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A nervous knot formed in my stomach The mention of my dad threw me off He had "heard" about Mase? Only diehard fans had heard of Mase He stayed out of the news I wasn’t sure what to think

Adaht," he said

I nodded and he turned to walk back the e caot too close to us

"Get in I want lunch and I don’t want it here I need real food," he said as he stopped in front of me I climbed into his truck

"Tennis instructor?" he asked

I nodded, still thinking about Adaot the hots for you The dude’s tongue was al to change the subject

"Hooters Noer h Mase was like a dog with a bone "He asked me out"

"That don’t answer my question," he replied

"Fine I think I like hilare "I don’t know He seems nice and sincere but I’ve been down this road before Guys like et hurt this way before I’m older and smarter and more careful now"

Mase frowned He didn’t understand this problem He had women throw themselves at him because of him, not Dad He was beautiful and no one really kneas Kiro’s son

"You think that dude is interested in who your daddy is?"

I shrugged "I don’t know"

"Did you say yes?"

I nodded

"Well youto him then"

I did Until he knew about Mase

"He knew about you When I said you were my brother, he already knew Kiro had a son Only diehards know about you"

Understanding lit Mase’s eyes as he turned onto the main road and headed out of town "I see Yeah, that’s odd But maybe he isn’t really a fan; ossip This town knows rew up here They feel like they have some sort of inside scoop He’s probably just heard ruht of that He probably saw many of the bandthrough the country club grapevine Rosemary did have a close relationship with Slacker Deainst the seat That made sense

"Feel better now?" he asked

"Yeah," I replied

"Good But if I’e his face for you"

I just smiled Not because I didn’t believe hih, and I’d learned a long tih It was how a little boy greith an absent father His stepdad was a Texan He owned a ranch and wore boots and a hat all the ti and tall and loud and I loved hiirl, he always made sure I felt like family when I went to visit

Out of the three of us, Mase had been the lucky one He had a mom who adored him A stepdad who treated him like his own Maybe that hy he was the best of us At least I wasn’t the worst Nan held that title But then she’d been given the worst life, from what I could tell

A small part of me felt sorry for her But only a very s once I wasn’t in thedown the stairs with Nate on her hip and a handful of her hair in his ed in as if I owned the place since Blaire and Rush got er my brother’s bachelor pad but their house

"She let aveThenthen fucking Adaht I stopped by the café to get a bottle of water and he was talking to someone else and I overheard hiuy," Blaire finished for ed her hair from Nate’s fists Then she handed him toto eat and you can talk while I do that"

Nate grinned up at uot a tooth, littleas he reached for rip and I had too much damn hair "Whoa, dude That needs to stay on rabbed my keys and handed them to hiling theer" She walked into the kitchen and opened the freezer and took out soonna freeze his hands," I said, wondering what the heck she was doing

"No, it’s ums"

This kid shit was more than I wanted to think about