Lake gets up and carries his plate over to where his dad is, and I watch as Mr. Cutler swaps some of his food for Lake’s.
“There’s one more, Dad,” Lake says, pointing to a piece of liver.
“I need new glasses. Darling, remind me to go for a check-up,” he mutters to Mrs. Cutler.
When Lake comes back to his seat and sits down, he sees me staring. “I don’t eat livers, and my dad gets heartburn from the sauce.”
“Oh, I forgot again,” Mrs. Reyes says way too nicely, which tells me she knows but didn’t care.
Smiling, I whisper, “I think it’s sweet of you to swap out what you don’t like.”
“Hunt, you think everything Lake does is sweet. You do know he’s engaged, right?”
Turning my face away from the parents, I take a page out of Falcon’s book, as I use my middle finger to wipe an invisible tear from under my eye.
Mason grins, “Such a lady.”
“I’d get up and curtsy but that would totally ruin your impression of me.”
He lets out a bark of laughter which startles the parents. I quickly glance at them, and when I see Mr. Chargill staring at Mason with a look of awe on his face, it makes a wave of emotion crash over me.
When was the last time he heard his son laugh?Chapter 7MasonI’m not going to lie, Layla and Kingsley totally made the evening more fun than it normally is.
When we get back to the campus, Lake stops in front of the dorms for us to get out before he goes to park the car.
“The girls are out cold,” Falcon says from the back. “Mason, can you carry Kingsley?”
As I open my door, Lake grabs hold of my arm, “Don’t throw her in the pool or do something stupid just because she’s sleeping,” he warns.
“I wasn’t even thinking about it, but now that you mentioned it…” I tease as I wag my eyebrows while getting out.
“You’re making me old before my time,” Lake grumbles.
Walking to Kingsley’s side, I open the door, and slipping my arms under her, I lift her to my chest.
She lets out a groan when Lake shuts the door for me. He quickly hushes her, “Shh… go back to sleep.”
Kingsley’s hand pats against my chest, and she mumbles, “’Kay.” And then she snuggles her face into my shoulder, stunning the hell out of me. There’s an unexpected burst of tenderness in my chest, and I try to ignore it as I begin to walk with her.
Lake jogs past me so he can open the door to Layla’s suite, then he heads back to the car to park it. I follow Falcon into Layla’s bedroom and wait for him to first lay her down before I walk to the other side of the bed with Kingsley in my arms.
My first instinct is to just drop her on the bed, but then I glance down and see her face. Holding her in my arms, with her face so close to mine makes the tender feeling from before come rushing back.
“Mason,” Falcon whispers. My eyes dart to him, and he indicates for me to put her down.
Bending over, I place her on the bed, and before I can pull back, she lifts her head and presses a kiss to my jaw, then sleepily whispers, “Night.”
My fucking heart all but stops as I turn my head and stare at her, shocked out of my mind.
What the fuck just happened?
“Mason,” Falcon whispers again, yanking me out of the stupor.
I quickly pull back and walk right out of the room. I keep going until I reach our suite and go to stand in front of the windows.
Why am I breathing so fast?
’Cause you rushed back to the suite. It’s not because she kissed you.
“What’s wrong with Mason?” Lake asks behind me. “He looks like he’s seen a ghost.”
“Nope, worse,” Falcon chuckles.
Lake comes to stand next to me and stares at my face, “What’s worse?”
I shake my head and growl, “Kingsley kissed me.”
“Say again?” Lake leans forward trying to catch my eyes.
I give him a disgruntled look. “Hunt’s lips touched my face.”
He quickly pulls back while pressing his lips together.
“If you laugh, I’m going to beat the shit out of you,” I warn him.
Lake darts away from me as laughter explodes from him. I turn and begin to stalk after him but the fucker ducks behind Falcon.
Falcon pulls a face as if it’s actually killing him to not laugh.
“I get jumped by a sleeping madwoman, and you’re both laughing your asses off. I see how it is.”
I struggle to keep a straight face as Lake slides to the floor, holding onto Falcon’s leg while he almost pisses himself cracking up.
Falcon has to brace his hands on his knees, so he doesn’t go down, his shoulders shaking.
Giving up, I smile because even though they’re laughing at my expense, there’s nothing as good in the world as seeing my friends happy.