Price of a Kiss (Forbidden Men #1)(By Linda Kage)

CHAPTER 22

Oh, God. Oh, God. What should I tell him?

My mind went blank, so I had to stick with the truth. "Umm...yes?" The answer came out as a question and I wanted to slug myself. Why was I being so meek all of the sudden?

Probably because Mason's body looked strangely still. I mean, not that he usually fidgeted, but nothing on him even twitched, not even his hard gray eyes that bored right into me as if I'd betrayed him.

Strangely, I felt as if I had betrayed him.

His jaw went rigid as he looked down, staring blindly at his opened calculus book. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"I..." I floundered. "Well, for one, I haven't seen you since Sunday. Then I...I completely forgot about it until he showed up just now, and..." I shrugged. "By then, you already knew."

"When?" Mason demanded.

I frowned. "When what?"

"When did he ask you out?"

"Oh. Um...Tuesday night. Why?"

Mason's eyes narrowed. "I thought you had study group on Tuesday nights."

I was startled he actually remembered my schedule. "I do. I mean, I did. He's in my study group." When Mason flinched at that as if it physically hurt him to learn I had something in common with Ethan that I didn't with him, I rushed on, hoping my explanation somehow soothed him. "When the library closed, we weren't finished with our assignment, so he came back to my apartment and we worked on it—"

"He did what?" Mason boomed, looking like he wanted to jump off his bench and chase Ethan down to remove a couple of the guy's teeth...with his knuckles.

"Hey, what is wrong with you?" I demanded.

"Oh, I don't know," he sneered. "Maybe it's this irresistible urge I have to break Ethan Riker's face."

My mouth fell open. "Excuse me?"

"You heard me," he damn near bellowed again.

"Mason," I hissed, glancing around to see if anyone was staring at us. "What the hell? It's not like I have to babysit Sarah that night."

"This isn't about Sarah. And you know it."

Of course I knew it. But I thought we were still in denial, only flirting around the issue and holding tight to the whole just-friends lie. I had no idea he suddenly wanted to come out.

I swallowed and tried to rein in my racing nerves, having a bad feeling the rest of this conversation was going to leave me shredded inside.

"You said we were just friends." My voice went hoarse as I studied his taut features. "I thought—"

"We are." He glanced away and closed his eyes. "Damn it. We are, but the only reason we're just friends is because there's no way we could possibly ever be anything more."

"You want..." My lungs spasmed. It freaked me out, and I understood how Sarah must feel all the time with no control over her muscles, even her breathing muscles. I couldn't catch my breath, and it scared me.

"Do you really...want more?" I whispered in a trembling voice.

The emotions leaking into his face gave him that haggard, regretful look I'd seen the first night I'd caught him in a bath towel. "Don't you?" he whispered back. Then he gave a harsh laugh and glanced away. "Or is this only sexual attraction for you?"

My chest ached. I still couldn't catch a good lungful. "You know it's not."

"Then why the hell are you so confused about why I'm flying off the handle?"