Page 13 of Forever Your Touch (Manwhore #4)

“Neither were Nik or Dimitri. Look where they are now.”

“Their bad, not mine.”

“Send me a list of what you need, and I’ll bring it over. I need her address as well.”

He asked his brother for one more thing on the spur of the moment before he hung up with Vik and ordered dinner and snacks from Papa John’s.

He could hear Jo moving around upstairs, and he felt bad about leaving her to start the work by herself, but he’d needed to cool down.

His temper seemed to be on a hair trigger these days, but dammit.

Shit like Ray was pulling wasn’t right. She needed a car.

Mason had class, and he worked for Viktor part-time.

He wasn’t always available, and she might need transportation during those times.

That was why he called Viktor. He was going to get her set up so she could start earning the money she deserved.

The doorbell rang. “Josephine, get your ass in gear. Pizza’s here!”

It wasn’t the pizza guy at the door when he answered it, though. It was a woman in her mid-forties or so. Her blonde hair was perfectly styled, and her smile seemed a little strained.

“Can I help you, ma’am?”

“Who are you?” She was very blunt, and her brown eyes twitched.

“I’m Mason, Jo’s friend. Who are you?”

“Ray’s mother.”

The mother who liked to spy on him through her window. “You here to see Jo?”

“I just wanted to come check on her while Ray’s away.”

“Mrs. Daniels?” Jo came to stand behind him. “Is everything okay?”

“Is it?” Ray’s mother’s eyes glittered with suspicion.

Jo gasped, but before she could say anything, Mason did. “Of course, it is. I’m here as her FIBB to help set up her studio.”

“Her what?”

“Fill-in big brother,” Mason explained. “Since her brother is three thousand miles away, I promised him I’d keep an eye out for his little sister while he can’t.”

“Is there something you need?” Jo asked, her voice very small and quiet. He didn’t like it one little bit. She’d told him Ray’s mother didn’t like her, and from the way the woman stared at Jo, she was absolutely right.

“No, I just wanted to check on you.”

“Goodbye, then.” Mason shut the door in her face.

“Mason!” Jo’s outraged gasp only made him grin at her.

“What?” He shrugged innocently. “I didn’t like the way she was staring at you.”

“She’s probably going to call Ray and tell him I’m over here cheating or something.”

“He should know better than that.”

“Yeah, well, I wouldn’t know what he’s thinking since he hasn’t returned any of my messages.”

Mason had the sudden urge to drive to wherever fuck-face was and beat the living shit out of him. What the hell did she see in Ray?

“He’s an idiot.” Mason walked over and cupped her face in his hands, trying to ignore the way his dick jumped.

“Don’t let his stupidity ruin your mood.

He can believe what he wants. You and I know the truth.

If he doesn’t trust you, that says more about him than it does you.

” He leaned in and kissed her forehead before taking a step back.

“Thank you, Mason.” Jo blinked back tears. He always knew exactly what to say to her.

“You’re welcome. Now, we need to get your studio up and running. I have a surprise for you too.”

“What is it?” Today was turning into a piss poor one. She didn’t even know if Ray was coming home tomorrow or not, and now his mother was probably telling tales.

“It wouldn’t be a surprise if I told you, now, would it?”

“You’re one of those people.” She narrowed her eyes.

“Which people?”

“The ones who like to torture a person by not telling them what the surprise is.”

His head tilted, and he gave her a devilish smile. “Then what would be the point of a surprise?”

“The word should be stricken from the English language, in my opinion.”

The doorbell rang, and he went to answer it, this time bringing back several boxes along with a bag she was pretty sure held some kind of soda. “Come on, sugar. Let’s eat. I know for a fact you didn’t even touch your lunch, since I was there.”

She stuck her tongue out at him once his back was turned.

He had no plans to tell her about his surprise.

Her annoyance only amused him. She went and got plates and glasses out of the cabinet while he set all his goodies out on the table.

When she returned, her eyes widened. He’d ordered three boxes of pizza, wings, and cheese bread.

“Are we feeding an army? Didn’t invite your frat brothers over or anything?”

He laughed, his eyes twinkling. “Nope. Trust me, what you don’t eat, I will.”

“Do you have some kind of eating death wish?”

“Nah, I just eat a lot.”

She glanced from him to the food set out on the table. “Where does it all go?”

He patted his stomach. “Right here.”

“How are you not five hundred pounds?”

