Page 8 of What Was Meant To Be
“I am suuuure you did.” Chloe snorts and I shoot her a fake grin.
“Miss Chloe.” I lean down and place a kiss on her cheek. “It’s good to see you. How have you been?”
“Good,” Chloe says without offering any more information. “Thriving,” she exaggerates and I wonder if she’s hoping I’ll share that with my brother.
I meet Mason’s gaze and he stares at me over his glass as he brings it to his lips, and I feel like he’s daring me to say something.
“Let’s take a walk, Uncle J,” Mason speaks up. “I want to hear about Mexico.”
“Mase…” Whitney starts and just hearing her voice again makes me want to drag her into the closest room with a bed.
“What? Maybe you guys want to tiptoe around this bullshit but I’m not. We are all adults and frankly too old for it,” Mason snaps angrily and I’m sure it’s brought on by the alcohol swirling around his glass.
“Some older than others,” Chloe murmurs, and I give her a deadpanned look over her obvious dig at my age.
“Sure, Mason,” I agree, turning my attention away from their sassy ass cousin. “Let’s go talk.” Whitney’s eyes widen in what looks like pure terror. Mason stands just as I hear Michelle’s voice coming toward us.
“This is the first time we’ve been together in years, we have to take a picture!” Michelle squeals.With anyone else, I’d say that they’d probably had too much to drink, but Michelle is just a bundle of energy by nature.She is sucking down that sangria like it’s water though and Michelle doesn’t know how to make a weak drink.
She makes us all stand as she holds her arm out and snaps a selfie of the five of us. “Can you believe our baby is getting married?” Michelle asks me as she squeezes Whitney’s shoulders. “I remember her being born, don’t you?” She tears up. “You were the second person in the world to hold her because Kevin actually did pass out that time.”
Chloe chokes on her drink and begins coughing my guess in shock over hearing Michelle’s comment.
“Did… you know that, Whitney?” She blinks several times and to anyone that doesn’t know the situation, it just sounds like a funny anecdote.
“Yes,” Whitney says through gritted teeth and I can see the fire in her eyes.
“I just… didn’t know that fun fact.” She shoots me a smug grin. “Love that for you,” she says before turning to Michelle. “Let’s go grab a drink, Whit. Aunt Michelle, take a shot with us.”
“Oh my gosh, I haven’t taken shots in years,” she says and I almost interject that I know for a fact that’s untrue when Chloe beats me to it.
“We literally did shots last weekend at my parent’s house.” The three of them walk away but I don’t miss the way Whitney keeps looking back at me and Mason.
“I’m going to cut to the chase, J.” We move away from the crowds and out of earshot. “You need to stay away from Whitney.”
I’m impressed by his approach and while I respect him as her older brother, there’s no way in hell anyone can keep me away from her and certainly not a kid I helped raise.
“Don’t you think that should be her decision?”
“The fuck? J, she’s engaged. He asked her to marry him, she said yes, thatisher decision.”
I don’t think Mason has ever talked to me like that. I never gave a fuck if he swore, but it’s never been directed at me. “Mason, I will still kick your ass. Watch yourself.”
“You can’t exactly be Uncle J after breaking her heart and you can’t be JP either for that matter. Too much has happened. You can’t go back to how things were before. Things are awkward and weird and we see you differently now. Obviously, she does but me… man, I idolized you. But you destroyed my little sister which means you’re not really someone I can look up to anymore.”
Hearing that is a tough pill to swallow. Mason was like the son I never had and it kills me that I destroyed my relationship with not only Whitney but with him as well. “It’s not what you think, Mason.”
“No, J, it’s exactly what I think. You were too much of a pussy to come clean to my parents, and then you just up and left. Broke her heart and then took off for three years.”
“You don’t know what you’re talking about and I would advise you not to speak on things you don’t. It wasn’t that black and white. It wasn’t just sex; I wasn’t using her. I fell in love with her.”
“But then you left.” He repeats.
“She wasn’t the only person who got hurt, Mason. But you’re right, I’ll give you one thing. As much as I don’t want to admit it, I was scared to tell your parents. Scared to lose them. Lose you. Lose a group of people that mean the world to me. I handled it all wrong.” I cross my arms and look out onto the land behind their house. “I fucked up and now she’s getting married.”
“Exactly, so don’t fuck with her head. Haven’t you put her through enough?”
“She deserves to know the truth so she can make an informed decision.”