Mason had a towel in one hand and a bowl in the other. He glared at me now. "She's going to be your new best friend, isn't she?"
I straightened at his words. Was she? Then I shrugged. "I have no idea. Would that bother you?"
He rolled his eyes. "Your friends are either scared of me, want to screw me, or think I'm an ass**le. Can't you find some girl who is just a good friend to you? Who doesn't care that I'm your boyfriend?"
A snort came out of me. "Please. Do you realize how ridiculous that sounds? One, you are an ass**le. Two, a lot of girls want to screw you. And three, if they don't fall into those two slots then they're going to be scared of you, like Becky was."
He grimaced as he reached for another mixing bowl to dry. "I just don't like feeling that I can't be around my girlfriend. I'm sick of having to jump through hoops and sneak around to be with you."
My voice softened. "If what you say is true and Heather and I become good friends, she might turn into that girl who doesn't care about you. She's looking at you through the same lens as everyone else right now. She hasn't seen you with me enough to know how good you treat me. And she's not my mom."
His shoulders relaxed. "Yeah, I know." Then his eyes shot back to me again. "Things aren't done with your mom, you know. We're just in the waiting stage while she regroups." He moved to put the dishes away. When he came back, I pushed another load out of the washer for him. He picked up a plate and leaned back against the wall as he dried it. "My dad's suspicious of her now so she'll focus on him and play nice for awhile. Once she's got him brain-dumb again, she'll start back on you."
I felt stabbed in the gut. I'd always be her second priority. The man was number one.
"Hey," Mason called over, his voice soft again. "You okay?"
I nodded, but I couldn't speak. The emotions were choking me again.
"I said something wrong?"
I shook my head, turning to load more dishes onto the crates. When the washer beeped another cycle, I avoided his gaze and pushed another crate through. He didn't push me, and slowly the emotions started to settle down again. We worked in silence for awhile, maybe an hour, before I noticed that the dishes had stopped piling up so much.
"What the hell, man?" Logan's voice made us both jump as he boomed through the window. "You're both back there? I want to go back there."
Mason came up behind me. I felt his heat as he pressed against me, but he didn't slide his arms around me how I expected. Disappointment flared in me. Then he spoke over my shoulder, "Where's Nate?"
Logan bristled, "Who cares? I don't know. He's with Parker, I think."
Tension replaced my disappointment. Those girls were here too? Did everyone go where Mason and Logan went?
Mason's hand splayed out on the small of my back. I knew he felt how stiff I became at the mention of those girls, but he didn't say anything. For that, I was relieved. Instead, he asked, "When's everyone heading out?"
Logan rolled his eyes and threw an irritated glance over his shoulder. "I think they're all waiting to see what we do. What are you thinking?"
His arms slid around my waist, and I was finally pulled back into him. I breathed a little easier. As he spoke, I felt the rumbling through his chest. "Tell Ethan to have the party at his place."
Logan's eyebrow arched.
Mason's voice had an edge to it. "Why do they always have to be at Nate's? That's our home too. We only had people over to the house when we wanted them."
"Nate initiated the open-door policy."
Mason bit back a growl, but his hand clamped tighter on my waist. "He only did that for us. He'll do whatever we say—"
"Whatever you say, you mean."
"Whatever!" He growled now at his brother. "What's your problem? You've been pissy all day."
My eyes went wide. I knew Logan was just waiting for an opening to start something and Mason had given it to him, but now was not the time or the place. "Okay." I turned and shoved Mason back, then gave Logan a meaningful look. "Get everybody out of here. We'll come to the party when I'm done with work, but I would enjoy a quiet house tonight."
"Yeah. Okay," he grumbled before he glowered at me. Then he sighed and left to do my bidding.
"What was that about?"
I glared at Mason. "Not now, and you know what that was about. Don't play stupid with me."
His head reared back, but a slow smile grew across his face. His eyes darkened, and he licked his lips when he took a step towards me. "I forgot how hot you can get when you're mad at me. You sure about the no sex at work?"
"Mason!"