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All of a sudden, my eyes feel heavy, and I remember I only got a few hours of sleep last night thanks to all the excitement. So I pull the throw off the back of the couch, cover up, and snuggle into the couch for a quick power nap. It’s no time at all when sleep drags me under.
Eight
Maverick
“Morning, babe,”I yawn, walking up behind Mason while he’s making pancakes, and lean in to kiss him. He pulls back a little but turns to smile at me and says,Good Morningback. But the smile is forced, and he returns to his task right away without his usual teasing or flirtation.
Hudson walks into the kitchen just in time to see the interaction, and he raises a brow at me in question. Or accusation. Who the fuck knows. I just shrug back at him.
“You ready to get going?” I ask Hudson. We’re headed back to Naperville to do some construction for the flip. The floors and drywall were delivered a few days ago, and today is the first free day we both have.
“Yep. Let’s get this show on the road,” he chirps, snatching his phone off the island.
“Want some pancakes to go, Hud?” Mason asks, all sugary-sweetness that he definitely was not giving me. My own greeting was ice-cold in comparison. Fucking Antarctica.
“Awe, fuck yeah!” He does a hop-skip over to Mason and grabs two pancakes from the plate beside the stovetop. “Thanks, shnookums.” He grins and blows Mason a kiss on the way out the door to the garage. I stand at the island for a second, waiting for Mason to offer me some to-go breakfast. Or even for him to just fucking look at me.
Nothing.
“Okay, well, I guess I’ll get going…” I drag my feet. “I’ll see you after work?”
He hums back and flips another pancake. “Don’t wait up. I’ve got a shoot that’ll probably run long later.” Still, he does not look at me.
“Um, right. Okay. Have a great day.” I frown, backing toward the door.
“Thanks, you too.” Well, that’s something. At least he didn’t tell me to fuck off. Seriously,what the hell?
Hudson is waiting in my Jeep when I make it to the garage. As soon as I slip into the driver’s seat, the third-degree starts. “You still haven’t apologized yet, have you?” It’s phrased like a question, but his intonation is more of a statement.
“What exactly do I have to apologize for?”What did I do?I thought we’d gotten past all the jealousy and miscommunications. Summer knows she’s our mate now, Mason’s had just as much alone time with her as any of us, and he knows I still love him. Her being a part of this pack changes nothing about our dynamic.
Hudson is quiet for so long, I look over at him just as I turn onto the main road. He’s staring at me with an odd mix of incredulity and introspection.
“What?” I growl and flick my turn signal on with more force than is necessary.
“I’m just trying to figure out if you’re serious or not.” More staring. I look at him again, brow raised, and wait for him to spit it the fuck out. “Okay. You’re serious. What the fuck, Mav. You went through a full-blown fucking heat with Summer and didn’t even bother to mention it to him.”
Not this shit again. “He knows she went into heat! What was I supposed to do? He was in another fucking country!” I can’t keep having this conversation with him.
“How about show a little decency? If the roles were reversed, he would have told you immediately. Even if there wasn’t anything you could do to help. His first thought would have been Summer’s well-being and then making sure you knew what was going on with your mate. Because he, oh, I don’t know,loves you.”
I slam on my brakes, ignoring the angry honk from behind us. “Are you trying to imply that I don’t love Mason? Because I swear to fuck, Hudson, I will beat the fuck out of you.”
The smile he gives me in answer is not at all reassuring. It’s damn near antagonistic. Sarcastic. “Oh, spare me your macho-man bullshit. Of course, you love him. But your love is selfish sometimes. When she went into heat, you were thinking about what was easiest for you. You knew Mason was struggling. You guys were in a weird limbo and have been ever since finding Summer. So, instead of texting Mason and potentially making things more strained between you two, you did nothing. Said nothing. And it pissed him off. So now you have to man up and fucking deal with it. Apologize.” Hudson is almost yelling by the end of his tirade.
I’m frozen in my seat. The person behind me lays on their horn until I let off the gas and get moving again. Is that true? At the time, I convinced myself I didn’t want Mason to feel like he had to rush back and ruin his chances at winning that grant. But maybe that was just what I told myself.
Hudson is definitely half-right. Mason and I’s relationship has been strained since we met Summer. Not that it is by any means her fault. We both love her too much to throw any blame her way, and she didn’t choose us as her mates. The Goddess did that. So that means if there is any fault to be had, it lands on me. I let the rift between us get bigger and bigger.
And for what? Because I was too fucking chicken shit to have the hard conversations? Mason deserves better than that.
“Jesus, man, relax.” Hudson says, breaking me out of the downward self-deprecating spiral I was headed in. He wrinkles his nose at the way my scent sours with my mood. “It’s going to be okay. You were just a jackass. It’s not like you went out of your way to hurt anyone on purpose. Just apologize, and you’ll be fine. Maybe bring him home some of those cinnamon butter rolls he loves. It’ll be fine.”
“Right. Yeah.” I nod. I can do that. Fuck, this is going to suck. I hate talking about my feelings. But Mason eats that shit up. He’s so in tune with his now, so I’ll have to spill my guts a little for him to realize I’m being genuine before he accepts any apology. The rolls will definitely help, though.
A few minutes later, I pull into the driveway, and Hudson’s phone pings. A full-blown belly laugh rips from him, he snickers, and then his fingers are flying on the screen.
“Care to share the joke?” I grumble. Clearly, I’m still in my feelings a little.
