Chapter 21
Mason Black was smiling, and I was tempted to drag him back to his truck so I could show him how much I liked seeing him happy. Not the time, I reminded myself.
He nudged me and nodded at Reece, who was arguing with Cole about clean up. “Ten bucks Reece wants to try the obstacle course himself.”
I scoffed. “His shoulders would never fit through that tube.”
“Hasn’t stopped him before,” Mase said. “He once got stuck trying to get Boo out from under his bed. It took me and Cole both pulling his legs to yank him out.”
“Boo is the cat, right?”
“Yeah, he got scared about a noise on the TV, hid, and started wailing. Reece was terrified he’d hurt himself. Insisted he needed to rescue the little monster before Kenzie got home. He came out covered in tiny scratches, but he was smiling.”
I could imagine it. “Okay, but he has to know he can’t fit through a dog tube. It’s Hudson’s size.”
On cue, Reece shook his head at Cole and lifted both arms. “You seriously don’t want to try it?”
“It’s duck-sized, man, and I have some homework to do before we head to the rink tonight. I can’t stay.”
“Fine, you can go, but I’m not wasting all this effort.” Reece looked around, then pointed at Andrew. “Want to try the obstacle course?”
Andrew hopped up and carefully handed Sunny to Mase. “Bro, finally.”
He raced to the tunnel and dove in without a second of hesitation. I shook my head as he splashed through the duck pool, soaking himself up to the shins. Not my responsibility. The guys could handle wet shoes.
Cole chuckled. “He’s going home with you.”
“No doubt,” Reece responded, urging Andrew on by swinging his arms in a big circle.
Mase sent me an expectant look.
“That doesn’t count,” I insisted. “Reece isn’t actually doing the course, and I never took the bet.”
“Fair enough,” Mase said, retrieving Sunny’s carrier. “Looks like the duck off is officially over, and I need to send the lawyer some papers. Ready to go?”
I nodded, waiting while Sunny happily went into the carrier, making quiet duck noises to herself. We made our way slowly back to the truck, saying goodbye to basically every person in the park.
“Are you going to fill me in on the actual legal stuff with Andrew?”
“The lawyer wasn’t particularly helpful.
I think Mom went with a bargain service.
He did the bare minimum then ghosted. I had to get a new lawyer for Texas.
Mom left guardianship to me along with control of his assets, which are still in probate.
A judge here has to sign off on the deal to make it official, and that’s scheduled for… ”
He trailed off, and I could see him counting days in his head as we climbed into the truck.
“Close to three weeks from now,” he finally finished. “No official word from my dad, but Grandma Katie seemed to think he was going to cause problems. The original lawyer was a step above useless, but the new one seems mostly competent.”
“Want me to come with you?” The words were out of my mouth before I thought about them.
I didn’t usually volunteer for other people’s drama—I had enough of my own—but I adored Andrew, and Mase’s happy aura faded with every second we talked about this.
He went still halfway through buckling his seatbelt, considering, then flashed me a smile. “Yeah, I think I would.”
“Okay,” I said softly, settling into my seat with Sunny on my lap.
The quiet accord lasted almost thirty seconds. Sunny let out a loud series of quacks, and Mase grimaced at my lap. I flipped the carrier around to check on her, but she was curled up on one of Mase’s shirts, the same as she had been on the way here.
“She’s fine,” I told him, though I had no idea what she’d look like if she wasn’t fine.
He sent me a quick glance, as if sizing me up. “Want to come to the game tonight?”
My head spun. We’d gone from him avoiding me to making out to friends again in a flash. “Mase, what are we doing here?”
He frowned. “Driving home?”
“I mean between us. What do you want with me?”
The confusion cleared from his face, and I saw a hint of fear. To his credit, he pushed through and addressed my question.
“Honestly, I’m not sure. I haven’t done this before. I don’t know anything about healthy relationships, so I’m probably going to fuck this up. I mean, more than I already have.”
I reached over to take his hand. “Does that mean you want a relationship?”
He linked our fingers together and brought my hand up to his mouth for a soft kiss.
“Yes. I want a relationship. I know I was supposed to be focused on Andrew the last few weeks, but all I could think about was you. How you’d do this better or how this game would be more fun if you were there.
How I missed your running commentary and your razor wit.
How I missed holding you at night and waking up next to you in the morning.
I want all that. I want you. You have every right to tell me to fuck off, but I hope you won’t. ”
“What about Andrew and your dad?” I didn’t mention his mom because I recognized when a professional touch was needed.
“The situation is fucked, but I haven’t seen my dad since the night I told you.
I hope he gave up and went back to Portland.
Knowing him, though, he’s plotting something.
I can’t do much about it until the court hearing other than make Andrew’s life as epic as possible living with a college hockey player and his buddies. ”
“Don’t forget Boo and Sunny.”
“Oh I wasn’t. They’re the main reason his life is epic. I also think Kenzie has been baking him cookies, but she refuses to admit it even when the house smells like baked peanut butter. Adding you to his life only makes it better. What do you say?”
I let out a watery laugh. “I’m not going to tell you to fuck off, hot shot, but I don’t think things are going to be that easy.”
“What if we let them be that easy, at least for a little while. We don’t have to deal with every future decision before we start.”
“How about just one decision,” I countered. “You can’t up and leave when you get upset. You stay, and we communicate—work through things together instead of giving up.”
“Done,” Mase said. “I’m sorry I was an ass before. I told myself I left because I wanted to protect you, but the truth was I got scared. It’s hard to think of my mom as a complex person who made mistakes. Especially now that there’s nothing I can do about it. I’m so tired of everything being hard.”
He didn’t want pity, but my heart cracked all the same.
In the end, he was right. We didn’t need to tackle all of our problems right away.
Both of us had lived difficult lives and done our best, but my way of dealing—handle all the things at once—didn’t work for him.
He needed to prioritize the things he could actually control.
I snorted, trying to lighten the mood. “I could use a little hard right now.”
His tone deepened. “Come to the game. You’ll get plenty of hard after.”
My lower belly clenched as heat flooded my system.
I knew from experience Mase would deliver, but his request was going to be our first test of sticking.
He’d never invited me before, and I sensed from his stillness he was bracing for rejection.
Unfortunately, I was going to fulfill his worst fear. Again.
I’d never regretted the popularity of my channel before, but right at that moment, I wanted to be a nobody. Then I could cancel and go to his game like a normal girlfriend or whatever. Put on the jersey. Scream my face off. Jump him in the locker room after.
The reality of the situation was a little hazy, but my imagination had no problem filling in the gaps of my knowledge.
But I couldn’t.
I had thousands of people expecting me to log on for a joint stream with another gamer who was supposed to go to the tournament but backed out. Valor had set it up through one of their representatives. They were using us for promo, hoping it would increase the hype and sell more tickets.
“I can’t. I have to work…”
Pain flashed across his face for a second before he hid it behind his usual neutral expression. I kept talking before he could jump to the wrong conclusion.
“But you could come over after. We can ignore the rest of the world for a while. I should be done close to when the game ends.”
He licked his lips and nodded, fire blazing in his eyes once again. “I’ll be there.”