Page 34 of Unmask
Kenny’s gaze drifted toward the window, unfocused and distant. “I get it. You can’t always help who you fall for.”
My heart twinged. I reached across the table and laced my fingers through hers, squeezing her hand. “No. You can’t.” We were a wreck, the both of us. She was quietly breaking over a boy who didn’t see her, and I was unraveling for one who saw too much.
“Neither can Carson,” she said quietly.
My hand stilled. “What does that mean?”
She raised an eyebrow. “Youhaveto know. There’s no way you don’t know that Carson’s been in love with you since, like, seventh grade.”
Had I known? Had I just not wanted to see, fearing that our friendship would change? I couldn’t be sure. “What? But I thought?—”
“ThatIwas in love with him?” Her laugh was dry. Sad. “I am. Doesn’t change how he feels about you.”
Sagging back in my seat, I closed my eyes briefly. “What a fucking mess.”
Kenny’s elbows pressed on the table as she leaned her chin on her hands. “So that guy, Mason… Does he have a girlfriend?”
I shook my head. “No. Nuh-uh. Not happening.”
She cocked her head. “So, he has a girlfriend or he doesn’t?”
My eyes rolled. “Kenny, you just saw what Kreed is capable of. Mason might have a charming smile and dimples that make your lady bits tingle, but you do not want to get tangled up with a Corvo. Take it from someone who made that mistake.”
She gave a small shrug, playing with the edge of her sleeve. “I don’t know. I thought it sounded kind of hot—Kreed getting all possessive and alpha male.”
Heat prickled at the back of my neck. She wasn’t the only one. “Don’t mention that to Carson. I doubt he’ll agree.” Even if in some dark, twisted way, I did too.
The driveback from the coffee shop was quiet, but this time, it wasn’t angry silence. It was heavier and aching. Carson shifted the car into second gear, his bottom lip split and crusted with a thin line of blood. Every time I looked at it, guilt twisted deeper into my chest.
When we pulled up to Brock’s house, I didn’t even think before saying, “Come inside. Let me disinfect that cut.” Whatever he’d done in a public bathroom wasn’t enough. It was the least I could do.
He hesitated but nodded, and I took that as a good sign. Things weren’t hopeless between us, not that I thought Carson would hold it against me forever, but it sucked having tension between us.
Shadows darkened the corners of the house as the late afternoon light waned. I led him to the kitchen, searching for the first-aid kit in the drawers. He sat on a stool at the counter, eyes following me as I pulled out the supplies. Standing in front of him, I dabbed a cotton pad against his lip gently, trying not to wince every time he did.
“I just don’t get it,” Carson said quietly, his breath warm on the side of my cheek.
I hadn’t realized how close we were or how I was positioned between his legs until then. Stepping back, I opened the ointment and peeled a bandage from its wrapper. “Don’t get what?” I retorted, although I had a pretty good idea what he was referring to. I just didn’t want to talk about Kreed, not right now, not with him.
Carson looked up at me, his eyes shadowed with emotion too raw. “I don’t understand what you see in him.” His gaze lockedon mine, full of that thing I didn’t want to name, didn’t want to be real. “Why would you hook up with someone like that?”
Kenny’s voice went through my head.He’s been in love with you since the seventh grade. How could I have been so blind? How had I had no idea? He’d been my best friend for years. We’d grown up together. When had it all changed?
Did I want it to change?
I never considered Carson as anything but a friend, but I couldn’t help but wonder if perhaps I’d overlooked what could be between us. Wasn’t the foundation of any good relationship friendship? Kreed’s name flashed in my head like a warning sign. With him, everything fell fast and uncontrollably, all teeth and fire. We didn’t build anything slowly. We devoured. We destroyed. We could barely stand to be in the same room together. Things only went two ways when Kreed and I were alone. Explosive or…explosive. One more passionate, the other more volatile.
Carson reached across the space between us with trembling certainty, his fingers brushing my hair behind my ear, lingering. “You should be with someone who treats you good,” he murmured. “Who’ll make you happy. Give you the life you deserve.”
My heart skittered. I could hear it, feel it, everywhere, in my chest, my throat, my fingertips. “Do you have someone in mind?” I asked even though I already knew.
He didn’t speak. Just looked at me like he wanted me to see him, for real this time. The boy who had always been there. The man trying so hard not to beg. His thumb brushed over the side of my cheek gently, and this time,Ipulled away.
“Carson…” My voice cracked. “You’re amazing. You are. But if I say yes to this, whatever this is, I ruin us. I ruin you. And I can’t do that.”
His brow furrowed. “Why? Because of him?”
“No.” I shook my head slowly. “Because of our best friend.”
