Chapter: 1
Mason Cross
There were worse things than falling for your teammate’s little sister.
Probably.
I just couldn’t fucking think of one.
Actually, that wasn’t true.
There was one thing worse.
Being friends with her while you were doing it.
Because falling for Ellie Henderson hadn’t happened the first time I saw her.
It wasn’t some bullshit love-at-first-sight thing.
Yeah, she was beautiful.
Anyone with functioning eyes could see that.
But that wasn’t what fucked me.
It was everything after.
The way she laughed with her whole damn body when something really got her.
The way she talked to her dog like Otto was a person and expected everyone else to do the same.
The way she’d sit on the steps outside Claire’s house with me while everyone else was inside being loud as fuck and somehow make silence feel easy.
The way she remembered shit.
Little shit.
The kind of shit most people forgot five seconds after you told them.
The way she could be sweet as hell one second and tell Carter to go fuck himself the next.
That was what got me.
Slowly.
Quietly.
Until one day I realized I was completely fucked.
And tonight?
Tonight some asshole at the bar wouldn’t take a fucking hint.
I’d noticed the second Ellie’s smile tightened.
The second she started shifting away from him.
That was the problem with noticing so much about Ellie Henderson.
I knew when she was uncomfortable.
And apparently Liv had noticed me noticing.
Lovely.
When Liv knew something, she didn’t fucking stop.
She was like a bloodhound.
Ellie said something to the guy.
I couldn’t hear her over the music, but I read her lips.
“I’m not interested, sorry.”
The prick leaned closer.
My jaw tightened.
My beer lowered to the table.
Ellie shook her head.
“No, thank you.”
He still wasn’t listening.
Then the motherfucker reached for her.
That was the point I was done.
I was up before I even thought about it.
Before Carter.
That part hadn’t escaped me.
Probably hadn’t escaped Carter either.
His hand landed on Ellie’s waist, trying to pull her toward him.
Fuck that.
I stepped between them.
Ellie’s hand landed softly against my back.
I glanced over my shoulder at her.
You okay?
She gave me the smallest nod.
That was all I needed.
I turned back to the prick who’d put his hands on my girl.
Fuck.
She wasn’t mine.
That didn’t fucking matter.
He was touching her, and she didn’t want to be touched.
“She said no.”
The guy looked me up and down and scoffed.
“She was talking to me.”
My jaw tensed.
“And now she’s not.”
“All I was doing was buying her a drink,” the guy slurred.
He was drunk.
I could smell the whiskey coming off his breath.
“I told you no,” Ellie said behind me.
The guy’s smirk had my blood boiling.
“She was talking to me just fine before you walked over.”
“She was being polite.”
He stepped closer.
Fucking idiot.
“What are you, her boyfriend?”
My fist tightened at my side.
No.
I wasn’t.
And I fucking hated how much that bothered me.
But I didn’t swing.
Didn’t shove him.
Didn’t fucking touch him.
I leaned in instead.
Close enough that he could hear me without Ellie having to.
“She’s told you no three times. You’re going to walk away before you make her tell you a fourth.”
His expression changed.
Just for a second.
The cocky smirk slipped.
Good.
Then the asshole found whatever liquid courage was left at the bottom of his whiskey and stepped closer again.
“Or what?”
I held his stare.
“Enough.”
One word.
Quiet.
That was all it took.
His mouth snapped shut.
He took one step back.
I thought he might leave.
But why would I be that fucking lucky?
The guy looked at me.
A slimy smirk appeared on his lips.
Then he turned to Ellie.
This motherfucker.
“Whatever. Stuck-up fucking tease.”
I lunged forward.
Ellie grabbed my arm.
“Mason.”
Her voice was desperate enough to stop me.
My jaw was still clenched, my fists tight at my sides.
But I stopped.
Because of her.
I finally looked down at Ellie.
She shook her head.
“Don’t.”
I kept my eyes on her for a few seconds before slowly unclenching my fists.
The guy glared at us before finally walking away.
Ellie nudged my arm.
I sighed and looked at her.
“What?”
Her eyebrows lifted.
“Are you done?”
“With what?”
“Planning his murder.”
“I wasn’t planning his murder.”
She gave me a look.
“Fine. I wasn’t planning it in detail.”
“Mason.”
“I’m kidding.”
Mostly.
Her eyes searched mine for a second.
“I could’ve handled him.”
“I know.”
“Do you?”
My brows pulled together.
“Yeah, Ellie. I do.”
Because that mattered.
I didn’t step in because I thought she was helpless.
Ellie was a lot of fucking things.
Helpless wasn’t one of them.
“He wasn’t listening to you,” I said. “That’s why I stepped in.”
