Page 79 of The Young & the Sinner

Olivia

I tossedand turned in my bed for most of the night. I wasn’t a particularly good sleeper. I would wake from the lightest sound. It usually took me only a few minutes to fall asleep, but it was the staying asleep part that I had the most trouble with.

At some time, past midnight, I heard Max coming up the stairs. He opened my door just enough to look in, and when he found me in bed, pretending to sleep, he left.

That was hours ago. Max was probably asleep in his room right now, and the urge to go listen to him was strong.

Could Lauren be the reason Max leaves?

How strong were his feeling toward her, and how much of an influence would she have on him? Was I slowly losing Max without even knowing it?

I was left with two choices. I could give into the urge and check on Max. Or…

I grabbed my phone off the nightstand and checked the time. It was almost three o’clock in the morning. Would Mason still be awake at this time?

I shouldn’t call him up just because…

Just because Max might have someone new in his life.

Just because I felt insecure.

Just because I missed hearing Mason’s voice.

Just because I missed him.

There was a line I shouldn’t cross. Right?

My finger hovered over the call button by his name. I never realized how hard it was to make the first move until now. But the alternative was to go listen in on Max, and although Mason never said anything, I knew he didn’t want me to do that anymore. He wanted me to find a new way to cope with my anxiety.

I tossed my phone to the side and let out a low groan. Why was this so hard?

I moved my hand over my eyes. I read somewhere that if you laid still in bed for several minutes you would fall asleep. Maybe if I just stayed like this, I would be asleep soon.

The sudden and sharp ringing of my phone nearly had me jumping out of bed, my heart thudding against my chest, as if begging to be let free. I grabbed it quickly and silenced the phone, afraid it would wake Max up. And when I looked at the screen and saw who was calling me, my heart began to pump back up again, but for a completely different reason.

It was Mason.

“Hello?” I spoke softly into the phone.

“Olivia, is something wrong?”

“Uh, why do you say that?”

“You called me.”

“I did?” I was pretty sure it was the other way around. Although I had wanted to call him.

“Yeah,” he answered, his voice gruff. “Just moments before. I picked up, but you didn’t answer, so I hung up and called you back. Are you okay?”

“Oh, my God. I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to call you at this time of night. Were you sleeping? Did I wake you?”

“That’s not important.” I take that as a yes. “Tell me what’s wrong?”

“What makes you think something is wrong?”

“The fact that you’re still awake at this time of night?”

“Maybe I’m a night owl.”

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