“I work out. Daily. All my brothers do. We eat like pigs, so we work to keep these hot bodies.”

“You think you’re hot, do you?”

“I sure do.” He gave her a smile she could only classify as the most charming thing she’d ever seen. “Just ask the girls around campus.”

Those poor girls. Did they even stand a chance against a smile like that?

She passed him a plate and cup. “What kind of pizza did you get?”

“I got two Supremes and one pepperoni, Italian sausage, and mushroom. That’s all yours. I kept the mushrooms off mine.”

He didn’t even bother with a plate, just pulled one of the boxes over to him and lifted out a piece. She took one of the slices from the box and placed it on her plate before filling both cups with Coke, careful not to accidentally knock the cups over as she was prone to do.

“Can I ask you a question?”

“Sure.” She passed him a cup.

“How did you meet Ray?”

She pursed her lips. Was he trying to dig out information he could use against her? Her brother was famous for doing that.

“I’m just curious, Josephine. I’m not your brother.”

“How did you know that’s what I was thinking?”

“Your eyes are expressive, sugar. It was right there for me to read. I promise, I’m only curious.”

She took another bite of her pizza and studied him.

He looked sincere enough. He hadn’t lied to her yet that she knew about.

Why not? If he got to know Ray better through her, Mason might actually start liking him instead of trying to find imaginative ways of murdering her boyfriend.

Mason had become very important to her, and she wanted them all to be friends.

“I met him in high school. I was a sophomore, and he was a senior. I had gone to sit on the bleachers for lunch. I remember being pissed at my best friend for something, I don’t even remember what.

I wanted a little time to myself.” She smiled, remembering that day.

“Ray plopped down beside me, and I nearly jumped out of my skin. I had my headphones in and my head down playing a game on my phone.”

“So, you were a gamer even back then?”

Jo laughed. “I was a gamer from the time I could pick up a controller. My sisters never much cared for it, but Keith and I lived on a game console to the point my parents used to lock up whatever console we were playing just so we’d go outside and get some sunshine.

Once Keith got into football, my parents stopped worrying about him. ”

“But not you?” Mason shoved another slice of pizza into his mouth, eating half in one bite. How the hell did he do that? It was kinda gross, yet oddly fascinating.

“No. I liked games more than I did people at one point. It wasn’t until my mom got me to try out for cheerleading that I started focusing on other things outside of games.

The blonde hair fit the part more than my cheerleading skills back in junior high.

I didn’t care. Keith and I were always close, and I missed him when he got consumed by football.

Being a cheerleader gave me back my brother. ”

“Did Ray play?”

“No. He’s as unathletic as they come. It’s why I was so surprised to see him on the bleachers that day. He caught me before I face planted and embarrassed myself even more.”

“He was there to talk to you.” Mason nodded, a knowing look in his eyes. “I’d have done the same thing if you were alone.”

“Do all guys think alike?”

He winked. “I’m not giving away secrets. I’ll get thrown out of the club.”

“What club?”

“If I told you, I’d have to kill you.”

She stuck her tongue out at him. “Such a dork.”

He gasped and put his hand over his heart. “Why, Josephine. I’m hurt. I’m a charmer, not a dork.”

“You keep telling yourself that.” Had no one ever called him on his bullshit before? He was funny, but at the same time, he had a massive ego.

He picked up his soda and took a long drink, eyeballing her. “Continue your story while I nurse my hurt feelings.”

Jo rolled her eyes. He was such a cute egomaniac. It was hard to ever get mad at him, let alone stay mad at him. She felt so sorry for the girls who fell for him.

“He introduced himself, and he asked me what game I was playing, and we got to talking from there. We almost missed the first bell warning us lunch was over. He met me at my locker at the end of the day and asked if I wanted to go out Saturday night. He knew I had a game on Friday.”

“He knew your schedule, which means he did his research. Another good move on his part.” Mason nodded and tipped his cup to the empty seat as if Ray were sitting there.

“We went out. Just a movie and a quick bite to eat at Logan’s Steakhouse.”

“Did he make you pay half on that first date?”

“No, it wasn’t until we’d been going out for a while that we decided to split the bill. It wasn’t fair that Ray had to pay for everything. He worked part time at a grocery store. He wasn’t made of money, Mason.”

He grunted but didn’t say anything. She suspected he strongly disagreed.

“Ray was sweet, and he made me laugh. I fell hard for him.”

“Why does your family have issues with him?”