“What?” He stared at me a moment, then opened his mouth, only to close it a second later. Gripping the back of his head, he spun away, paced a couple feet into the yard, then whirled back and returned to me. “How... When...?” Shaking his head, he finally settled with whispering, “She knew?”
I nodded. Burrowing my hands into the pockets of my hoodie, I began from the beginning, telling him how his mom and landlady set up his first...job...as a hooker. All the while, the shock in his eyes dulled to a numb kind of defeat.
By the time I got to the part where Sarah knew their mom had started taking drugs again, he’d bowed his head and was shaking it miserably at the ground.
When I finished, I gave him a moment to soak everything in. But anxious on Sarah’s behalf, I finally demanded, “So are you going to forgive her or not?”
Mason glanced up. His face was noticeably paler than it’d been when he’d come outside, and his shoulders were drawn in around himself, but his features contorted with confusion. “Why would I forgive her? She doesn’t need forgiveness. She never did anything wrong. Nothing that happened was ever on her shoulders.”
I blew out a relieved breath, but just as quickly shook my head. “I don’t care. She still feels like shit over it. So you need to go in there and tell her you forgive her so she can get over this and start trying to forgive herself for everything she’s convinced she did do wrong.”
Mason glanced at the house before he turned back to me, his blue eyes worried. “Do you think she’ll finally come home if I do?”
I snorted, thinking the answer was obvious. “Fuck, yeah.”
With a nod, Mason swung his attention to the house again. “If you’ll excuse me, then. I need to talk to my sister.”
He started for the back door, but I called, “Hey. Did women really pay you to—”
He turned back so fast I swallowed the last of the question.
With a nervous grin and one-shouldered shrug, I said, “That’s kind of badass.”
Mason only shook his head, horror and regret filling his face. “No. It’s isn’t.” And he reentered the house without another word.
I had planned on telling him I wouldn’t go spilling his secret to anyone else, but I got the feeling he didn’t want to talk about it anymore. It reminded me of the things I didn’t want to talk about.
The expression that had flitted across his face mirrored the way I’d felt way too many times. All the guilt and remorse oozing off him made me shiver with a strange kind of kinship with Sarah’s brother.
I guess experiencing sexual contact with a woman you didn’t want affected a guy pretty much the same way, whether she was paying you for it or she was your mom forcing you into it.
Huddling deeper into my hoodie, I shivered again and hurried inside after him.
He and Reese were already in my room with the door closed. I paced the hall, just outside, hoping Mason hadn’t lied when he’d told me he didn’t blame Sarah for anything and hoping even harder that Sarah would forgive me for ousting her.
I was a hypocrite, I knew. If I’d confided in her, I never would’ve wanted her to spread it to anyone else. Yet here I was, hoping she was okay with me doing it to her. Damn, who was I kidding? She was never going to talk to me again.
I began to sweat and bite my thumbnail, pacing a little faster.
Finally, Colton appeared in the opening of the hall. “What’re you doing?”
“Nothing! Go away.”
“Hey, lay off.” Noel appeared beside him, frowning at me. “He’s right. You’re acting weird. What’s going on?”
“Nothing,” I repeated through gritted teeth. “I’m fi—”
My bedroom door came open, and I whirled around, forgetting my brothers. I held my breath in anticipation before Mason appeared in the entrance. His face was absolutely unreadable, which made my stomach churn with worry. Then he stepped aside and there was Sarah in her wheelchair and her suitcase clutched in her lap.
I sucked in a sharp breath. This was it, then. She was so pissed at me for blabbing she was leaving me.
Cold immediately set into my bones. I was a split second from dropping to my knees and begging for forgiveness when she looked up at me and smiled. She rolled straight to me and then lifted her arms, opening them for a hug.
I just stood there, confused. “What?”
“Thank you for doing what I couldn’t,” she said. “Now hug me already; I can’t hold my arms like this all day.”
Rushing forward, I gave her an awkward hug over the top of her suitcase, but it was still the best hug I’d ever gotten. We clung to each other until I whispered into her ear, “I was so sure you’d be pissed at me and never forgive me.”
“Oh, don’t worry.” She tapped my arm with a playful punch. “I’m never confiding in you again, that’s for sure.”
I pulled away and looked into her eyes, totally not believing her claim. “You know I never would’ve said anything unless I’d known for sure he’d make it right with you.”
When she shrugged but her lips tightened as if she was trying to hide a smile, I narrowed my eyes. “You don’t hate me. You can’t hate me.” Because I could never hate her.