Page 16 of Sugar and Spice (Glitter and Sparkle #3)

“I should kiss Mason…for prosperity? Do you mean posterity?”

Grinning like a pixie, she does a bobblehead nod. “Absolutely.”

“Riley, that doesn’t even make sense.”

She’s about to answer when a quiet knock sounds at the door. Her face goes pale, and she leans in. “Is that him?”

It’s late, after eleven. I don’t know who else would come knocking. “It might be.”

Her hands fly to her hair, which she yanked up in a messy ponytail over an hour ago. “I look awful.”

“You look fine.” I shoot her a look as I scoot off the bed. “If it is him, please act like a normal human being.”

“As opposed to what?” she demands.

“Your regular self.”

I look out the peephole, not sure who to expect. I can’t imagine it’s Brandon. He left for the hotel right after he brought Sadie back.

Sure enough, Mason stands on the other side, his eyes fixed down the hall.

Quickly, I open the door and usher him inside. “What are you doing here? You’re going to get us in trouble.”

He relaxes as soon as the door is shut behind us and flashes me his signature grin. “It’s half the fun, right?”

Is it?

Mason’s eyes drift to the bed, and he goes still. “Hey, Harper. You have a stowaway.” He stops and narrows his eyes at Riley and then at me. “One who looks a lot like you.”

Riley blinks, struck mute—probably for the first time in her life.

“Mason, this is my sister. Riley, this is Mason.” I widen my eyes as I look at her, reminding her to keep her cool.

She opens her mouth only to close it again.

“Hey, Riley,” Mason says, stepping over to the bed and extending his hand. “Nice to meet you.”

Her gaze moves from his face to his hand.

Visibly shaking herself out of her stupor, she presses her palm to his.

“Me too. I mean you.” The color that was just coming back to her cheeks drains away.

“I mean, I am so happy to meet you. Of course, I kind of know you. But you don’t know me.

Is that weird? That people feel like they know you, but you don’t know them at all?

Did you know your eyes are actually gray?

To be honest, I thought that was tweaked in your photos.

I mean—gray eyes? Who has those. Except you, of course. Because yours are?—”

“Riley,” I hiss under my breath.

She looks at me, grateful I cut her off.

Mason raises an eyebrow. “I’m going to go out on a limb and say you’re the sister with my posters in her room.”

“Posters. Yes. I had posters.” Riley flushes. “And I have a boyfriend, whom I am going to call. Right now.”

Without another word, she nods to Mason, then me, and hurries into the hall, letting the heavy door slowly swing shut behind her.

Mason doesn’t say a word until the automatic lock clicks in place, but when he turns to me, he wears a rotten grin. “She’s the reason you don’t want to like me.”

I shake my head, trying and failing to hide a smile. “I like you.”

His lips twitch, and he takes a purposeful step closer. “Do you now?”

Holding out my hand, I stop his advance. “Not that much.”

“Because of Brandon?”

Just the words make me feel ill.

Mason nods, looking resigned. “Because of Brandon.”

This time, it’s not a question.

“He’s not dating Sadie,” I blurt out.

Making himself at home, Mason sits on the edge of the bed. “They broke up?”

I shake my head. “Apparently they weren’t ever dating. He brought her to Thanksgiving because he said he couldn’t face me anymore. And they’re friends, so she came to spend time with him.”

“Face you?” Mason scowls.

“He thought I didn’t like him, but I never admitted how I felt because I didn’t know how he felt. And now we can’t be together because Sadie cares for him. And she still doesn’t know that I know that they were never together.”

“I feel like we’ve just gone back to middle school.” Mason grins to soften the words.

I toss my hands in the air, frustrated. “Believe me, I know.”

He frowns, probably trying to wrap his head around all that. “Are you secretly together now?”

“I won’t do that to Sadie—not behind her back like that.”

“So, you’re not together.” He slowly stands.

“Well…no, but…” I’m not sure how I planned to finish that sentence.

Smiling, he stalks toward me. “That’s all you had to say.”

I eye him nervously, not entirely sure I like his predatory smirk. I stop him from getting any closer by placing a hand on his arm. “Mason…”

“It’s okay.” He stays put, doesn’t even attempt to move in. “I know what you’re going to say.”

“You do?” Skeptical, I raise an eyebrow.

“You’re going to tell me that your life is complicated right now—that you don’t want to muddy it up more than it already is. You like me a lot, and because you value our growing friendship, you don’t want to do anything to put it in jeopardy.”

I press my lips together, trying not to smile. “And how would you respond?”

His hand drifts to a strand of hair by my face, and he gently runs his fingers down it. The gentle tug sends shivers up my back. “I’d say that you’re easy to talk to. That I like it when you accidentally drop the controlled mask you wear and reveal the bright, beautiful, free girl underneath.”

Somehow, he’s closer, and I’m not sure when that happened.

“I’d tell you that seeing you makes me wonder what would have happened if I hadn’t been discovered at fourteen—if I had stayed in Montana, met you at a football game, kissed you for the first time in front of a bonfire.

Maybe I would have taken you to prom, posed with you as your parents took our pictures at your graduation, gone away to college with you. ”

I’m fully in his spell, lost in his gray gaze.

“That’s what I would tell you,” he says, his breath on my lips.

“I kissed Brandon on Tuesday,” I admit, desperately wanting him to move away before I do something stupid.

“I don’t care.”

Unable to stop myself, I let out a breathy laugh. “Riley says if I kiss both of you in the same week, I’m a trollop.”

He backs up just enough to meet my eyes. His eyebrow quirks in the most playful way. “You were talking about kissing me?”

“Mason…”

“I like you, Harper.” His lips tease against mine, and I close my eyes, feeling horribly guilty. “A lot.”

“I’m not strong enough to say no, so please…don’t do this,” I murmur.

Immediately, Mason backs up with a sigh, giving me room to breathe.

I wrap my arms around myself. I feel a thousand different things all at once, and it’s exhausting.

I almost kissed Mason.

Why did I stop him?

How could I do that to Brandon?

I can’t believe I care.

“Friends, huh?” Mason says, smiling through his disappointment.

Not trusting myself to speak, I nod.

“All right,” he finally agrees as he heads to the door to let himself out. Before he steps into the hall, he looks back. “For now.”