When Its Least Expected (6 page)

flat on his oversized queen bed, he listened to the mundane sounds of his little sister
typing away on his computer.

He’d felt a need to tell her about Harley, at least to a point, and starting with
scene from outside the school by Harley’s car seemed like the perfect spot. “Yep,
he said that Harley was
his,
and that I needed to stay the hell away from her.”

“Wow. What an ass!” Mason raised his brows at his sister’s non-typical cuss words,
but

closed them again as the light on his ceiling invaded his eyes, adding more pain to
his knock-you-out, headache.

It appeared the moment he saw Harley’s fierce face, battling against Toby. He was
more

than ready to rip into that ass-hat as he felt her up in the schools parking lot,
but he also couldn’t stop his chuckle as he thought about Harley’s readied, karate
chopping hand flying through the air. Still, he couldn’t let her handle that situation
alone. He was too much like his father in that sense. He
had
to keep her safe. He
had
to take care of her. But he knew without a doubt, that she could sure as hell take
care of herself if it had come down to that point. He shivered. He was sure as shit
glad it hadn’t come down to
anything.

He’d been watching them from a far in a standby mode. The dude had some serious

issues when it came to a lady’s personal space. Mason was more than ready to teach
him a lesson

… or maybe two.

Maisy spun her chair in circles, tapping a finger along the plastic arm. She’d been
extra

quiet with her thoughts. Something major had to have been brewing in that pea brain
of hers.

“You like this girl, don’t you? Mason Daniel actually freaking likes a girl?” He could
almost hear her smile. It was annoying as shit. She directed the last part of her
question, most likely towards nobody in particular. Mason rolled to his side and groaned.

Stupid little sisters.

“Mason and Harley, sittin’ in a tree.” Oh hell no, she was not… “K-I-S-S-I-N-G!” She

was. Damn her!

“If you know what’s good for you, you’ll shut your mouth before I do it for you…”

“First comes love,” she continued on, louder.

“I’m warning you…”

“Then comes marriage…”

Girlfriends and Mason Daniel didn’t mix. His sister was crazy. Harley was just a fun
way

to pass the time, that’s all. He sat up fully and threw a pillow at her head. She
shrieked and giggled, throwing it right back. He was never going to win because even
behind the pillow, she continued to sing.

“Fine. Whatever. Just turn the lights off when you leave.” He groaned, lying back
down

on his pillow, throwing an arm over his eyes as he did. Then her song turned into
an all-out gasp followed by a fit of giggles.

She was so … stupid!

“Mason, you should totally ask her to the homecoming dance that’s coming up in a few

weeks! I’m sure she’d go with you!” Mason didn’t answer. Maybe she’d just leave him
to his

headache misery if he stayed quiet enough. Unfortunately Maisy Daniel didn’t quit
anything

until she got what she wanted.

“Do it! Do it! Do it!”
she chanted, standing on his bed, her knees were bent. She started to jump. “Do it!
Do it! Do it!”

Damn little sisters.

But then a light bulb switched on in his head. He knew what would shut her up. He
was

stealthy like that. “Alright, Mouse, I’ll ask her,” he sat up, leaning back on his
elbows, “but only if you agree to make my bed for a month
and
you find a date for yourself.”

Mason smiled, success was sweet. Sure, he probably shouldn’t encourage his baby sister

to ask a guy out on a date, but the one positive thing was she the fact that she wouldn’t
do it.

She was terrified of boys.

“Deal, Mase! In fact, I kind of already did ask someone today,” she sat down, her
arms

crossed.
What?
His eyes puckered together, his palms twitched with a need to smack …

something. “Isn’t that awesome?”

Mason coughed, choked was more like it. What the hell? His little sister actually
asked a

guy out? “Really, mouse?” he sat up completely. He squeezed the bridge of his nose
trying to fight off the pain. Okay, yeah, he was nervous now.

Her answering sigh was dreamy, and was that twinkle in her goddamned eye too?

Shit no … she wasn’t dating anyone, not on his watch.

