Page 29 of The Young & the Sinner

“Well, I’m going to tell you anyway.”

Before he could say anything more, I blurted out, “I’m dating Lorenzo. He treats me well, and yes, I told him you owned a handgun, and you’re well trained in jiu-jitsu, so if he ever steps out of line, you’ll kick his ass.” I repeated something Max said to me when I started high school. When he was so sure I would be dating boys right away.

But there was no boy. Not until now, anyway.

Mason let out a strangled laugh and I shot him a glare. This was no laughing matter.

“I thought you didn’t like him,” Max said softly.

I shrugged. “I do.”

“Then why did you cancel your date with him the first time around?”

I shrugged. I couldn’t very well tell Max the real reason. “I didn’t want to date him, at first. But then, he knew about me being in theater, and he talked to his dad, who then donated to the school for some theater equipment, and that’s nice, right?”

I wasn’t explaining myself very well. It sounded like I was going out with him because his dad brought the equipment. But wasn’t that why? Was I a whore for theater equipment? Theater equipment that I wouldn’t even get to use, at that. My expression must have shown my horror over the thought, because Max was frowning at me.

“Not because he bought it. I’m not dating him because of that,” I added quickly. I cringed after that statement. I might be making this worse. I could feel my cheeks getting hot. “It’s just… that was really nice, you know? No boy has ever done something like that for me just so he could impress me.” I looked down at my plate, unable to meet Max’s eyes any longer. “I know I’m not making any sense.”

Max’s voice was soft when he said, “No, sweetheart. I get it.”

I looked up nervously, in time to catch a shared look between the brothers. The conversation couldn’t be more uncomfortable. Especially since I didn’t want to have it with Mason here. The last thing I wanted was to talk about the boy I was dating with the man I was crushing hard on.

“So, he talked to his dad, and that helped out with the theater department at your school,” Mason said. I nodded. “That’s nice of him.”

But the way he said it didn’t sound like he believed that. That could just be because Mason didn’t know Lorenzo very well. Lorenzo was nice, though. He had been nothing but a complete gentleman on our dates.

“Would you like to meet him? Officially?” I asked Max hesitantly. I didn’t know what the correct protocol for dating was, but meeting the family seemed like the next step, right?

“Of course. Why don’t you have him over this Saturday? Mason and I will fire up the grill and we’ll have a small barbeque.”

I looked at Mason, who didn’t look happy about the idea either. I didn’t think he wanted to come on Saturday, but I knew he wouldn’t refuse.

“Great!” I said a little too enthusiastically. Saturday was going to be one big awkward party… yay.

* * *

That night,after Mason went home, Max found me in my bedroom texting Lizzie. I put the phone away when he knocked. “Can I come in?”

I nodded, bracing myself for the talk we were going to have. It was going to be about Lorenzo, I just knew it. He walked in and grabbed my desk chair, placing it by the side of my bed and sitting down.

Max shifted around in his seat awkwardly, and I frowned. Max was not an awkward man. He was always so sure about himself and what he did.

“Are you okay?” I asked.

“Me? Oh, yeah, of course.”

“Okay,” I said, because I didn’t know what else to say.

I waited for him to tell me why he was in here. Max ran his fingers through his hair, a gesture I had learned he only did when he was nervous, which wasn’t often.

“Are you sure you’re okay?”

“I’m fine, sweetheart. Don’t worry about me. “

“Okay. What’s up?”

His lips twitched and I knew what his response was before he even said it. “The ceiling.”

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