Page 97 of Trust Me Always

We make drinks and head over to the room with the dartboards, playing a few rounds. We chat and laugh, and about an hour in, the girls are already two drinks ahead of us, our little group leading them to the kegs for their fourth round of flat beer.

“So we gonna just watch and see how all this plays out?” I tease.

“Not sure I’ve ever seen Paige drink more than a half a beer before.” Chase looks our way, frowning at whatever he sees. “Not that I pay attention or anything, I just—What?” he finally snaps.

Me and Mason laugh, bumping each other as the girls start belting out the lyrics to the Spice Girls “Wannabe” using their cups as pretend mics, and all I can think is yeah …

I wanna be.

“Pretty sure Cameron had a shot or two before I picked them up, but she seems to be handling herself just fine.” Mason meets my gaze a moment before looking back to the girls. “Payton, on the other hand, never drinks, so I might have to steal her away after this one.” Mason’s eyes trail his woman’s every move.

“And would you be taking her back to her studio, where your mama and daddy are waiting for you, along with baby boy?”

Mason smirks, shaking his head nice and slow. “Nope.” He claps his hand on my shoulder. “Stay outta my room tonight, boys.”

“You mean no sleepover?”

“There will be zero sleeping for us tonight, my man.” He waggles his brows. “How about you?”

I don’t realize he’s talking to me until I look over and find Chase is staring at me expectantly too.

Now it’s my turn to snap. “Wait, what?”

“How far do these boyfriend duties of yours go?”

“You left out a word,” I deadpan.

“Yeah.” Chase’s grin widens. “But so did she.”

I frown, not sure what he’s talking about when her little tease from earlier comes back to mind, and he’s right. She did call me “boyfriend,” leaving off thefake. My hand tightens on my cup, and I force a shoulder to shrug. “People are around, that’s all. It’s not like that.”

“And if you guys get a little needy and decide you want it to be like that?” Mason teases.

I swing my eyes to his and hold them, his losing some of the amusement the longer he stares.

“You still haven’t told the girls?”

“Wait, really?” Chase’s head whips back this way.

He’s not talking about the shit going on in my head lately—that has now started to take a little trip south, if you know what I mean. No, he’s talking about something else entirely.

I grumble. “It’s not exactly a conversation you have at the dinner table.”

Mason nods slowly, gaze assessing. “But you don’t want her to know. Do you?”

“What would be the point of telling her?”

“What’s the point of keeping it a secret?”

“I’m not embarrassed if that’s what you’re getting at.”

Mason frowns. “It’s not and you know it. Chase.” He looks Chase’s way. “Help me out here?”

I meet Chase’s eyes, and he lifts a shoulder.

“Look, man, shit happens. Most of the time when you least expect it, so maybe just think about it. That way, if you find yourself diving a little deeper, it’s not a whole-ass thing.”

I stare at my half-empty cup of warm beer I’m not even drinking.

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