When Its Least Expected (39 page)

“Yes, I’m more than sure,” she released her answer, her hands brushing slow circles

along his backside. He’d been waiting for that moment when she accepted him – heart,
body

soul. “Let’s make each other forget, Mason. I need it, and I know you do too. Please
…” Her eyes were magnetic, and they pulled him in, nothing but the truth was there.
It was frightening and purely perfect at the same time.

Soon, they were nothing but skin on skin, lips on lips, body on body. Mason prepared
to

fulfill his every desire with this beautiful girl, and although he had no idea of
what the next days or even hours held, it didn’t matter. He’d take what he could get
… and nothing else would

matter more.

* * *

fallen asleep, but the occasional movement of her hands against his bare stomach proved
that she was definitely still awake and aware. Unfortunately the perfect moment ended,
replaced by a sense of utter dread building in his stomach. He gripped her as tight
as he could, tucking her head just under his chin. She threw her sexy, bare leg over
his, and he had to swallow down his need to take more of her. Shit, what the hell
was he going to do? He had to go back to Santa Cruz tomorrow. He had to leave her
again. Hell to the freaking no. He couldn’t lose her.

“Harley?” his voice cracked before his emotions took control.

“Hmm…?” she answered, her voice sounded sleepy, and he smiled through his fear at
her

contentedness. At least he knew she wasn’t planning on escaping any time soon.

“I have to go back home tomorrow.” Now that got a rise out of her, and immediately
she

stiffened. Obviously she’d forgotten just like he had. “But I want you to come with
me, Har. To California … after graduation.” Now where in the holy hell had that brilliant
idea come from?

He didn’t care. It was exactly what had to happen. There was no other way to make
this work.

“Live with me. Be with me, please. I have a big tournament coming up, and I want you
to

be there with me for that too. I’m talking the permanent move, Har. We can fly Abigail
and my sister out, maybe your brother to visit. They can all come whenever they want,
and I think my mom might even come to one of my tournaments this year!”

She scooted backwards and leaned up on one of her elbow to stare down at him. No,
she

was too far away. He gripped her hip and pulled her back. She shook her head and grinned
at him. He loved that teasing smile. He’d
die
for it.

“I–I don’t know what to say, Mase. I mean …” Her smile fell as she brushed her fingers

over his arm. “I don’t think I can.”

“What do you mean? Of course you can!”

She shook her head, her curls going mad crazy around her face. “What is it, Har?”
Then

there were tears. Her lips puckered as she floated down from her obvious high. His
heart broke at the sight. “Please don’t cry, baby. I don’t want to leave you, but
I have to go. I have obligations that I’m entitled to see through, but you could just
–“

She shook her head in response, “Mason, I can’t just leave either. I’ve got my family
and

Abigail here. Hillsdale is my home.”

“Santa Cruz could be too! You just need to give it a try. They have awesome colleges

nearby, and you’ll love living so close to the beach. I could teach you to surf, and
we could have one or two midnight rendezvous’ on the sand.” He pulled her closer,
kissing her bare shoulder.

She shivered under his lips.

This all made perfect sense to him. Why wasn’t she getting it?

She smiled through her tears when he looked back at her, but the quick jerk of her
head

ruined the moment. Mason’s shoulders drooped in defeat, his heart lulling to a heartbroken

speed. Just the thought of leaving her behind again was impossible. How would he survive?
But apparently it was time for him to face the facts. It was obvious she didn’t want
him anymore. The thought pissed him off and killed him at the same time. He had to
get away. He couldn’t lie there and play this game anymore. It was all or nothing.
It was obvious her choice had already been made.

He stood, throwing his clothes on out of haste. His hands shook as he slipped on his
shirt.

