CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX
MASON
I let go of her too fast.
I knew it the second I stepped back.
Rowan looked at me for half a second longer than normal, like she noticed it too.
Fuck.
Someone yelled near the bar. Music kept going. The rooftop was still packed.
But now everything felt weird.
“You good?” I asked.
Terrible question.
She blinked once. “You ask that a lot for someone emotionally constipated.”
I stared at her.
Then, somehow, I laughed.
Actually laughed.
Small. Quick. Still real.
Her eyebrows lifted immediately like she wasn’t expecting it either.
“Wow,” she said. “You can do it.”
“Shut up.”
“There he is.”
And there it was again.
That easier feeling from earlier.
Dangerous as hell.
ROWAN
Mason laughing should not have affected me that much.
But he always looked so controlled that seeing something real slip out of him felt unfairly attractive.
Which was annoying.
Very annoying.
“You almost dropped me,” I said.
“I literally caught you.”
“Then you nearly launched me backward trying to let go.”
“That part’s fair.”
I crossed my arms, trying not to smile.
Didn’t fully work.
Mason noticed.
Obviously.
“You’re smiling.”
“No I’m not.”
“Terrible liar.”
“You’ve said that like six times tonight.”
“Because you keep lying.”
I rolled my eyes, but honestly?
This was the least tense we’d been in weeks.
Not relaxed.
Still weird underneath.
But easier.
At least until someone shoved between us trying to get past.
Mason’s hand hit my waist again automatically to move me aside.
Quick.
Natural.
Neither of us reacted this time.
Which honestly felt worse somehow.
MASON
Okay.
That was becoming a problem.
Because touching her was starting to feel too normal too fast.
Rowan looked up at me immediately after like she was thinking the exact same thing.
Then she glanced away first.
Good.
Because if she kept looking at me like that tonight, I was eventually going to say something stupid.
Jace appeared out of nowhere with two drinks.
“Oh good,” he said. “You guys look slightly less divorced now.”
Rowan choked on her laugh.
I grabbed one of the drinks from him. “Go away.”
“No, seriously, this is huge progress. Earlier you looked ready to kill each other.”
“We still might,” Rowan said.
“Sexual tension,” Jace replied immediately.
“Jesus Christ,” I muttered.
Rowan looked like she wanted the rooftop to collapse.
Which honestly made it harder not to laugh again.
ROWAN
Jace was impossible.
“You know,” he continued, completely uninvited, “everyone’s taking bets.”
I frowned. “On what?”
“Whether you two hook up or murder each other first.”
Mason nearly inhaled his drink wrong.
I stared at Jace. “That’s not a real thing.”
“Oh, it absolutely is.”
“Tell me you’re lying.”
“I’d love to. I’d also love money.”
Mason dragged a hand down his face. “You’re embarrassing.”
“And yet I’m still the emotionally healthiest person here.”
“That is deeply concerning,” I said.
“Thank you.”
Then Jace’s attention shifted somewhere behind us.
His grin widened instantly.
“Oh, now this is getting interesting.”
LUCA
Tessa had been making out with me for the last ten minutes against a wall near the elevators.
Which, honestly, solid night.
Then she pulled back slightly and looked over my shoulder.
“Your friends are disasters,” she said.
I glanced over.
Basketball guy and Rowan were standing way too close again.
Neither touching.
Still somehow more intense than half the hookups here.
“Yeah,” I said. “They’re doing whatever the fuck that is.”
Tessa snorted.
“I could fix both of them in like two hours.”
“No you couldn’t.”
“No, probably not.”
Then she kissed me again.
ROWAN
I made the mistake of looking over.
Luca had Tessa pressed against the wall near the elevator doors.
Very openly.
Very publicly.
No hesitation. No weird emotional staring contests. No overthinking.
Just hands and kissing and bad decisions.
I looked away immediately.
Unfortunately, Mason noticed.
“You okay?” he asked again.
I groaned. “Stop asking me that.”
“You keep looking stressed.”
“I just watched your friend practically eat someone’s face.”
“That’s actually pretty normal for Luca.”
“That explains so much.”
Mason smirked a little into his drink.
And wow.
That should honestly be illegal.
MASON
She was looking at my mouth again.
Tiny glance. Still noticed.
I shouldn’t have noticed.
But Rowan always did that when she got distracted or caught off guard.
And now I knew it.
Which meant I started noticing it constantly.
Bad idea.
Very bad idea.
“You’re staring now,” she said quietly.
“Your fault.”
“That makes no sense.”
“Most things involving you don’t lately.”
There.
That was too honest again.
Rowan went quiet for a second.
Not awkward.
Just thinking.
Then she stepped slightly closer so she could hear me over the music.
Except now she was standing close enough that I could smell her perfume again.
Fuck my life.
ROWAN
This was getting bad.
Like genuinely bad.
Not because of anything huge.
Because of small things.
The way Mason looked at me before answering now.
The way he kept touching me without thinking.
The fact that every conversation somehow turned into something loaded even when we were joking.
And the worst part?
I liked this version of him.
The less controlled one.
Which felt like a terrible decision already.
“You know what your problem is?” I asked.
Mason sighed. “Apparently I have several.”
“You act like you don’t want people close to you, then get weird when they are.”
His eyes stayed on mine.
“Maybe I just don’t like the wrong people close to you.”
Oh.
Okay.
That one hit immediately.
And judging by the look on Mason’s face right after he said it—
he knew it too.