Page 14 of Run for Us (Masked Men #6)

Chapter Fourteen

Kinsley

Two weeks have passed since I left Bluebell Bay.

I don’t know why I thought I could leave my life in Sterling Crest behind.

While I should have been upset it was Shore, Rip, and Kasen behind the masks, if I’m being truthful with myself, I had an inkling it was them all along and I didn’t care.

The feeling of being free was like a drug, the same way it was when I was eighteen, but I should have known better. Look what happened the first time.

The morning of the Fourth of July, before I went out for the day, I called my mom and told her I was moving. How I had signed and paid for a lease for six months, so she could let me work remotely or I would quit.

The conversation didn’t go well. She reminded me of what happened to Teddy and told me bad things happen when I try to leave.

Beth called me that night, and I found out Shore had a concussion, bruised ribs, and a fractured wrist. She tried to tell me it wasn’t my fault, but I know it was.

Once again, I had run from the life I was born into, and someone was injured.

Shore would be out of work, and for what?

For me to get my rocks off. I needed to face facts—this is my life and where I belong.

While I would forever have the memories of Bluebell Bay, my mom was right.

I’m an adult, and I can’t run from that reality.

Caden opens my office door and strolls in without knocking, walking over and perching himself on the corner of my desk. He is my mother’s latest suitor for me: extremely good-looking, with an ex-husband arrogance. He exudes an ‘I’m doing you a favor since you’re past your prime’ vibe.

“Why are you drawing a crab with knives as claws?”

I snort and look down at my sketch pad. Is it weird that I actually miss them?

I liked my morning walks down to the food truck, where Shore would make me coffee.

Rip would sit beside me and say nothing, and Kasen would stop past for his breakfast burrito that Shore made off menu, just for him.

I miss the small town and how easy it was to fit in.

“Do you not like it?” I ask, and he laughs.

“It’s childish, and you’re thirty. Maybe you should stick to doing your work.”

I grind my teeth. What does he know anyway?

It’s almost time to leave for the day, so it’s obvious why Caden is here. My mom will force him to take me to dinner, and he will do it to stay in her good books—maybe hoping at the very least he will get an easy fuck.

“Are you ready to go?” Caden asks, and I nod. I may as well get this over with.

I rip the picture from the sketchbook and tuck it in my bag to add to the collection of drawings I have sketched since I left Bluebell. My work phone rings, and I pick it up, knowing it’s probably my mom—she never uses my personal number.

“Miss Ellsworth, there are some young men in the foyer claiming they know you and are refusing to leave. Did you want me to call security and have them removed?”

My heart gives a resounding thump in my chest, then speeds up.

“No, Robert, it’s fine. I will come down.”

There is no way it’s them—it couldn’t be. I emailed Kasen today, telling him that Beth is sending Tyde over to pack my things and that he’ll take them to the cottage until I can organize a mover to bring everything back. I left that night with only the rental car.

Standing from my chair, I don’t even bother addressing Caden. I grab my bag and walk straight past him to the lift, and we both step inside. For once, he keeps his smug mouth closed.

When we reach the ground floor and the doors slide open, I see them first. I smile.

Shore is wearing a shirt that has a tuxedo print on it, with board shorts and flip-flops.

Rip is in his usual black ripped jeans and a black shirt that clings to him like a second skin, and Kasen is in slacks with a business shirt rolled up to his elbows.

They all turn and look at me. Shore holds up a painting, and I know which one it is. It’s the lighthouse I painted for them. I hadn’t yet given it to them; I was waiting to offer it as a housewarming gift.

“You know those degenerates?” Caden says loud enough that they can hear as we cross the foyer from the elevator.

I pause and turn to face Caden. “I think you should go. This was never going to work between us. You just want my family name, and I know you’re fucking Cindy on the third floor.”

Caden scoffs. “You’re too old for me anyway.”

I laugh. “You’re older than me. Just go before you make a fool of yourself.”

Caden shrugs and looks over at the guys with disgust.

“It’s okay, Robert,” I tell the concierge. “These guys are no threat. They’re my friends.”

“Friends,” Rip scoffs. “Friends don’t leave.”

Shore elbows him in the ribs. “What he means to say is we understand why you left, but you still owe us a date.”

I smile at him.

“We are so sorry for hiding behind the masks.”

They think that’s why I left. “That’s not why I left, Kasen. Why don’t we go upstairs and talk?”

“Nope. No can do,” Shore says. “I put nice clothes on for this date. You can talk later. First, we plan to woo you.”

