Page 82 of The Young & the Sinner

Olivia

After our theater discussion,Lizzie came home with me. I was surprised to see Mason’s car parked in the driveway. Surprised and excited.

Lizzie and I shared a smile when we met up at the hood of her car, parked behind mine. “Well, this should be interesting,” Lizzie said.

She had no idea. I hadn’t told anyone about the kiss Mason and I shared, and I didn’t tell her about the late-night phone calls, or even about going over to his apartment.

Usually, Lizzie and I shared everything. I knew about her crush on Max since the first time she met him, and I also knew when she fell in love with him—something I was sure wasn’t easy for Lizzie to share with me, considering Max’s position in my life. But I wanted to keep these moments with Mason to myself. Call me selfish, but those moments were so few and far between, I wanted to cherish them in the only way I knew how.

She bumped my shoulder and I smiled. “Don’t blush. You make it obvious that you like him every time you blush when he so much as looks at you.”

I stumbled in my steps. “What are you talking about. I don’t make it obvious, do I?”

“Ah, it’s okay, Olivia. You just have one of those faces, you know?”

“Faces?”

“Yeah, you know. Those really-easy-to-read faces?”

“What? You’re one to talk. You get all serious and silent whenever Max is in the room!”

“What? I do not?”

I raised one eyebrow while shooting her a sideward glance, as if to say, Really?

“Oh, my God. I do, don’t I?”

I nodded and laughed. “Yeah. You do.”

“What should I do?”

I shrugged. “I don’t know. Maybe pretend you’re talking to me when you’re interacting with Max? You always say some pretty interesting things when it’s just the two of us.”

“How can I pretend Max is you?”

I really couldn’t answer that, so I said nothing. Lizzie let out a sigh. When I opened the door and walked inside, I could hear Max and Mason talking in the kitchen. Max laughed at something Mason said, and Lizzie and I shared a smile.

When the men came into view, I paused in my steps, taking in the sight of Mason. The last time I saw him, I was sitting in his apartment, sharing a meal with him. But that was over a week ago, and that was just too long for me to have gone without seeing him. And now that he was here, all I wanted to do was run to him.

But that would be weird.

And Max was here.

Lizzie nudged my shoulder when I stopped walking and pulled me further into the house. Mason saw us first. His eyes briefly went to Lizzie before meeting mine and holding. I smiled and he smiled back at me.

Unlike Max, who was still in his work clothes—minus the suit jacket—Mason was dressed in casual wear. Dark jeans, leather boots, and a black t-shirt. I licked my suddenly dry lips. He looked good enough to eat.

Then Max finally noticed us, and the connection was broken. “Hey, girls. How was school? Was today your first rehearsal for the school play?”

“It was good. And no, there wasn’t a rehearsal. We haven’t even auditioned for parts yet. Today, we were just going through the script and planning. And it’s going well. Lizzie wrote a brilliant play.”

It was my turn to nudge Lizzie’s shoulder, and when she looked at me, her cheeks were a little red. My smile widened. “Thanks, but we both know the play still needs a ton of revision.”

“Well, from what I’ve read so far, I think Olivia is right. It’s brilliant, Lizzie.”

She looked up in surprised and met Max’s gaze. “You’ve read it?”

“Yes. Olivia showed it to me a few months back. I stayed up most of the nights reading it. I couldn’t put it down. I think this might be your best work yet.”

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