Page 83 of The Young & the Sinner

She seemed pleased with his compliment and I hid my smile. “T-thank you.”

“Of course.” Max turned to Mason then. “Did I mention both Olivia and Lizzie are in the theater club at school?”

Mason nodded. “Yeah. You have. I would love to see the play opening night. Olivia is the director, right?”

Now it was my turn to blush. The fact that he remembered what role I played meant a lot. And he wanted to see the play opening night. I had to make this the best play he would ever see, no matter what.

“We would love for you guys to come see the play,” I said, almost shyly.

“Just tell me when and I’ll clear the date,” Mason said. I moved a little closer to him. I couldn’t help it. There was just something magnetic about Mason that made me want to move in close.

We didn’t say anything for a moment, and I like that I wasn’t the only one to feel the pull.

It wasn’t until Lizzie coughed that I realized we weren’t alone. I looked away quickly and sneaked in a glance at Max. He was looking at us like he couldn’t figure out what had just happened. I couldn’t either.

And I didn’t want Max to look too closely, because even though Mason was adamant that nothing like the other night should happen between us again, I still held hope that it would. And Max’s questioning would not help my case one bit.

I cleared my throat and looked to Lizzie, who looked like she was refraining from smiling. I looked away and that was when my attention was drawn to the two black suitcases and a duffle bag on the floor by the foot of the stairs.

“Hey, Max, are you going somewhere?” And I hated how my heart pinched at the thought. This wasn’t just a short trip, judging by the number of bags.

“Huh? Oh, that. No, that’s not mine. It’s Mason’s.”

“Mason’s?” I turned to the man in question and blue eyes connected with mine. I couldn’t decide what that look in his eyes meant.

“Yeah. His apartment flooded today. That’s why we’re both home so early. Almost everything is ruined. Can you believe Mason just spent thousands of dollars on new furniture and they didn’t even last him a year?”

“It’s all covered by insurance,” Mason’s answered gruffly.

“Yes, that’s lucky. Still inconvenient, though.”

“Where are you going to stay while they fix your apartment?” I asked, even though I already knew the answer. I didn’t think my heart could take the excitement.

Max came up to Mason and hooked his arms around the big man’s shoulders. “Here, of course. That’s okay with you, right, kiddo?”

“Yes, of course it’s okay with me.” And I was proud of how steady my voice was, when all I wanted to do was jump up and down with joy. I caught Lizzie eyes behind the men, and she shot me a smile and a thumbs up. I bit my lip to keep from smiling back.

“Can you believe Mason insisted on staying at a hotel while his apartment got fixed up when he could stay here for free?” Max rolled his eyes and messed with Mason’s hair playfully. “Idiot.”

Mason shrugged off Max’s arm and scowled. “When are you going to realize that I’m much bigger than you?”

“Aw, but you’ll always be my baby brother, no matter how tall you get. Now come here and give your big brother a kiss.”

Max puckered up and made a move toward Mason. Mason looked at Max in horror and was backing away.

I would have laughed over their interaction if I wasn’t drowning in hurt. Mason didn’t want to stay here, and I knew it was because of me. Heart, meet hammer.

If I listened carefully, I could almost hear my heart shattering into millions of tiny pieces. Lizzie would tell me not to be so overdramatic, but whatever.

I caught Max’s eyes and motioned upstairs to let him know I was going up to my room. He nodded with a smile and I turned away from them and their playful banter. Lizzie followed me. “Hey, what’s wrong?”

“Nothing.” I gave her a what I was sure was a very unconvincing smile. “Nothing’s wrong. You’re staying for dinner, right?”

“Yeah. Thanks. And if you want to talk about it, I’ve been told on several occasions what a good listener I am.”

I smiled then, and it was a genuine smile. That was what we always said to each other when other one was feeling down and didn’t feel like talking. It served as a reminder to each other that we would always be there to listen, no matter what.

I nodded in acknowledgement, and we walked to my room. I threw my backpack on the floor and laid down on my bed, my feet hanging off the edge. Lizzie followed suit and we both looked up at the glow-in-the-dark stars on my ceiling.

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