14. Mason
Chapter fourteen
I attached my signed acceptance letter to the email before sending it to Carmen to start the settlement process.
For some reason, when I walked through the place with Callie, everything she said was so easy to visualise.
It didn’t work with any other house I’d looked through cos no one was there to paint an actual picture of what it would be like to live in.
Beth offered design advice, Mum would comment on the decent-sized bedrooms, Dad and Caleb would praise the location, but Callie put life into it.
When she talked about sitting on the front porch and watching kids play, family gathering around the fire and the dinner table, and the porch swing—she filled every empty space.
My phone lights up beside me with a reminder that it’s time to leave. There’s a club opening tonight, which Beth and I are attending, along with her best friend, Tenley. Months ago, I would have been itching to go to something like this, but lately the appeal is gone.
My thirtieth birthday’s coming up. Maybe this is just a natural part of getting older. I still crave the company, but just at a slower pace, a more intimate one.
I grab the keys for my Bugatti on my way out, then take the private elevator to the underground car park.
I’ve loved living by the marina. With uninterrupted views of the ocean, I can even see my catamaran where it’s docked from the terrace off my lounge room.
There’s one bedroom, one sink in the bathroom, one big open wardrobe…
all clear signs of a bachelor. It was perfect once, but now it’s quiet. Lonely.
I take my time pulling out, deciding to go the scenic route that passes along the ocean rather than taking the inroads that lead straight to the city centre.
The sun has already gone down, but the path along here leads straight back to the marina boardwalk that’s full of restaurants, bars, and arcades, as well as the aquarium, which is always open late on Friday nights.
Bright lights, pop-up stalls, and roaming entertainers fill the place during the spring and summer months.
At first, I think my mind is so consumed with thoughts of her that I don’t recognise Callie until I’ve passed her. I quickly glance back, certain it’s her, then hook around when I reach the next roundabout.
I spot her again pushing a pram, just as a car pulls out of a parking space up ahead. I pull in, keeping one eye on her until I can catch up.
“Callie!” I call.
She looks cute as fuck in a pair of dark green overalls and black high-top sneakers.
Her legs are completely on show, and when she turns around to face me, I see the hint of a tattoo on her thigh.
Her chestnut hair is gathered on top of her head in a loose bun.
Nothing’s changed since the first night I met her.
She always looks so beautiful, but something about this version of Callie has me under a spell.
“Mason? What are you doing here?” She swings the pram around, and inside sits a gorgeous little girl. She’s sitting up, looking curiously at me with big, blue eyes that match her mum’s and the same soft brown hair.
“I was on my way out. I live around here. You?”
“We came to get a cookie. Well, I came for the cookie, Navie came because she hasn’t learnt the word ‘no’ yet and doesn’t know how to refuse my ideas.”
I chuckle as I step closer to them. “Your mum bosses you around too?” I say to Navie. “You and I should stick together, Blue.” I hold my fist up to her, not expecting her to actually bump it, and definitely not expecting her to lean in and leave an open-mouthed kiss all over my knuckles.
“Ohh, sorry about that.” Callie reaches under the pram into a bag and pulls out a wipe. “She’s just learnt how to do kisses.”
Callie grabs my hand, wiping the drool away. Her warm, soft palm is pressed against mine, making my stomach tighten and fizzle all at once.
She pulls away before I’m ready, and I’m left staring at my hand, half expecting a mark to be left behind.
“I remember something from your calendar for tonight. Somewhere with an odd name?”
“And Gigs. It’s a new club for live music events.” I look up and down the street. Every bay is full, and people crowd the footpath. “Do you live nearby?”
“No, we’re about a twenty-minute drive from here, but I managed to get a parking spot at the end of the street.”
It’s already dark, the light around us coming from the street lamps and festoon lights strung overhead. I don’t like the idea of her and Navie walking alone once they’re ready to leave.
“Are you just getting the cookie, or are you meeting a friend or something?”
“Just the cookie. There’s a mini food truck at the end of the boardwalk, closer to the marina. I’ve been making my way through their menu since I moved here.”
“I’ve got time. I’ll walk with you guys.”
She pins her blue eyes on me, full of playful tease. “Are you sure being seen with a single mum won’t ruin your street cred?”
“Where’s the fun in doing what people expect?” I smile.
