Page 34 of Feels Like Falling
“Oh…um…” My eyes meet Montana’s and he shrugs, a smile playing on his lips.
“Sorry, sorry should have asked first,” the guy says, releasing me from the embrace. “I should probably be used to that considering my brother is one grumpy SOB, but the Thayers are huggers. They’re over in Clementine Creek, but I’m sure you know that. I forget where I am sometimes. I’m Mason by the way. Can I take that bag from you?”
I gape at him, my mouth opening and closing not unlike Montana’s had moments ago, but this time for an entirely different reason.
“Sure,” I say finally as my brain works through the menagerie of things I haven’t fully processed yet and relinquish the dip to our host.
“Mason, this is my best friend, Ellison. Ellison, this is Mason Amato. I told you that he and his brother run a crew for Case and Otto Thayer at Twinscapes doing landscaping.”
Mason beams with pride, and my heart warms at the sight. It’s the way he stands straighter and his shoulders roll back the slightest bit that tells me he’s proud but humble. Hardworking. I may not know him but I’ve spent my whole life reading people, and Mason Amato is one of the good ones.
“It’s really nice to meet you.”
Mason takes my hand, his boyish smile back in place. “You too. Now come on, I’ll introduce you to my brother.” Climbing the porch steps, Mason leads us inside, placing my bag on the counter before motioning around the space. “Make yourselves at home.”
The formerly dark walls have been painted lighter shades of tan and light green for the living room and kitchen respectively. It’s clean and lived in but not quite a home. There are few personal touches outside of the ones Montana’s mama would have added—decorative pillows and a soft blanket on the couch and white plates with ornate blue designs displayed above the kitchen cabinets.
It’s the home of a person detached from the space.
It’s exactly how my apartment was in Savannah. I’d been there for several years but my heart and my home had been here in Blackstone Falls, and I never felt the need to make that apartmentmy own.
I’m just about to ask Mason how long they’d been here when a guy emerges from the hallway, his piercing dark eyes jumping from Montana to me in a flash.
“Bodhi, this is Ellison,” Mason says with a smile, and I offer one of my own.
“It’s nice to meet you.” He nods, his blond hair cut neatly on his head. He’s bigger than Mason, a little older it seems, and not nearly as friendly.
“Don’t worry,” Mason says conspiratorially. “He’ll warm up to you, then he’s just a big teddy bear.” Bodhi grunts and mumbles something I can’t hear as Montana snickers beside me.
“Sorry we’re late,” Bea says as she bursts through the screen door, Archer blushing furiously on her heels.
“No, you’re not,” Montana says with a wink but Bea just shrugs, completely unaffected by the implication.
“You still beat Jensen,” Mason adds helpfully as he passes out drinks and plates as Bodhi pulls a couple of boxes of pizza and wings from the counter and places them on the kitchen table.
“Who beat me?” Jensen Kade asks as he steps inside with a box of something from The Poppy Seed, the bakery in Clementine Creek.
“Everyone,” Mason says with a chuckle, but I’m a little in awe of the way Jensen grew up. He is a few years older than I am, and I haven’t seen him much—or at all—since leaving here almost a decade ago.
“You’re drooling,” Montana whispers, my head whipping toward him becauseno I most certainly am notbut I touch my hand to my lips all the same just to be sure. My best friend laughs and I want to be mad but I can’t becausewow.
“Hey, Ellison, welcome home,” he says with a smile and a nod.
“Thanks, it’s good to be back,” I say, finally having found my manners. The guy who had always been good-looking grew uphotwith a chiseled jawline, stunning cerulean eyes, and a dimple that is too much to take. Not to mention the way his muscles test the integrity of his shirt, leading me to believe he makes that sheriff’s uniform look damn good.
I must still be staring because in the next second, Montana’s palm is sliding down my back, and he’s not shy about the way he grabs a handful of my ass.
“Watch it,” he murmurs just low enough for me to hear, and the thrill of excitement that shoots up my spine has me blinking up at him as my lips part the slightest bit.
“Or what, Max? Are you jealous?” My words are a whisper, but his hand grips me tighter, tension and desire radiating between us like some kind of force field. All I want is to push myself flush against his body and see how long it takes him to snap.
His eyes are blazing, the flecks of gold in them utterly molten as he stares down at me. “You’d like that, wouldn’t you?”
My retort is on the tip of my tongue as I squeeze my thighs together becausegahthis is so freaking hotwhen Mason’s chuckle sounds around us.
“Everyone grab some food before the games start, and uh, there’s an open bedroom back there if you guys need to sort yourselves out.”
Laughter erupts around us as I try to pull back from Montana, my face heating at practically trying to dry hump him in the middle of this party.
