CHAPTER FORTY-TWO
MASON
My head felt like absolute crap the next morning.
Not because I was hungover.
Because Jace spent the entire drive home singing breakup songs at me like a psychopath.
“You’re being dramatic,” I told him for the fifth time.
“You looked at her like she personally invented happiness.”
“I’m gonna crash this car.”
“You’d still be in love with her while doing it.”
Jesus Christ.
I pulled into the athlete parking lot harder than necessary.
Practice started in twenty minutes.
My mood was already terrible.
Perfect.
Jace finally got out of the car still grinning like an idiot. “You know she likes you too, right?”
I slammed the door in his face.
The gym smelled like sweat, rubber, and bad decisions.
Normal morning.
Guys were already warming up when I walked in.
Coach barely looked at me. “Late.”
“It’s eight minutes.”
“It’s late.”
Fair enough.
I dropped my bag near the bench and started stretching while Luca wandered over holding two sports drinks.
“You look emotionally damaged,” he said.
“You say that every morning.”
“Yeah, but today it’s true.”
I ignored him.
Unfortunately, ignoring people had stopped working lately.
“Did Rowan get home okay?” Luca asked casually.
I looked at him immediately.
That asshole smirked.
“There he is.”
“You’re annoying.”
“You wanna know why?”
“No.”
“She texted Tessa at three in the morning asking if you got home safe too.”
Well.
That completely fucked my concentration.
ROWAN
My apartment was way too bright.
Serena was sitting cross-legged on the couch eating dry cereal straight from the box when I walked into the kitchen.
She looked up once.
Then narrowed her eyes immediately.
“Oh no.”
“What.”
“You have that face.”
I grabbed water from the fridge. “I don’t know what that means.”
“The ‘I’m emotionally screwed’ face.”
“Please stop talking.”
“That bad, huh?”
I drank half the bottle before answering.
Which honestly answered for me.
Serena’s grin got bigger. “Did you hook up?”
“No.”
“Damn.”
“Can everyone stop acting disappointed about that?”
“No,” she said. “Because the tension between you two is making people insane.”
Apparently the whole damn campus had opinions now.
Great.
I tried focusing on my laptop.
Didn’t work.
My internship application sat open on the screen untouched while my brain replayed Mason saying:
I’d rather know you got home okay.
Annoying.
Very annoying.
Serena watched me from across the counter. “You like him.”
“I tolerate him.”
“That’s not denial anymore.”
“I’m blocking you.”
“You touched his face, didn’t you?”
I froze.
That traitor immediately pointed at me. “OH MY GOD.”
“It was his jacket collar.”
“Which somehow sounds more intimate.”
Honestly?
Fair.
MASON
Practice sucked.
Not physically.
Mentally.
Coach blew the whistle hard halfway through drills. “Reed.”
I looked up.
“You planning on joining us today?”
“I’m here.”
“No, your body’s here. Your head’s somewhere else.”
A few guys glanced over immediately.
Damn it.
“I’m good,” I said.
Coach stared at me for another second. “Again.”
We reset the play.
I missed the rotation.
Again.
Coach blew the whistle so hard the entire gym went quiet.
“Locker room. Now.”
Fantastic.
The second the doors shut behind us, Coach folded his arms.
“You wanna tell me what the hell’s going on?”
“Nothing.”
“Bullshit.”
There it is.
Everyone suddenly thought they were a damn therapist.
Coach pointed toward the court. “Scouts are gonna be at the New York showcase in six weeks.”
The room got quieter immediately.
Even Luca stopped screwing around.
Coach looked right at me.
“And right now? You’re playing distracted.”
That hit harder than I wanted it to.
Because he wasn’t wrong.
ROWAN
Campus felt disgusting after parties.
Too bright. Too loud. Too many people pretending they weren’t dying.
I walked into media studies ten minutes early and immediately regretted it because apparently everyone alive wanted to talk today.
“Rowan!”
I looked up.
Mia dropped into the seat beside me with coffee in one hand and chaos in the other.
“You disappeared last night,” she said.
“That was intentional.”
“You missed rooftop fight night.”
“I saw enough.”
Then her eyes narrowed.
“Oh my God.”
“What.”
“You were with Mason Reed.”
Jesus.
“Why does everyone know everything?”
“Because Luca posted a blurry video of you two staring at each other like divorced parents.”
I physically closed my eyes.
“I hate men.”
“That’s not what the video suggested.”
“I’m leaving.”
“You literally just got here.”
Unfortunately true.
Professor Bennett walked in before I could continue embarrassing myself.
Thank God.
Except then she started talking about internship placements.
And suddenly the room got very serious.
“These placements are competitive,” she said. “Only four students will be selected for New York.”
Wait.
What?
My attention snapped up immediately.
New York.
Well.
That felt like terrible timing already.