Izzy

I should have known better than to try and sneak out. Of course, the day I decided to go out with Mason my Mom got home early from work. She's been doing that a lot recently to try and get the house cleaner than the maid can since my dad is coming home next week, which is impossible. I don't know why she worries so much when Dad is obsessed with her. She can do no wrong in his eyes.

"Where exactly do you think you're going?" She has her hands on her hips with an eyebrow raised, scanning over my outfit. Mason has never cared what I looked like, and I'm not trying to impress him. After our kiss, it would make it too obvious that I haven't been able to stop thinking about him if I tried too hard, so I'm wearing a pair of jeans, a pink blouse, and some white sneakers. Nothing grungy like I normally would choose. This is a basic choice for me. A safe one.

"Christy's," I lie. She'd never let me go since she's not exactly fond of Willow, but she loves Christy. "I'm just going over to study for an English test next week. I was on my way down to ask you before I left."

My mother purses her lips as she contemplates, but she has no reason not to trust me. Well, not that she knows of. In her eyes, I'm the perfect daughter who has the best grades and the best friends and never does anything wrong. I'm the good child.

As if proving my point, Everett bounds down the steps behind me wearing a Nike sweatsuit and a backward ballcap. "I'm going out," he says, not even bothering to ask for permission.

My mother quickly steps in front of him, placing a hand on his chest. "With who, Ev?"

"Friends," he says. "I'll be back before midnight."

There is so much to teach my younger brother. He's so naive to think he'll get his way by handling Mom this way. She's not stupid, and she especially doesn't like to be treated with disrespect like that. I bite back a laugh when she ushers him to go back upstairs. "You can tell your friends that you'll miss out on whatever activities you planned tonight because you have to learn how to ask first like your sister here."

I internally grin.

Sucker.

He mutters a stream of cuss words as he pounds his feet back upstairs, slamming his door shut loudly behind him. My mother winces and steps aside to let me pass. "Be back before midnight, please," she says softly. I don't have to ask if she's hurt by Everett's outburst because it's written all over her face. She's trying to blink away the tears.

"He'll get over it," I reassure her, leaning over to press a kiss to her cheek. "You're a great mom. The best one."

With a squeeze of my hand, she gives me a sad smile and strides off to the kitchen.

***

I pull up to Mason's house with the address he gave me and blink a few times up at the enormous mansion in front of me. I'm in front of a set of large gates, and it's not like I haven't been to gigantic houses like this before, but holy hell. This puts all of the homes I've seen to shame.

The house in front of me is modern, almost completely made of glass as I drive up the long, winding driveway. There's a pond in front of the front door with stone steps going across it—lily pads and fish swimming below. I peer down to try and inspect a tiny turtle when the door opens and Mason steps out.

Holy shit.

He's wearing a black turtleneck with a gold chain around his neck. His jeans fit him snugly and he's got a tan peacoat overtop. His shoes are rich and sleek, made perfectly for the nephew of the man who owns the Mercedes Benz Group.

I'm totally and completely underdressed.

"Hi," he says, shoving his hands into the pockets of his peacoat. He does a once-over of my outfit and clears his throat, and I'm not sure if that's a good or a bad thing. "Ready to go?"

I nod and pull my shoulders back to seem more confident, but I'm failing epically. I've never been the type to be insecure, but right now, I'm sticking out like a sore thumb. "We're just going to the movies, Mason. Why are you so dressed up?"

He follows me to my car, despite protesting that he be the one to drive, but I'm the one who wanted to take him out to have fun tonight, so he admits defeat and opens up my car door for me to get into the driver's seat.

"Am I not allowed to look nice?" He finally replies as I pull out onto the road. "What movie are we going to see, anyway?"

I'm trying my hardest not to glance over at him, but he makes it pretty damn impossible. He's drumming his fingertips on the side of the car door, and his jawline looks so perfectly sculpted from this angle that all I want to do is run my tongue across it and—

I fling open the middle console and pull out my secret stash of cigarettes. "Do you mind?" I ask, ignoring his previous question.

He shakes his head and watches as I light it up, taking a long drag. In seconds, the stress of today's hangout session, or whatever you'd like to call it, is long gone. "How long have you been smoking?"

I shrug. "A few months."

"And who got you started on it?"

"Zane," I reply honestly. "But it helps my stress."

"There are other ways to cope with stress, you know."

"Is this a therapy session now?"

He turns to look at me and grins. "Sorry. You're right. We're supposed to be having fun."

"Exactly. And to have fun, you need to—"

My phone starts to ring, and since it's connected to my car, Zane's face pops up on the screen. I catch Mason rolling his eyes as I press the ignore button, but I don't speak on it. Telling him that Zane and I aren't a thing won't change anything because he already knows that. He hasn't asked me to stop seeing him, and why would he? Mason and I aren't dating, but if he did say he wanted me to stop seeing Zane, would I?

"You have the worst taste in men," he says.

I arch a brow. "How so?"

"What is it you honestly see in him, Izzy? Is it truly just because he's hot that you're sleeping with him? Or is there a smart guy underneath all of that arrogance that I just don't know about?"

I think back to all of the time Zane and I have spent together over the past couple of months, and it's a shame to say I don't know him. I just know that he's hiding a lot from me, and I have no clue why that's so intriguing, but it is. The mystery of Zane keeps me around, I guess, but I don't want to let Mason know that. He'd think I'm even more shallow than he already thinks I am.

"He's not bad once you get to know him," I reply. "Plus, he's not the only one who's arrogant. You're arrogant yourself."

"Ha!" He tips his head back as he laughs. "That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard. I am not arrogant. If anyone else is arrogant aside from Zane, it's you. All you do is talk about how hot you are."

I bat my eyelashes at him. "But aren't I?"

"That's not my point."

"But you didn't deny it."

He lets out an exasperated sigh. "You already know I find you attractive, Izzy. It just makes your head bigger to hear it. You're a flirt. A big one."

I giggle. "Teasing you is becoming my new favorite thing, Mason. I like getting you riled up."

"Trust me." He gives me a devilish smirk. "I know you do."

My mouth twitches into a smile as I continue to drive with both of the windows rolled down, enjoying the cool autumn breeze as it whips across my face and through my hair. A lot of girls at my school would hate to get their hair messed up, but to me, there's nothing freer than my thoughts being drowned out by the wind.

Mason is staring at me while a random rock song blares through the speaker as if he's seeing me for the very first time. Maybe he is. The girl I am at school isn't the same one outside of it. I'm wild and reckless, and I don't give a damn about his opinions right now. He probably thinks I'm a lunatic.

"Do you want me to roll them up?" I shout at him over the wind.

He rubs his jaw with his pointer finger and thumb, slowly and calculating before he shakes his head and hides a grin. "No. Down is fine."