be satisfying enough.
Mason’s phone rang him out of his thoughts.
“Hello?” he answered.
“Well, if it isn’t my second half,” Jake announced.
“Hey, dickhead. Why are you calling me when you should be getting ready for a game?” Mason had the TV tuned in to watch Jake play first, and then the Stallions game afterward, but was still deciding whether to watch that game, because it was still painful to know that in fact, his season was over.
“Just wanted to call my boyfriend for good luck before I went out on the field,” Jake said in a girly voice.
“There’s something wrong with you, you know? You and Ryker have some kind of sick obsession with me.”
“Can you blame us?”
“Not really,” Mason laughed.
“So, how are you doing? Are you holding down the fort or blowing the place up?”
“I’m doing fine, and no I have not blown the place up, but I am pissed at you for hiding the car keys.”
Jake laughed. “I was wondering how long it was going to take you to start to get stir crazy and try to take out one of my cars.”
“You’re a dick; I would have been careful.”
“Yeah, okay. Keep telling yourself that. So, when we get back, are we going to see massive amounts of takeout boxes scattered everywhere?”
Mason had talked to Jake almost every night since he’d been gone because the man was a damn pest, but Mason never told him about Piper coming over to help out. He didn’t know why, but he just wasn’t ready to tell Jake, but now, he needed someone to talk to because he was a damn woman and couldn’t suppress his feelings.
“Well, not really,” Mason said hesitantly.
“Dude, you’ve been eating, right?”
“Yes, Mom,” Mason retorted annoyingly. “I’ve just had someone making me food…”
“Oh, for fuck’s sake,” Jake said into the phone. “I swear to God, if you hired a hooker into my house to fuck and feed you, I’m going to kick your ass. I don’t want strangers knowing where I live!”
“Settle down. Damn, man,” Mason said, cutting off Jake. “It’s not what you think.”
“So, you hired a personal chef?”
Getting annoyed, Mason finally said, “No, Piper has been helping out.”
Silence.
And then more silence.
“Jake?” Mason asked, wondering if his friend had actually hung up on him.
“I’m sorry, I think I misheard you. It sounded like you said Piper.”
Okay, he was in shock, Mason thought, as he decided on how to talk to his friend about Piper and the way he’d been feeling lately.
Slowly, Mason told Jake how they ran into each other, how she refused to leave him alone, and just came over to help him out by herself. Jake let Mason talk, and by the time Mason finished telling him about Piper’s surprise appearance in his life, Mason was on edge waiting to hear what Jake might say.
“Well, I’m happy for you, man,” Jake finally said, shocking Mason.
“What do you mean? We’re not together or anything; we haven’t even fucked or played around.”
“Clearly, or else you wouldn’t be so tense,” Jake teased. “Seriously, though, I think this is a good thing. You both have so much pride that neither of you will give in, but I think her coming to you means something.”
“She’s lonely…I’m lonely,” Mason admitted.
“How do you feel about possibly having her back in your life again?”
“I don’t know. A part of me is excited, especially my dick,” Jake laughed on the other end of the phone. “But I’m still so fucking pissed at her. She strung me along, man, used me and made me believe she loved me.”
“She did love you…” Jake interrupted.
“People in love don’t do that to each other…what she did to me. She ripped me apart!” Mason shouted, getting way too emotional, way too quickly.
“I know,” Jake said gently. “But you have to think, she was trying to help you with your career.”
“That’s bullshit and you know it. We could have worked something out. She didn’t have to go running off with the Southern Shithead.”
“Is that his new name?” Jake asked.
“Yes, has a good ring to it.”
“Besides all that, Mace. In her head, she was trying to help. You have to give her that. It may have been fucked-up, but she was trying. I think if you really want to see where things go, which it seems like you do, you need to put the past behind you and move on. You need to start new and start from the beginning. You two never had a chance to actually get to know each other. Maybe that’s what you need to do, start from ground zero and work your way up. You’ll only know after that if you two really belong together.”
Mason thought about what Jake was telling him. Maybe he was right; maybe Mason needed to start from the very beginning with Piper. He knew he couldn’t keep doing what he was doing, because all he thought about was her, and her smile and silver eyes and the way her hair bounced softly when she walked. She consumed his thoughts, and denying himself of her was not working. He needed to do something.
“I fucking hate it when you’re right,” Mason admitted, making Jake let out a hefty laugh.
