“He’s not the one, ReeRee. I can tell you that right now. He and I aren’t going to last. He’s never once looked at me the way Mason looks at you, and you two are apparently just friends.”
I straightened my shoulders. “How does Mason look at me?”
Eva shook her head and sighed wearily. “If you don’t know, I’m certainly not going to tell you. I still think you should stay away from him. You have less future with him than I do with Alec. Jeez-us. But Alec is going to flip when he hears this.”
I was too busy thinking about Mason to answer. But really, how the heck did he look at me?
“Shit!” I sprang off my couch, remembering the last time he’d looked at me, before I’d shut the door in his face. “Sarah’s party. I totally forgot. It started five minutes ago. I’m sorry, E. I have to go.”
I rushed to my room and grabbed my gift. Eva was struggling to her feet, looking panicked as I reentered the living room. “But—”
I held up a hand. “Chris and Liam. Chris and Liam,” I reminded her. “It’ll be fine. I’ll return in a few hours and we can continue where we left off. Okay?”
Eva bit her lip but nodded. “Don’t forget about me.”
“Never.” Glad our relationship was somewhat restored since the afternoon I’d caught her macking on Mason in the library, I gave her a quick, impulsive hug. “I love you, E. Everything will be fine. Trust me.” Then I was out the door.
Dang it, how could I forget about Sarah? I had to be the worst babysitter ever.
Five minutes later, I skidded my car to a sloppy halt in front of the Arnosta house. Jittery adrenaline roared through my veins.
I jumped into the birthday festivities with both feet.
“I’m so sorry I’m late.” Breathless, I blew through the front door without knocking. “I lost track of time while I was writing a paper for school. I know…” I paused to grin and pose in a jaunty kind of position, because the tension in the air almost choked me as soon as I entered. “I’m a total geek that way.”
Then I turned toward the three young girls I didn’t recognize. They hovered in a pack together on the opposite side of the room from Sarah. “Hi, I’m Reese,” I told them, striding forward to shake their hands. “I’m Sarah’s evening sitter.”
Brittany, Leann, and Sorcha introduced themselves, giving me stiff smiles and casting uncomfortable glances at Mason and Sarah, who were crowded together by the loveseat.
“Well, it’s nice to meet you guys. I’m sure we’re going to have a blast today. Sarah is always the life of the party. Which reminds me, I need to give the birthday girl a huge hug, like right now.”
I hopped over to Sarah and leaned down to enfold her into my arms before I waved her gift in front of her, letting her hear the items inside rattle. “I think you’re going to love it.” I set it among the pile of other gifts on the coffee table.
Sarah looked absolutely miserable. I swear tears were gathering in her eyes, and the anger oozing off Mason kind of shocked me. He wouldn’t stop glaring at Sarah’s classmates.
I rubbed my hands together. “So…where’s Dawn?”
Mason sliced his scowl to me. Through gritted teeth, he hissed, “She’s in the kitchen, setting out the food.”
“Great.” Ignoring his nasty mood, I forced a huge smile. “I’m starving. Let’s help her.” Hooking my arm through his, I dragged him to his feet and patted Sarah’s shoulder as I passed. “We’ll be right back, little buddy.” As soon as I had Mason in the hallway, I hissed, “What the hell did I miss?”
“Brilliant idea to invite the classmates,” he muttered. “They’ve been ignoring her the whole time and won’t even stand on the same side of the room as her.”
I rolled my eyes. “Well, what did you expect, with you hovering over her like a pissed off guard dog? I swear, you were foaming at the mouth as you stared at those poor little girls. I’m surprised they haven’t run screaming from the house yet.”
“Poor little girls, my ass. We invited every brat in her class, and only three of them showed up, the three who openly confessed they were only here because their parents forced them to come. Sarah is crushed.”
Our conversation abruptly halted when we entered the kitchen to find Dawn rushing around frantically, taking ice cream out of the freezer and setting it by a bowl with no punch in it.
“Hey, Dawn,” I greeted. “You look a little harried. Why don’t you go visit with the guests? Mason and I can take care of this.”
“Oh, Reese, you’re a saint. Thank you.” Dawn sent me an exhausted, yet relieved, smile—something her son had yet to do. “I’ve been scrambling all morning to get this party ready. It’ll be nice to get off my feet for a bit.”
As she left the kitchen, Mason muttered, “Thanks for volunteering me.”
“What?” I asked, shocked by his bitterness…towards me. I mean, hello, I’d just walked in the freaking door. “What did I do?”