“I’m sick of watching him play cute and cuddly with you,” Mason said as I approached him on the patio.

“Me too,” I said in agreement. “That’s not what I came out here to talk to you about though. Mason, I don’t know how to even begin to say this to you.” I took a deep breath.

Mason gave me a confused look. He raised an eyebrow.

“They caught Wanda and Payton,” I said finally. I immediately grabbed him by the arm, waiting for some kind of reaction. “Mason are you okay?”

“What makes you think that I wouldn’t know this by now?” He raked a hand through his hair and shook his head. “I don’t even need to surf the internet to figure that one out.”

“So what do we do now?” I asked.

“Jay said he wanted you to stay here. He can help you. That’s a pretty sweet deal, Kendall,” Mason told me, avoiding my glare.

“No!” I burst into tears at the thought of letting Mason fend for himself.

Mason grabbed my shoulders and stared me down. “What the hell do you mean no?” He seemed angry with me for not wanting to accept Jay’s offer.

“I am not leaving you to figure this out on your own. What are you going to do?” I sobbed harder, sick to my stomach at the thought of Mason being alone.

“Kendall, I care about you. Please stop crying.” He wiped the tears from my face. “I’m an asshole most days, but I want you to get out of this mess. I want you to be happy.” He lifted my chin, forcing me to look at him.

“I care about you more than anything. And there’s nothing I wouldn’t do if it meant you didn’t have to go through this hell anymore. And we both know that’s how it’d be,” he said, kissing me on the cheek.

“I don’t want to lose you. You’re the only person I trust. And you’ve always been there for me,” I sobbed, hardly able to catch a breath as I begged him to not leave me.

“I want you to stay here with Jay. What’s not to like about him?” he asked, trying to be funny. I shook my head refusing to entertain his stupid idea. “Kendall, you like him. It’s obvious.”

“I don’t care.” I pushed Mason away from me. “I like a lot of things. We’ve went through so much together. And I will not let you go down alone.”

“Then you’re more stupid than I thought,” he said. Mason crossed his arms, agitated.

Jay stepped out the kitchen door. He looked at Mason, waiting for him to speak. I looked between the two of them, confused.

“She’s not going to do it,” Mason said finally.

Jay hurried toward me, but I quickly moved away. The realization hit me then—the two of them were in cahoots, trying to force my hand and manipulate me.

“Was this all one big conspiracy?” I looked at Jay. “You were sweeping me off my feet to help Mason with his problem?”

Jay opened his mouth to speak, but I interrupted him. It all made perfect sense now.

“Did you think I was that stupid?”

Jay shook his head. “I really like you, Kendall. This favor was just an added bonus.”

“I don’t like you and I don’t care if I ever see you again. You can take all your money and your help and shove it up your ass,” I said full of venom.

Mason groaned.

“I guess I’m all out of options. I wish you both the best,” Jay said, obviously hurt. “Anything I can help you with that’s on the up and up, let me know.”

He went inside, letting the door slam behind him.

I looked at Mason. He looked away.

I wished he understood that I didn’t want to leave him—he was all I knew.

I sat down on the steps next to Mason. His body was tense. He had his head down and he was twisting his hands in angst.

I bit my tongue, holding off on saying anything until I found the right words.

Mason looked over at me.

“Mason, I love you,” I blurted out. I brought my hands to my mouth, shocked at my own words.

“I love you too, Kendall.”

If you listened closely you could hear the ocean from the patio.

I took Mason’s hand in mine, our fingers interlocking.

“I love you,” I whispered, resting my head on his shoulder.

He let out a soft breath, pulling me close and kissing me on the cheek.

I think I made him feel better, if only for that moment.

JULY 21

ST

I COULD NAME about fifty horrible moments in my life. The time when we were held at gunpoint at a truck stop and Aunt Wanda drove away without me. I was only thirteen.

The level of fear that coursed through me as I stood there helpless against two men was terrifying. That was the first time I’d had to fight for my life, and I mean literally fight.

Those men were sorry they ever messed with me after I got done with them. I kicked one so hard in the nuts I was sure he never had kids after meeting cute little Kendall at that truck stop.

Aunt Wanda eventually circled back around. She smelled of booze and the car let out a cloud of cigarette smoke as she flung the passenger door open to let me back in.

“How long would you say it’s been since you were home?” Mason asked as we packed our things. We were getting ready to leave Jay’s and head back to our little hometown of Gusby, South Carolina.

“I don’t even know—I can’t really remember. Maybe ten years,” I said. I hated talking about it.

Mason zipped up the backpack and sat down on the bed. “The last time I saw you on those busted porch steps was when you were seven and I was nine,” he said. He looked at me to confirm, but there was nothing to confirm. I didn’t remember.

I hurried over to my backpack and started unpacking and refolding the shirts. My nerves were getting the best of me and I needed to keep busy before I lost it.

“That’s a long time,” I said, looking away.

“A really long time,” Mason agreed.

Nobody would have ever guessed Mason was a guy that came from South Carolina. He no longer had the traits of a stereotypical southerner. He’d grown out of it after so many years away.

He’d learned to be fast. He’d learned how to think on his feet to get himself out of any situation. He adjusted to every place he called home, no matter how brief.

I thought back when Mason was eighteen. Payton got involved with a pimp in New Mexico. Mason despised his mother so much at the time, but he wouldn’t leave. Instead, he did everything he could do to annoy this man until he beat Mason senseless. I had never seen someone so bruised, but he smiled all the way to the hospital. Mason knew as long as he hadn’t died his mother would get rid of her man after what he’d done to her son. And he was right—the pimp had left before the cops showed up after the neighbors called them.

We’d been through a lot of crap, plain and simple. We had stories that people would never believe. We lived through things most people only ever saw in the movies.

And in the end, we were going back to where we’d come from. It was the place where we’d first laid eyes on each other. I remembered it like it was yesterday. We had formed a bond from the beginning. I knew Mason would always be my protector. He would always be the guy that I could count on.

“Well, at least we get to fly out of here in a private jet,” Mason said, taking my backpack from me.

Jay was letting us use the family jet to get back home.

We were thrilled because the last thing we wanted was another road trip.

I wasn’t sure what to expect. It was the last place I ever expected to be going to. But now that so much had changed, it seemed like the right choice.

I took one final look in the mirror. My eyes stared back at me as if pleading for a way out. I tried on a smile to mask the fear, but it looked nothing but fake.