He glanced back over towards her frame. She was doing the same, but her hands weren’t

shaking. Her face was void of emotion as she stared down at her clothing. His insecurities
pulled at his stomach and his heart. Dammit, this wasn’t supposed to be happening.
They’d just shared the best moment of his life together. How could she walk away again?
He wanted nothing more than to throw her back down on that bed and hold her as his
hostage until she agreed to go with him, but it wouldn’t work. Nothing would work.
Harley was her own person. She couldn’t be

coerced or even held against her will.

Her decisions were her own. He loved her enough to accept that.

They walked silently side by side to the car, and neither one of them bothered to
make a

sound. Neither of them bothered to touch. It was definitely not something he’d expected
to

happen after taking her virginity away.

He parked the car into her driveway. His hands gripped the wheel hard just as she

reached out to grab his leg. She pulled her body into his side, and as he glanced
down, he noticed the wetness in her eye again. Not a single sound left her lips. God,
he’d been a dick yet again!

“Mase, I –”

“No, stop, Harley. I’m so sorry. That was selfish of me to expect you to just drop

everything and come home with me. I just don’t think I can live without you anymore.”

“You are asking me to give up a lot for you, Mason, and it took me by surprise. I’m
not

mad at you, just … confused. I just had the greatest afternoon of my life, yet it’s
as if I’m completely lost again. Do you know what I mean?”

“More then you’ll ever know.” He reached down and connected their hands. He used his

other to tuck a stray curl behind her ears. “Where do we go from here, Har?” Sure,
he sounded needy, desperate even, but he didn’t know what else to do. He was lost
just like she was.

She averted her eyes to stare at the front door. He sure as hell hoped she wasn’t
shutting

down, readying herself to walk away completely. “I don’t know, Mason.”

He swallowed a deep lungful of air. “I need time to think, okay?” He nodded, but all
he

wanted to do was fall to her feet and beg her not to end what they had just gotten
back.

Instead, he leaned over joining their lips into one final slow dance of their mouths,
one

that would more than likely tear out any remaining pieces of his already shattered
heart. She answered back with a gentle tenderness. Her lips equaled in intensity before
she pulled away seconds too soon.

“I’ve gotta go. I’ll talk to you soon,” her voice cracked.

No. She couldn’t do this. She had to stay. She couldn’t leave him.

“Okay.” God, why was he thinking responding like that? He needed to beg, plead. She

was killing him! God dammit, this wasn’t happening! Just like that she unbuckled her
belt and was out of her seat and the car without once glancing back.

He held his shaking hand over his squeezing, pulsating heart, and he let out a gut

wrenching sob as she made her way inside her door. She’d done it. She’d broken him
even more than he had been before.

“Are you ready for this, you two?” Harley’s mom questioned as they pulled into the

parking lot of Hillsdale High. “I know I’m not. My babies are graduating high school.
Oh gosh, I can’t even believe this.” The water works had started. Man, how would she
make it through the day with her blubbering mother always underfoot?

Harley and David shared a glance. David rolled his eyes, and Harley circled her fingers

around her ears, mouthing the word ‘coo-coo’. They were a mess of laughter by the
time they made it out of the car.

“Harley Ann, you will not laugh at me. I gave birth to you, so if I wanna cry at your

graduation, then I sure as shit will.” Harley blinked, bending over at her waist,
her gut clenching tightly with laughter. Her cuss free mother had just broken her
own cardinal rule. This was turning out to be one hell of a good day.

Harley smiled back at her dad as she pulled out David’s wheel chair. He was fighting
a

grin himself. Her family was all sorts of awesome-sauce.

“Sorry, Mom,” Harley finally sighed when her laughter was mildly under control.

Stepping out into the spring evening air, Harley pulled her hideous orange graduation

robe closer to her body. She offered to push David towards their seats, but he waved
her off, proclaiming that he’d get there faster by himself. He was obviously nervous.
He always got

snippy when he got that way. She kissed both of her parents’ cheeks after they stepped
inside, only to break away to find her seat. David slowly followed, groaning along
the way. She spotted Abigail and gave her a quick wave as she found her and David’s
assigned spots. She turned to make sure David was following, finding him white as
a sheet and trembling in his chair. He was rubbing a hand over his upper right leg,
his other hand in the spot where his other leg once was.

