Page 123 of Forever Relentless

Not in an ‘aww, isn’t he odd?’ way. No, he was unhinged fucking crazy. I wasn’t sure I liked it, but I also didn’t hate it. And it was for exactly that reason that I told him my plan.

He loved it. His whole face came alive, and I got the impression he hadn’t felt that way in a long time.

He wanted to help, and he had more stories and dirt than we did. All in all, the athletic department at Wrighton U would start to feel very nervous if any of these posts gained traction.

He agreed he shouldn’t post, but when he gave me the highlights of what he knew, I compiled them into a list, knowing I’d share them with Hadley later.

He was very clear that Briar was to stay out of it; he didn’t want any traction coming back on his sister, and I agreed. It was why I went to Hadley in the first place. If we were caught, Hadley and I were college kids who could spin the whole playing a prank thing. If Briar was involved, she was someone who gave false documents to secure a job . . . they may not let her off with a ‘simple prank.’

Despite his earlier warning about my intentions toward her, we’d now both decided to keep a secret from her, which felt like a very specific kind of alliance.

When I reminded him not to share it during ‘pillow talk’ with Diana, he actually looked like he wanted to punch me.

Then he laughed.

Right there. That was how I knew he was crazy.

We’d had a beer from Briar’s fridge. He gave not one shit. He was basically helping himself, and I was feeling the high of doing something, so I took one, knowing he’d say it was him.

Sometimes you just meet someone, and you just know you share something with them on some level. It may never be a ride-or-die kind of friendship, but with Mason, we had something in common, something that lurked beneath the surface in both of us, and I think it was something we both fought every day to control. I recognized it in him, and I knew he saw it in me.

Maybe I was just as crazy as him.

Which I actually think he liked. My willingness to burn it all down was the reason he stayed. He asked me one question in the middle of my plan and it wasn’t the question I expected.

“You’re really going to do this?”

“I just spent the last twenty minutes telling you that,” I told him.

He nodded. “Yeah, but there’s intention and then there’s following through.”

I looked over at him, not hiding my surprise. “You think I’m all talk?”

He shook his head slowly. “I did, when you came to the garage, when you were in the stairwell, I thought, big guy, lot of hot air.” He sat back.

“And now?”

He smirked. “I just said I changed my mind.”

I think that was his way of telling me he’d judged me wrongly.

Maybe.

We’d parted ways with a ‘speak soon.’ How different our second meeting was from our first was not lost on me.

By the time I got back to the dorm, afternoon classes were over, and afternoon practice was well underway.

I looked around the empty dorm room, and then, with my duffel bag over my shoulder, I took Dustin’s car key and headed into Halston.

The gym was empty this time of day, which was maybe not surprising. I paid for an hour, and then spent some one-on-one time with the bag.

When I was done, my body felt like I’d done afternoon practice.

As I unwrapped the tape from my hands, I eyed the ring at the far corner of the floor.

“You spar?”

I turned to the manager.