Fortitude (Heart of Stone) by D. H. Sidebottom Page B

remained screwed tightly shut.
    He smirked when I started to wee. “We made it!” he cried
with a grin. “Woohoo!”
    “We made it!” I laughed as I continued to pee.
    “Good god, are you ever gonna stop?”
    I slapped his shoulder and told him I had done. He was so
gentlemanly as he struggled to help me pull everything up with his eyes still
closed that I placed a gentle kiss on his cheek. “Thank you.”
    He peeked through one eye to make sure I was decent, then
lifted me once more and carried me over to the sinks where he propped me up on
the vanity and washed my hands for me. He never said a word, just concentrated
on his duty, smiling the whole time. “My name is Ava,” I whispered when he
grabbed a paper towel and started to dry my hands.
    “Toby,” he introduced.
    I quirked an eyebrow at him but he shook his head. “They
named me after the dog.” He openly revealed with a slow nod.
    I bit into my lower lip, a funny squeak strangling my
throat as I tried not to laugh. “Well, it’s lovely to meet you Toby.”
    “And you, Ava.” He smiled back warmly. “Are you ready?”
    I nodded and slid off the unit. He caught me when my legs
gave way. “Whoa, it seems someone’s had a little too much.”
    “It seems that someone may be me,” I laughed as he scooped
me back up and carried me through the club.
    We hit the mass of dancers as Toby struggled to manoeuvre
me around them. “Hey, my friend!” I cried in his ear when I spotted Carrie’s
black bob.
    Toby lifted an eyebrow at me, “You wanna disturb her? She
looks kinda busy.”
    I shook my head when I saw her attached to someone’s face
but then she shifted and my world fell apart.
    Mason grabbed the back of her neck and pulled my friend
back onto his mouth, his hands sliding around her back to pull her even further
into him.
    Toby snapped his face towards me when the weird noise
echoed from my lungs. “Hey?” he asked with a worried expression. “Are you
okay?”
    I shook my head at him, desperately trying to hide the
tears from him. “I want to go home.”
    “I’ll just go get your friend.”
    I shook my head and grabbed at him. “No!”
    “But…”
    “No,” I spat, “Just get me into a taxi, please.”
    He shrugged then did as I asked but just as he was about
to shut the car door I took his hand. He crouched in the door and looked at me
expectantly. “Thank you for this.”
    He smiled and ran a finger down my nose. “Gimme your
phone.”
    I pulled it from my bag and he took it from me, pressed
at some keys until his own phone rang in his pocket. He pulled it out, winked
at me then closed the door and patted the roof.
    “Where to love?” the driver asked.
    “Home,” I sighed as the tears started to fall when
shadows of Mason’s mouth on my friend gripped at my heart. “I want to go home.”
     

Chapter Thirteen
Mistakes
Mason
     
    “I need a drink,” Carrie shouted above the noise. I gave
her a nod and followed her across the floor to the bar.
    She stood still, her head twisting left and right as
though she was looking for something. “Are you okay?” I asked as she continued
to search the area, her little body spinning round in circles.
    “My friend.”
    I frowned and shook my head, “I didn’t know you were with
anyone.”
    “Ava!” she shouted as she hollered into her hands.
    The hairs on the back of my neck reared to attention as
my gut coiled. “Ava?”
    She nodded as she leaned across the bar to the barman.
“Where’s my friend?”
    “Toilet,” he shouted to her.
    She sighed with relief but I turned to face the toilet
doors, studying each person as they came out. It had to be her, her name was
fairly unique and uncommon.
    “Carrie?” A tall guy asked as he approached Carrie. She
nodded and frowned at him, her eyes roaming his body appreciatively. He smiled
back at her, “Ava went home. She saw you with someone so left you to it, but I
just thought you should know that she left.”
    My knees buckled and I