Chapter 20
I’m waiting for a sign
“Mason Pierce, what are you waiting for? Why haven’t you asked my best friend out by now?” Paige asked as I entered the kitchen a week later. She was busy baking something while my brother was doing his homework, sitting at the table.
“Hello to you too, babe,” I told my brother’s girlfriend, sneaking up behind her and dipping my finger into the chocolaty batter she was stirring with a whip.
She slapped my hand away. “You know the rules, Mase. No touching and no tasting before the final product is ready and served.”
I made a show of licking and sucking on my digit.
Paige spun around and pushed me back with both hands. “Gross.” She folded her arms across her chest. “Answer the question. Now.”
I mimicked her stance. “No. First, it doesn’t concern you, and second, you’re gonna babble everything I say to her. No thank you.” I knew she wouldn’t, but I liked to mess with her. Just like my brother, Paige was fun to rile up.
“I won’t say a thing, I swear.”
“Not even under girls’ code or sleepover-hair-braiding confession or shit like that?”
She fake-zipped her lips with her thumb and forefinger.
I snorted. “What about nail-polish-and-facemask-night promises? Or naked-pillow-fight and truth-or-dare nights?”
“First, you’re a pig. And second, those do not even exist.”
“Are you really really sure?”
“Yes. Don’t change the topic.”
“It’s just… I’m not okay knowing all my fantasies aren’t real,” I argued.
From his seat at the table, my brother chimed in. “FYI, I wish all of these existed too. All those stupid teen movies have been lying to us.”
Paige shook her head with so much velocity it could have detached from her neck. “Not you too. Don’t side with Mase on this one.”
He lifted his hands in surrender. “All right, I’ll stay out of it.”
He and Paige exchanged smiles and stupid love-filled gazes, and I sighed. “You two, get a room. I’m serious, this is a kitchen, not a motel. Take your PDA somewhere else.”
“Relax, we’re not even touching.” Craig met my eyes with a funny expression.
“In your case, I think it’s even worse. I can feel your sappy love spiraling all around me. I don’t need to get caught in your web of love tentacles.”
Paige failed at hiding the curl of her lips. “Mase, stay away from poetry and focus on football instead. Better yet, you could become an author of Valentine’s Day cards if one day you need to reorient your career.”
“Everyone needs to stop meddling in my life and pushing me to reorient my future. Geez, are you all in on this?” I swept my gaze back and forth between my brother and his girlfriend.
Craig shook his head. “I swear I have no idea what it’s all about.”
“Me neither,” Paige added.
“Something Mom said the other night. It doesn’t matter anyway. The point of this conversation is to let you know you can bang in a bed upstairs instead of eye-fucking each other when I’m around. I’m younger than you guys. You should protect my innocence.”
Paige snorted.
Craig made a gagging sound and returned to his schoolwork. “I’m done with this conversation.”
Page watched him for a few seconds and then brought her attention back to me. “I’m your friend too, Mase. I can be impartial. You need to tell me what’s going on between you and Mel.”
“No. As I said, I don’t.”
“She’s my best friend. I don’t want you to mislead her.”
“I am not. And I would never do. See? We’re on the same team, you and I.”
“Stop stalling. Be honest with me. The three of you, Craig included, always confide in me, and I keep it all to myself. Your secrets are safe with me.”
I sighed. “Maybe.” I failed at holding back the smile threatening to form on my lips. “Okay, fine.” I pulled her under my arm. “You know I trust you… It’s just...”
“Just what?”
“First, let me ask you a question.” I raked my fingers through my hair. “Do you feel like there’s something off with Mel lately?”
“Like what?”
“We are spending more time together these days, and I don’t know… It’s like a hunch. Hard to explain.”
“I know she’s stressed about college and stuff.
Her surgery killed her spirits, and now she’s obsessed with her training.
She said she felt bloated for the longest time and that her body wouldn’t cooperate when she swam.
I think she’s back to normal now. She finished first three times at her last meet.
She’s not behind at all. Sometimes, Mel needs to process things in her head, but it doesn’t usually last long. ”
“Okay then. Anyway, I’m not asking her out because I’m not sure we’re there yet. I don’t want to screw it up with her. Some days, I’m convinced I’m not good enough to be with a girl like her.”
“Mase, why do you think you would screw it up? And since when do you doubt yourself? It’s out of character for you.”
I shrugged. “I have my moments. Anyway, in the past few days, every time the mood was right and we almost kissed, we were interrupted. I believe in the universe and timing shit. Maybe our time isn’t now now, so I’m holding back. I’m waiting for a sign.”
