9. Mason
MASON
“How was Mayberry?” Zoey asks when I walk into the bar only an hour after I made it back to town from dropping Lizzy off.
“Mayberry? It’s Star Falls.”
She chuckles as she leans her hip against the bar, crossing her arms. “Old-people reference. Never mind. How was it?”
“Cute.”
“You could live there cute?” She raises an eyebrow, staring at me.
“Haven’t you been? Hunter is from there.”
“Nope.”
“You’re missing out. They have the most beautiful waterfalls. But no, not cute enough to make me want to move away.”
“Not even for Lizzy?”
I suck in air between my teeth as I rub the back of my neck. “I don’t know. I need to get my head on straight. Would you move there for Hunter if he asked?”
Her lips twist as she thinks about the question. It’s not an easy one to answer for me, but I’m not the one getting married. “Maybe. Not when we first met, but now, yeah, probably.”
“You’d be miserable.”
“I can find joy wherever I am.”
“You’d really move that far away from the family?”
She sighs. “Probably not. I can’t imagine not being here and seeing everyone all the time. Speaking of which, back corner booth is waiting for you.”
I turn toward the booth, but I already know who’s there. Amelia waves at me like somehow I’d miss her in the crowd. Nino’s at her side, along with Lulu, Tate, Brax, and their spouses. “Fuckin’ great,” I mutter.
“Everyone wants to hear how it went.”
“It was a twenty-four-hour road trip.”
“With Lizzy. Did you guys…” She waggles her eyebrows.
“No, and even if we did, I’m not talking about it with you.”
“Party pooper,” she whispers and places her hand on my shoulder. “I’m proud of you, though. Maybe you really are in this for the right reasons.”
“I told you I am.”
“You’ve said a lot of things you don’t mean in the past, cousin. But for the first time, I believe you mean it.”
“Would you be my cousin and my sister-in-law?”
Her eyebrows furrow, and I know I’ve just made her head explode. “I don’t have the brain power for that right now. The bar’s too crowded. I have work to do, and as soon as you’re done with those weirdos, you do too.”
I lift my hands and back away, needing to get the talk over with my nosy-ass family. “Five minutes, and you’ve got me all night.”
As I approach the booth, every set of eyes is on me. I wonder if they did a group chat on the side to plan their meeting here to discuss my love life. They’re weird enough to do that.
Amelia sits up straighter as I get closer. “How was it? Are you two a thing now?” She’s overly excited, but that’s nothing new for my cousin.
She’s said she’s living vicariously through us until she finds a man to sweep her off her feet.
I’m honestly shocked it hasn’t happened yet because she’s a good one.
She’s sweet, kind, beautiful, and although sometimes she can be a bit annoying because she’s a people pleaser, it’s coming from a good place.
I stand at the end of the table, feeling like I’m about to give a presentation instead of greeting my family. “Not a thing yet, and it was good.”
“ Good good or good?” my sister asks.
I stare at her, tilting my head. “What the hell is the difference?”
“If we need to explain that to you, then you have more problems than we imagined,” Nino answers with a smirk. Asshole.
“It was good, and beyond that, I’m not telling you shit.”
“The truck work okay?” Oliver asks, not caring about the gossip when it comes to my love life.
“Yeah. It’s a beast. Thanks for that and taking care of her car.” I broke every speed limit on the way home, testing the boundaries of the hemi engine with more horsepower than I’ve ever had in my entire life.
“Shame,” he says with his arm slung around Lulu’s shoulders. “Her car’s a total loss.”
It sucks for Lizzy too. It was only a year old, and now she needs to buy another one.
“That sucks so bad,” Amelia says. “When does she come back?”
“She’ll be back for the bachelorette party next weekend and then the wedding,” I tell her.
Amelia smacks her forehead. “How could I forget that?”
“I got shit to do,” I tell the entire table. “I don’t have time to answer more questions right now.”
“Does that mean you will later?” my sister Tate asks.
I shake my head. “Not a chance.”
“You’re really boring,” she tells me.
“Later,” I say, tapping my finger once on the table before striding away.
As soon as I’m back behind the bar, I pull out my phone and check my messages.
Lizzy: Thanks for everything. I had a great time.
I can’t stop a smile from spreading across my face as I read her words. I quickly type out a reply so she doesn’t think I’m ghosting her.
Me: Me too. Do you need a ride back on Friday?
Her reply is almost instant.
Lizzy: No, I’m going to fly.
Me: Tell me when your flight gets in, and I’ll pick you up.
Lizzy: Six at Midway.
Me: I’ll be there. Send me the list of everything I need to get for my bedroom too.
The sooner I get everything and redo both bedrooms at my place, the sooner she’ll start staying with me. The goal is to have her in my bed, not the guest room, but I’ll work up to that for as long as I need to to make her comfortable—and make her mine.
“What are you smiling about?” Zoey asks, trying to look at my phone screen, but I quickly switch it off and jam it back into my pocket.
“Nothing,” I mumble and walk away, heading toward a group of new customers at the other end of the bar.
A six-hour road trip isn’t how I like to spend my day before coming in to work the closing shift, but the exhaustion will be worth it. The last twenty-four hours were better than I could’ve ever imagined.
