Page 46 of Enemies with Benefits

I squinted. “You were crossdressing?"

Mason chuckled. “First of all, I do great in heels. Secondly, it was part of a brilliant plan that?—"

"Absolutely would not have worked," Moira finished and then looked at me. "You came back, I see."

"At your mom and...Micah's request," I said after a moment of hesitation, wondering how to refer to the boy. If she noticed the awkwardness, she gave me some grace and chose to ignore it.

"And how did you find out about that?"

"Ooh, me!" Mason said, raising his hand.

"Mmm, that would explain the bruises that mysteriously appeared the other night," Moira said, looking me over. "And the healing bruises on you."

Mason gasped. “I'm offended at the suggestion!"

She pointed at him and then shifted the finger to me, bouncing back and forth. "Look, you two. If Jace is going to be...around more often, you need to work out your issues with each other."

Mason smirked at me. “I think we made some progress."

"Doubtful."

"Why? We were closer than ever."

My face burned, and I gritted my teeth at the reminder, hating him for using that against me when I would clearly prefer to ignore that...that blip because it was an abnormality that shouldn't have happened in the first place. I couldn't stand the man, and he couldn't stand me, and while he might have discovered whatever bisexuality existed in him, no such thing existed in me. I had never been inclined to...well, not strictly true, but...no, I was not going to let Mason Beckett get the better of me.

Which, of course, required ignoring the stirring in my groin at the memory I hated and wanted to forget. The desire I needed to push away was the same overwhelming, intoxicating feeling from the other night. Thankfully, it wasn't nearly as strong, so while I was fighting the urge to yank him up by his hair and deck him, I also wanted to pin him against the wall and see what parts of him felt right under my lips and teeth, but it wasn't taking over like before. I still had to sit a certain way not to give away my predicament, but I was in control.

"Whatever," Moira said with a roll of her eyes, thankfully unaware of what was silently shared between Mason and me. "If you'reactuallyfiguring things out, then good for you. But if figuring it out requires beating the shit out of each other, do it away from Micah...and everyone else, for that matter, but especially Micah. And most importantly, figure it the fuck out at some point, understood?"

"Yes, ma'am," I muttered, tearing my eyes away from Mason.

"Suck it up," Mason said, chuckling when Moira slapped his shoulder. "Calm down. We'll figure out how to play nice. There are just some...kinks that need to be worked out."

Anger made it easier for me to look at him with a furious glare at the bad joke. Though to my horror, I discovered that anger didn't make itjusteasier to meet his eyes after what we'd done, but also more difficult. Anger had always been a reliable emotion to fall back on, especially when it came to Mason. Now, however, that one goddamn incident had been tainted by...by lust.

"Like I said," Moira said with more emphasis than before. "I don't care how you do it. Just do it, figure out a way to exist around one another without giving off murder vibes."

"Murder vibes?" I wondered aloud.

Moira sighed, running a hand through her hair. "That was Micah's words."

"He said that? Murder vibes."

"Yes?"

"O...kay."

"Told you he was weird," Mason said with a chuckle, leaning back in his seat. Which, of course, meant I absolutely did not notice that the move shoved his crotch forward.

"I was gonna say he picks up on stuff, and he knows how to describe what he sees well," I said with a scowl.

"There's that. But it also makes him weird. I didn't notice shit like that when I was his age."

Moira flicked him on the back of the head. “Probably because you were too busy causing trouble and finding it too."

"True," Mason said, giving me a wink for some odd reason. "But now I'm older and wiser."

"One of those things strikes me as more true than the other," Kayden said with a snort.