“Woo me, huh?”

Shore nods. “Yup. We have it all planned out.”

“Okay, let’s go on this date,” I relent, and Shore whoops and almost drops the painting. “How did you get that?”

“Tyde,” Kasen says. “He went to pack up your things and brought this back to the house. Then he told us we were all idiots for not at least taking you on a date and begging for your forgiveness. Mrs. Easton also told us she has been calling you every other day.”

I laugh. She has been checking in regularly. At first I thought it was weird because I never gave her my number, but then I remembered she did Kasen’s books and would have my number from my inquiry form.

“Yeah, she does,” I say as we leave the building.

When we step outside, Kasen’s car is parked right out the front. “I wanted a horse-drawn carriage, but apparently the city is too busy,” Shore says. “I don’t see the appeal. Give me the ocean any day.”

Kasen opens the passenger-side door for me, and I get in, while Shore and Rip get into the back. Rip has been awfully quiet, but I don’t want to force him to talk to me if he doesn’t feel comfortable.

Kasen pulls out into the busy city traffic, and I feel my phone buzzing in my handbag. I slip it out and see for the first time in forever my mom is calling me. I send her to voicemail.

We drive to the outskirts of the city until Kasen pulls into the parking lot for a small brick building. We exit the car, and Shore links his arm with mine as we follow Kasen, with Rip trailing behind us.

“Where are we going?” I ask, because this looks like the perfect location to murder someone and leave their body to rot.

“All in good time,” Shore says.

Kasen unlocks the door and leads us into the darkened room. Turning on the flashlight on his phone, he leads us up a set of stairs. When we reach the top, there is a door. He pushes on it and holds it open.

My mouth falls open when I see they have set up a rooftop picnic overlooking the entire city. There are fairy lights strung up around old wooden beams that once might have been a shelter, but it no longer has a ceiling.

“This is beautiful.”

Shore leads me to the picnic blanket, and we sit, with Kasen and Rip joining us. Kasen opens the basket and pulls out a bottle of wine, sandwiches, fresh fruit, meats, and cheeses. There is also a Tupperware container that looks to have some kind of pasta salad in it.

“I owe you all an explanation. I freaked out and left, and I know I should have let you explain and not let you think it was because you were the masked men. Honestly, I was a little relieved it was you.”

Kasen hands me a plastic glass full of wine.

I take a big sip and a deep breath. “When I was eighteen, I was in love with my boyfriend Teddy. We decided to run away to college, away from this life. We had it all planned. The day we left, he was driving, and I was singing. I remember he looked over at me and smiled, then he drove through a red light. We hit a small truck, and he seemed fine, but when we got to the hospital, he didn’t make it. ”

Rip’s reaction surprises me. He wraps an arm around me and pulls me into his side, placing a gentle kiss on the top of my head. “You know it wasn’t your fault, right?”

I shrug. “If I wasn’t trying to run from my life, it would never have happened. Just like Shore wouldn’t have been hurt if I wasn’t in Bluebell.”

“Kinsley, no. Please don’t say that. I would have jumped down those stairs willingly just to have met you.

I get hurt all the time. Last year I broke my nose when I crashed my Jet Ski into the dock.

And I once chopped the tip of my thumb off because I told Rip I could cut a cucumber with my eyes closed.

I also broke my collarbone by jumping from my dad’s boat to my brother’s.

I do stupid things all the time and get hurt.

That night was not your fault. I overreacted seeing that death creature. ”

“So you don’t blame me?”

“Of course we don’t. We blame Shore,” Kasen says, and I feel Rip’s chuckle vibrate in his chest.

“We want you to come back,” Shore says. “You belong in Bluebell. My mom misses you, and even Tyde is on my ass about running you off.”

I smile, but sigh. “It’s not that easy.”

“Why?” he presses. “You have a rental you have paid for, and I know Mom has been dropping hints about your paintings and selling them. It’s your life, Kinsley. You should live your dreams and not let anyone stop you. Plus, living close to us is a bonus.”

“Stop laying it on so thick,” Kasen says with a laugh. “I agree with him, though. Do whatever you want. But whether you stay or come back, you are stuck with us now.”

“We don’t let our friends run away, Kinsley,” Rip whispers in my ear. “You need to love yourself first.”

My heart thunders wildly in my chest. Rip is right—I need to love myself first, or even learn to put myself first. I have spent the last twelve years prioritizing everyone else’s needs before my own, so much so that I lost myself.