“Well then, tell me who this poor sap is.” She giggled. He sighed heavily. The girl
was

so far gone already that there was no hope in bringing her back.

Mason frowned. Apparently this was why she was enjoying Hillsdale so much.

“His name is Aric. We’re partners in my biology class, and we just kind of hit it
off.” A

warm smile stretched across her face. Mason could only snarl at the thought of some
boy’s hands all over his sister. He’d snap the freak in two. Wouldn’t be that hard.
He was strong; he could definitely hold his own.

“Well, did you ask Mom yet? You know how strict she is on the no dating till you’re

sixteen, thing ...” He smiled mischievously. He had her. There was no way she’d let
her go. The woman was the epitome of anal when it came to her young daughter actually
dating.

“It’s already taken care of. I asked Mom earlier tonight, and she said yes … as long
as

you
were able to go with me.”

And the truth comes out. Dammit!

Ha! Their mother was counting on
him
not
getting a date therefore he’d have to be the one to let Maisy down.

What a load of crap…

The lady had finally gone and fallen off her crazy rocker. Mason would show her, even

shock her a little. He’d go to that stupid dance. Then she’d see who had the last
laugh.

“Alright, Mouse, you win. I’ll ask her tomorrow.” She looked a little like a lottery

jackpot winner, with her blonde hair sprouting wings as she bounced up and down on
the bed.

The squeaking that seemed to be coming from her mouth sounded vaguely like a mouse,
only

reiterating his nickname for her.

She looked genuinely … happy. It was sort of worth it.

“Now get out of my room so I can go to bed, would ya? Not all of us can live on four

hours of sleep you know.” He grinned and shook his head as he lied back down. That
was the

honest to god truth.

Ever since their father had died, Maisy had been suffering from insomnia. No sleeping

pills or herbal medicines managed to work on her. She just couldn’t asleep, and with
that kind of excitement, hell, she’d be lucky if she slept at all tonight.

“OMG, Mason, thank you soooo much! I’m soooo excited! I’m going to go call

Chelsea.” Maisy was rambling off the head about colors and corsages as she ran from
the room.

Mason, on the other hand, cringed instead and squeezed his eyes shut.

Dammit, what had he gotten himself into? He had to ask a girl to a school dance. A
girl

whom he wasn’t even sure liked him.

Mason had never faced a more dreaded Tuesday in his life.

Sixth period English Lit seriously blew. Harley hated her teacher and everything else

about the boring class. The only bright side was that she shared it with Mason.

God, did you really just think that?

She couldn’t help it. The boy had her stomach completely in knots like Christmas tree

lights shoved away deep in a tight container, the ones that nobody wanted to get out,
but knew it was inevitable. The worst part was that she had no idea what she was going
to do about it.

Nothing was her best idea, because getting involved with another boy only spelled
disaster.

Besides, she had to stay focused on the tasks at hand, and that meant school and David.

Nothing more, nothing less.

“Psssst…” A deep voice slipped over her entire being from just two seats behind her.
She

rolled her eyes but couldn’t help the small smile that crept over her lips. She gave
her head a quick shake and continued to focus on the teacher, but Mason’s persistent
“pssting,” was

garnering far more of her attention than finding out how many hydrogen atoms were
in hydrogen sulfide.

She wiggled in her seat trying to refocus when a tap on her shoulder pulled her attention

away. She turned around just enough to notice a very annoyed looking Joseph Perkins
gesturing towards something on the floor beside her. Unfortunately, her eyes had a
mind of their own, and were drawn towards all six foot something of Mason instead.

He was leaned back in his seat, legs crossed at the ankles, arms outstretched behind
his

head, with that dumb, goofy grin spread across his face. His eyebrows danced across
his

forehead and he winked. She harrumphed, and shook her head. How could a guy that infuriating
be just as equally adorable? She narrowed her eyes at him, but then he winked and
nodded

towards her feet. She looked down then, noticing a little white, square paper strategically
placed under her heel.

