Page 58 of Love Lessons

“Oh, the humanity,” the cameraman joked, referencing the Hindenburg disaster.

“We’ll edit out the screams,” Jillian deadpanned, and I wanted to die.

By the time the interview was over and WWTV packed up and left, the space around me had filled up with people. My hands were getting shaky, and my head was killing me—and suddenly, it dawned on me that not only had I forgotten to eat anything that day, I’d also left my anxiety medication at home.

“Isn’t this amazing?” I heard Sarah before I saw her. She gripped my arm from behind and came in for a side-hug between the merry-go-round and the slowly reinflating bouncy castle. “Look, it all turned out so well.”

“It’s a shit show.”

“What are you talking about?” Sarah laughed. “Everyone’s already having so much fun. You did it, Kendall.”

Owen came up on her other side, interlocking his fingers on top of his backwards Cubs hat. “We can’t figure out why the bouncy castle keeps shorting out. But the good news is, the kids all think it’s hilarious when it starts to deflate. Their parents—not so much.”

I put one of my hands over my eyes as though the chaos would fade away if I couldn’t see it. “Great. We’re so going to get sued.” Logically, I knew everything was going to be okay—but I still felt like I was on the verge of tears. Even Sarah’s reassuring pats on my back weren’t helping.

“She’s feeling a little stressed out,” I heard her tell Owen. I half-listened to them have a conversation about me that somehow turned into a joke about Sarah needing to give me a raise and her reminding him that was out of her control.

With my forehead still resting on my palm, I sensed someone approaching, their body eclipsing the sun to cast a shadow over my face. “You’re terrible at following directions,” a husky voice said.

I looked up to see Mason smirking at me, his wild hair blowing in the breeze. No force in the world could have prevented the goofy grin from forming on my face. “What are you talking about?”

“Did I or did I not ask you to enjoy yourself? And you’re just standing here commiserating with these guys?” He nodded at Sarah and Owen and clicked his tongue. “Shame.”

“I’m just overwhelmed.”

“Will this help?” It was then that I noticed he was holding a caramel apple—he must have been hiding it behind his back. “These are selling fast, and there’s a long line. So I may have just cut in front of them all and stolen this from my mom.”

Owen laughed. “Aunt Christine let that happen?”

I accepted the caramel apple from Mason, no longer able to ignore my growling stomach. My fingers grazed his before he let go of the stick. “Oh my gosh, thank you.”

I could tell it took him some effort to tear his eyes from mine to answer Owen. “Christine’s in a good mood today.”

“Your mom is the sweetest,” I said, eagerly taking a bite. I swallowed quickly. “We had the best chat earlier.”

Mason licked his lips, watching me eat. “You met my mom, did you?” I nodded, my mouth too full of chewy caramel to respond with anything more than a nod. “If you’re lucky, you might get to meet my dad, too. Finley’s dragging him all over this place. She’s had him on the merry-go-round at least twice.”

I wiped my mouth with the back of my hand, regretting my decision to eat this caramel apple so fast. “That’s a good grandpa.”

Mason maneuvered to stand beside me to get out of the way of the people walking behind him. Once they passed, though, he remained by my side, his shoulder grazing mine. In the corner of my eye, I saw Owen tug on Sarah’s shirt sleeve to pull her away, leaving Mason and me to stand there alone at the center of the festival.

“Good to know this DJ does, in fact, have other songs in his repertoire besides ‘Thriller’,” Mason said, squinting up at the Ferris wheel in the setting sun. I stood still and listened—it was difficult to hear “I Put a Spell On You” playing over the sounds of the carnival rides and all the screaming kids. I opened my mouth to make a joke about wondering if he could play Taylor Swift, but Mason leaned in close and said, “You’re giving me some disrespectful thoughts with the way you’re eating that caramel apple, Ms. Devin.”

“Mason!” I gave his arm a playful shove. “Thanks a lot, now I’m going to be self-conscious about it.”

Just then, Elijah ran past us clutching a corn dog in one hand and a fistful of pink cotton candy in the other, his face painted like Spider-man. He threw his head back in maniacal laughter as he ran, and his exhausted-looking mom wasn’t far behind. Mason and I turned to each other and laughed. “I think that’s the first time I’ve heard that kid’s voice,” Mason said.

Laughing at Elijah had somehow brought our bodies even closer, and his arm was fully smashed against mine now. I could feel Mason’s eyes lingering on me, so I lifted the caramel apple to my mouth to take a slow, deliberate bite, letting out the slightest, softest moan of pleasure that only he could hear. Maybe it was teasing. Perhaps it was even cruel. But when Mason cleared his throat and shifted his weight on his feet, I knew I’d achieved the desired effect.

“Yeah, you’re real self-conscious about it,” he mumbled, crossing his arms.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” I handed him what was left of the apple on the stick while licking the caramel from my lips. I needed to make my rounds and ensure everything was operating how it should and everyone was in their place. I turned to walk away, but he grabbed my wrist, deciding he’d be the one to have the last word this time.

“What?”

“Just thinking that I might have to bring you a corn dog next.”

chapter twenty-three

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