Page 78 of The Boy I Loved
“Ow, dick. I’m just trying to lighten the mood.” He rubbed the back of his head, narrowing his eyes at me.
I swore Mason was bipolar. One minute, he wanted to wreak havoc on anyone and anything standing in his way and the next, he was cracking jokes like he was still that teenage boy I met three years ago.
Hazel watched our exchange with skepticism, her lips pulling together to form a thin line. I wished I knew what she was thinking. What the hell was going through that pretty little head of hers? Her skin was flushed, sweat marring her hairline and glistening over her sun-kissed skin.
“Are you okay?” I asked her, curling my fingers around the bars, relishing the cold, rusty feel of them.
She glanced away, her jaw ticking with an emotion I couldn’t place. When she returned her attention to me a few moments later, she let out a heavy sigh. “I’m not sure.” She brought the blanket higher under her chin, propping it on her knees.
There was no sense in pretending she didn’t mean anything to me anymore. By now, everyone knew it. Especially if what Nicholas said held any merit.
“At least he pulled out this time,” Mason chimed in unhelpfully. “Unlike when he fucked Nia?—”
“Not helping, asshole,” I snapped, shooting him a glare.
Mason huffed an annoyed breath. “You’re the one who asked me to come down here with you. The least you could do is treat me with a little bit of respect.”
I whirled on him, rage simmering beneath my skin. He was the main reason Hazel was in here in the first place. If anything, he was lucky I hadn’t killed him. “Respect?” I repeated incredulously. “I’ll respect you when you gain a fucking conscience.”
Mason’s expression hardened, his blue eyes turning two shades darker. “Not all of us grew up with a loving family,” he shot back. “You started acting out because your dad died. You’re a pussy, Dominic.”
“My God,” a familiar voice called out from the cell beside Hazel’s, drawing my gaze. “I had to sit through Hazel getting her back blown out and now I have to listen to you two bicker like children? I don’t think so. Take that shit somewhere else.”
The familiar monster that wanted to destroy anything and anyone in its path, reared its ugly head, darkness creeping into my veins. I took a calculating step toward Stacy’s cell.
“Leave her alone,” Hazel snapped.
My nails bit into the palms of my hands, but I forced myself to stay put, whipping my gaze to meet hers again. All I saw when we made eye-contact was the sated look in her eyes, revealing just how thoroughly she’d been fucked and how much she enjoyed it, even if she couldn’t make sense of it. Her reddish-brown hair was a tangle of knots, falling around her bare shoulders. When she shifted to gain comfortability, I could make out the slight bruising around her neck from where she’d been choked. I didn’t do those things to her.Tristandid. My stomach twisted with a mixture of jealousy and rage.
“You’ll listen to whatever the fuck we want you to,” Mason shot back with indifference, his expression a blank mask of emotion. “Next time you speak out of turn tonight, you’ll be choking on my cock.”
For once, I was glad Mason was here, even if he didn’t have a goddamn filter.
I released a ragged breath, attempting to push my warring emotions away. My gaze softened on Hazel. The urge to slip into her cell and hold her was overwhelming.
“Did they all…” I trailed off, not sure how to word it properly. Clearing my throat, I tried again. “Did they?—”
“Did they all fuck me?” she countered, finishing the question for me with raised eyebrows. When I nodded, she shook her head. “They were going to, I think. But Tristan said something about claiming me and that I was his.” She shook her head, rolling her eyes. “Whatever the hell that means.”
My grip tightened around the bars, my heart twisting painfully in my chest. “H-he what?” I queried, trying to make sense of what she’d just told me.
Mason looked over at me with the same question lurking in his eyes. “Can he do that?” he asked. “Take a girl for himself and make her off-limits?”
“I don’t know,” I murmured. “I’ve never heard of that happening before.”
Tristan could have all the favorites in the world, but he’d never once deemed a girl off-limits to everyone else. I didn’t even know we could do that. Then again, Tristan grew up in this lifestyle. He’d been around since he was a kid. That might have granted him special perks.
Hazel shrugged, not the least bit fazed by it. “I’d rather deal with him than deal with everyone,” she admitted.
Mason scoffed in response. “When he’s tired of you, he’ll kill you—assuming he doesn’t impregnate you first.”
She grimaced, her skin paling. I knew she was thinking about Nia now. Tristan wasn’t a good person. They had a decent fuck, but it didn’t mean anything. That was how he was. He’d make it good for the girls if he was into them enough and they’d bond themselves to him. It was tragic. The same shit happened with Nia, and it was happening with Emerson now. These girls were in captivity, and he took advantage of that, manipulating their minds so that they developed a false sense of security for him. It was smart in a really fucked up way.
“Maybe,” she finally agreed. “But I’m probably destined to die anyway.”
Unease trickled through my veins at her declaration. Hazel had always been optimistic. She was the kind of girl who made plans for her future, who had hopes and dreams, and the means to accomplish them. She hadn’t been here long and already, she was losing that hope. Now, she was just trying to stay alive for as long as possible.
My glare leveled on the side of Mason’s profile. I wanted to kill him for doing this to her, but I knew this wasn’t all on him. It was my fault too.
