Page 126 of The Young & the Sinner

Olivia

Mason leftthree hours after dinner. I knew part of him didn’t want to leave me here, but there wasn’t a good enough excuse he could offer Max to stay.

And for the first time, I was thankful. I didn’t know how to interact with Mason after everything. I didn’t know how I could kiss Mason… love him behind Max’s back.

It wasn’t the first time I felt guilt over hiding something from Max, but it was the first time that I felt I couldn’t breathe, couldn’t move until I came clean to him.

I knew my feelings now had a lot to do with seeing my dad again and talking to Max in my room earlier. Still, I couldn’t shake the feeling that I was doing something wrong with Mason, and perhaps…

Perhaps, I should stop.

I could barely meet Mason’s eyes when he said goodbye to me. And he took a chance when he pulled me into his arms in front of Max, holding onto me a little longer than was necessary before he turned and walked away.

If Max thought Mason’s behavior was unusual, he didn’t say anything.

I went to bed early that night. But I didn’t stay asleep for long. Around two in the morning, I was startled awake. I wasn’t sure what it was that woke me, only that I couldn’t go back to sleep. And instead of calling Mason like I usually did, I got out of bed and walked to Max’s bedroom. His door was closed, so I quietly sat down, leaned my back against the wall and waited.

Fifteen minutes later, I heard him snore softly as he moved around the bed, and I closed my eyes, smiling.

Max found me asleep outside his bedroom door at five o’clock in the morning. He didn’t say anything. Instead, he picked me up off the floor and carried me back to my room. He pulled the blanket over me and kissed my forehead.

“Go to sleep, kiddo.”

“Okay,” I mumbled, and then I drifted off into a dreamless sleep.

* * *

Over the next few days,I did everything I could to live my life as normally as possible. I didn’t want my dad to take any more of my happy days than he already had. I went to school and hung out with Lizzie. I even helped her plan the wedding.

Lizzie said she wanted something small, but I thought that mostly had to do with the situation than anything else. She was only getting married because her very traditional mom needed her to.

It was hard to be excited about something we knew wasn’t ideal. But we planned like it was something she wanted and pretended that things weren’t so messed up with either one of us at the moment.

On day three, I received a phone call from an unknown number.

I didn’t think too much of it when I picked up. I heard someone breathing on the other line before he said anything.

“Olivia.”

I didn’t think. I hung up the phone and threw it on my bed, buried beneath the covers. Out of sight, out of mind.

I didn’t know how my dad had even gotten my number, but I wasn’t going to ask him. I didn’t know what he wanted, but he had already created enough damage in my life.

I didn’t tell Max about the phone call.

I didn’t tell anyone, not even Mason. Mason, who I hadn’t seen since the day of the grocery store incident. I had been ignoring him.

I didn’t know how to continue whatever it was that we were doing without feeling like I was betraying Max somehow, but I also didn’t know how to end things with Mason without feeling like my heart was splitting in two.

I chose to ignore him. To ignore my problems, even if it was nothing more than a temporary relief.

It clearly wasn’t a very good plan, considering Mason knew where I lived. I found his car in the driveway by the end of the week, after getting home from Lizzie’s dorm.

He had let himself in the house, and I knew Max wasn’t home. He was off running errands and probably wouldn’t be home until much later. Even though I knew he was there, I still pulled up short when I found Mason in the kitchen, sipping coffee. He looked up when he heard me.

For a moment, I was transported back to the first time we met.

How far we’d come, and how much had changed.

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