Intercepted (New Hope #1)

CHAPTER TWO

Mason

A familiar pair of blue eyes stares at me from across the dining table. I shove a forkful of soggy eggs into my mouth, looking back at my best friend's kid.

Ex-best friend.

David Sterling was on the football team at Pemberton Academy. We were both seniors, but he didn't get a scholarship anywhere, so he stayed home to join the Philadelphia Police Department. After my freshman year at Georgia, I returned to New Hope, finding my best friend playing house with my girl and our ten-month-old twins. Naturally, we got into a fistfight.

Now, I'm staring at his kid. He looks at me with the same amount of resentment David did. Like I abandoned my family, giving them no choice but to seek security from another man.

It's easy to see it that way. Hell, I hate myself for leaving, but I was a fucking teenager. I lost my parents in a car crash, so I was forced to move to New Hope with my alcoholic grandfather. Luckily, I got a free ride to Pemberton Academy where I met Mallory. I was seventeen years old when she got pregnant. I became a legal adult a few days before she went into labor.

I've never experienced fear like that, apart from those few seconds before I fainted on the field in Jersey. I knew my career was over, just like I knew my life would never be the same when my son's head popped out from between Mallory's legs, covered in blood and vernix.

Eighteen-year-olds aren't equipped to handle that kind of stress. I'm not making excuses. I know I could've done better, but I'm here now.

"You gonna say something, kid?"

Blake shakes his head side to side.

I narrow my eyes on him.

He copies me.

"Are you mute?" I ask, cutting into the cardboard pancake on my plate.

I know he's not. I've seen him on multiple occasions. Last Christmas, I got him a baseball mitt signed by A-Rod. He squealed like a pig.

"Momma!" Blake suddenly yells, his voice echoing up the stairs. "Do we have school tomorrow?"

Mallory speed-walks into the kitchen, wearing tight black yoga pants and a forest-green sports bra, her lithe body on full display. She's a tiny thing, but I know from experience that she packs a punch. Her white-blonde hair is tied into a messy bun atop her head. Her face is free of makeup and she looks absolutely fucking stunning. She presses a button on the Keurig while I dribble coffee down my bare chest.

"Of course, you have school tomorrow," she answers, ignoring me. She circles the table, planting a kiss on Blake's forehead. I stare at her tits as she bends forward. "Why do you ask?"

The kid notches his chin at me. "Mason Reeves only visits when we're on holiday."

Mallory's cinnamon-colored eyes meet mine briefly. Her gaze dips down to my torso, but she averts it before I can decipher whether she was checking me out. She grabs a jug of vanilla creamer from the fridge, splashing a healthy dose into her coffee cup.

She opens her mouth to answer, but a quiet beep announces the front door opening. Seconds later, my kids file into the kitchen, stretching and yawning like they've had a long night.

Aidan looks as though he slept in his clothes. He rubs his hands over his cheeks, and I'm surprised to hear the scrape of facial hair against his palm. He plops down on the barstool, laying his head on the cool counter.

Grace immediately grabs a mug from the cabinet, her midriff exposed as she reaches over her head. My eyes bulge, taking in the sight of her miniskirt and crop-top, her hair sweeping below her hips.