Page 6 of Forever Your Touch (Manwhore #4)

CHAPTER FIVE

Jo opened her front door and threw her bookbag down beside the hallway table. It had been a long first week at school. Classes were harder this year too. So much homework. And she was taking a math class. She hated math. It was her biggest weakness when it came to school. Always had been.

Mason picked her up every morning, brought her home every evening.

He ate lunch with her most days too. Sometimes he got caught up in frat business, and she’d had to wait for him once or twice.

It was nice to have one friend. He never hit on her, even if he did flirt, but that was just Mason as she’d come to learn.

He flirted with everyone. It was part of his charm.

And good Lord, but he was a goofball, always laughing and smiling.

His attitude was infectious and rubbed off on her.

It was why she’d walked in smiling. He’d made her belt out the lyrics to “Barbie Doll” along with him on the way home.

The expressions and hand gestures he’d come up with to go along with the song were hilarious.

“Ray?” she called. His car was in the drive, so he had to be here somewhere. Not in the bedroom or the bathroom. Maybe he went to his parents’. Oh, well. It gave her a little time to edit some videos she needed to upload soon.

Going into the kitchen to grab a bottle of water, she saw the note sitting on the kitchen table.

Hey, Babe.

Dad and I are going fishing this weekend. Be back late Sunday.

Ray

She closed her eyes and counted to ten. He left her alone their first real weekend in New York. Didn’t even call to say goodbye, no text or anything. Just a note.

Ray loved fishing, especially with his dad. She just thought maybe he wouldn’t leave her alone until she’d made a few friends to hang out with so she wouldn’t be so lonely.

It pissed her off.

She found a bottle of water in the fridge and stormed into her makeshift studio in the spare bedroom. The walls were bare, and she couldn’t record until she got the foam panels up to buffer the echoes, but she could edit what she’d done before dismantling her studio at home.

Turning on her computer, she tapped her foot as she waited for it to come on. Her cell rang, and she picked it up hoping it’d be Ray. Her brother’s face flashed across the screen instead.

“Hey, Keith.”

“Lil’ sis.” Keith yawned into the phone. “Whatcha up to?”

“Getting ready to do some video editing. My computer is being slow. I think it’s finally crapping out.”

“Make Mason look at it. He’s a whiz with those things.”

“I might. I can’t afford to buy a new one.”

“So, how are things working out with Mase? He looking out for you?”

“He’s been really cool. Takes me to and from school every day. I don’t think he’s much of a morning person, though.”

Keith laughed. “He’s not. Doesn’t like to get out of bed before noon if he can help it.”

“He’s like a zombie in the mornings, grumpy, growly, and rabid until he gets coffee. I think I’m going to buy some of those disposable coffee cups and bring him a cup in the mornings.”

“It might wake him up, but I’m guaranteeing he’d need more than one cup. We had to get up once for a class project at five a.m. None of us had time to stop for a quick cup of coffee. He walked around in a daze all day. Boy is addicted to caffeine.”

Jo smiled thinking of him stumbling around in the wee hours of the morning, coffee-free. She shook her head at the thought. “You know, Keith, I appreciate everything he’s doing, but it’s not fair to make him get up and haul me to and from school. I’m not even his sister.”

“But you’re mine, and if the roles were reversed, I’d do it for him in a heartbeat. Mason knows that. Plus, he likes you. He nearly took my head off when he found out who you were. He had a serious fanboy moment, there.”

“Really?” Jo frowned, thinking back to that first day. “He didn’t seem like it.”

“Mason’s good at covering up his feelings, but trust me, he was freaking out.”

“Huh.”

“So how you doing up there all by your lonesome?”

“It’s different, but I’m okay. Getting used to the school is taking longer than I expected. It’s so much bigger than the college I was attending before. I got lost, like, three times already.”

“Well, it’s a good school. I checked it out to make sure. You didn’t need to be in that small college in the first place. You should have been at a university.”

Jo sighed. She hadn’t gone to a university because of Ray. She didn’t want to be so far away from him. Keith held that against him even though it wasn’t his fault. She’d made that choice.

“Well, I’m here now, so stop playing the blame game.”

Keith was quiet for a long moment. “What do you think of Mason?”

“What do you mean?”

“Just what I asked. What do you think of him?”

Jo frowned. Why would he be asking that? “He’s cool, like I said. Good guy. Funny. Why?”

“No reason.”

Her eyes narrowed. He sounded way too casual. “Keith…you’re not trying to play matchmaker, are you?”

“No.”

“Good, because I love Ray. I don’t know how else to get that through your head. I love him.”

“You love someone who puts himself before you.” This time there was no mistaking the anger in her brother’s voice. “Hell, even Mason saw that. Pissed him off, and he didn’t even know you.”

“Keith…”

“Don’t Keith me. I’m right about this. I’m hoping being around Mase will show you how a man is supposed to treat you.”

Jo ran a hand over her eyes. Her brother was never going to accept Ray. “Keith, I’m not arguing with you about this. Mason is just a friend. It’s all he’s ever going to be. If you start trying to shove your best friend at me, I’ll push him so far away, he won’t even remember my name!”

“Don’t do that, Jo.” Clear frustration poured out of her brother. “You need someone there to rely on. Mason is family to me and the only person I trust to take care of you when I can’t.”

