time.
The last thing I needed was to be crushing on my brother’s best friend like a school girl. I needed to get my shit together, find a place to live and a job and then maybe I could think about finding someone to spend some time with.
But definitely not Mason. Never, ever Mason.
“I wish you had told me it was you,” he said, so quietly I almost couldn’t hear him over the traffic flying by in front of the bus stop.
“Sorry,” I replied. “You’re right, I should have.”
“Yeah…” His eyes searched mine, and I suddenly felt like a shy kid again. “So do you want a ride to Missy’s?”
“Oh….well, thanks for the offer. I…um…”
“It’s no trouble. Just don’t tell Harley,” he winked at me, his grin spreading across his face, his eyes twinkling. God, he was so fucking handsome. Why couldn’t Harley’s best friend be ugly? Or fat? Or scarred or deformed in some way that would make this whole thing a lot easier to resist?
“No, that’s not it.” I wasn’t sure if I should tell him the truth or not. I had only said I was staying at Missy’s so Harley wouldn’t be worried, and now I wished I had never said it at all. Maybe if I hadn’t, he would have let me stay.
“Then what is it? Do you need a ride somewhere else?” Mason’s eyes were going to be the end of me. I looked away, his gentleness just too much for me to take.
“Well…I don’t exactly have anywhere to go.” There, I said it. He could tell Harley if he wanted, I didn’t give a shit.
“What about Missy?”
“I lied.”
“Oh. I see,” he replied, staring at me with curiosity. “Where have you been staying then?”
“Oh, you know…here and there.”
“No, I don’t know, Rebel.” The look on his face was a mixture of concern and irritation. “Where have you been staying? How long have you been back in Dallas?”
“A year. I left on my eighteenth birthday. I couldn’t get away fast enough, and every time I ran away, they just sent me back. Once I was legal, I left. That was a year ago last week.”
“So you’ve been here for a year without a place to live?”
“Pretty much.” I jutted my chin up, determined not to let him make me feel bad about myself. “But I can handle it.”
He scoffed at that.
“Is that so? Your begging to join the club earlier makes me believe you’re lying again. You have a hard time telling the truth, huh, Rebel?”
Mason had been around through my childhood and all the way through the humiliation of puberty, laughing and making fun of my antics right along with the rest of my family. I wasn’t exactly known for my honesty.
I sulked next to him, hating how easily he could make me feel like an awkward, fucked-up adolescent.
“The truth is overrated,” I mumbled under my breath.
“Listen, Harley’s just mad because he caught us…um…kissing. I’m sure he wouldn’t mind if you stay with him, but you can forget about ever actually joining the club. Family or not, you’re still a girl…um, woman, I mean.” His eyes raked across my body, and I glanced down to see his cock rising in his pants.
My nipples hardened as I recalled the feel of him thrusting into me from behind earlier. These feelings were much more enjoyable than feeling like a kid next to him.
“Look, Rebel, Harley hasn’t seen you since you were a little kid. He still sees you that way, and he will until you show him something different.” His cock grew harder in his pants as he continued, his eyes meeting mine as he pulled them away from my breasts. “I already had a chance to see you as…something different…so it’s already different for me.”
“Now, you should have told me that was you. I never would have touched you, if I had known. But, goddamn, if you don’t look different, Rebel.” His eyes grew serious as he stared at me. “You look good, though.”
“But listen, I feel like this is my