Page 53 of Unromance

Anger speared through him, white-hot. “They took it?”

Sawyer shrugged with false nonchalance, taking a large bite of noodles before answering. “It’s possible I lost it.”

“You don’t believe that.”

She exhaled heavily. “No. But getting it back would require talking to her.” She took another bite, chewing thoughtfully. “Is it pathetic that even after all this time I’m scared to do it?”

“No,” Mason said adamantly. He still hadn’t mustered the nerve to call Kara or any of his other exes.

“I think what I’m most scared of,” she admitted quietly, staring at her pho as if it were easier to confess this to a bowl of noodles. “Is that they did something to it. At least this way, I can pretend it’s still out there, bursting at the seams with messages of love.”

Sawyer Greene had the biggest heart, and she didn’t even know it. He envied the person who one day got to hold it, to fill in the cracks left by those who hadn’t recognized it for the gift that it was.

“I’m sure it is,” he said, squeezing her knee reassuringly.

She smiled weakly, nodding once.

They ate in silence after that. Mason’s conversation with Luis swam through his head, and he finally understood what Luis meant about waiting it out. Mason was no stranger to showing up unannounced and professing feelings. He believed that if you cared about someone, you should tell them. But Sawyer was opening up to him, slowly, and while she may never be ready for a relationship—the thought gutted him—the thought of having no relationship with her at all hurt worse. So Mason bit back any grand confessions that dared to surface. But he couldn’t shake the need to share something personal with her, to let her know that he appreciated the full weight ofher sharing things with him. He had a suspicion it wasn’t a thing she did often. Truthfully, it wasn’t something he did often either.

She tipped her bowl to drain the last of the broth before dropping her chopsticks and spoon back into it and pushing it away. Lying back on the couch, she wormed her feet over his lap, through the circle created by his elbows propped on his knees. “Make yourself comfortable,” he laughed, adjusting his position so she could stretch out.

“I always do,” she said with a smile.

The memory of them in his car two nights ago flashed before his eyes, the bra she’d taken off to get “comfortable.” He shoved that down. He wasn’t sure what that had been. She didn’t seem keen to discuss it, and it definitely wasn’t the vibe tonight, so he would take her cue.

Draining the last of his soup, he stacked their empty bowls before sinking into the couch, absentmindedly massaging her calves. “I’m really happy you’re writing again,” he admitted quietly.

“Me, too,” she said softly, a light sparking in her eyes. She glanced away, smiling bigger, before turning back to him and nudging his ribs with her toe. “I feel like this is all working out unfairly in my favor. Put me to work.” She twisted around, grabbing the remote off the coffee table. Netflixgonged loudly as she queued it up. “Pick a rom-com and I’ll ruin it for you.”

He squeezed her knee. “Not everything we do has to be about the list.”

She made a face. “Favorite rom-com: go.” When he didn’t immediately answer, she nudged him in the ribs impatiently.

“10 Things.”

She stiffened. “No. Pick another one.”

He laughed. “You asked for my favorite. That’s my favorite.”

She groaned dramatically, tossing her head back against the couch cushions. “Yeah, but it’smyfavorite. I can’t ruin it. It’s perfect.”

He threw his hands up in defeat. “Just put something on.”

“No,” Sawyer insisted, propping herself up on her elbows. “I want to hold up my end of the bargain, but I don’t know how. Maybe… I don’t know, I don’t know that I totallygetyou.”

He blinked in surprise. He’d already told her more than he’d ever told anyone.

Oblivious to his shock, she continued, “Tell me: How did you become such a romantic?”

“My parents,” he said automatically. Sawyer settled in deeper, listening. “They had a meet-cute for the ages.”

She patted the space on the couch next to her, scooting over slightly to make room for him to lie down, too. He settled in next to her, his arm around her back to keep her from falling off the couch that was far too small for two people to lie down without being practically on top of each other. Maybe their weird missionwasworking for him, too, because he didn’t immediately overthink what it meant that she was lying with him like this.

“Tell me more about this meet-cute,” she said. It took Mason a moment to clock that this was exactly what he’d said to her when he was panicking in the elevator. The fact that she remembered… He hoped she couldn’t feel the way his heart stuttered from where she was perched on his chest.

“They met on set ofIn the Hills.”

Sawyer scrunched up her face in concentration. “Wasn’t that the movie Lynn was mocking at dinner?”

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