Her expression softened slightly.
“I know.”
“He shouldn’t have fucking touched you.”
“I know that too.”
My eyes dropped to her waist before I could stop them.
Right where his hand had been.
My jaw tightened all over again.
“Mase.”
I looked back at her.
“Stop.”
“Stop what?”
“Doing that.”
“What am I doing?”
“Getting mad all over again.”
“I never stopped being mad.”
That got the smallest laugh out of her.
And fuck if the sound didn’t loosen something in my chest.
“You’re ridiculous.”
“Probably.”
She bumped her shoulder against my arm.
“Thank you.”
“You don’t have to thank me.”
“I’m still going to.”
I stared down at her.
She smiled.
A real one.
Not that tight fucking smile she’d been giving the asshole because she was trying to be polite.
There she was.
“You good?” I asked.
“Yeah.”
I held her eyes for another second.
“You’d tell me if you weren’t?”
Her smile faded just a little.
Then she nodded.
“I’d tell you.”
I believed her.
Or maybe I just wanted to.
“Come on.”
I tipped my head toward the table.
“Before your brother comes over here and decides he needs to piss on your leg.”
Ellie snorted.
“Oh my God.”
“I’m serious. Look at him.”
She glanced toward the table.
Carter was staring directly at us.
Liv had a fistful of the back of his shirt.
Ellie groaned.
“For fuck’s sake.”
I laughed.
There she was again.
We headed back toward the table together.
And I tried really fucking hard not to think about the fact that one word from Ellie had stopped me faster than anything else could have.
Or that she knew exactly how to bring me back down afterward.
Because those felt like dangerous fucking things to notice about a woman who was only supposed to be my friend.
My jaw was still tense when we reached the table.
Carter immediately stood.
“You okay?”
“I’m fine.”
“He fucking touched you.”
“I know.”
“I should’ve—”
“Carter.” Ellie gave him a look. “Mason handled it.”
Carter stopped.
His eyes shifted to me.
I didn’t hold eye contact for long.
Instead, I pulled Ellie’s chair out.
“She told him no,” I said simply.
Carter stared at me.
Then nodded once.
“Thanks.”
I shrugged.
“Don’t need to thank me.”
Because I didn’t.
Not for that.
Ellie sat down, and I took the chair beside her.
Not the chair I’d been sitting in before.
The one beside her.
I caught Claire looking at Liv.
Liv looked at Carter.
Ethan looked between all of them.
For fuck’s sake.
I wasn’t in the mood to decipher whatever the hell that was about.
“What?” Carter asked Liv.
“Nothing,” Claire and Liv said at the same time.
Yeah.
That wasn’t suspicious at all.
Carter’s eyes narrowed before he dropped back into his chair.
“I still should’ve hit him.”
Liv grabbed her drink.
“No, you shouldn’t have.”
“He called my sister a fucking tease.”
“And Cross handled it.”
I felt Carter look at me again.
Ignored that too.
Ellie leaned toward me.
“Thank you again.”
I turned my head toward her.
“You already thanked me.”
“I know.”
“So stop.”
Her lips twitched.
“You’re really bad at accepting thank-yous.”
“Maybe you’re too fucking persistent.”
“I am not.”
I raised an eyebrow.
Ellie stared at me for half a second.
Then laughed.
And fuck.
There it was.
That laugh.
The one that had gotten me somewhere along the way.
I couldn’t even tell you when anymore.
I just knew I’d started looking for it.
Trying to cause it.
And apparently now I was willing to nearly get into a bar fight to make sure some asshole didn’t take it away.
Her shoulder bumped mine.
“You’re still grumpy.”
“I’m not grumpy.”
“Mase.”
“What?”
“You have your scary face on.”
I stared at her.
“My scary face?”
“Yeah.”
“I don’t have a scary face.”
She laughed again.
“You absolutely have a scary face.”
“Good.”
“Why is that good?”
I glanced toward the direction the asshole had disappeared.
“Maybe next time somebody will take the fucking hint sooner.”
Ellie went quiet.
Shit.
I looked back at her.
But she wasn’t upset.
She was watching me.
Really fucking watching me.
“What?”
“Nothing.”
“That’s bullshit.”
A little smile pulled at her lips.
“Maybe.”
Then she reached for her drink like she hadn’t just looked at me in a way that made my fucking chest tighten.
I leaned back in my chair.
Across the table, Liv was staring at me.
Oh, fuck off.
Her mouth slowly curved.
Nope.
Absolutely fucking not.
I grabbed my beer.
Because I knew that look.
Liv Monroe thought she knew something.
The problem was—
She fucking did.