At eleven, the door opens, and my parents walk in. I blink a few times, wondering if I’m seeing shit because this is late for them to be out. Mom waves, always excited to see me because I’m her favorite. Or at least I think I am, but Tate swears she’s the chosen child.
“What are you two doing here?” I ask as they slide onto stools across the bar from me.
“We went to a movie and thought it would be nice to stop by for a drink,” Dad answers as he places his hand over Mom’s.
For two old people, they’re still always touching each other like their relationship is new. They’re couple goals for me. If they’re this in love now, I can’t imagine what they were like when they first started dating.
“It’s late, though,” I reply, resting my hands on the edge of the bar. “Like, way late.”
Mom chuckles. “I do stay up sometimes, especially since I’ve cut back on my hours at the bakery. Amelia’s been taking more and more shifts. Her baking skills are becoming quite good.”
Amelia has the perfect attitude for my mom’s shop. She’s like a little ray of sunshine, just like my mom, but I wouldn’t expect anything different because her parents are great people too.
“I’m glad to hear that, Mom. You deserve a break.”
“Within the next year, I plan to retire completely and enjoy life a little. I just need to get Amelia prepared to fully step into my shoes.”
I rock backward at the revelation. “What? Really?” Mom hasn’t said a thing to me about retiring. I don’t know why, but I still think of her as young. She’s barely aged since I was a little kid and has a lot of years left to live.
Mom turns to Dad and smiles. “We want to spend the rest of our lives having more fun and traveling. You kids are all grown, and now it’s our time to enjoy life a little more than we were able to.”
Dad leans forward, brushing his lips against her cheek. “Whatever you want, you get.”
Mom gives her attention back to me. “Mix me a martini, sweetie.”
I stare at her with my mouth hanging open.
“Don’t look so shocked. I do drink.”
“But you usually have a glass of wine.”
“I’m in my vodka era now. I want an espresso martini.”
“It’s eleven.”
“And?” she asks with a pointed stare.
“The caffeine.”
“Get the woman the martini, bud,” Dad says. “We’re not going to bed anytime soon.”
Mom smirks as she looks over at him, and I damn near throw up all the contents of my stomach. “Stop. I don’t want to know what you two are doing at all.”
“Then make the drink and go back to work,” Dad orders. “You wouldn’t question any other customer, don’t question the previous owner.”
“Damn,” I mutter and shake my head. “Got it. What do you want?”
“A beer. Whatever’s on tap.”
“Mom and Pop letting their hair down. Wild shit,” I say before walking away from them.
“They’re so cute,” Zoey says to me, watching my parents from the other end of the bar.
“Mom wants an espresso martini.”
Zoey’s eyebrows rise. “At this hour?”
“I said the same thing, but Dad told me to zip it because they aren’t going to sleep for hours.”
Zoey sucks her lips into her mouth and giggles.
I point at her and glare. “Don’t say it.”
“They’re gettin’ freaky,” she sings.
I groan. “I don’t want to picture them having sex.”
“How do you think you got here?” she asks me.
“Stop. Make the martini for her, please.” Zoey makes the best martinis in the bar. Mine are always too heavy on the vodka and not enough on the other flavors.
“I hope I’m still having sex at their age,” Zoey says as she grabs a martini glass from behind the bar.
“Stop talking,” I tell her. “Old people don’t have sex.”
She laughs again. “They clearly do.” She dips her head toward my parents, who are all up on each other like a couple of horny teenagers. “And they’re not old. Do you think Grandma and Grandpa still do it?”
I nearly vomit in my mouth as I fill a pint for Dad with my favorite beer. “Jesus, Zoey. You don’t know when to stop, do you?”
She doesn’t look at me as she makes Mom’s drink. “I’m asking an honest question. At what age does sex become obsolete?”
“I hope never. How awful would that be?”
“Then why wouldn’t you want our grandparents to do it?”
“Because they’re our grandparents,” I grumble as I take the martini from her hand. “I don’t need the mental image.”
“It’s pretty grim.”
I leave her and her crappy questions behind. “Here we go.” I set down their two drinks. “Anything else?”
“Nope, son. We’re good,” Dad says, holding Mom’s hand.
“Thanks, sweetie. We won’t need anything else. We have everything we need right here.” She has a love-sick look on her face that makes me happy and nauseated at the same time.
I spend the next hour ignoring my parents as they make a spectacle of themselves at the bar.
Regulars stop by to talk, missing my parents around as often as they were when they owned the place.
My dad was known for his solid advice, living through some awful shit, which gave him a unique perspective.
When I finally get a break after midnight, I check my phone again.
Lizzy: I’m headed to bed. Text me in the morning. xoxo
Long-distance is shit. We’re not even dating, and I hate everything about it.
Yesterday was amazing. There wasn’t a moment of the day I didn’t like, and now, everything seems so hollow and bland.
All I have to look forward to for the next few days are some text messages and maybe a phone call or two.
Luckily, the bar will keep me busy, and if I have time, I’ll also get the bedroom finished. Maybe I can tempt her here to stay if I play my cards right.