When my bedroom floor was all cleaned up, he zipped up his bag and turned that grin on me. “Hey,” he started, the grin dimming somewhat, “I was wondering if you’re free tomorrow night.”
Tomorrow night was Friday. If there was one thing Mason should know about me by now, it was that I never had plans, except for the few times Calum had taken me out. But he wasn’t here anymore, and I hadn’t heard of him wanting to visit, so as far as I was concerned, I would spend my Friday alone.
Although, maybe not.
“You want to work more on the project?” I asked. It was true, if Mason wasn’t as talkative about every little thing, we probably would’ve been way ahead of where we were now, but I wasn’t complaining. He had passion, life. He enjoyed talking about everything; who was I to stop him and rain on his parade?
“Not exactly what I was thinking” was what he chose to say, confusing me.
“Then what…” Surely he couldn’t mean—
“I was thinking I could pick you up, bring you to my house. We could hang out for a bit. Watch a movie, do some eating.” Mason shrugged. “You know. Normal stuff.”
Maybe it was just because my mind had been on sex earlier, but I found myself asking, “Like a date?” Was Mason asking me out on a date, or was it all in my head? Did I just make a fool of myself for asking? I guess I’d find out shortly. Shit. I hated not knowing.
That devilish grin appeared again, growing tenfold when I mentioned the word date. “It doesn’t have to be a date. It could be just two friends hanging out and spending time with each other,” he suggested, pausing before adding, “or it could be a date. Is that what you want, Bree?”
What did I want? At this point, I was too frightened of what I really wanted to admit it to anyone.
I decided to ask, “What do you want?” Kind of a pointless question, because I thought the whole world knew, at this point, what Mason wanted from me. Him being late that day had set off a chain of events and threatened to change my life, and frankly, I didn’t know how to handle it.
“I want it to be a date,” he rattled off, “but I’m happy with any time with you. I’d never push you into anything—I hope you know that.” He sounded so sincere, so genuine, and the way he looked at me, as if I was his whole world…what could I possibly say to him?
Well, besides, “Then it’s a date.” Because that’s what I said, before I thought better of it.
Whoops.
Mason beamed, and I had to look away, feeling too warm inside from that handsome, dimpled grin. “Great,” he said. “I already have something planned. I hope you like it.”
I barely said anything else, fearing what other shenanigans I’d get myself into, as Mason left. I walked with him to the front door, gave him a wave as he walked to his car, and watched him go.
Mom came over from the kitchen, peering outside around the door. “Oh, so he’s not staying for dinner, then?” That much should’ve been obvious from watching him drive off, but apparently she wanted to hear it from me. Lucky me.
I quietly shut the door, shaking my head. “No, but…but I have a date with him tomorrow night.”
If Mason beamed at my acceptance of the date, my mom looked like she wanted to explode with happiness—which I really wished she wouldn’t. That would just be a mess nobody would want to clean up.
“Really? Oh, that’s wonderful news, Bree,” my mom spoke, grinning ear to ear. “Mason is such a nice boy, and unlike Calum, he’s closeby.” Mom didn’t know the whole story with Calum, but she did know that he’d gone home. I bet she thought I’d never see him again.
Even though Calum texted me more often, even though we spoke on the phone to catch each other up with our days, I kind of felt the same.
My mom hummed as she returned to the kitchen, and I hurriedly went back upstairs to my room, closing myself away and heaving a sigh. Going on a date with Mason, going to his place…I didn’t know who he lived with, if he lived with friends or with his family.
What if he had the place all to himself? He did work a lot; he’d told me so before. What if he rented a place all by himself, and I was willingly going to a house or apartment that he and I would be alone in?
Could I handle being alone with him? I wondered that as I sat at my desk, running a finger over my laptop. I trusted Mason—but that was the problem. I trusted him, but I didn’t necessarily trust me. I wanted more, but at the same time, I didn’t.
Ugh. What was wrong with me, seriously?
I set my head down on my laptop, feeling another explosive sigh build within me. Nothing could be easy for me, nothing could be straightforward. I honestly hated it. Everything was so much simpler before Mason and Calum stormed into my life and refused to leave it. I was perfectly fine living my miserable existence before.
Now…now I was just miserable and confused.
And hopeful, which just made it all worse, really.
It was as I sat there, lost in my own thoughts, that I thought to reach for my phone. Now would be a good time to hear Calum’s voice, but still, my phone held no unread messages from him. That was probably for the best, anyways. Let him forget about me; at least it would make it easier on me. I wouldn’t have to wrestle with my feelings for two guys at once.
Would it really stop me, though, from thinking about him? From imagining his lips on mine, his arms encircling me and holding me close? Probably not. I didn’t think anything could.
Chapter Thirteen – Mason
After class on Friday, I did a mad cleaning sweep of the whole apartment. Top to bottom, I didn’t even leave the walls untouched. I did my laundry, even put it away, dusted, vacuumed, the whole shebang. I didn’t want to seem like a slob to her, so I did everything in my power to make it seem like I had everything together.
I did, but, uh, I was just messy about it. With class and work, cleaning was usually the last thing on my mind when I got home after a long day, you know? Plus, I usually had homework to do, so by the time all that shit was done, I was usually calling it quits for the night.
Not today, though.
Bree had been pretty quiet during class this morning, and I did wonder if it was because she was nervous about our date tonight. She hardly touched the hot chocolate I brought her—something I thought odd, since the weather was slowly getting colder. In a month, it’d be straight-up winter, and nobody was ready for that shit.
The snow, the cold, the ice…yeah, winter was just miserable, if you asked me.
After I cleaned the apartment, I hopped in the shower for a quick rinse. Didn’t want to smell like sweat when I was with Bree. Not that I expected we’d be close, but, you know, I was hopeful. After all, with Calum gone, it was just me and her now. From my not-so-sly asking, I knew Calum still talked to her, but talking to her and actually spending time with her were two vastly different things. I had the upper hand now, not him.
Who knew? Maybe after tonight, she wouldn’t want to talk to Calum anymore. Maybe she’d realize that Mr. Right had been in front of her all along.
Me. I was Mr. Right, in case you were wondering. Mr. Right who, only by a twist of fate, had stumbled upon his girl accidentally. Never had I been so thankful for being late to class before.