Victoria Aspen's life just turned inside out.
She has been forced to move into the house she used to spend every summer in. It's been so long since she was welcomed back into the family and this time... they didn't really have a choice.
But thi...
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I'm suddenly wishing that that I could order this vehicle with a side of personal space. Because Mason is slightly more built than Alex, he's almost pressed up against me and I can feel the heat radiating off of him. "So," I attempt conversation once again, "You could take your bike to school?"
"I told you that it was getting work done." He snaps.
"Right, because you crashed it." I say slowly, eyes on the road. "You really don't have a good run with alcohol do you? I bet jingle bells was playing when it happened."
Okay, I'm just teasing now. But I can almost taste his annoyance and it's so satisfying.
"Yeah, I'm sure."
I look over at him, arms crossed, jaw tensed. What's his problem? He's even more sulky than usual. "What's up with you?" I ask him cautiously and he seems to relax a little. Sighs.
"Why didn't you tell me that Kasey went after you?"
The comment takes me by utter surprise. For a moment, I lose focus and have to swerve around an elderly lady who is now shaking her fist at me. "What does it matter?" I hate that all of the confidence it my voice drains faster than a kitchen sink.
It's not like it was a big deal; Kasey just had the wrong idea about us and I set her straight. Why do we have to talk about like it's more than it is?
"It just..." He exhales, running a hand through his near dry waves. Why does he look so drained about this? "Does." He concludes, shrugging as if it didn't matter to him in the slightest.
What?
Boys.
I give him a strange look and he contemplates something. Opens his mouth. Closes it. He looks like a fish out of water and I think it's the first time I've ever witnessed Mason Donovan without something to say.
"Is she your girlfriend?" I fill the silence for him, glancing out the windscreen into the big wide world where this doesn't matter at all. But here, in this car? It feels like the universe is resting on this one question and I have absolutely no clue why.
There's a pause and then a single breathy laugh and I refuse to see his expression. I keep my eyes trained on the intersection ahead of me, but I feel his stare boring into the side of my face. He still hasn't answered the question.
"No." He says curtly, "I don't date."
And that's when I burst out laughing. I can't help it. Thank God we're just pulling into the school parking lot now, otherwise we'd be sandwiched between a truck and a hard place. There's tears filling my eyes and I just can't stop.
Mason's looking at me like he's not sure which one of us has gone insane but at least one of us has. "What are you laughing about?"
I suck in a deep breath and manage to squeak, "You don't date?" more uncontrollable giggles, "Oh, wouldn't want to distract you from important stuff, right?"
