Page 8

8

MASON

WHEN WE WERE KIDS, Zayden and I would make pinky promises as a sacred form of trust. We never broke our promises to each other. Until the night of Anya’s eighteenth, that is. I promised to protect her, to be there for her and to treat her like I would Zayden – like she was family. She is my family. Of course, I’ve never seen her as my sister – despite that being my excuse to everyone who questioned me about her – but as someone I love and care for. Someone I would do anything for and never let down.

But I did let her down.

And I’ll never forgive myself for it.

This thought weighs on my mind as I move around the bodies gathered in the lounge room. ‘Do I Wanna Know’ by the Arctic Monkeys plays through the speakers. As the sun sinks into the horizon, it casts an orange glow through the space, complimented by the neon lights bouncing from the corners of the room.

I’ve spent the last hour on the move, searching for her, but she still isn’t here. Is she avoiding me? She certainly didn’t seem happy to see me earlier today. It’s always been effortless between us. That’s something I always loved about her. But now it’s strained and awkward. I want to fix it; I just don’t know if she’ll let me.

The only people I really know here are the football guys. Though clusters of people fill the house, they’re all two years ahead of me at university. While I was travelling, everyone formed their groups. Other than Zayden and the few guys I’ve met at football practice, I haven’t really found my friend group yet. The one dude that I really like, Parker, only turns up to half the practices, and when he does, he leaves immediately after. There’s only one other guy from the team who seems decent and who Zayden is close with. I spot him hovering near the pool table, a red plastic cup in his hand.

‘Hey,’ I nod at him.

‘Hey, man.’ Christian smiles, clapping his hand into mine and pulling me in for a one-armed hug. ‘This is a great house for a party.’

‘Yeah, it’s a good set-up,’ I agree. My eyes roam the room and I crane my neck to get a view of the front door.

‘Looking for someone?’ Christian asks, his lips curving into a knowing smirk.

Am I that obvious?

‘Hmm?’ I ask distractedly. ‘Oh, um, Anya. Zay’s sister. She lives here, but I haven’t seen her. We didn’t give her much notice about the party, and I didn’t realise Zay had invited so many people.’

‘Zayden has a sister?’ Christian arches an eyebrow. ‘He’s kept that under wraps, hasn’t he?’

‘For good reason,’ I say.

As if I manifested her arrival, the door swings open and she walks inside, followed closely by Nora and Cami. I can’t stop my gaze travelling down her body.

Goddamn .

Our eyes connect, and I send her a wave. She flips me off in response.

Christian lets out a low whistle. ‘Okay, yeah, I get why now. The team will be all over her.’

Clenching my jaw, I attempt to appear nonchalant. My death-grip on the cup in my hand causes it to crumple. He eyes the cup and then my face for a moment, his teasing smirk morphing into a full-blown grin.

‘Oh, gotcha. She’s with you.’

‘What?’ I snap, narrowing my eyes at him.

Christian smiles even wider, enjoying my reaction a little too much. ‘She’s yours. Got it.’

She’s yours . I like the sound of that far too much.

‘I don’t know what you’re talking about,’ I mutter, bringing the cup to my lips and taking a hearty gulp. I’m meant to be cutting down on the drinking and partying, after everything that happened when I was overseas, but it’s the easiest way to mingle around here, and it helps with the anxiety. Not that it makes me feel good the following morning. I always forget that part when I start the night.

Ignoring Christian’s smirk, I push off the wall and weave through the throngs of people, trying to get to her as quickly as I can.

‘Anya,’ I say. She turns, and those gorgeous eyes land on me, making my heart feel like it’s beating sideways. She may have grown, but I still tower over her, which makes me feel like a giant. To be fair, I’ve always been the tallest one among my friends. I actually used to get bullied for it when I was younger, until everyone else started catching up. ‘Hey. You made it.’

‘I live here,’ she says flatly.

I clench my jaw, realising how stupid that sounded. My brain and my mouth don’t seem to cooperate when she’s around.

‘Obviously,’ I snap back out of habit, since we bicker more than not these days. ‘You could have stayed out, though, if you didn’t want to come.’

She gives me a weird look. ‘What do you want?’

‘I just wanted to say hey, I guess. I didn’t realise the party was going to be this big.’

‘Okay?’ she says, waiting for me to say something else. There’s a beat of silence, and her frown creases further. She even has the audacity to eye me up and down with her nose screwed up, as if I might be sick or something.

‘Why are you being a bitch?’ I huff, feeling the heat in my cheeks.

‘I can’t keep up with your mood swings, and I don’t really want to hang out with you. I need a drink.’

‘Don’t get drunk,’ I say quickly.

She glares at my hand, which I didn’t realise is on her arm. She scowls and pulls away, as if I burned her. I feel sick over the recoil.

‘You have no right to tell me what I can and can’t do.’

Exhaling, I realise I won’t win this fight.

‘Okay, fine. I’ll get you a drink.’

‘No, Mason,’ she growls, anger flashing across her eyes. ‘Just leave me alone.’

Turning on her heel, she storms towards the kitchen. Nora sends me a sympathetic look before trailing after her. Cami’s eyes are narrowed as she surveys me for a few seconds. She then follows her friends without a word to me. I blink after them, unsure what to do.

My head is a fucking mess. I want her. I’ve always had this hunger for her. An uncontrollable ache. An itch that never quite got scratched. But I fucked it up that night. I lost her trust, I lost her love ... I lost her .

I’m the one chasing her. I’ve never chased someone before. Realising now how much it sucks causes my stomach to tighten as I think about what she must have gone through for years.

The thing is: as much as I do want her, I know I can’t have her. I made a promise to Zayden, and I want to do right by them both. Yet whenever I see her, all rationale leaves my body. There’s a constant battle being waged inside me. Groaning, I finish my drink and toss it into the first bin I see.

Whoever said falling in love is the best thing to happen to you is a fucking liar.