I open my mouth and then shut it just as quickly. He’s right in a way. I should have given Mason the benefit of the doubt. He always tried to call me every spare minute he had when he was on the road. Mason always tried to keep me in the loop, even going as far as taking pictures of different things and texting them to me so that I felt like I was there with him.

“The reason I never said anything about this secret was because I didn’t know if Lily was lying or not. Honestly, I’m not at all sure right now and I wasn’t about to start something right before the wedding. But what I’m about to say doesn’t leave us no matter what.”

Mason waits for me to agree. “Alright.”

He looks intently at me, “Lily claims that Cooper slept with Brittany,” I gasp and cover my mouth with my hand. “A few years ago. Now after all the shit that those bitches started I don’t know what to believe.” I can’t fucking believe it. “Lily said that it happened over a spring break. I remember going there but I think I would remember Brittany. I think Cooper definitely would have remembered banging her. I’ve tried to hint around about it but he’s given me nothing.”

I remove my hand from my mouth and ask, “Do you think he did?”

Mason regards me, “Honestly, I have no idea. Sometimes I think maybe he did, and other times I don’t. You know how Cooper and Jaylinn’s relationship is. Christ just look how they were on Sunday night. They were all over each other but Cooper won’t have sex with her.”

Mason is absolutely right. Cooper will not sleep with Jaylinn no matter what. No one can figure out why and when we bring it up Cooper and Jaylinn both just tell us to drop it. Could this be the reason why he won’t? I mean, it makes sense. If Cooper realized that he slept with Jaylinn’s step-sister he’d be afraid that he’d lose Jaylinn. But then again, if what Lily says is true, it happened years ago, long before we knew Brittany, Hunter, and Jay were related. How pissed could they be over a mistake made years ago? Cooper didn’t know. Hell, Hunter was partying with his step-sister and didn’t know it.

“I think you need to talk to your brother, Mason.”

“I had planned on it after the wedding but haven’t found the right time to bring it up. I planned on making everything right with you after I talked to Cooper. Clearly things never go as planned. I’m sorry I kept this from you and let it taint us, but I have to put my family first.” Mason answers.

The ‘my family first’ comment feels like another slap in the face. I wanted to be Mason’s first. I closed my eyes. “Why couldn’t you put me first, Mason? Why couldn’t I have just been enough for you to pick me first?” I cry.

Mason makes an attempt to move closer but I put my hand up to stop him.

“I made a mistake, Hailey, I see that now. Every time I try and protect someone it backfires in my face.” Mason says back as his voice cracks.

I open my eyes and blink the tears away. “And it cost you our relationship this time, Mason. We were great together.”

Mason lies back against the couch and stares up at the ceiling. “I know, Hailey.” Mason huffs and scrubs his face. “But I think I fucked up even more last night.”

I raise my eyebrows up in question. “What do you mean?”

Mason sits up and I can see the sorrow, regret and pain laced on his face. “I’m gonna destroy any hope that we have left.”

My heartbeat picks ups a notch, my hands are clammy. “What did you do?”

Mason looks me right in the eyes. He’s teary eyed and Mason doesn’t cry about shit, but the words that come out of his mouth breaks my heart, my mirror, in a million pieces and I don’t think it will ever be whole again. “I think I slept with Lily last night.”

22

Let her go

- Mason -

Hailey is just sitting there staring at me. I’m not sure she even heard what I said. “Hailey?”

She starts shaking her head back and forth and then all of a sudden the tears start. I try to fight back my own tears. “I blacked out last night, Hailey. I went to the bar and just drank until I passed out. I was pissed and hurting. I needed something to stop those feelings. My fucking world is crashing around me. When I woke up this morning Lily was in my bed.” I hear Hailey gasp but I don’t dare look over at her. I need to be able to finish telling her what happened. “I swear I don’t even remember seeing her in the bar at all. I was so fucking pissed off that she made you believe I was cheating on you with her that I wanted to fucking kill her. So I’m pretty sure I would have remembered her last night. I don’t remember much after running into Cole.”

I wasn’t sure if she was still listening because she was crying so hard, but I had to tell her. “I’ve never lied to you and I’ve always been honest. You deserved to hear this from me, no-one else.”

When Hailey calms down enough to speak, she asks, “But regardless, there is a chance that you slept with her?”

I nod.

“But you blacked out, right?”

I nod again.

“How the hell did you even get it up Mason? We’ve tried the drunken sex when we were both three sheets to the wind and your dick never worked. There is no way you slept with her.”

I scrub my face with my hands. She doesn’t think that I slept with Lily even though I woke up next to her after binge drinking myself into oblivion, but she thought it was possible before when the only proof was nothing more than two bitches spewing lies? I’m agitated, I can’t even sit. I stand up from the couch. Hailey stands and I stop in front of her, “You want to think she’s lying now? Really Hailey? You couldn’t believe in us before?” I yell at her.

Her anger flashes in her eyes, making them brighter, and her cheeks flush. “I don’t know what to believe Mason!”

I’m breathing hard, trying to keep my anger under control as much as possible. “I guess our relationship isn’t as strong as we thought, huh? You know Lily tried to sink her teeth into Hunter once before, why wouldn’t she try her hand again with me?”

Hailey screams, “I don’t know what to fucking believe!”

She’s lying to me. I know she believes me deep down but she just can’t admit it. “So if I told you she was better in bed than you. You would—-”

Slap!

Hailey slaps me across the face. “I fucking hate you Mason!” Hailey turns and runs down the hallway.

