Mace (Cocky Cage Fighter #4) (19 page)

“Ugh,” Hailey grumbles. “I hate her already.”

Smiling at her jealousy because it’s so unwarranted, I continue. “A year later I met Lena. She was at a bar with her asshole boyfriend. He knocked her to the floor and then I knocked him out. We started spending time together because she was scared her ex would show up at her apartment and cause problems. I helped her get moved and started to have feelings for her. We kissed one night, so I fessed up to Sabrina. Surprisingly, she said I could keep seeing Lena if I wanted.”

“I hate her, too,” Hailey remarks. “Okay, on to number three.”

“I met Monica and Erica at a club in Cary. They were regulars, just like Senn and I. Sometimes Sabrina or Lena came along, sometimes it was just a boys’ night out. Monica and Erica had been best friends for years, and eventually they propositioned me for a threesome.”

“Like any guy would turn that down,” Hailey scoffs.

“Right. It was gonna be a first for me. Lena and Sabrina gave me the green light, and so the three of us hooked up. Then I quickly realized that Erica and Monica wanted each other, and the threesome was sort of just a front. They started touching each other more and now…well, my participation is no longer required.”

“Ohh,” Hailey remarks with wide eyes, sitting up so that she’s still straddling me but now her bare titties are approaching mouth level. “So, two are sort of lesbians and one was usin’ you as muscle?”

“Um, yeah, I guess that would be accurate,” I agree, reaching up to cup a tempting breast in each of my palms. Now I’m the one who is tired of talking and wanna get back down to business.

“So Sabrina is the one you’ve been with the longest?”

“Yep.”

Feeling my cock rise underneath her, Hailey rocks back and forth, grinding her pussy along my hard length, making us both moan.

“Do you love her?” she asks.

“Yes,” I admit. “I love all four girls, but I don’t think I’ve ever been
in love
with them. Sabrina…I know that she cares about me more than I care about her.”

“Are you gonna keep fuckin’ them when you go home?” she asks, her sad blue eyes holding mine while she bites her bottom lip, waiting for my answer.

“No,” I tell her honestly. “Not after…I can’t…no matter what…” 

Hailey’s mouth covers mine, thankfully showing me that the time for talking is officially over.

Mace

The first time I wake up it’s only seven a.m. and Hailey’s sprawled on top of me, her blonde waves trailing down my chest, her face beautiful and peaceful. Exhausted from the five times our bodies joined during the night, once for an entire hour before I came, I drift back asleep. The next time I wake up, I’m alone, and that really pisses me the fuck off. I can already tell it’s gonna be a great day.

Shit.

Today’s my sister’s wedding, so I owe it to her not to be such a grouch, but I can’t help it. Hailey got up and left without saying goodbye. I know I’ll see her later today, but from now on there will be other people around us, and then she’ll be gone. How much is a plane ticket to New York? I’m guessing it’s more than I have.

Grabbing my phone from my pants puddled on the floor from where Hailey helped me chuck them last night, I do a quick search for flights before the battery dies. No tickets available for tonight unfortunately, and the cheapest one for the upcoming week is two-hundred and sixty dollars, which is more than I have. Fucking hell. I’ve got two gigs this week, so maybe with tips I’ll have enough.

Who the fuck am I kidding? Rent is coming due and car insurance is somewhat important to have, too. Maybe I could get a credit card.

Cursing, I pull on some clothes and stomp up the steps into the kitchen on the main floor looking for breakfast to try to ease the ache inside me. Food is not what I’m craving, that’s for sure. Hailey’s mom had been cooking up bacon and eggs or some other meal each morning, but not today. This morning everyone is busy getting ready. I can hear the women running around like a herd of stampeding elephants on the floor above me, getting hair and nails or whatever else done, so I fix a bowl of kid’s cereal and take it out on the patio to see if the view of the ocean will cheer me up.

As soon as I step outside, I see Linc leaning against the rail in his plaid pajamas. He’s already so domesticated that it would be funny if he wasn’t marrying my sister. She deserves a tame and family oriented man.

“Hey,” he says when he looks over his shoulder and sees me.

“Hey. Ready for your big day?” I ask, sitting down at one of the patio tables.

“Hell yes. We should’ve just eloped months ago, because I can’t fuckin’ wait to marry your sister.”

“I want to marry yours,” I mutter under my breath before shoving a spoonful of magically delicious marshmallows into my mouth to prevent myself from saying something else I’ll regret.

“What?” Linc turns around and braces his back against the railing to ask.

“Nothing,” I tell him around my mouthful.

“When are you headin’ back to Cary?”

“Ah, tonight I guess.”

