Fallen Crest University (Fallen Crest High #5)(72)

He looked away, and again, my whole body almost fell from the chair. It was as if he had pinned me in place, but now I was free from the hold.

My hands curled in on themselves, and I couldn’t stop my fingers from trembling. I tucked them between my legs and took a breath. I needed to gain control of myself again.

In that moment, I realized that he always had that effect on me. The ice façade I reined over myself would be plucked away whenever his attention was on me. He’d reach over and take it away, like I was a baby with candy.

“Does my mom know you don’t like her?” It was a weird question, but I wanted to know how he thought. I wanted to understand him.

He grinned at me. The power of that look with his piercing eyes, perfect teeth, and square jaw had me pinned against my chair again. I couldn’t breathe for a moment.

Mason could always see inside of me. Of course, he had known. Of course, he’d had a plan.

I closed my eyes. “What do you know?”

“I didn’t hire someone to spy on you. It was for security measures, but he came to me before break and gave me those.”

He opened the envelope and began lying out the photographs. It was what I’d thought. The first one was Summer and I going into her father’s house. The next was of Sebastian arriving. I was leaving the house in the third. My face was pale. Tears were streaming down my cheeks. I touched them now. I hadn’t realized I was crying. Summer ran after me. The two of us were talking in the next few.

We walked back to the house where Garrett and Sebastian were waiting for us. Both of them were sitting down, their elbows resting on their knees. They’d stood as we approached. All four of us stood in a group, but that’d been when I was saying good-bye. I had Garrett drive me back to the dorm, and even after I’d decided to use Summer to get close to her brother, I had my phone out. I was about to call Mason and Logan to help me move out of the room. I sat in Garrett’s car for thirty minutes, trying to decide.

I said to Mason, “He went to school with Summer’s parents. There’s a professor here they know, too.”

“The one who asked to see you after class?”

I nodded. It stung to tell him everything I kept secret, but it was freeing. The more I told him, the faster it came out. I was rushing at the end, barely able to get a breath. I felt bad. I didn’t know what else to do. I wanted to protect him—at any cost. Summer could be trusted. Summer loathed her brother.

“There’s more.”

Mason was unreadable, which was never good. But he was waiting.

“Sharon’s pregnant.”

“Garrett’s wife?”

I nodded. “I’m going to be a big sister, Mason.” I grabbed his hand. “I’m going to have a little sister.”

He was quiet. No congratulations came. No, I’m happy for you, or, That’ll be great. He was just silent, watching me. My eyes fell back to the envelope, and one more picture was in there.

I kept one item to myself.

He took it out and laid it before me. I sucked in my breath. My chest was tight. It wanted to implode in me, but there it was—the one picture I knew Mason would be livid about. It’d been taken through my window from outside. Sebastian was inside my room, standing next to my desk, and I was coming into the room. The door looked closed behind me, even though it hadn’t been. I put a shoe there, but the picture hadn’t caught that.

I couldn’t talk.

My throat was burning.

“Did he touch you?”

My head whipped up. I was horrified. “No!” Did he think that? “No. God, no, Mason. He was there, but I think he wanted to intimidate me. That was it. All he said was that he wasn’t the bad guy.” I told him the rest, “Summer tried to get the locks changed that day. He had a key. When she came back that night, I told her about it, and she looked like she wanted to cry. I think him showing up was more about scaring her than me. He said to tell her that she should’ve used someone new, that she wasn’t the only one with connections at the school. I assumed the whole thing was about changing the locks.”

“She went against him?”

“Yeah.” I frowned.

He was still so cold. There was no heat in his tone. He didn’t touch me, to reassure or comfort me. He was like a stranger.

An ice-cold shiver wound down my spine.

This was the dangerous and calculating Mason everyone was scared to go against. I was with him in the room. For once, I wasn’t protected by him. I knew Mason loved me. I knew he wouldn’t do anything to harm me, but I felt what others felt. It was within his ability to destroy them.

My pulse was pounding. I could barely hear over it. And Mason was still withdrawn from me, lost in his thoughts now.

I murmured, “You protect me.” My voice was a hoarse whisper. “I wanted to protect you back.”

He shoved back his chair.

He was leaving. I already felt the sting of his absence.

“Mason, please.”

He stuffed his textbook, his notebook, his pen into his bag. His laptop was last, and he paused, holding it, as we heard laughter coming from the bookshelves. Logan and Summer were coming back. The door was made of glass, so I turned, keeping my head hidden so that they couldn’t see signs of my distress.

Mason was still guarded. “I don’t want a word of this to Logan.”