“You can pay me for my services later.”
“You can fuck off,?
?? Mason said jokingly. “Good luck today, man. Keep the interceptions under ten.”
“Ha! You wish. I haven’t thrown an interception in three games.”
“And now you’ll throw five this game. Way to jinx yourself, fuckwit.”
Laughing, Jake said, “Damn, you’re right.”
Mason said his goodbye to Jake, feeling a little lighter, and wondering what his next step was going to be when it came to Piper.
Chapter Ten
**Piper**
It was finally Sunday, and Piper was really starting to feel lost. The last couple of days, when she was taking care of Mason, visiting him and making sure he had everything he needed, she felt wanted again; she felt fulfilled. Now, as she lay on her childhood bed, listening to her dad yell at her mom on the other side of her wall, she wished she hadn’t gotten jealous about Brooke. If she hadn’t opened her stubborn mouth, her spat with Mason wouldn’t have escalated, and she could be over at Jake and Lexi’s watching the game with him. Instead, her head was buried under her pillow, like she used to do as a child and she tried to not think about the life she could possibly be living if she wasn’t so indecisive.
She was probably at her lowest point. She had never felt so lost, so bitter, and dejected. Slowly, she felt herself starting to slip into the deep depression that used to eat her up when she was young. Living with her parents again, living with the constant demands and yelling was eating her alive. That was why she felt so terrible. She couldn’t handle the wrath of her father any more¸ and now that she was back in his house, the state of her life had only gotten worse.
While she was slipping into darkness, her phone buzzed next to her. She picked it up and saw that she had a text message from Mason.
Mason: Want to watch the game with me?
Piper sat straight up in her bed and held her phone like it was a block of gold. Mason texted her? He invited her over? Last time she saw him, he wanted nothing to do with her. Was he drunk? She didn’t care; she would take advantage if he was. She was not going to stick around in her dad’s house any more. She texted back.
Piper: Sure, do you need me to bring anything?
Mason: Food, anything but pasta.
Laughing, Piper thought about Mason eating pasta for the last couple of days. It was easy to heat up, but she could see him getting sick of it. She sent him a quick text back, saying she would stop and get some food and then be right over.
She needed to get ready quickly, because she knew the game was starting at one, so she threw her hair into a messy bun, put on a pair of yoga pants and a tight long-sleeved shirt that said, “Bitches be hoes” on it; quite fitting, she thought, and put on her sneakers.
Piper was very quick getting food and headed on over to Jake and Lexi’s house in record time. She picked up a bountiful amount of Chinese food, enough to feed a family of ten, as well as some ice cream for later, since Chinese food always seemed to fill you up for two seconds and then you were ready to eat again.
She pulled up to Jake and Lexi’s house and gave herself a little pep talk before she went in. She wasn’t going to get too excited that he’d invited her over. She wouldn’t read too much into it, and she sure as hell wasn’t going to get jealous over any past sexual encounters Mason might have had.
Feeling ready, she grabbed the food and walked up to the door. She knocked and instantly heard Mason call her in from the other side.
The moment she walked in, she was hit by the fresh scent of Mason’s body soap and the delectable man stretched out across the couch in nothing but a pair of Nike shorts. His chest was bare, showing off his chest and sleeve tattoos, and the well-defined sinew gracing his body. He was the epitome of male perfection…there was no doubt about that. Her eyes traveled down the length of his body, to the V of his hips and to the slight bulge in his pants. The man was hung and always had a bulge, which he had no problem showing off.
“My eyes are up here,” Mason teased as he sat up, shaking Piper out of her perusal of his body.
Clearing her throat, she said, “Yes, uh sorry. I wasn’t expecting you to be shirtless.” She fumbled around with the food as she ran to the kitchen to set everything down. Where was her head at? She never acted like a spaz. It’s not like she’d never seen Mason without his shirt on.
Piper heard Mason’s crutches coming her way, so she quickly pulled herself together and grabbed two plates.
“What did you get?” Mason asked, poking his head into a bag. Piper was so confused by his instant mood change. The man could be a seriously moody bastard most of the time, but right now, his smile was light and his attitude was actually fun. His face wasn’t crinkled together like he was trying to think of the next insult to throw at her. Whatever the change was, she wasn’t going to mention it, because that would be a perfect way to spoil the mood.
“Chinese. I got a lot of different options, so if you tell me what you want, I’ll put it on a plate for you and bring it out to you.”
