“Really? It tastes so good.” I feel instantly relaxed. We place our order and I sit and admire the black walls with pink accents. There are sugar skulls and day of the dead decorations all over the restaurant giving a modern Mexican vibe to the place. To my right, there is a colorful bar with neon lighting. There are mannequins that are skeletons seated on each end of the bar while the bartender is shaking a shaker in his hands, preparing what looks like a margarita to the customers. Bachata music is playing to the left where four couples are dancing.
My head turns back toward Mason. “This place is nice,” I mumble.
“It is my first time here. Leo mentioned it the other day, and I knew I wanted to come here with you. Remember freshman year of high school when we were about to get our driver’s license? We made a promise to each other that if either of us found a new place to check out, we would experience it together.”
I give him a grin because I remember that conversation like it was yesterday. That day, we were so excited about driving and what car our parents would buy us. Except, Aiden made a deal with Dad and bought me the Porsche I desperately wanted as my first car for my birthday. The guys received supercars, and I got the Porsche. I fell in love with the Porsche after watching one of my favorite ’80s movies,Risky Businesswith Tom Cruise. Mason watched it with me, and I tried to slide on my socks across the marble floors imitating Tom Cruise and I fell, busting my ass. Mason and I laughed so hard. After we stopped laughing, the room fell silent and we almost kissed. It was the moment I knew I had fallen in love with him.
I watch the fruit swirl in my drink, sinking to the bottom as I finish it. “I remember,” I say in a soft voice.
“I wanted to kiss you that night,” he divulges.
My head snaps up and my eyes meet his. His forearms are resting on the edge of the black wooden table and his hands are reaching in the middle, grabbing a tortilla chip and dipping it in salsa, placing it in his mouth. The crunch of the tortilla can be heard as he crushes it between his teeth. I place my hands under the table so he can’t see me wringing my hands.
He remembers that day. It wasn’t me that was just being stupid and thinking that he backed off because he didn’t feel it. My lips were so close to his for a few seconds but to me it felt like hours. We were on the floor. He was sitting with his hand leaning back, holding himself up and I was on my knees facing him because he was so much taller than me. I was hoping and waiting for him to close the distance, so I could finally feel what it was like to kiss Mason Montgomery for the first time. There were countless nights since eighth grade when I lay on my bed in my room at night before going to sleep, imagining how he would taste or if he was a good kisser like other girls claimed he was. When he pulled away, my stomach clenched, and my head dipped in embarrassment.
“Why didn’t you?” I volley back.
He swallows the food in his mouth and licks his lips. He leans back in his chair, his arms falling into his lap.
“Because I was scared.”
The waiter places another Sangria and our food in front of us and I’m thankful for the interruption. My brow furrows. Why would he be scared?
When the older lady leaves, when she makes sure we don’t need anything, I ask. “Why were you scared? You’re not scared of anything.”
“You are right. I’m not scared of anything but when it comes to you, I’m scared of everything. I feared losing your brother’s friendship because I knew that if I crossed that line with you, I wouldn’t stop. It would mean I would have to go to war with everything and everyone to keep you, and I knew that it would hurt you. You would have been in the middle of all of it. My father and your father would most likely go to war because my job is to protect you, not make you mine.”
His eyes are dark and dangerous because he did cross the line and so many more lines that if everyone found out the truth, there could be a war and alliances broken. What happened in the past is done and nothing can change it.
“None of that is going to happen. We are both adults and not little kids anymore. It is in the past, and that is where it stays.”
He snorts. “You don’t get it.” He taps his finger on the table with a dark brow raised.
“Get what?”
“I didn’t get to kiss you that night, but I was the one who bought you the Porsche. Aiden made it look like he purchased it through your father, but that was further from the truth. Your father made Aiden pay for not telling him how you came to acquire the Porsche because none of us would tell him. You know how your father can get creative for keeping things from him.”
Yeah, by making them kill or handle the drop-off points on metric tons of cocaine through Mexico and Colombia. My heart constricts because it was Mason that bought me my precious car. All this time, I thought it was my twin brother. The only thing that comes to mind is to thank him albeit it’s too late. Feels weird thanking him for a birthday present that was given to me a few years ago when he shattered my heart and soul into shreds. If I knew then he was the one who bought it for me, I probably would have burned it.
“I guess I owe you a thank-you.”
He fumbles with the corner of a napkin, and I take a sip of the Sangria, needing the alcohol to calm my nerves inside me. Everything between us is so messed up.
“You don’t have to thank me. I just wanted to tell you the truth. From now on, I don’t want any secrets. No more lies. If there is something you need to tell me, please don’t keep it from me. You don’t have to say anything you are not ready to tell me, but I want to know. If you are unsure about something, ask me.” He leans close and lowers his voice. “I’m ready to go to war for you,princessa.”
I nod, my eyes blinking slowly. How do I tell him? I know I must tell him, but I can’t right now. I’m not ready. Telling him would change everything.
I’m not the girl he thinks I am. That girl grew up and rolled with the punch life threw at me. I had to accept my father’s plans. The loss of the baby made me realize a lot of things, not to fall for Mason Montgomery. He didn’t fight for me, and he gave up on me when I pleaded with him. My heart and soul were laid out on a platter for him and we could never be together. Never again.
I give him a look of determination. “That is not necessary, we can go on as friends and you’re right, I’m tired of hating you. You were being honest with me, and I didn’t want to accept it. It took me awhile, but I have accepted it. We can never be together.”
“I was wrong and I’m sorry for not listening to you. I regret every minute of what I said that day in the garage. I want you, Lucy, and we can be together. We have time.”
Chapter Fourteen
Mason
I’m watching her as she fidgets with her hands under the table. She’s anxious and there are things she is keeping from me. It is why I told her to reveal whatever she was hiding from me. I have waited too long to tell her how I feel about her and that I want to be with her. I feel like breaking something. I’m pissed off and annoyed that she just wants to be friends, but I can’t blame her. I was a total dick to her and made her think things that weren’t true about me having sex with Gloria and her friends. This is all my fault and all I can do is make her mine again, show her how much I want her to be with me. Because this time, I’m not letting her go.