Her temper flared. First, she came home to an empty house and an absentee boyfriend, and then Keith pointing shit out she was already seeing only made her madder.

“Then stop interfering and be my brother who loves me.”

He let out a long sigh. “I’m just worried about you.”

“I know.”

“Love you, Sis.”

“Love you too.”

She hung up with him a few minutes later and sat back in her office chair, exhausted. Physically and emotionally exhausted. It had been a hell of a week.

When the computer finally came on, she checked her email and dealt with some fan letters.

Then she spent a couple of hours editing a few game segments and set them to upload.

Once that was done, she checked the clock.

It was only a little after five. Friday was her early day. She’d finished with classes at one.

She wandered through the house and finally flopped down in front of the TV just for the noise. She hated the quiet. She grew up in a house full of family, and all this silence was getting to her. Another quick look at her phone showed no calls or texts from Ray.

It irritated her.

He’d gone off and left without so much as a goodbye. She hadn’t told Keith because it would only be one more thing to fight about. And the last thing she wanted to do was fight with her big brother for trying his best to look out for her, even if it wasn’t needed.

Flipping through the channels, she found absolutely nothing to interest her.

It was because she was mad. Mad at Ray, mad at Keith, and maybe even a little mad at herself.

Jo knew Ray sometimes put himself ahead of her, but she loved him and overlooked his flaws.

He loved her as much as she did him. Only he didn’t always show it so well.

And that was the problem that had been grating on her nerves for a few months now.

She was hoping with this move, that would improve.

Ray had always complained about the pressure her family put him under, and that was no longer an issue.

He didn’t even have to talk to her family, and still he seemed to forget about her needs.

Jo understood her family’s frustration with Ray.

If she were in their shoes, she would probably be yelling at her too, but they didn’t understand.

She and Ray had gone through a lot. They’d shared something she’d never told her family about that cemented her loyalty to him.

He’d been there, stood by her, and helped her get through it.

He could be an ass, and she knew how he treated her wasn’t always right, but she’d decided a long time ago to stand by him because he had her.

Didn’t make her weak, blind, or stupid.

She owed him for keeping her whole when her world splintered apart around her.

Shaking her head, she turned the TV off. This wasn’t distracting her from painful memories. She couldn’t afford to go down that rabbit hole. Not today while she was alone and feeling vulnerable. What she needed was a distraction.

On impulse, she called Mason. Maybe they could start their movie review segment tonight. He picked up on the third ring.

“Something wrong, Josephine?”

“No. I was just wondering if you wanted to go catch a movie and start our review segment we talked about.”

“I wish, but I’m on nanny duty this weekend.”

“Is that some kind of weird new frat thing?” Jo scrunched her nose, imagining all kinds of insanity. Rush week would soon be approaching. Lord only knew what kind of stupidity they had planned for the new pledges.

“No, but that is an awesome idea.” Laughter rang out over the line. “I’m watching Delia and the twins so my brother and his wife can get some sleep. The boys seem to think it’s funny to keep them awake all night.”

“You’re babysitting?” Dear God, those poor kids.

He laughed. “Don’t sound so shocked. I am perfectly capable of handling nanny duty.”

“If you say so.”

He huffed into the phone. “Ray working tonight? Is that why you wanted to go to the movies?”

“No. He’s gone fishing with his dad this weekend.”

Mason got so quiet, she thought for a moment he’d hung and then she wished that was exactly what happened.

“He left you alone your first weekend in New York?”

Jo winced when Mason said it. The anger vibrating in his voice made her glad she’d kept that little nugget of information from Keith. Her brother’s temper would have skyrocketed.

“It’s no big deal. He and his dad go fishing all the time.”

Mason muttered something she couldn’t quite make out.

“Well, I guess I’ll let you go since you’re busy. I’ll find something on Netflix to binge.”

“Do you wanna come help me babysit? It’s just going to be me, a seven-year-old, and twin boys who are just a couple months old.”

“Just you?” Did he even realize what he was getting himself into? She’d babysat all through junior high and high school. Three kids were a lot for even her to handle, especially if two of them were infants.

“Again, there is disbelief in your voice. Haven’t you realized how awesome I am by now, Josephine?”

She laughed. He was so full of himself, but not in a bad way.

“Awesome or not, taking care of twins the whole weekend is going to kick your ass.”

“Pfft, ye of little faith. So, you wanna come keep me company or not?”

She started to say no but then changed her mind. Mason was her friend, and Ray abandoned her for the entire weekend. There was no reason she shouldn’t go help him babysit. It beat sitting around an empty house listening to nothing but silence.

“Sure. I’ll come keep you from suffering a nervous breakdown.”

“Uh-huh. You’ll see. I have awesome uncle skills.”

She laughed at his knowing tone.

“I’ll swing by in a few minutes and pick you up. You need to pack a bag. We’re gonna be there until Sunday when Viktor and Sara get back. Don’t forget your toothbrush. I’m not sharing.”

“So, if I forget mine, you’d deal with my stinky breath all weekend?”

“Hmmm, maybe by Sunday I’d break. Get your shit together, Josephine, and I’ll see you soon.”

Jo hung up the phone and ran to the bedroom, stumbling twice thanks to her own klutziness, found an overnight bag, and started packing. She couldn’t stop smiling.

It was going to be an interesting weekend.