“Give me some of everything,” Mason said, as he hobbled over to the fridge. “I can get the drinks.” He popped open the fridge and grabbed two beers.
“Mason, I can carry those…”
“I got it,” he interrupted her and said, “See?” He put the beers in his short pockets, which tugged his shorts down to a dangerous level. His black Under Armour briefs peeked out, making her gulp.
He was hot…just too damn hot for Piper to keep clean thoughts in her head.
She turned around quickly and started opening all the Chinese food boxes. “I’ll be right out,” she called to him, just quickly dumping as much Chinese on the plates as possible, as she tried to steady the pounding of her heart.
For the first time in a while, she felt alive, and the darkness that was trying encompass her was pushed back; she was starting to see some light again. She knew she’d brought all the bad things that happened to her upon herself, but she was grateful for the reprieve in her shitty life. She was grateful to have found Mason again. She was grateful for being invited over today, even though the possibility of him being hyped up on Vicodin might be the reason, which she didn’t think was the case, because he seemed so clear in his thought and his eyes told her he was lucid. Whatever, she would take a drugged up Mason if she needed to.
“Here you go.” Piper set a pile of Chinese food on the TV tray sitting in front of Mason. He wasn’t kidding about wanting to watch the game. The surround sound was on, the TV was blaring, and he had Jake’s jersey on now, covering up his beautiful body. “Are you allowed to wear another team’s jersey?”
“When it’s my best friend, yeah.” He leaned into Piper and said, “Plus, no one can see me, so who gives a fuck.” His eyes widened as if he just thought of something. He pointed his fork at her and said, “I know we’ve had our Instagram wars, but don’t go posting this.” He smiled, stuck his fork into the lo mein noodles, and took a hefty bite. He smiled at her as noodles hung out of his mouth, making her laugh.
“Don’t worry. I think I left my phone in my car.”
“Why would you do that? How are you going to update your Facebook status every two seconds when something happens in the game?”
Groaning, Piper said, “I despise when people do that. God, game stat updates, workout statuses, and invites to play Candy Crush rank as the top most annoying and obnoxious Facebook activities.”
“You’re right about that, but I will admit, Ryker got me hooked on Candy Crush Saga. That shit is addictive. But, just so you know, you’re looking at the Stallions reigning Candy Crushing champion.”
“Ryker would,” Piper said, as she shook her head and laughed, then added, “It’s a little concerning that you’re so proud of being the champion.”
“I take pride in being the champion in everything, babe,” Mason said nonchalantly, as he shoved some beef in his mouth, followed by a swig of his beer.
Piper tried to disregard the term of endearment as she watched the columns of Mason’s neck work up and down as he swallowed. What
she wouldn’t give to lick him there, taste the musk on his skin, the salt from the light sweat they were both accumulating from being so close together, well at least she was accumulating.
“Might want to eat up before your food gets cold,” Mason said, as he caught her staring. Her cheeks instantly flamed at being caught.
They ate in silence for the rest of their meal as they watched Jake easily push the ball down the field. Every time there was a completed pass, Mason would silently fist pump for his friend. It was endearing to see Mason be so supportive, even if they were on separate teams.
Lexi cut onto the screen to tell viewers to stay tuned for the after game reports and interviews. She looked gorgeous, like always with her blonde hair pulled back, and a fresh face of make-up. She looked happy, and Piper was glad to see that. Lexi deserved Jake; they were perfect for each other. At the thought of their two friends, Piper wondered if Mason had talked to them about her being in town.
Getting some courage to open the gates a little, Piper asked, “Have you talked to Jake and Lexi recently?”
Mason sat back on the couch and rubbed his belly as he said, “Yeah, just talked to them today. Told them you were strutting around their house naked and feeding me grapes all day long.” His lips tugged at the corners of his mouth, letting her know he was joking.
“You’re an ass.”
He laughed and said, “Truthfully, I talked to Jake this morning and I did mention you coming over to help me out. I’m sure, by now, the information has been relayed to Lexi, so for your health, it might be best to try to call her tonight before she has a conniption about where you’ve been and why you haven’t been talking to her. You know how she likes to butt into everyone’s business.”
“True,” Piper said, while thinking about Lexi’s reaction. What would she think? Would Lexi be mad at her for not communicating with her? Would she be supportive of Piper helping out Mason?