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I sigh, taking a seat. Before I can respond, Maddie strolls in from the kitchen with a popsicle in her hand. I didn’t even realize she snuck in there. Lennon and I give her weird looks.
“What? There are more if you want one.” She plops down on the end of the couch, then holds her arms out for Allie. I hand her over, then swipe the popsicle out of her grip. “Hey!”
“Those are mine, thank you. Mason bought them for me,” I taunt.
“So you can’t share?” Maddie gives me a pointed stare.
“Ugh, fine.” I toss it back at her with a grin and see Lennon staring at me. She knows I’m avoiding the conversation at hand.
“Are you going to his funeral?” she asks.
I frown, then shrug. “His mom reached out to me yesterday and gave me the details. If I don’t go, she’ll wonder why her son’s girlfriend isn’t there. She just lost him, and I don’t want to cause any more pain or stress by explaining to her why I won’t be attending. He might’ve been a monster to me, but that shouldn’t be his mother’s last memory of him. She didn’t do anything wrong.”
“Yeah, that’s a tricky situation, Soph. I’m sorry.” Lennon looks at me with sad eyes.
“We should all go,” Maddie chimes in. “That way you don’t have to do it alone, and we can pull you away if things get weird.”
“Yeah, we’ll go with you,” Lennon agrees.
“You guys would do that for me?” I ask, stunned. They hate Weston almost as much as Mason does, so I know this won’t be easy for them either.
“Of course,” Lennon says. “Just make an appearance and then we can get the hell out of there.”
“Thank you.” I wrap my sister in a hug and hold back the tears threatening to fall. I’ve tried so damn hard to keep them under control when I’m around other people. Only in the shower will I let them fall, mixing with the water, but as soon as I’m done, I straighten my spine and push them back again.
I’m not crying for him. I won’t.
“So how has it been living here?” Maddie asks. “I imagine hookers, beer, and porn on the regular.”
I furrow my brows at her as Lennon snorts. “Mads!” I scold, narrowing my gaze on Allie.
“She doesn’t know what I’m saying anyway.” She shrugs, then lifts Allie higher on her lap. “Do you, baby girl? No, you don’t,” she says in a high-pitched voice.
“See what you’re leaving me with?” Lennon holds out her hand, which causes me to laugh.
“I babysat her last year, so it’s your turn,” I retort, and we both chuckle. Lennon went through hell after Brandon’s death, and we gave her space to deal with it but only because Hunter was looking after her. Hmm…is Mason my Hunter?
Could he be? Or better yet, does he want to be?
“Is it weird?” Maddie asks.
“Is what weird?” I glance over at her.
“Living here with Mason and Liam.”
“No, actually. Aside from the fact that I feel guilty as hell about this whole situation. It’s my fault this happened. I brought Weston into my life, into our lives, and am the reason we’re all in this mess.” I haphazardly rub my arm where one of the bruises is still sore from when he grabbed me really hard. “As soon as I can afford it, I’ll find a place and move because the last thing I want is to be a burden when I already feel like I’m to blame for everything.”
“Like hell you are.” Mason’s booming voice comes from behind us as he walks into the living room.
“Jesus, you scared me,” Maddie scolds. He scared the shit out of me too.
Mason ignores her as he approaches me. I turn and look at him as he leans over the back of the couch, towering over me. “You have nothing to feel guilty about, you hear me? He’s the one who made the choice to bring a gun, to lie about his past and job, and treat you like a human punching bag. I know I’m not one hundred percent innocent in the events that took place on Saturday, but I’d go to prison for the rest of my life before I’d let you take the blame for any of this.”
His words hit me like a ton of bricks, and I’m left speechless. The intensity in his eyes pin me in place, and I want to reach out and hug him.
“Mason’s right,” Lennon blurts out after the silence gets awkward. “You were the victim, Soph. You can’t continue to blame yourself for any of this.”
My eyes shoot to her, and I hate the look of pity she gives me. I swallow and break my gaze before glancing back at Mason.
“Thank you,” I say softly. “And maybe we should be blaming Maddie,” I say with a light tone, needing this intense moment between Mason and me to fade.
