More Than Lies (More Than #1)(117)

He looks just as exhausted as I feel, but that’s his problem. If he wants to sleep, he has a bed in the house just like I do. I probably need a shower, but there is no way I can stand long enough to take one. I’ll do good getting up the stairs to my bed.

“Tara, please let me—”

“Stop. I got it, Shawn.” I walk past him, but I hear the dramatic sound of him blowing air out of his mouth in frustration.

We both walk inside; I kick off the flip-flops I took from Pam and Bill’s last night and leave them on the floor. The house is quiet, but then it’s still really early in the morning. Before I make it to the steps in front of me, I look into the living room and see bodies on the couch, so I detour and head that way.

Matt is asleep in the recliner with a blanket over him. Mason and Samantha are wrapped up in one another on the couch. If I wasn’t so exhausted, I’d raise an eyebrow at this. I suspected they were doing the nasty, but cuddling I would not have figured.

“Taralynn.” My eyes slide back toward Matt. He throws the blanket off, jumps out of the chair, and within seconds is crushing me to this chest. “Fucking hell. I’ve called your phone all night. Shit.”

“Matt.”

“Oh, my God. You’re here. You’re actually here.” I look over to see Samantha unwrapping herself from Mason. My eyes move past her eyes to his. I see relief right before he stands and pulls me away from Matt.

He hugs me for at least a minute without speaking. I can feel his heart beating rapidly inside his chest, but eventually it slows to normal, and he pulls back from me. Cupping my face, he says, “Do you have any idea how good is it to see this beautiful face?” Mason pulls my forehead to his lips where he places a long soft kiss on me.

He steps away looking at me, then his facial expression changes seconds before his right fist connects with Shawn’s jaw. No one, not even Shawn saw it coming. He goes down, hard to the ground, but lands on his butt and has to throw his hand out to catch himself from bashing his head into the floor.

They look at each other. We all look at each other for a moment.

Shawn’s eyes flare right before he jumps to his feet. I slip between them, placing my palms on the center of their chests.

I look at Shawn first.

“Don’t.”

Then I rotate my head to the other side to look at Mason.

“Feel better?”

“No. He deserves worse.” Mason’s eyes are locked with Shawn’s, only Mason looks like he wants to murder his best friend. Given what I told him and my friends last night at the club, I have no idea what they know or don’t know. I get the feeling they still think Shawn cheated on me like I told them.

“Chill for a minute, Mase. Everyone just freakin’ chill out.” I drop my arms but continue standing between them. “I’ve had a long night, and frankly I’m not up for recounting what happened or what lies were spewed out of people’s mouths.” I train my eyes on Shawn. “I’m going to get in bed now. I’ll leave you to fill them in on the truth, okay?” He nods. “Without anyone else getting hit.”

He huffs, but again nods his head.

Beast is lying on the end of the couch. I step backward and go around Mason to grab the overly large cat. He’s fluffy and warm. I need fluffy and warm. With him in my hands, I head up to my bedroom.

When I’m behind closed doors, I dump the cat on my bed and then sit my purse on my dresser. That’s when I take in the wreckage from last night. This wasn’t a good idea. Retrieving my cell phone, I scoop the cat back up and leave the mess behind.

No way can I sleep in that room with shit, and glass, and everything looking as though my things threw up.

I walk into Shawn’s room. Why couldn’t he destroy his stuff?

No, his things are neat and clean, all because I cleaned his room yesterday morning.

I set Beast down on his bed then sit down on the mattress. With my cell phone in my hand, I turn it back on. Once the screen loads, tons of dings and chimes sing out telling me I have text messages and voice messages. I ignore them and locate Jared’s number. He doesn’t answer when I call. I’m not sure if that’s because he doesn’t want to speak to me or because he can’t.

Next, I call Cole. I need to know Jared is okay.

He answers on the third ring.

“Speak to me. I need to hear your voice.”

“Hey.” Beast crawls onto my lap so I start to stroke his soft fur.

“I need more than a hey, doll. Shit, I thought you were . . .”

“Apparently, you and everyone else.”

“Yeah, because I told them it was you. I feel like shit for that.”

“It’s okay. I know you wouldn’t have done it if you didn’t believe it, Cole. Don’t beat yourself up over it.” I can hear it in his voice. He’s torn up over it. “How’s Jared?”

“Alive.” He pauses for a moment. “He’s still unconscious, but that’s because the doctors are keeping him that way until they finish running tests.”

“Do you know when that will be?” I want to see for myself that he’s okay.

“No. I’m here now, but when I find out I’ll let you know.” The sound of a door closing causes me to look up to see Shawn standing in his bedroom.

“Okay. I have to go. Talk to you soon.”