𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐈𝐑𝐄𝐋𝐘 𝐌𝐈𝐍𝐄

ꜰᴏʀᴛʏ - ꜰɪᴠᴇ

He loved him.

He loved every moment they shared.

At least, that's how he chose to remember it.

With Maverick, he knew that he was leading him on. He knew that even if he started this thing with him for selfish reasons, he was going to have to give him something, sooner rather than later. They weren't dating, and they probably never would – but he could understand his anger toward him; he knew he was being used and while he was allowing it, he was getting nothing.

Just attitude and distance.

Like everyone else.

He wanted so desperately to say that he didn't owe anyone anything he didn't want to give, but that just wasn't the truth. The world operates solely on the idea of sharing, circumstance, and compromise. Ignoring that would make him a bigger idiot than he already was.

Tossing the towel in the hamper, he walked over to his gaming console and pressed the on button. As he sat down and adjusted his headset, about to start, a knock appeared on the other side of his door.

He very lazily looked in its direction, not concerned with who chose to bother him.

"Mason?" Rayne asked lightly, peeking her head through the crack.

"What?"

"Can I come in for a second?"

"For what reason?"

"I just need to talk to you."

Mason slipped off one of the cuffs to his headset, opening his ears to her words. It was a force of habit though – he truly was uninterested in anything she had to say. Over the last month and a half, she had tried on numerous occasions to break this concrete wall he was embedded in, but none of it worked.

She could take her self-righteous, I-know-hardship, bullshit to someone who cared to listen. 

"I'm busy," he mumbled, focusing on his screen.

"It won't take long."

"Whatever," he groaned, shifting in his seat.

Rayne, disregarding his tone, slipped into his room, and walked up to where he was perched. He expected her to jump right into the topic, or to at least speak, but she just stood there, unmoving and silent. Getting bothered by her presence, he pressed pause and pulled his headset off.

He glared at her, "What is it?"

"I think you should focus on what I have to tell you."

"Why? What the fuck is so important?"

She drew her head back slightly at his choice of words.

He let that slide, too.

"Kai visited me today."

Mason's eyes darkened and narrowed at the sound of his name and his actions. Ever since the breakup, he's done a phenomenal job of pretending like he never existed. After removing him on social media, muting his number, and ghosting his twin, he was more than happy with the unknown.

It pissed him off to know that he didn't like that – that he felt the need to go to his friends to get his attention. As if his speech at the warehouse wasn't enough for him—as if he wasn't intentionally telling him that the ball was in his hands and would never lie in his court again.

"Why are you telling me this?"

"He gave me something to give to you."

He scoffed, "Whatever it is, I don't want it."