Page 49 of Game Plan

Mason broke the awkward silence first. “Want a ride?”

“Nope.”

We stood still, as if daring to move would topple the delicate balance around us.

“Want to tell me something?” Mason asked after a beat.

I shook my head many times, my wet hair sticking to my face. “No.”

He shrugged. “I should go then.”

I nodded. “Yep. Go. Good idea.”

He turned on his heel but made no move to leave. I could see the tension knotting his shoulders even through the soaked red cotton fabric of his hoodie.

A crack in the sidewalk captured my attention. “Jayden and I…he…we never slept together.”

Mason spun around to face me, and my hand flew to my mouth as I wished I could take back the words that had tumbled out without my permission. My mouth really had a mind of its own today.

“Huh, I-I don’t know why I said that.” I cringed mentally. “Forget I said anything.”

Mason erased the distance between us in one stride. “I can’t.”

I glanced down, feeling exposed and stupid for letting him see through my armor, but he lifted my chin up with two fingers, forcing my eyes to meet his.

“You’re telling me you guys dated for this long, and you never had sex?”

I swallowed and tried to regain some of my earlier backbone. “So? Not everyone sleeps around like it’s their full-time job.”

“Sleep around? I thought you guys were in a serious relationship.”

I folded my arms over my chest, doing my best to build a wall between us. “Whether we were…or not… It doesn’t concern you either way.”

“Why didn’t you? Just tell me why.”

“You wanna know why I didn’t have sex with my ex-boyfriend? First, it’s weird to talk about it, and second, I already told you it doesn’t concern you.”

“Why do I feel like it’s a lie? Another lie amongst the ones you’ve been feeding me in the last year.”

“I didn’t lie.”

“Omissions. Let’s call what you kept from me omissions, then. So, I’ll repeat my question. Why do I feel like your nonexistent sex life with Clarke is somehow related to me?”

“Because... God, you’re so presumptuous. We did other things...many things. Again, it shouldn’t matter to you. “

“But why, Mel? Be honest for once.”

Anger churned in my stomach. I tried to keep the admission locked inside but failed. “Fine. Because he wasn’t you. Happy now?”

He blinked as he registered my words. “Happy? Yes. No. That’s not the point. Fuck, it’s a lot to take in, and at the same time, I was hoping you’d say that.” He tugged at his wet brown hair, now molded to his skull, with both hands. “Did you really mean what you just said?”

I averted my eyes, not wanting him to read my silent thoughts. “It doesn’t matter...”

“I think it does. You’ve…you’ve missed me.”

“Don’t get ahead of yourself. It’s not good for your giant ego, Mase. We already ruled that out last year.” I dragged a hand over my face, feeling naked even though I was wearing a fleece. “It changes nothing between us. Can we talk about something else?”

“No. It changes everything because I can’t forget the fact that you thought about me while you were in a relationship with another guy.” A hint of a smile graced his lips.