She stares at me, trying to figure out my motives, and I wish I could explain them, but it’s nothing more complicated than the fact that walking around with her and her daughter sounds more appealing right now than going to a fancy club opening.
“You are unexpected,” she says with a disbelieving laugh, turning the pram around as we head towards the boardwalk.
Our arms keep brushing as the crowd pushes us together. The first time surprised me, and then it made my heart jump. By the third time, I kinda kept wanting it to happen. I wanted to chase that spark on my skin.
“I have some exciting news,” I say, once we reach the main part of the boardwalk. “I put an offer on the house we saw the other day, and this morning the owners accepted it.”
Callie gasps, causing Navie’s head to snap back, curious about what garnered her mother’s attention. “How exciting. Mason, I’m so happy for you.”
“Thanks.” My chest fills with pride, her approval earning a strange sense of achievement in me. “I was also wondering if you wanted to help out with the build.”
“Of course. Anything you need me to do.”
“Not like admin stuff in the office.” I shake my head. “I was thinking maybe you’d like me to teach you some of the demo and building stuff. You said you like learning new things.”
“Like I’d get to throw a sledgehammer through a wall?” Her eyes light up, and her bright smile is unstoppable.
“Yeah.” I smile back. “Safely, of course.”
“You’d really teach me some things?” she asks, softer now.
“If you want.”
She looks ahead, and a subtle blush covers her cheeks. “I would.”
I hope no one’s coming my way, because in this moment, I can’t take my eyes off Callie. I know I can’t be looking at her like this, but I can’t seem to make it stop.
I’ve never had feelings like this before, actively squashing them down whenever they threatened to surface. Even with my high school girlfriend, it was never like this, like a cadence of anticipation building with every smile, every touch, every minute leading up to when I see her next.
When I first overheard Christie telling her friends how good her life would be as Mason Heart’s girlfriend, I scoffed.
It didn’t hit me square in the chest until I took the time to notice just how much she was using my name and my family’s connections to benefit herself.
I pulled away, hating how used I felt. I don’t know why I kept dating her for a few months beyond that, but after she realised I’d grown disinterested, she told me to go fuck myself, that it wasn’t like I was anything special.
I was hot and rich, and anyone claiming they saw past that was lying.
So, I made sure that’s all I’d ever be and never wanted more.
That was all going fine until something about Callie made it impossible to switch it off.
I don’t even know what I feel, what I want. I just know something happens inside me that both settles and invigorates when she’s around. And I keep wanting her around.
“Are you getting something?”
Sick? Most certainly. “Ahh, what?”
“Are you getting a cookie?” she asks, and that’s when I notice we’ve come to a stop in front of a tiny, vintage-style camper.
The whole thing’s painted in a red-and-pink checkered pattern, and a panel on the side is open, with a display case running along the width of the van, full of assorted cookies, from standard choc chip and red velvet to more elaborate flavours like caramel pretzel crunch and apple pie.
“What do you recommend?” I ask.
“I’ve been making my way through the flavours, but I only get the vegan ones.”
“You’re vegan?” Why didn’t I know this before now?
She nods. “A lot of the vegan flavours come as standard flavours too. I think I’m going to get the lemon cheesecake tonight.”
“How are they gonna make cheesecake vegan?” I ask.
“Some things we don’t question, Mason. We just roll with it.”
I chuckle as I reach for my phone, pulling up my card app as I ask the woman behind the register for two vegan lemon cheesecake cookies.
“Thank you,” Callie says when I hand her her cookie. “I didn’t expect you to pay. If anything, I should pay since you accompanied me.”
We take a seat on a bench nearby that overlooks the water. Callie turns the pram around so Navie faces us as we eat.
“Considering I pay you, I’m not sure it makes a difference.”
She snorts, the sound rumbling in the back of her throat. I really like how she doesn’t filter herself around me.
I can spot a fake laugh a mile away. God, it’s annoying.
You don’t have to think I’m funny—I already know I am—but don’t pretend to be amused because you think I’ll like you more for it.
I was never seeking women out to like them.
I wanted one thing from them, the exact same thing they wanted from me.
But with Callie, I want her laughs.
I take a bite into my cookie, amazed that it’s actually pretty good. It’s thick and chewy, and lemon cream is laced through the crumb like veins, balancing out all the flavours and textures.