Page 8 of Forever Relentless

“Does Mason ever handle anything well?” I grumbled, sitting down across from her. “Especially about your cousin?”

“Do any of us?” she asked quietly. “We didn’t need this today, not on the anniversary of her death.”

“We did not.” I closed my eyes briefly. I swallowed hard. “I didn’t think there was anyone left to know about her?” I heard that back. “I’m sorry, that came out wrong.”

She shrugged and looked away. “It’s fine. Nothing about any of this ever came out right. But . . .” Her gaze drifted to the window, where Mom was coming back up the driveway, sans Mason. “Tell her I just arrived?”

“Of course,” I said quickly. “Telling my mother you were in the closet while she talked about Tiff as if she were the problem? No, that’s not the drama I need right now.”

“Thanks,” Diana whispered as Mom swept into the room.

“Well, your brother has stalked off to God knows where, all because—” Mom saw Diana. “Diana? Honey, I never knew you were coming home today.”

Diana got up from the seat and smiled, accepting the hug from my mom, who was looking at me over her shoulder with a ‘where did she come from?’ look in her eyes.

“Diana just came in through the kitchen,” I lied smoothly. “Mason?”

Mom pulled back and shook her head. “Mr. Hothead has stormed off, no doubt to do hothead things.”

“Why is Mason a hothead?” Diana asked with fake innocence.

Mom gave her a familiar look of weariness. “Because he takes after his father, and his father was a hothead too.”

“Is a hothead, Mom,” I corrected softly. “He’s still alive.”

“More’s the pity,” she mumbled under her breath.

“Super appropriate,” I grumbled.

Mom looked at Diana with an apologetic smile. “Shoot. I’m sorry—”

“It’s fine,” Diana waved her off. “We all get a little wound up.” She looked between us. “But what is he upset about?”

“There are some kids from Wrighton hanging around.” My mom looked at me expectantly, and I realized she didn’t know why they were here either.

In fact, she was the only one in the room who didn’t know. Awkward. I tried my best to keep it brief.

“I think there’s some trouble in the football team’s ranks. One of them is dating a wannabe journalist who thinks Mason is a story. They seem to have found evidence of Tiff’s . . . episode.”

My mom looked at me in horror, no longer caring that Diana was in the room. “The bullshit she made up and got Mason kicked out for?”

Diana’s head went down, but mine didn’t. “We’ve told you a million times, Tiffany didn’t make it up, Mom. She never named Mason. No one named Mason. Those evil bastards pinned it on him because he knew Tiff. She was attacked and couldn’t name anyone. They knew who it was, but they pinned it on Mason!”

“It sounds more and more far-fetched every time you say it,” Mom muttered darkly as she sank onto the couch. She glanced at Diana. “She never told you?”

Diana had been asked the question a trillion times, so she just shook her head.

“They threw my boy out like garbage,” Mom muttered. “They ruined his whole career.”

I bit my tongue to keep from saying anything. From saying that Mason hadn’t helped himself by going as quietly as he did. That if Mason hadn’t had a fistfight the night before with the head coach’s son, he wouldn’t have been the one they picked on. If Mason hadn’t broken the guy’s nose, they might not have broken his heart by taking his scholarship away. Although there were other circumstances at the time that meant he wasn’t putting up a fight.

I exchanged a look with Diana, who gave a subtle shake of her head, telling me to let it go.

“Will you go find him?” My mom asked me with a sigh.

“Sure.”

I got to my feet, and Diana stood as well. She saw my look and turned her head away.