19. Mason
CHAPTER NINETEEN
Mason
The movie was playing. I knew that much.
Something black and white flickered across the screen, the sound of old-timey music and hushed dialogue filling the outdoor theater.
The crowd was settled into lawn chairs and picnic blankets, tucked under string lights that stretched across the grassy lot. It was the perfect night for a movie under the stars.
But I couldn’t watch it. I couldn’t take my damn eyes off her .
Aurora sat a few feet away, perched on a blanket next to Lila, looking like something straight out of a dream.
That dress—midnight blue, soft, silky—hugged her curves in a way that made my blood run hot.
The way it draped over her legs, teasing just enough skin through the slit.
Shit.
I had to clench my fists against my thighs to keep from reaching for her.
But it wasn’t just the dress. It was the way she carried herself tonight.
She looked confident. Stunning.
Like she finally saw herself the way we saw her.
And I wasn’t the only one who’d noticed. I caught more than one guy glancing her way, some subtle, some not.
It made something sharp twist in my gut.
I wasn’t usually the jealous type, but tonight? I wanted to stake my damn claim.
Aurora laughed at something Lila whispered to her, her lips curling into a soft, amused smile.
And fuck, I felt it—low in my stomach, deep in my chest.
The worst part?
I knew Owen and Ethan felt it too.
Owen sat next to her, his arm stretched out beside her like it was nothing.
But I knew that look in his eyes, like he was barely holding himself back.
And Ethan?
He was leaning against a tree behind us, arms crossed, jaw tight, eyes glued to Aurora like he was trying to figure out what the hell to do with all the feelings bottled up inside him.
Join the club, man.
Lila suddenly stood, stretching. “I’m gonna grab some more popcorn. Aurora, wanna come?”
Aurora hesitated, her fingers curling in the hem of her dress. “Oh, um…”
Before she could finish, Colt appeared out of nowhere, flashing his easygoing grin.
“I got it, ladies. Stay put, enjoy the show.”
Lila smirked. “You just want an excuse to flirt with the popcorn girl.”
Colt pressed a hand to his chest, feigning offense. “You wound me.”
Then, with a wink, he disappeared toward the snack stand.
Lila sat back down, nudging Aurora. “See? There are some benefits to multiple Medford men!”
Aurora smiled, tucking a piece of hair behind her ear.
God, she was beautiful.
And then, as if she could feel me looking, her gaze flickered toward me.
My breath stalled.
For a second, everything else faded. The murmuring crowd, the movie, the world. It was just us.
And then she quickly looked away, shifting like she was nervous.
Like she didn’t know what to do with the pull between us.
I sure as hell didn’t.
Owen suddenly shifted next to her, his voice low. “You cold?”
Aurora blinked, glancing down at her arms like she only now realized she’d been rubbing them. “A little.”
Before I could even think, I was shrugging off my jacket and leaning over, draping it around her shoulders before Owen could make a move.
Aurora looked up at me, eyes wide. “Mason.”
I swallowed hard, holding her gaze. “Can’t have you freezing out here.”
She hesitated, then slowly pulled it tighter around herself.
It was too big on her, swallowing her frame, but seeing her in my jacket did something to me. Something primal, possessive.
Ethan exhaled sharply from behind me. Owen just smirked, shaking his head.
But Aurora.
Aurora dropped her gaze to the blanket, her fingers curling into the worn leather of my jacket, like she was trying to ground herself.
Yeah. I knew the feeling.
This thing between us?
It was getting dangerous.
The movie faded into the background as the buzz of conversation grew louder around us.
The faint scent of popcorn, a mix of warm vanilla and butter, drifted on the evening air, but none of it could pull my attention away from Aurora.
The closer we got to the end of the film, the more restless I felt.
I couldn’t focus on anything.
My mind kept circling back to her, her smile, the way she looked in my jacket. Hell, just the way she breathed.
Ethan, Owen, and I were all on edge, all of us trying to play it cool, but it was impossible. I could feel the tension in the air like static, and I knew they felt it too.
The three of us might as well have been sitting in a pressure cooker.
As the last credits rolled across the screen, people started to gather their things, but no one was in a rush to leave.
There was something magnetic in the air, the hum of energy that kept us all rooted.
The night was still too young, and everyone was hanging on to the last few moments of the evening.
I looked over at Aurora. She was standing now, folding her blanket.
“Hey, you headed out for a drink?” I asked, the words tumbling out before I could second-guess myself.
She turned to face me, the soft glow of the string lights catching her eyes.
“I don’t know.” she said, biting her lip as though she was weighing her options.
There was a pause, the briefest moment where the silence stretched between us. It was a quiet invitation, unspoken, but clear.
She was hesitating, not sure if it was the right move, but I saw the uncertainty in her eyes.
Before she could respond, I added, “You can always come for a drink at my place. It isn’t far.”
Ethan, who had been hanging back, spoke up suddenly, his voice rough. “Yeah, I could go for a drink.”
Aurora shot him a quick glance, then Owen too.
“Come on,” I said, my voice softer now, just for her. “Let’s get out of here. Get some fresh air, maybe unwind a little. It'll be good.”
She hesitated, glancing at the others, but then she took a deep breath and nodded.
“Alright,” she said, her voice low, but there was a spark in her eyes, a flicker of something that had my heart racing.
I turned to Owen and Ethan. “You guys coming?”
Ethan shot me a glance, eyes sharp. “Yeah, sure.”
Owen just nodded, standing slowly, like he’d been waiting for the moment all evening long.
We walked toward my car in silence, but it wasn’t a comfortable kind of silence.
Aurora walked a little ahead, heels clicking against the pavement, but it didn’t escape me that she wasn’t in a rush to get to the car.
She was taking her time. And I was letting her.
When we reached the vehicle, I opened the passenger side door for her, the motion slow, deliberate.
Aurora looked up at me for a moment, those eyes of hers searching mine, a flicker of uncertainty before she climbed into the seat.
Ethan slid in behind her with Owen following shortly after, all of us taking our positions in a carefully calculated dance.
The drive to my place was short, the familiar streets of Medford winding past us as the music on the radio played quietly, nothing more than a backdrop to the thoughts swirling in my head.
The air was heavy.
My grip on the wheel was tighter than usual, my mind racing with what was coming next.
Aurora was so close now.
We might have been in this position before, but at the time, none of us knew what was going to happen and how it was going to feel.
We did now. And that made things so much more intense.