Page 110 of Rival

“I’m just teasin’, girl. They’re alright. We’ve worked out our shit.”

“How?”

Holding his hand out, he studies his knuckles, grinning as if he’s remembering something pleasant. “We may have used our fists to clear up the majority of our disagreements.”

His face falls when he sees the look of horror on my face, then steps forward and squats down next to me. “That wasn’t supposed to upset you. Honestly, we were all pretty fucked up in our heads and after layin’ out our sins, gettin’ our asses chewed out by Ruthie, and learnin’ that wealldid wrong, it was needed.”

Shaking my head hard, my lips are turned down so hard my face actually hurts from it. “I won’t—” My voice breaks and I gulp hard. “Iwon’tbe around that. I won’t let mydaughterbe around that, either. Violence—”

He palms the side of my face and hushes me. “I swear to you, girl, it won’t happen again. It’ll never happen again, and you won’t see an ounce of anything but love from all of us. Do you trust me?”

I chew on the corner of my lip and pull my face away.Do I trust him?Not really. Not when it matters. Mason hasn’t ever lied to me that I know of, but his kindness is something new and I’m not sure I trust what part is really him.

Sighing sadly, he quirks the corner of his mouth up. “Trust is a hard thing to earn from someone, especially if it’s been lost once. It’s not impossible, though.” Maybe he can tell I’m not prepared to dive deeper because he changes the subject. “Want to go visit Austin? I got him out in the ring.”

Giving in, I nod. Removing Bonnie and Buck from my lap, he leaves Billy, who’s peering at him with malice from one eye barely cracked open. “You can move him. My advice would be to just shove him off, but I wouldn’t want you to suffer those demon claws as punishment.” Considering my position on the ground, he shakes his head. “Actually, no. I’ll move him, then help you up.”

Quickly, Mason scoops up Billy, who comes alive in the blink of an eye, whipping his little paw out and batting at his hands and Mason runs him over to where his siblings are. Shaking out his hand and checking over the fresh cuts, he makes some sort of hissing sound at Billy before returning to me.

Theyreallydon’t like each other, which is shocking because Billy is such a sweet little guy.

Instead of offering me a hand, Mason moves behind me and lifts me up by slipping his hands under my arms. With the added weight on my feet, my leg buckles slightly and I ease the ache away.

“What’s wrong with your leg?” His concern is evident as he watches me massage my palm into my muscle.

Grunting, I test my balance, then once I know I’m good, I move a few steps away. “It’s not my leg. It’s my hip. Just growing pains.”

I can tell he wants to ask more, but accepting my answer, he offers his hand, which I don’t take, then leads us outside to Austin.

As soon as the beautiful boy comes into view, I pick up my pace and hurry to him. “Austin!” I call out, laughing when jerks his head up after hearing my voice, then spins around to find my location.

The moment he sees me, he excitedly bounds over. I can’t wait to touch him, so I slip through the small fencing and run athim. Inches from touching his nose, Mason’s arms wrap around me and suddenly I’m face to face with his broad back.

“What are you doing?” I breathe out, shocked by our new position.

“You need to calm down, buddy.” Mason is murmuring to his horse, who’s shifting side to side anxiously in an attempt to get to me.

Pushing pathetically against his side, I grunt. “Just let me around. He’ll calm as soon as I can pet him.”

“He needs tocalm the fuck down,” Mason tosses over his shoulder, holding his arms out. With a glare, they face off until Austin actually snorts and stands still, his tail twitching side to side wildly. “Now you can go to him.”

Taking a step to the side, I round Mason’s planted feet and rest my hands on Austin’s nose and neck, stroking his fur.

He leans his head heavily against my shoulder in an attempt to get closer and I laugh, tears filling my eyes once again. “I’ve missed you,” I whisper, pressing kisses to his cheek.

Dropping his head down, he nuzzles my stomach, which honestly feels incredibly odd. My eyes widen when he sniffs, but Mason is quick to push him away, putting his body between us once again.

With a growl, he orders, “Stay away from there, buddy. You’ll hurt her.”

I roll my eyes, then look around the small field, spying the toy I brought him on one of the first days I was here. Picking it up, I bring it back and Austin yanks his head away from Mason to grab the rope from my hand, then prances away, already spinning it in wide circles.

“He loves that fuckin’ thing.”

Nodding in agreement, I smile as we watch him dance and play around for a bit. Eventually, I laugh when Austinaccidentally throws it over the fence, and he looks so forlornly at it now that it’s out of reach.

“I’ve really fuckin’ missed you,” Mason murmurs softly. Turning to him, I notice he’s only looking at me and nothing else, pain etched in his features.

My laugh dies down and I drop my eyes. “I should probably get back to the house. Thank you for letting me see them today.”