Boy Trouble GT

Chapter 31

[M A S O N]

Mason wasn't used to this.

This waiting. This not knowing.
This feeling like he had done something wrong.
He thought things had been fine.

Sure, Kye had always been awkward about affection, stiff and unsure when Mason leaned into him, when Mason climbed onto his lap without asking, when Mason made it so clear that he liked being close to him. But Kye had never pushed him away.

Not really.
Mason had taken that as a good sign.
That even if Kye didn't have the words for it, even if he didn't say outright that he wanted Mason near—he let it happen.

And Mason thought that meant something.
But now?
Now Mason was overthinking everything.
His mind wouldn't shut up, turning over every single moment in the past few weeks, dissecting all of it.

Had he been too much?

Had he smothered Kye without realizing?

Had he taken Kye's silence as permission when maybe—maybe—he had been uncomfortable the whole time? Mason's stomach twisted at the thought, his chest tightening with something ugly and unfamiliar.

He had never wanted to make Kye uncomfortable. Never wanted to push him into something he wasn't ready for. But Kye had never told him to stop. Never told him that it was too much. And Mason had been so sure there was something happening.

Something real.
Something shifting between them.

But apparently not.

Because Kye had locked himself in his room, and Mason had been left outside of it.

And Mason hated it.

He hated this uncertainty, this not knowing where he stood, this feeling like he had somehow ruined something without even realizing it. His heart hammered whenever he thought about Kye, about the way he had looked at him before disappearing.

Had it been regret? Had he realized that Mason was getting too close? That maybe this wasn't what he wanted at all?

Mason found himself lying awake at night, staring at the ceiling, wanting nothing more than to curl up against Kye's chest and feel that slow, steady heartbeat beneath his ear.

He wanted to ask if everything was okay. Wanted to hear Kye's voice, even if it was just a sleepy mumble telling him to shut up and go to sleep.

But Mason didn't think it would be okay. Not this time.

Not after four days of silence. The dorm felt wrong.

Mason still went through the motions—went to class, went to practice, pushed his body harder than usual to distract himself. But the weight of the silence pressed against him, an invisible hand curling around his chest, squeezing, squeezing, squeezing.

It wasn't just that Kye was hiding in his room. It was that Mason felt cut off.

Like something had been building between them, something soft and real, and then—just like that—it had been snuffed out.
Mason wanted to knock on his door.
Wanted to ask what was wrong, force him to talk about it. But he was scared of the answer.
Scared that if Kye did say something, it would be the wrong thing.
Scared that maybe Kye would tell him to stop.

So Mason had waited.

He had counted the days, aching, restless, exhausted by the not knowing.

~

Mason lay sprawled on the couch, barely paying attention to the dim glow of his phone screen. He wasn't reading the messages piling up from his teammates. He wasn't thinking about track practice, about the upcoming meet, about anything that used to feel important.