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Before I totally lost all control of my good sense, I knew there was one thing I needed to address. I took a deep breath. “Mason, I would like to talk about what happened on Friday and, hopefully, clear the air.”

“I’m so sorry, Anna. What I said was really awful. I wasn’t kidding when I said I cringe every time I read back over those messages.” He sounded completely sincere.

“What happened? Why did you ask, and say, those things?”

Mason let out a long sigh. “When I was out with my friends, I let them get in my head about you. I’d talked to a few women at the bar we were at, and I quickly realized I didn’t want to be talking to any of them. I wanted to talk to you.”

“Really?” I asked, sounding like a love-struck schoolgirl. Thing was, I didn’t care. The fact Mason didn’t want to talk to other women thrilled me in a way I didn’t expect and couldn’t explain.

“Yeah…you’re the only one I want to be talking to, Anna. The guys started giving me a hard time about it, especially about the fact we haven’t met and what that must mean. Then, I got in my own head about it.” There was a pause before Mason continued. “I’m going to be honest. I’m a little jealous of this Coffee Guy, too. He gets to be there with you. He gets to take you on dates and spend time with you in a way I can’t. Everything just kind of bubbled up from there.”

“I see.” While I understood where he was coming from, I wasn’t sure what could actually be done about it. We were on opposite sides of a large country with three time zones between us. It wasn’t like we could just go out to dinner together on a Friday night or meet up for coffee some afternoon.

“Anna, I know I’ve said this already, but I feel like after what happened I can’t say it enough. I don’t think I’ve ever lost my temper like that, and I felt like such an ass after. Hell, I still feel like an ass. When I got your last message, I was pretty sure I’d ruined everything. I’ve been trying all weekend to figure out how best to apologize to you.”

I uncrossed my legs and scooted back until I was leaning against my pillows. “Well, Mason, you did good. This was definitely a surprise, and much better than a text.” Our conversation paused again. “So where do we go from here?” I asked nervously. I wasn’t sure why I was nervous. I was pretty sure he wouldn’t have called if he didn’t want to keep up what we had...but I also didn’t want to make assumptions.

I could sense some hesitation from Mason, which only increased my nervousness. “I would like to keep talking to you. Not just tonight, but like we have been.” He paused and took a deep breath. “I would like to keep talking to you by text, phone…however you’ll have me. I also…I also want to meet you in person, Anna. I don’t want to rush anything, but I want you to know that, ultimately, it’s what I want.”

“Why?” My voice was suddenly a whisper. I wasn’t even sure why I’d asked.

“You already know more about me than anyone I’ve ever had a relationship with. It feels like…it feels like we’ve started to build the foundation of something potentially amazing. I think we’ve done this right, Anna. We’ve taken the time to really get to know each other. I don’t think there’s any denying we have a connection that could be more than just friends.”

“I’m not disagreeing with you…” I trailed off. I wanted to be honest with Mason about how I was feeling, I just needed to find the right words. I appreciated that he gave me a moment to collect myself. “I’m just scared that if we take a leap at some point, it’s going to ruin the connection we have. What if we meet and there’s no physical attraction? What if there’s no spark or chemistry?” I chewed on my bottom lip as I awaited his response.

“Then we remain friends,” he said in a smooth, calm voice. “At least then we’ll know. I can’t speak for you, but I know for myself, if I don’t try to take this leap, I’m going to spend the rest of my life wondering what could’ve been. I don’t want to do that. Not for something this big...not for the possibility of something with you.”

I drew in a deep breath. Hot damn, he was convincing. On the one hand, it could go terribly. On the other hand, it could be amazing. I had to give it to him…Mason was right about the “wondering what could have been.” Talking to him on the phone and actually hearing his voice left no doubt in my mind there was an unexplainable connection between us. “Let me think about it,” I finally replied.

“Deal,” Mason said. “I should probably let you go. I keep forgetting it’s three hours later where you are.” Mason’s voice softened as he spoke and I couldn’t help but swoon a little.

“Yeah,” I responded back with the same softness in my voice. “I have class early in the morning.” We were both silent, almost like neither of us wanted it to end. “Hey, Mason?” I finally broke the silence.

“Yes?”

“I’m really glad you called.”

“Me too.” I could hear the smile in his voice and it made my heart flutter. “Good night, Anna.”

“Good night, Mason.” I hung the phone up with the biggest smile on my face I’d ever had

Chapter 13

There It Was

IT HAD BEEN TWO weeks since the first phone call with Mason. We’d continued to text daily, but added phone calls every few days to the mix. I was still undecided about the whole meeting-in-person thing, but fortunately, Mason wasn’t pushing it.

At the same time, I’d also been hanging out with Liam. We’d gone out for coffee, walked to class together, watched movies together, and ordered takeout. Liam really was incredibly sweet and thoughtful. There was no doubt I’d enjoyed spending time with him. The problem was, spending more time talking to Mason and more time hanging out with Liam, just left me with an ever-growing sense of confusion about what to do.

“So how do they let you know who made it into the Spring Art Show?” Sarah asked as she handed me a steaming mug of coffee. I took a sip and let out a contented sigh as Sarah handed Bree a cup. Bree silently took the mug and pushed her wild, curly, bed-head hair out of her face. Out of the three of us standing in the kitchen, Bree was the only one still wearing her pajamas. She let out a grunt of thanks as she brought the mug up to her face. Bree had never been much of a morning person.

“Perfect amount of creamer. Thank you, Sarah.” I took another sip. “To answer your question, they’re going to post something in the art building today around noon.

“Are you nervous?” Bree asked as she started to come to life following her first few sips of coffee.

Sarah wrinkled her nose. “I’ll never understand how you can drink coffee without anything in it.”

“It’s the only way to drink it,” Bree said very matter-of-fact. “All that shit you put in it just dilutes it. I need my coffee at full strength at all times.” Bree looked over at me expectantly and I realized I hadn’t yet answered her question.

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