“Oh…huh…okay.”
“Why? Did she tell you something?”
“Nah. Just that you guys are friends and she likes spending time with you and she doesn’t want to rush it either.”
“Do you think she likes…huh…that she likes likes me?”
“I do. Give her some time, though. Like you said, maybe wait for a sign. She hasn’t been with anyone before. It can be intimidating to date a guy like you, Mase.”
“Why?” I offered her my cockiest smile. “Because I’m good-looking and I have special skills on the field?” Why was the cocksure side of my persona always making an appearance when I was crippled with doubts?
Paige tapped my chest. “Keep believing that. When you’re ready to drop the smug act, let me know. We’ll assess your dating history and start there.”
Like I wanted Paige to throw my past hookups in my face. Hard pass. “Sure.” I turned toward my brother. “What’s for dinner?”
“No idea. Paige’s parents invited us over. You’ll have to be a grownup and make your own food. Mom and Dad are having drinks with friends and won’t be home for a while.”
Melinda and Chase were both working tonight, and I didn’t feel like entertaining Sheldon or having any of the guys on the team over.
My phone pinged with a text just when I entered my bedroom after I left the lovebirds to their business downstairs.
Jackson
Party. Johnny Wilson’s. Eight pm. Bring your ass.
I had nothing better to do, so I texted him back.
Me
Count me in. Later
Johnny Wilson was a senior mostly known for his ragers and his stoned ways. The guy was high twenty-four-seven. The rumor mill even said he woke up in the middle of the night to smoke a blunt so the buzz would never fade.
It was a little over eight thirty when I turned into his street.
There were so many cars that I had to park two blocks down his house.
I had no idea how Johnny could throw these parties without any of his neighbors complaining.
It was like his place was a frat house. His father was some sort of CEO for a medicinal pot company, and his mother was never around, traveling the globe for a foundation dedicated to African elephants or something like that.
The house was a revolving door of people staying over and moving out soon after.
“Masssssse,” Johnny said when I climbed the three steps leading to his front porch. We exchanged a handshake and a bro hug. “What’s going on, superstar?”
Anyone else calling me that would usually receive one of my retorts, but for some reason, I didn’t care when it came from him. Johnny Wilson was harmless and the kind of person nobody could ever get angry at.
“You know, the usual.”
“In that case, enjoy. Come see me if you need a”—he made a smoking-a-joint gesture with his hand—“and I’ll hook you up.”
“You know I don’t smoke that crap, man. No offense.”
“None taken. By the way, I wouldn’t have given it to you even if you had asked. No reason to spoil such talent.”
“Thanks.” I clapped his shoulder and made my way inside. The place was cramped. I couldn’t take two steps forward without brushing elbows with other people.
“Pierce Junior, over here,” Rusty screamed, waving an arm over his head. I spotted the sucker’s face in the crowd and made my way to him.
A hand sporting red-manicured nails wrapped around my left biceps. “Mase, you made it.”
Another girl walked up to me, kissing my jaw. “I thought you’d be a no-show tonight.”
More girls joined us, and in that moment, I felt like my own clothes were too tight to house my body.
I wanted to be far away from these people.
I stepped back, bumping into a guy who complained I should watch where I was going, and lifted my hands before me.
“Not in the mood, okay,” I said to all five pairs of expectant eyes.
I scratched the back of my neck, trying to grow some kind of bubble around me.
As if they could read the situation, two of my teammates neared us and flanked me on each side, fending off two more girls walking toward me.
“Thanks,” I muttered. We reached Rusty and Sheldon, busy playing poker, and I grabbed a drink, slouching in the empty chair near the table.
“Fuck. I forgot how Johnny’s parties got.
It’s like every teenager in a fifty-mile radius has decided to show up tonight. ”
“There’s a hockey game on TV, and the bets are high. Don’t go into the basement unless you’re ready to throw in two grand.”
I choked on my drink. “Two grand? Where are those fuckers getting that kind of money to bet on a hockey game?”
Rusty shook his head. “You don’t wanna know, man. I swear. Last month, a guy from Cowley High left this place ten grand richer.”
“I’ll bet on my football career instead. Seems like a surer way to get that kind of pocket change.”
“Wanna play?” a guy I recognized from my biology class asked.
I usually partook in low-stakes poker games with my friends.
“Nah, thanks. Not feeling much of a gambler tonight. I’m good sitting this one out and watching.”