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“I bet.”
“My Mom died when I was twelve. She was on a business trip and there was a bombing. I never really understood what she did, or why she’d be somewhere they needed to bomb a hotel—”
“No one needs to bomb a hotel.”
“I agree. I wasn’t that close to her. She was away a lot, but still. Losing your mom isn’t fun.”
“It would suck. What happened when your dad died?”
“I have an older brother. We’re really close. He got married last year and moved to Ottawa. I miss him.” My voice is wistful when I mention Gil. The pain of losing my parents is still there, but it’s lessened into a dull ache. Missing Gil is still a sharp stab.
“Is that all your family?”
I nod. “I have good people I work with, and I have Bexley and Boen. Their mother is amazing and she sort of took me in. I made do.” Mase squeezes my hand. “What about you? You have to tell me something super personal, something no one else knows.”
“Like a secret?”
“That’s usually what you call something that no one else knows.”
“Ha, ha, aren’t you a smartie pants.” There’s affection in his tone rather than the usual derision. I grew up being mocked for my intelligence so I learned early on to hide it.
I don’t feel like I need to hide it from Mase. “Actually, I am.”
“I failed math in high school,” he confesses. “I’m not smart.”
“That’s not true. You have a different kind of intelligence.”
“I do,” he admits. “But it’s tough believing that when others see you as nothing but a disappointment. My grandfather is constantly pissed off at me because I picked baseball over his business.”
“That’s sad.” I lean against his arm as we walk.
“No pity,” he says. “I don’t like that. I’ve got everything I’ve always wanted.”
“Except—”
Mase cuts me off with a firm shake of his head. “I am one lucky dude. The only thing left for me is to find the love of a good woman.”
I am not imagining how he looks at me when he says that. “Have you ever been in love?” I ask carefully, not sure if I really want to know the answer.
“Once, when I was seventeen. She broke my heart so that was enough of that.”
“But what about all the other...” I trail off. Mase has been paired with some of the most beautiful women in the world. How could he not have been head over heels for them?
“I liked them,” he admits. “Maybe I thought I was in love at the time. But I don’t know. It wasn’t what I thought it would be. Something was missing.”
“What do you think that was?”
“I dunno. I didn’t really feel like myself with them. I was hiding part of myself—a good part.”
“You don’t seem like you’re hiding tonight.”
“I don’t think I am.” Suddenly Mase stops and looks down at me. “I like you, Fee. I like you a lot.” I don’t say anything because Mase releases my hand and cups my cheek. “I’ve never had this much fun with a woman.”
“I’m glad,” I say breathlessly. “Me too.”
“I wonder if maybe—”
I’ll never know what he was about to say because a body slams into me, knocking me forward straight into Mase’s arms. “Hey,” he shouts. “Watch it.”
