Page 84 of The Young & the Sinner

There was still light out, so the stars were a little dim now. “If Max would have his way, I’m sure he would keep you as a little girl forever,” Lizzie said, pointing to the stars.

I smiled. “Yeah.”

I didn’t need the stars. I was perfectly capable of sleeping in the dark by myself. But I didn’t have the heart to tell him I didn’t need them. He was more excited about them than I had been. It was cute.

“Have you given Sam your answer?” I asked, because Lizzie hadn’t mentioned the TA from school since the cake shop.

I felt her hesitate before answering. “Yeah. I told him I would go on a date with him.” She paused and kept her eyes focused on the stars. “I really don’t think anything will come from it.”

“Are you sure that’s what you want to do? You don’t sound very excited.”

“I need to move on with my life, Olivia. Loving… him hurts too much.”

I leaned in closer to her and laid my head on her shoulder. “You never know. This could be a good thing. You might actually get something from this date that you would never expect. And it might even be the best thing to have happened to you.”

She laughed. “You’re too much of an optimist. It’s sickening. I think we should stop hanging out for a while.”

I nudged her shoulder. “Shut up. When you have to deal with the kind of shit I have to deal with, being optimistic is the only thing saving you from going insane.”

She was quiet for a while. Then, “Yeah. I know. So, you haven’t heard from your mom?”

“Not even a phone call to let me know she’s doing okay.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Not your fault.”

“I’m sorry it happened.”

“It is what it is.”

A knock came from my door and we both lifted our heads. Mason stood at the threshold, looking too beautiful for words, and I was still hurt, so I looked away.

“Hey,” Lizzie said, when I didn’t say anything.

“Hey. Max wanted to know what you girls wanted to do for dinner.”

Lizzie shrugged. “Anything is fine with me.” But then, as if sensing Mason wanted to talk with me alone, she got up. “Actually, I think I’ll talk to him about it. I’m sure he has something in mind.”

I sat up and watched her leave and debated about whether or not I should follow her. I was still avoiding Mason’s gaze.

“Can I come in?” he asked quietly.

I nodded. Then felt him take a seat beside me on the bed.

Calm down, my beating heart. He was just sitting. On my bed. With me on it. But that meant nothing. There was even a respectable distance between us. Almost the length of his two hands. And he had big hands.

I glanced down at his hand at the thought, which he had laid out casually between us. He really did have large hands. And long fingers. I shifted a little in my seat, just from imaging what he could do to me with those hands.

I was inexperienced, not naïve. At least, not naïve enough to not have dirty thoughts about him. Especially at night, while lying in this very bed…

Yeah, I wasn’t going to go there. Not now.

“What are you thinking about?” Mason asked, his lips tilting up in a small smirk.

“Nothing,” I answered slowly. I was sure my face gave me away. I was absolutely thinking about something.

Mason nodded. “Okay. We should talk about what happened downstairs, huh?”

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