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“Huh?” Nix scrunches up his face in confusion.
“Well, you see. I just kissed Ava, and now I have cooties.”
“You kissed? That’s gross!”
“Yep, so if I kiss your football, it will catch cooties too.”
Nix’s eyes widen. “If you kiss my football, I’m telling Mom!”
Mason puckers his lips, slowly drawing the football closer to his face.
“Mom!” Nix screams. Mason chuckles and tosses it back to him.
I shake my head at the pair of them. They are just as bad as each other. “I promise as soon as we are finished, I will come down and play with you,” I say to Nix.
“You heard the lady. Now out.” Mason points to the stairs.
“Fine. Stupid head,” Nix mutters and stomps off down the stairs, with Bernie following closely behind.
Mason locks the door, then comes back and sits down next to me.
“Are you close with your brother and sister?” he asks.
“I am with Dakota.” I smile fondly at the mention of her name. She is the only lifeline in my family. “We were really close growing up, and we look so much alike, we could almost pass off as twins. We talk as much as we can, but she is pretty serious with some music major she met in California, so I don’t hear from her as often as I would like.”
“What about your brother?”
“No, not really. Brian is a lot older than me and very similar to my father. Ambitious and a total workaholic. He’s in his last year of law school, and when he graduates, I think my father is hoping he will join his firm.”
He nods his head, and silence stretches between us for a moment before he broaches that one subject I attempt to avoid at all costs. “How is your mother?”
“She’s okay,” I lie, hoping like hell he doesn’t see through my facade. She has been anything but fine. In fact, she has been a royal pain in my ass. The doctor prescribed antibiotics to prevent infection, but my mother seems to think that theno alcohol while taking antibioticsrule doesn’t apply to her.
“I would have taken you to the hospital,” he adds solemnly. “I wanted to. You didn’t need to go withhim.”
I don’t miss the contempt laced in his tone when referring to Logan, and I exhale a breath as I try to explain my reasoning without giving away the truth. “His mother took her to the hospital, and he was already going anyway.”
“Are they close?” he asks, and I give him a questioning look. “Your mother and his?”
“They are friends,” I confirm, nodding my head. “As you already know, Logan’s father is partners with mine in a law firm. And because our families spent so much time together over the years, our mothers kind of formed a bond.”
Mason’s face drops at realizing exactly how close our families are. The connection is so deeply entwined that even though Logan and I are no longer together, our paths are always destined to cross. Whether I like it or not.
“Do…” He pauses, swallowing hard. “Do you think you will ever get back together with him?”
“No,” I respond without hesitation, holding firm eye contact with his. I may be confused about a lot of things, but that is one thing I’m one-hundred-percent certain of. “Never. Cheating is a deal breaker for me, Mason. Logan and I are finished. Forever.”
He looks away, giving me a slight nod in response but still not looking overly convinced, and I sift through my brain, trying to think of a way to change the subject. Spotting a sketchpad on the desk—very similar to the one I’ve seen him with at school—I pick it up and examine the cover. “What’s this?”
“A sketchpad,” he replies simply.
“I can see that.” I flash him a smile, trying to lighten the mood. I go to open but pause and look to him for approval. “Can I?”
“Sure.” He shrugs.
I open the first page to a drawing of his mother. He has captured her in the garden, surrounded by flowers, and her face filled with joy. Even though there is no color, he has managed to sketch every intricate detail of each flower which such precision that color is honestly not needed. It’s the same with the drawing of his mother. The precision in each line of her face and expression is so realistic that I feel like I’m looking at a black-and-white photo.
“Mason,” I breathe, in awe of how talented he is. “This is incredible.”
