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“She said it was her dance moves.” I snicker.
Mason turns and looks at me. “It might’ve been.”
The air in the truck is thick as he looks at me with bright eyes. “Next week, my aunt wants us to have dinner with her.”
“What? I thought she would’ve forgotten by now,” I exclaim, and he shakes his head with a smirk.
“Nope, and it’s gotten to the point where she texts me twice a day to remind me. She said Tuesday. Will that work for you?”
I catch a glimpse of Liam smiling at Maddie, and I wish I could hear what they’re talking about. “Hmm,” I say, stalling.
“If you say no, I’m giving her your number so she can text you all day,” he threatens.
I lick my lips, wishing he’d kiss me right now, but I know he won’t cross the line. “Yeah. I’ll go.”
He grabs my hand and kisses my knuckles. “Thank you. She cooks a mean spaghetti and meatballs and doesn’t serve small portions, so wear your stretchy pants.”
A giggle escapes me. “She better because I can put away a lot of food.”
Unspoken words linger between us, but my thoughts are interrupted by Liam climbing into the truck.
“Did you kiss her good night?” Mason jabs.
“Shut the hell up and take me home,” Liam says, and it makes me wonder if Maddie’s now playing hard to get. I think she might actually have him where she wants him.
Chapter Fifteen
Mason
The weekend comes and goes and so does Monday. When I drive home from work, my nerves start to get the best of me because tonight I’m willingly taking Sophie over to my aunt Sylvia’s house. She’s my dad’s sister, has zero filter, and can be obnoxious at times, but I love her, and she typically means well. Regardless, I know she’s going to spill all my business on her expensive floor, and Sophie will know everything about me by the time we leave, but I want that. I want her to know everything about me, and Aunt Sylvia doesn’t forget and won’t leave any stone unturned. She has the memory of an elephant, hence her bothering me about this damn dinner for the past few months. The unpredictability of it all is what makes me the most nervous.
When I walk inside the house, Sophie’s sitting on the couch wearing black jeans, boots, and a nice sweater. Though it’s only early October and the temperature hasn’t dropped significantly since summer, she’s been dressing in more fall outfits, which I love on her. As soon as she sees me, she stands with a grin. “I’m ready.”
“You look great,” I admire. I empty my pockets, placing my keys and phone on the coffee table. “I’m going to change into some jeans, and then we can go.”
She gives me a nod and sits back down. I climb the stairs two at a time and quickly change.
When I come back downstairs, I shoot Sophie a smile and notice her mood’s dramatically changed. “Everything okay?”
She shrugs and hands me my phone. I look down and see a text message from Serena. I open it and read what she sent. Considering I have preview set up, I know Sophie saw it.
Serena: How are you and your girlfriend?
Without responding, I lock my phone and shove it into my pocket. That’s one text message I won’t be replying to, not now and not ever. While I know Serena means well, my relationship with Sophie needs to stay private. It’s something she and I share while we try to figure everything out. I can tell the text bothers Sophie, which concerns me since I’ve already explained our friendship several times.
“You have nothing to worry about,” I remind her as she stands and lets out a breath.
“I know.” She forces a smile, and all I want to do is change the subject, but luckily, Liam does it for me. He bursts through the door sweaty as hell from working out.
“Where you two going?” he asks, then takes off his shirt and wipes his forehead with it.
“Dinner with Aunt Sylvia.”
He snorts and lifts his eyebrows at Sophie. “Have fuuuuuuun. She’s nuts.”
“Shut the hell up,” I say.
“Hey, the fruit doesn’t fall too far from the family tree,” he throws back as he jumps up the stairs.
“Don’t even get me started!” I warn, then glance at Sophie. “Come on.”
She lets a real smile escape, which gives me hope that everything is going to be just fine. We drive across town, and Sophie tells me about her rehearsal today, and I’m so damn thrilled things are finally going better for her. It’s been a few weeks since she returned, and at first, it was rough, but she’s seemed to have worked through a lot of her emotional issues.
Though my aunt lives nearly thirty minutes away, it feels like I only spent five minutes with Sophie since we chatted the whole time. That’s one thing I love about her—time seems to fly by when she’s near. So many times I wanted to interlock my fingers with hers, but ever since she took my hand at the recital, I’ve been trying not to push my luck. We seem to finally be heading in the right direction, and I don’t want to jinx it. Each time we’ve made progress in the past, something happens, and she pushes me away. I want to avoid that this time.