“In that case, do you mind givin’ Hailey a ride to the airport? My mom and dad want to stay another night to help clean up and do some cookin’ tomorrow before everyone leaves the house to me and Claire for the week.”

Yes, I would love to spend more time with Hailey.

No, that’s not a good idea.

Fuck if I know.

“Sure, why the hell not,” I finally agree. It’ll give me five more hours to try and convince her not to leave.

“Great, thanks. Her flight leaves at eleven-fifty, so if you get out of here by five you should be there in plenty of time.”

“Got it.”

“Well, I guess I better go get dressed,” he says before heading to the door with a grin. “See you when you walk my bride down the beach. Tell Claire I love her and can’t wait to make her my wife.”

“Will do,” I assure him, clearing my throat of emotion because the two of them only remind me of what I’m missing, what I
know
I could have with Hailey if she wasn’t so damn stubborn. 

After I eat breakfast, I shower and then head upstairs to the second floor to find my sister so I can get my tux and shit on. She had insisted on bringing it with her things so I didn’t have to be trusted not to forget it. That’s the only reason I’m marching up to the room where all the women are. Sure it is. I’m just glad I’m the only man allowed in the space, able to see the bride before the wedding since I’m the one giving her away.

Just as I expected, the whole floor is a madhouse. Half-dressed women in hair rollers run past me into various bedrooms. I avert my eyes like a gentleman, even going so far as to slap my hand over them.

“Ah, could someone tell me where I can find Claire?” I ask blindly.

“Come on.” I recognize Hailey’s voice when she grabs my arm and leads me forward. Knowing it’s her, I sneak a peek between my fingers but unfortunately, she’s fully clothed in jeans and a tee. The clothes are an odd contradiction to her heavy makeup that accentuates her bright blue eyes and the blonde, fancy spiral curls that trail down her shoulders and back.

“You look beautiful,” I tell her. “But you’re even more gorgeous asleep on my chest, your hair fanned out, wild and messy, with an unconscious smile lifting your perfect lips.”

A chorus of feminine “
Awws
” alert me to the fact that my words weren’t as private as I thought they were. It doesn’t matter since they all know about Hailey and me.

“Oh, Mason, why aren’t there more men as sweet and sexy as you?” Kylie asks with a smile as she does something to my sister’s hair. Apparently, her boyfriend was a no show this week.

“Because there aren’t many men as lucky as I am to have sisters that taught me everything I know,” I say with a wink to Claire’s reflection in the mirror. “Happy wedding day, sis. I wish Mom and Mandy could be here with you, but I guess you’re stuck with just me.”

Another round of “
Awws
” and then my sister is out of her seat and hugging me tightly. “Don’t make me cry. I just finished my makeup,” she says with a sniffle.

“Sorry, you look great by the way,” I tell her and blink away my own moisture, feeling their absence even more today than I have since each of their funerals. “So you got my monkey suit or what?”

“Yes, and you ladies better hold on to your panties when you see how good my little brother looks in his suit,” she teases before walking to the closet and pulling out the big, black garment bag. Handing it to me she says, “Don’t forget that after the chaplain asks if you give me away that you’re supposed to stand behind Senn to even things up. At the end, Linc and I will go down the aisle, then Senn will walk Kylie down and you’ll escort Hailey. Got it?” She gives me a knowing smirk.

“Got it. Walk down the aisle, wish Linc good luck because he’ll have his hands full with you, stand behind Senn, and then walk Hailey down the aisle. I think I can remember all that.”

“Good. Now go get dressed. The procession starts in half an hour if everyone is here and ready, but we go last, of course.” 

“Everything will be perfect,” I assure her. “Oh, and your future husband said to tell you he loves you and can’t wait to make you his wife.”

More
Awws
fill the room at the same time my sister’s blinding smile says just how in love and happy she is. It’s a smile that reminds me of the few I’ve seen on Hailey. I look around the room but don’t see her, so I head into the bathroom to change and get ready to give my sister away.

…

Hailey

I’ve just walked back into Claire’s room, dressed and ready to go when Mason steps out of the bathroom and women converge on him. My mom, Kylie, and Sadie all tell him how amazin’ he looks and start helpin’ him get his tie and vest straight. He laughs and shoos them away, insistin’ that he’s a grown man who knows how to dress himself. When he sees me, he smiles before strollin’ over with a sensual, sexy grace that should be illegal.

“You’re gorgeous,” he says to me, then lowers his voice to say, “And can you help me fix my tie? I have no fucking clue what I’m doing.”

I smile and shake my head before reachin’ up to straighten his tie, and then I smooth my hands down his broad, suit covered chest and stomach just for the hell of it. “You look good,” I tell him. “Really, really good.” Standin’ on the toes of my heels, I stretch up to whisper against his ear. “So good that if we had more than five minutes I would unzip your pants and climb you right here in this room.”