I run after her and grab her by the waist. “Let go of me, Mason.” Hailey sobs.

I grip her a little tighter. “I’m so sorry, Hailey.” I say as I kiss the side of her head. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean it, Hails.” I repeat over and over again until she stops fighting me. With her back pressed to my chest I walk us to the sitting room in the front of my mom’s house. Everyone hates this room, l the bad shit happens in here.

I sit and pull her to sit on my lap. I reach up and pull Hailey’s hand down from her face. Her mascara is running down her cheeks and her eyes are all red. “I didn’t mean it, Hailey, I’m sorry. I was an asshole.”

Hailey buries her face in my neck and just cries and cries and cries. We both know that it’s over between us. Neither of us wants it to happen but our feelings are hurt. We aren’t the couple that we used to be. I’m not the same Mason that I once was. I put everyone else before myself; I was trying to protect my family but at the same time I hurt Hailey. This girl has a list of insecurities that mostly stem from her father; it’s hard for Hailey to trust anyone and now she’s lost her trust in me. She never should have, but somewhere along the way it happened.

“I love you Mason.” Hailey whispers a while later.

My heart breaks all over again. This is her goodbye. Our love for each other isn’t enough. “I love you Hailey. I always will.”

I don’t want to let her go so I hold on for as long as she’ll let me.


I remember the first time I saw her. Her mom was out riding her bike and little Hailey was following behind her on her own bike with training wheels. Hailey’s blonde, almost white, hair was up in pigtails. Her mom was riding in the street so she could keep an eye on her daughter who was riding on the sidewalk. I was standing in the front yard playing catch with Cooper when I caught a glimpse of her heading our way. Hailey was starting to pick up speed. There was a pretty big crack in the sidewalk right before our house; I’d wrecked a few times when I hit it just right. I threw the ball to Cooper and just as it left my hand I saw Hailey hit the crack on the sidewalk. Her hands were trying to steady the handle bars but she wasn’t quick enough and tipped the bike over.

I dropped my glove and ran over to the little girl in pigtails. She was crying and holding her elbow. I dropped to my knees in front of her and saw that her knee was scraped up as well. Hailey’s mom ran over and helped her daughter up.

“Shh, it’s ok Hailey, it’s just a little cut. We’ll get you home and get you cleaned up.” Her mom told her.

“I have a band-aid in the house I can go get.” I said to her mom who then noticed that Hailey’s cut knee was still bleeding.

“Sure, that would be great. I’m Mrs. Taylor and this brave little girl is Hailey.” Mrs. Taylor said.

“I’m Mason and that over there is my brother Cooper.” I stood up and brushed the gravel off my knee.

“Hi Mason.” Hailey said, still hiccupping from crying.


From the very moment Hailey fell off her bike, all those years ago, I knew that I’d fallen for her.

Hailey’s hand slides down my chest to rest over my heart. “I think it’s time I go.”

I nod, not trusting my voice. The panic starts to set in that this will be the last time I ever hold Hailey like this. My breaths are coming in slow and shallow. I’m losing a piece of what I thought was mine forever.

Hailey hugs me one more time and I wrap both my arms around her, holding on to every last second that we have together.

Hailey starts to pull away. She places her legs on the floor in between mine. She looks over her shoulder before standing and says, “Remember that time when you told me that I lost my mirror?”

“Yeah.” I remembered it exactly. I’d told her that when she was ready for it that I would be here for her.

She looks straight ahead out the bay window, “You told me before that I was your mirror Mason, but the thing with mirrors is they shatter all the time.” Hailey sits for another few seconds and then stands up out walks to the front door leaving.

My mirror has officially shattered and I’m sure I’ll be cursed for the next seven years.


- Hailey -


When I left the Cahill’s house I decided to just go home, I really didn’t need to be dealing with Tara and her bullshit, but I didn’t have anywhere else to go.

“Hailey?” Mom calls out from the kitchen.

I drop my keys in the glass bowl that’s on the table by the front door. “Yeah it’s me, Mom.”

“Come in here Sweetie.” Mom practically sings. If Tara wasn’t here I would think she had my favorite Vodka poured in the biggest glass that we own, but I knew this wasn’t going to go well.

I walk to the kitchen and decide that Chocolate Vodka sounds good right about now. I open up the cabinet above the sink and grab the bottle, then I reach into the other cabinet and get a glass.

“Honey, is that such a good idea?” Mom asks. Tara is just watching me move about the kitchen. She hasn’t said two words to me and I’m not saying shit to her.

I fill the glass halfway with Coke and ice and then finish it off with the Chocolate Vodka. I mix it around with my finger and take a sip, letting the first taste settle into my stomach and warm me up.

“So we have some news.” Mom says as she continues to stir the sauce that she is making.

I take a seat on the other end of the table, opposite Tara, and keep my eyes trained on my glass. I can feel her staring holes into my head. I’m not letting her get to me. I’m barely holding my shit together right now as it is.

“Oh yeah? What’s the news, Mom?” I finally ask since she doesn’t seem to want to tell me until I’m paying attention.

Mom says without missing a beat, “Tara is pregnant.”

My eyes fly to my sister’s. She is sitting there, looking down at the table like she’s trying to figure out how all that wood was made into a table. I’m not surprised by this; actually I’m kind of shocked it took her so long.

“Congratulations, I hope he or she turns out to be just like Satan.” I say to Tara and then get up from the table to head to my room and drink this night away.