Stuck With Him

Chapter nine [ 9 ]

Chapter nine: Return of the King

There was a bump in the night.

My eyes flew open and I sat up in my bed. "Goddammit, Jax", I whispered to myself. He was trying to scare me again, this time probably dressed up as a snake-clown or a clown-snake after I had told him that I was scared of clowns and snakes. Stupid move from my part, but hey, I had been terrified, okay?

I followed the noise to downstairs and found a dark figure in the lobby. It was so dark that I couldn't make out their face but I was not going to let Jax fool me again. I jumped him just as someone else ran at him from left. Leo the pit bull barked and joined the fight. We all fell down and there was an incredible ruckus for a while when everyone was shouting and shoving one another.

Then my fingers brushed the intruder's neck. There was a necklace, a lot like the someone I knew well always had around his neck. "Mason?" I questioned.

"Harper, what the fuck do you think you're doing?" my best friend asked while trying to defend himself against Leo's overjoyed displays of affection.

"Yeah, I missed you too, buddy", Mason said and patted the dog who licked his hand and tried to climb up to his lap.

"I thought you were Jax trying to scare me!"

"I see you two have been getting along well", Mason groaned, rubbed his head and then glared at me. "I should have known it was you. No one else kicks quite like you."

"I'm sorry, okay? But we were expecting you tomorrow. And your dog defended you pretty well", I stated and glared at Leo who was now acting like nothing had happened but I could still feel his teeth marks on my butt from when he had tried to separate me from Mason by dragging me away from my very bitable behind.

"Well, here I am. All black and blue, too", Mason said and shot me an irritated look.

"I said I was sorry!"

"Quit yelling, you two", Jax commanded. He got up from the floor and put on the lights.

Mason glared at me for a few seconds, then got up and pulled me with him. "You're one crazy girl, H."

"Jax jumped you, too", I pointed out. "He's equally guilty. Why are you only yelling at me?"

"Because I told Jax to watch out for you. Jumping me means that he took me seriously", Mason stated. Behind his back Jax stuck his tongue out at me. I flipped him off and Mason grunted. "Could you two even pretend to be mature adults?"

"Meh. Now, come on, tell me how was Dallas?" I asked and led him to sit down on the couch. I took a seat next to him and Jax settled on an armchair near us.

"Freakish. Did you know that Barney & Friends was created in Dallas?"

"Yuck", I said and made a disgusted face. Mason nodded approvingly. I don't really remember why but Mason and I have hated Barney & Friends all our lives. Mason claims it was because his parents wouldn't buy him a purple lizard when he was little but I think it had more to do with the fact that his parents thought that Barney was a very educational show and would make us watch Barney every time we did something stupid. And we did something stupid a lot.

"Did you spend all your time playing soccer or did you actually have time to go visit your dad at the office?"

"We swung by but it was a bore. They all kept talking about how super duper awesome taxes are and how I'd feel the same once I took over the company. But even as they were smiling, I could see the pure terror in their eyes when they thought of me as their boss."