Page 74 of Heart of Mischief

Charlie rolled her eyes. “Real life doesn’t work like your romance novels, Mom.”

“Of course it does.” She picked up another slice of pizza and plopped it onto Charlie’s plate, even though there was still almost a whole slice left. “Eat up. And tell me more.”

“There’s nothing more to tell,” Charlie said as she picked up the new slice. “He wants to get back together, and I don’t.”

“For now,” her mom said.

“Sure. For now.”

Satisfied, their mom turned her attention to Mason. “And what about you, darling? Have you and Lou made things official yet?”

Charlie nearly choked on her pizza again. She covered her mouth, attempting to smother the laughter bubbling up from her throat.

Mason’s face turned bright pink. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Oh, please.” Their mom shared a look with Charlie. “You’re smitten with her. You have been since you were a kid.”

“That isnottrue,” Mason said, shooting a pleading glance at his sister. “Come on, Char. You know that’s not true.”

Maybe it was the exhaustion. Maybe it was Mason for freezing her out for a full month. But rather than have his back, Charlie grinned and said, “I don’t know, Mace…”

“Not you, too.” He groaned, head falling into his hands.

Their mom turned to Charlie, eyes giddy. “Remember when you were in eighth grade? Lou was sleeping over, and she went to the bathroom in the middle night.”

“Oh my God.” Charlie covered her mouth again. “Yes. And she thought she had gone back to my room—”

“—but it was really Mason’s,” her mom interrupted. “She tried to climb back into bed with you, not knowing that she was getting intohisbed…”

“I haveneverheard her scream that loud in my life.” Charlie giggled. “Especially when she realized—”

“—that Mason always sleeps naked!” her mom finished, and the two of them dissolved into laughter, falling on top of each other on the bench.

“I will never,” Charlie said between hiccupping laughs, “ever,everforget Mason’s expression that night. Or the rest of the year. He refused to look Lou in the eye, and she wouldn’t stop making jokes about her favorite appetizer being ‘sausage in a blanket.’”

Her mom squealed, kicking her feet against the wood of the bench.

“I am going to kill you both,” Mason said, but Charlie could see the corners of his lips twitching. He wanted to join in. To laugh with them, together. Like the family they hadn’t been in a long time.

25

After dinner, Charlie and Masonwent upstairs to do homework while their mom settled onto the living room couch for one of her nightly singing-competition shows. Charlie and Mason chatted easily on the way up the stairs, reminiscing about Abigail’s poorly contained excitement when the car wash broke a thousand dollars in profit.

“I swear to God,” Mason said, “I thought she was going to have a fit, trying to hold in that smile.”

“I know,” Charlie agreed as they reached the landing of the second floor. “She doesn’t know how to celebrate. If she actually gets into Columbia, she’ll probably be like,Excellent, now I can make an exhaustive list of everything I’ll need to pack in five months.”

Mason laughed, heading toward his bedroom. “Night, Charlie.”

“Night,” she said, reaching out for her doorknob.

As her fingers brushed the cool metal, she paused. Curled her fingers back into her palm, hesitating. Her fist hovered there for several seconds, floating an inch or two away.

Then Charlie spun on her heel and ran for Mason’s door.

She caught it right as it was about to slam shut. “Wait,” she said, yanking it back open and sticking her head inside.

Mason, who was halfway to his closet, turned around, eyes wide with surprise. “What are—”