Page 167 of Broken Breath
The breath I just found catches in my throat, but it’s not panic this time.
“Better?” Mason asks quietly.
I turn without answering and throw my arms around his neck. He stiffens, caught off guard, but only for a second, then he exhales and folds around me, his arms locking tight around my back, and pulling me into him.
“Thank you,” I whisper, the words barely scraping past my throat.
And then I crack.
The tears start slow, just heat behind my eyes, a stinging pressure, but then they surge, breaking loose in a rush I can’t control. My breath hiccups out, and suddenly I’m sobbing into his shoulder like all the tension, all the guilt, fear, and shame, has been waiting for this exact moment to bleed out.
Mason just holds me tighter.
“Bambi,” he murmurs, one hand stroking over the back of my head with the gentlest touch. “What’s going on?”
“I fucked up,” I choke, the words ripping out of me. “I fucked up so badly.”
Mason doesn’t flinch. He just keeps stroking my hair like he’s done this a hundred times before.
“Why?” he asks softly.
I try to answer, but it comes out messy and broken. “I don’t know… they’re both… and I…”
Mason doesn’t rush me, he just keeps tracing slow, grounding circles on my back. After a beat, he says gently, “They’re both into you, yeah?”
I snort, but it feels bitter. “Finn’s not into me. He’s just… an idiot.”
Mason’s voice is dry, unimpressed. “Well, itcertainlydidn’t look like that.”
“He’s Dane’s best friend, so that makes him think that he’s like my second big brother or something. He’s just… overprotective.”
“Brother?” Mason echoes.
I freeze.
Shit.
“I mean… cousin,” I mumble, stiff in his arms.
He hums, but lets it slide, still holding me like I might bolt. “And you? Are you into one of them?”
There’s a pause, a beat too long, before I drop my forehead against his chest, close my eyes, and whisper the truth like it might tear me open.
“Yes.” I breathe. “Both.”
And into you.
The full truth blazes through my mind, but thankfully remains unsaid, and it will stay that way because once the words are out, I can’t take them back.
Mason is mynobody. My first real friend, even when Ididn’t want any. The only one who’s never asked for more than I could give. He’s steady when I’m chaos. Solid when I’m breaking, and I’ll lose him at the end of the season.
But if I say too much now, I’ll lose him even sooner.
And that might be enough to break me for good.
Mason leans back to look down at me with those unreadable brown eyes. “Weird,” he says, dry as ever.
Ouch.
