“Where’s he at?”
He chuckles. “Know what you’re thinkin’, but you can rest easy he’s getting his. He’s servin’ a life sentence in prison.”
“Not good enough.”
“Yeah, I agree. But he’s also living in prison without a dick thanks to Jonah’s flawless aim with a Desert Eagle.”
“No shit?” I cringe and adjust my junk at the thought. “He shot his dick off?”
“Pretty much. Dude kidnapped his woman, tried to rape her. Jonah made sure he paid.”
How the fuck did I not know all this? I’d read the story the media put out, but I never knew Eve was this involved. And why the fuck wouldn’t she share this shit with me?
Maybe because I never asked.
Fuck!
“Advice?”
No thanks, asshole. I bite my tongue.
His expression gets uncharacteristically serious. “If you’re not a million percent sure about Eve, then you should leave her alone. She’s been fucked with enough to last a damn lifetime, and she’s got a whole lifetime in front of her. If anyone deserves easy, Cam, it’s her. If you can’t give that to her let someone who can have that shot.”
“Sounds like you’re not speaking figuratively.”
He scratches his cheek and shrugs. “Baywatch is crazy about her.”
Fuck, fuck, fuck!
“She feel the same?”
“Eve needs to relearn some shit. She’s been taught how she deserves to be treated by a man. Unfortunately, she was taught by the wrong man. Mase is trying to show her different. She’s not there yet.”
Whatever the motherfuck that means. If Mase knows what’s good for him, he’ll keep his hands, mouth, and dick away from my girl.
“We done?” I’m barely able to keep the rage from my voice.
He nods and turns to go, but stops short to crank his neck around. “Sooner or later a man has to decide. You wanna be the man she wants, or can you find it in you to be the man she needs? Figure that shit out, or bow out, and let a better man move in.”
“Yeah, you can fuck right off.”
He grins. “Glad we understand each other.”
I turn and swing hard into the heavy bag then wince at the sting in my knuckles and glare at a retreating, but laughing, Blake.
No fucking way I’m stepping aside so Mason can have his shot at the woman I love. I’ll get her back. I just need to figure out how.
Thirty-Eight
Eve
This is the hardest part, the final crawl to the top. Sweat drips from my hairline, and desert dust coats my skin. I hook my toes in and use my hands to grip rock and pull myself up. My muscles shake with exertion. One more pull and a healthy heft and I’m up and over. I pant for breath, relief.
I’m at the top. I glare at my handsome hiking partner, who’s squatting down looking every bit the Ralph Lauren model and nothing like the sweaty mess I appear to be.
“Thanks for waiting, dickhead.” I smile sweetly and ruffle his thick blond hair. Jeez, it’s not even sweaty! What the hell.
Mason laughs. “Took you long enough. I was seconds away from building a shelter and hunkering down for the night.”
“So funny I forgot to laugh.” I drop down next to him, my spandex-covered ass directly against the rocks and dirt because I don’t have the strength to hold myself up as he does.
I take a deep breath and can practically smell autumn moving in. I turn my head slowly from one side to the other, taking in the panoramic view of the city. Funny how brown Vegas is from this perspective. In the light of day, looking down on the city, you’d never guess there’s anything special down there. If anything, it couldn’t look more ordinary. But I know better. I know that once the sun dips behind these mountains the entire city turns into a carnival of lights and action that is unequal to anything else in the world.
“So pretty up here.”
“I was thinking the same thing.”
I look over to see Mase isn’t looking at the view, but rather directly at me. It’s like a sucker punch to the gut.
“Mase, that’s sweet, really, but you know I don’t—”
“Feel that way about me.” He turns his eyes to the view and flicks a rock over the edge. “Yeah.”
I rock into him with my shoulder. “Hey, you know I care about you, right? As a friend.”
“Friend zone.” He groans and drops his chin to his chest. “Awesome.”
“You have no idea how badly I wish I could make myself love you that way, Mase. Honest to God, it would make my life so much easier.”
“Yeah, I know that too.” He throws a rock over the ledge. “Why is that? I mean why do girls like guys who treat them like shit?”
I shrug and wrap my arms around my bent knees. “It’s not like we intentionally go for assholes. It’s just that sometimes we can’t ignore the pull of our hearts.”
“I’m familiar with that feeling,” he mumbles.
A twinge of guilt twists in my chest. “But Cameron isn’t an asshole. That night at The House of Blues—”