She went back for him, needing him there with her. They’d get through this together.
They were a team. The always and forever kind of team…

He seemingly relaxed as she rubbed his shoulder, guiding him to their labeled seats
a few

seconds later. His smile was tight, but at least he wasn’t trembling anymore. As she
took her place next to him and another classmate she’d only ever smiled at in the
hallways before, she unconsciously found herself searching the crowd, knowing that
the one face she longed to see wouldn’t be there. She’d been secretly wishing that
Mason would show, but it wasn’t happening.

He had a tournament to train for. He was die-hard. That was something she was going
to have to get used to.

They’d talked once or twice since the day he left, but it was more awkward than not.

Never once did either of them bring up that day, and never did their conversation
turn to

anything other than a ‘how was your day’ kind of tone.

The day after he’d left, Harley had decided to surprise him with a little visit. She
kept

telling herself that it was just a temporary thing, but the more they’d been apart,
the more she’d struggled with the idea of staying in Hillsdale. Being without him
hurt more now than ever, especially after that day.

“What are you thinking about, sis?” David whispered as the principal began to speak.

“Stuff,” she replied shortly, not wanting to discuss her love life with her brother.
He was her best friend and her twin, but he didn’t need to know
everything
especially since he pretty much hated Mason anyway.

“You’re thinking of Mason, aren’t you? I know that look. You get all gooey eyed and

sappy whenever you think of him.” He rolled his eyes, but the grin on his face the
first she’d seen in a while.

She wanted to reply, but a voice she despised took over the air. Toby, AKA class

valedictorian. Ugh… She was more than ready to get him out of her life once and for
all.

Luckily, her whole drinking and pill incident had turned him off. He hadn’t bothered
her since.

“God, Har, I can’t believe I used to be friends with that ass hat!” Harley stifled
a giggle as she stared over at her brother’s disgusted, cringing face.

“I know the feeling, David,” she whispered back. “I wanted him for so long and now…”

She shivered in her seat, her own face curled in disgust. “Ugh, he’s just so, so …
man-whorish!”

David snorted, earning them both a few evil glares from the other students. Hell,
if their

classmates wanted to listen to the prick drone on, then they didn’t care if they pissed
them off or not. Laying her head back against the seat, she sighed as he continued
to ramble on. Over and over, the same bull shit that Harley’s was sure he didn’t even
understand himself.

“I leave you with a quote from a very wise man, words that I plan to live by for the
rest of my life,
wherever you go … go with all your heart
.” Well shit, a
Confucius
quote? Man, Toby must have worked all night Googling that one.

“Freak.” Harley laughed out loud at her brother’s mumbling words. Luckily the annoying

roar of the crowd blocked out her brother’s little added commentary.

Soon the members of their graduating class were being called up, one after the other,
with

Harley and David being almost called to the podium immediately. Perks of having an
A last

name of course. David went first, and Harley couldn’t stop her tears as he wheeled
away. Their classmates, as well as the rest of the crowd, cheered just a little louder
for him. Most likely he was getting pissed about it too, but Harley was one proud
sister, cheering just as loudly through her tears. For everything he’d been through
and accomplished over the past few years, he sure as hell overcame a lot. She admired
her brother more than anyone else in the world.

The girl sitting next to her gave her shove, and Harley jumped. Crap, they’d called
her

name. Feeling like an idiot, she tucked her chin into her chest as she headed towards
the stage.

The crowd clapped around her, but one loud and distinct whistle drew her attention.
Looking to her left, Harley saw Maisy waving and cheering fiercely for her. Harley
gave her a quick wave before she reached out to shake the hand of her principal.

“Congratulations, Harley,” he replied, patting her back as he slipped her diploma
into her

fingertips. Embarrassment flooded her cheeks as she stared around at the eyes focusing
on her.