Oh hell no, the little nutcase was slipping her a note? What did he think this was
… the

seventh grade or something? She huffed, but at the same time her heart did a little,
excited stuttering dance as she casually bent down to grab it. She bit her lower lip,
staring back up at the teacher and sighed in relief when she realized he was too engrossed
with his work to notice.

Her curiosity was getting the better of her, and five minutes post note recovery,
resolve

settled over her. Great. Now she was actually going to have to
open
the note. She uncurled the ends, biting her lip, as the soft paper noise sliced through
the air. Her eyes widened as the words practically yelled back at her across the page
in black ink.

Little beast,

I need you to do me the honor of attending the upcoming homecoming dance as my date.

I promise to be a complete gentleman, and I will only try to kiss you once.

Yours, Mason.

No, no way!
This was so not happening! She shook her head letting the paper fall onto her desk
again. There was absolutely no way she could go to that dance with him! The number
one reason: she wouldn’t be able to control herself if he
did
try to kiss her. And kissing Mason Daniel was a bad, bad idea.

God, hadn’t she learned her lesson before? Getting attached and getting kissed, only
led

to bad, bad things!

Still, she was flattered, and she smiled secretly at his chivalrous gesture. Then
her wild, hair brained mind took over, taking her into a daydream she had no right
to imagine. Him and her out on a dance floor… She licked her lips and closed her eyes.
Would he go slow and take his time, touch her cheek and then her neck? She bit her
tongue, moving her hand down the front of her throat, her eyes still shut. Would he
fuse their bodies together, breathe her in, move his hands towards places that … she
shuddered, and then she groaned. Her eyes flipped open darting from side to side.
God, she hoped nobody was watching! Was she breathing heavy? She pressed her hand
over her chest. Oh God, was that sweat dripping down her neck? She swiped a finger
behind her ear. No. No way. Why was she even thinking about this? Her head had to
get out of the gutter before it got smashed.

She took one last breath, finally putting her pen to the paper. She smiled wickedly,

signing her name with x’s and o’s even. She was at least being nice!

Surfer boy,

Sorry, I’ve got to wash my hair that night. And, who said I’d let you try to kiss
me

anyways …

Not
yours XOXO, Harley

Harley grinned as she dotted the
I
in night. She bit down on her lip again as she passed the note over her shoulder.

As the last few minutes of class slipped away, her demeanor began to deteriorate.
Her

nerves were getting the better of her. She slouched in her seat, her stomach clenched
tight. The second hand ticked by. Ten, nine, eight seven…

He didn’t write her back.

He didn’t
psst
, anymore.

She shut her eyes. God, she should have just ignored him. Now she was a hot,

embarrassed mess, and all she wanted to do was get the hell out of there.

The bell rang, she jumped. Quickly she gathered her books and papers, sticking them
in

her back pack, and then without a second thought or glance, she was out of that room
and out of her mess.

Yeah, she was a chicken, but she sure as hell couldn’t run the risk of seeing him
again.

Most likely he’d have a witty comeback and try to kiss her right then and there. Or
worse yet, he’d ignore her all together. She had to take control of the situation.

“Washing your hair, huh? That’s the best you’ve got, little beast? Why not tell me

something a little more believable? Like maybe your Grandma’s gonna die that night,
or you

have a twenty page essay due in two months that you have to start on that same night.”

A hand grabbed her shoulder, pulling her flush against a warm, very yummy smelling

body. Crap, how had she not noticed how good he smelled before? She secretly inhaled.
If the sun had a scent, then he wore it right there on his body. Warm, yummy goodness.
It took all of her will power not to turn and run her nose up and down his neck.

Finally she did turn around, but instead of acting like an animal, she gasped like
the total girl she was turning into, just as Mason leaned in close. He eased her back
against a set of lockers, but she had no memory of actually getting to that point.
It was more than obvious that he had no issues with making a scene. At that point
though, neither did Harley.

“I don’t
do
dances, Mason. So, just … leave it.” She placed her hands on her hips. That way she
didn’t actually have to touch him, but he was so close, that a single slip of any
one of her body parts could equal disaster … for her heart.