Page 101 of Stolen Moments

“What sho— Ow. Shiitake mushrooms,” Rylann grouses as she leans down and rubs her leg.

I glance at Scarlett curiously.

“The shower I’ve been planning for Labor Day weekend. Remember?” Scarlett stares are Rylann.

“Oh, right. That shower. I forgot. Mom brain.” She points to her head and laughs with a shrug.

“That sounds like fun. Can I help with anything?” I will do anything to take my mind off of everything going on. Or lack thereof now that Mason is no longer in the picture.

“Actually … there is something you can help us with,” Scarlett says, a wicked grin on her face.

Uh-oh. I don’t know that look. I’ve worked with her for years, and the look she’s giving me scares the shit out of me.

“You can plan it for us.”

Okay, I was not expecting that.

“I can do that,” I agree, easily.

These women have taken me in when I was looking for a new start. This is the least I can do for them. Besides, keeping busy will be good for me.

At least, I hope it will be because I can’t stop thinking about the man with electrifyingly green-gold eyes who owns my heart. The man I might never see again.

Chapter thirty-four

Mason

September

Tonight is Jace’s bachelorparty, and while I am super happy for my brother, this is the last place I want to be.

I peel the saturated label off my beer bottle, barely listening to everyone laugh and crack jokes. I’m not in the mood. I haven’t been since I walked away from Emery after finding out she had a fiancé the entire time we were together.

A fucking fiancé.

I scoff and finish rest off the warm beer in my hand.

Eli pushes the blow-up woman sitting in the chair beside me to the floor and plops down on her place. Eli went all out with the decorations for the day: condom necklaces for us all to wear, with matching t-shirts that sayDad in the streets, Daddy in the sheets, cheap blow-up sex dolls, and light-up cock rings. Normally I would have a good laugh at Jace’s expense—because, let’s face it, Eli is ridiculous—but my heart isn’t in it.

He takes a swig of his beer. “What’s with you, brother?”

I grunt a noncommittal answer. Besides the fact that I want to leave, he knows what’s wrong—I’ve just been refusing to answer him.

I was close to not coming today, but Eli and Cameron got on my ass and guilted me into being here for Jace. They reminded me that we didn’t get to do this for his first marriage, and it was different this time. They aren’t wrong. This time around, Jace has it right.I couldn’t be happier for my big brother, but I’m not in the right headspace for celebrating.

I’m pissed off and, quite frankly, sad. My heart feels like it got run over by a Mack Truck, and then the said truck backed up and ran it over again. But for my brother, I came. I’m wearing this stupid-ass shirt, and have been all day, starting with beers and burgers at the local brewery that Jace loves, and now here, at a small lounge in their small town.

My eyes dance around the room. This place seems like an interesting choice for my sister-in-law, who is pure sunshine, but Rylann said that when she and Scarlett were younger, it was their favorite place to go dancing and to celebrate their biggest wins.

The lounge, aptly named The Red Room, is one open room with a dance floor in the middle, surrounded by tables and chairs. In tribute to its moniker, everything is covered in red—the walls, the chairs, the floor, the bar top, the lighting. Everything. It’s giving me heartburn, reminding me of a certain someone’s matching red lips.

Cameron ambles over and takes the seat on my other side as a waitress drops a tray of shots on the table in front of us.

“Are you still all up in your man-feels?”

Glaring at him, I grab a new beer from the ice bucket and crack it open, taking a sip. Fucking smug asshole, giving me shit. Cam and I are close, being the two youngest of the group. We’ve always shared a special bond, which means he can read me like a book.

“Leave him alone, Cam,” Eli warns.

---