Page 96 of I Heart Mason Cartwright
Willow
We makesmall talk with Mason and his mom for a few minutes, then she says, “Please excuse me, I need to finish my inventory in the back. But don’t leave without saying goodbye. Promise?”
“Of course,” Zach assures her.
“Be right back.” Mason holds up his finger and turns to follow his mom to the back of the store.
“What the hell was that, Zach?” I’m angry at him. I’m sure he can tell. Especially after I backhand him in the chest.
“What the hell was what?” His voice is nonchalant and he’s thumbing through a novel as he responds.
“You know what,” I say.
He looks up at me. “Idon’tknow, or I wouldn’t ask.”
“I made a perfectly good excuse to leave, and you threw me under the bus.”
“Tomato tomahto.”
“What are you talking about? That doesn’t apply here. What does that even mean?”
“You say I threw you under the bus. I say I saved the day and am giving you the perfect opportunity to reconnect with lover boy.”
“There is no need to connect, let alone reconnect. No way can I date someone AshLynn already dated.”
“Yes way, you can. He’s your guy. You two have so much chemistry I can blanket myself in it.”
“No, we don’t.” My first instinct is to deny whatever he says. What I can’t deny is the flicker of hope I feel at Zach saying we have chemistry. Mason seems so awkward with me; I can’t imagine he feels anything but annoyed and is just trying to be polite.
What if he’s not? What if he does like you? What if it could work out regardless of AshLynn?
“You think we have chemistry?” I ask before I can stop myself.
Zach looks at me. Brow furrowed, lips scrunched, eyes narrowed.
“Okay, fine, I can answer that for myself,” I mumble. “Let’s say that I decide not to care that AshLynn had him first. Or that my dad and Cassandra will lose their minds. What do I do about it?”
“That’s my girl! Okay, first, what did he say when you ran into each other?”
“I don’t know, it was awkward. We said hi and stuff like that, talked about the book you wanted me to grab and about the house. Oh, he offered to help me with the gardening at my house.”
“Well, there you go. Take him up on it.”
“I’m sure he wasn’t serious.”
“He was, trust me.”
“How would you know?”
“Because I saw how he was looking at you just now.”
“And how was that?”
“Like he wanted to eat you alive. And by eat, I mean—”
“I know what you mean.” I hold up my hand to stop him. “Fine. When he comes back, I’ll ask him.”
“Promise?”