“Oh, that’s not fair,” he groans, wrappin’ his arms around my back. “Do you want me to have a hard-on during the whole ceremony? Cause that would
not
be cool.”

“No, it wouldn’t,” I agree, suddenly feelin’ the depressin’ weight knowin’ I may never get to be with him again before I have to leave.

“Hey,” he says, raisin’ my chin so I have to look up at him. “After the
I dos
are done, you can be damn sure that I’m gonna take you downstairs and fuck your brains out in that dress.”

“Is that a promise?” I ask him with a smile.

“Yes. Last night we should’ve said twenty-four hours and not one night, don’t you agree?”

“Hailey, you’re up,” my mom calls from the livin’ room before I answer him.

“I better go,” I tell Mason, steppin’ backwards out of his arms. “I’ll see you at the altar,” I tease.

“Can’t wait,” he says before kissin’ my cheek because he knows better than to smear my lipstick on the both of us.

Leavin’ him, I grab my blue and white bouquet from my mom, go down the steps, and out the door to the path that will take me to the beach. I hear the sounds of the three violins over the noise of the crashin’ waves when I come out of the opening. Set up before me is an aisle using two rows of large, pink tinged conch shells. On either side are several rows of people in folding chairs all facin’ the open front gazebo with white and blue roses and greenery wound through the openings. My brother and Senn stand on the left of the beautiful alter with the gray-haired chaplain who will marry Linc and Claire today. Both guys are wearin’ spiffy black tuxedos that match Mason’s. The only thing missin’ from their outfits, like mine, are their shoes so we can all feel the sand between our toes.

I can’t help but smile, seein’ the one on my brother’s face as he waits for Claire. He rocks back and forth on his feet and tugs on his shirtsleeves, clearly impatient to see her. Glancin’ over at Senn, I can’t deny that he cleans up nicely, but seein’ him doesn’t make my heart race and my thighs clench like it does when I see Mason. He’s actually yankin’ on his collar like it’s chokin’ the life out of him. When Senn narrows his eyes at someone in the crowd of people, I realize Abby’s here. I can’t say I’m surprised since she helped Claire and Linc locate the local vendors using her wedding planning connections. Wonder if Senn’s spilled the beans to Linc yet?

I turn and watch Kylie when she starts down the aisle in a blue, one shoulder dress identical to mine. Once she’s in place next to me, the three violinists end the current song and start playin’ the wedding march. The chaplain lifts his arms for everyone to rise for the bride just before Mason and Claire step out of the sand dunes. There’s an audible gasp over the sound of the ocean waves and music at how stunnin’ Claire looks. She’s beautiful in her white Princess Zelda gown with fitted bodice and gold embroidery, her chestnut hair flowin’ beautifully down her back. There’s also a gorgeous man at her side, walkin’ her down the aisle.

“Who gives this woman to this man?” the chaplain asks.

“I do,” Mason says before he leans down to kiss Claire’s cheek and then offers her hand to Linc. 

“Thank you,” my brother says to the bigger man. “I promise to always take care of her.”

“I know you will,” Mason says with a grin before he steps over behind Senn so that we’re facing each other. It’s hard to pull my eyes from his and pay attention to the ceremony after that. I only hear words here or there over the crashin’ waves, too busy being worried about what will happen in a few hours when I have to walk away from the first man I’ve ever loved.

I blink back tears and force my gaze to Linc and Claire exchangin’ rings and sayin’ vows. There’s no way to hold back my sniffle when I realize I don’t know if I’ll ever have someone to share my life with. God that’s depressin’.

The chaplain pronounces the couple man and wife, and then comes the big kiss. Linc dips Claire back with a helluva passionate lip lock, makin’ everyone cheer. When I glance over at Mason, he’s wipin’ his eyes. I remember what he said to Claire about wishin’ their mom and sister could be here. I can’t imagine how hard their absence must be for him and Claire on such an important day.

Finally separatin’, Linc whisks Claire down the aisle with a ripple of applause followin’ them, Senn escorts Kylie, and then Mason and I are up. He holds out his arm in offerin’ to me and I grab on tight, not wantin’ to let him go.

“Did you have sand in your eyes, too?” he asks softly as we walk back toward the dunes where pictures of the wedding party will be taken.

“Yes,” I lie. “Those gusts of wind can be a bitch.”

He laughs. “Yeah, they can. So do we have to pose for photos now or can I take you downstairs?”

“Photos first, I’m afraid,” I tell him.

“Fine,” he exhales heavily. “Pictures and then you’re mine.”

I didn’t tell him that I already was.