Page 78 of Unromance

She did not. She barely stifled a squeal.

Beau poked his head into the kitchen, handing Sawyer her drink. It was at least 50 percent garnishes, as any self-respecting Bloody Mary should be.

They drifted over to the small living room while the potatoes finished cooking, Sawyer silently housing half a basket of pigs in a blanket while Lily and Beau downloaded them on their most recent projects. She hadn’t thought much of it before, but of course there was a lot of overlap between theater and film, and Beau was clearly thrilled to have a fresh audience. Mason listened intently and actually seemed to understand the technical stuff Beau did, and asked questions that Sawyer could only assume were insightful, judging by how Beau couldn’t stop nodding like a bobblehead. Their easy rapport gave Sawyer a weird doughy feeling in her stomach, and she didn’t think it was just from the pigs in a blanket.

She slid her hand into Mason’s once more, placing a quick kiss to his shoulder. She hadn’t realized how nervous she’d been about him meeting what were essentially her only friends.

Lily seemed to be feeling some type of way about her and Mason’s reconciliation. Sawyer caught her staring at their conjoined hands more than once, smiling like Mrs. Bennet about to marry off another daughter.

Sawyer wished she would stop. It made her feel like an animal in a zoo. She’d brought partners around before, though perhapspartnerwas too strong a word for what those relationships had been, given they had all been physical and temporary.

Was that what Mason was—her partner? It wasn’t just physical, and it didn’t feel temporary, but Mason’s future was in LA. Sawyerhad fought too hard to get her life back on track to uproot it all for someone she hadn’t even been in a relationship with for twenty-four hours. Thinking about it made her palms sweat. Was there any version of this where the ending wasn’t a goddamn tragedy?

Sliding her hand from Mason’s, she wiped her hands off on her jeans. Without missing a beat, Mason pulled her legs across his lap, resting his hand on her knee. Lily jumped up as if to cheer like a baseball fan watching a home run, instead announcing she was going to check on the potatoes and dragging Beau with her to help set the table.

Mason squeezed her knee. “You alright?” he whispered, keeping his voice low enough so they couldn’t be overheard in the cozy apartment.

She nodded. “I think Lily’s going to give herself a hernia with all her barely restrained excitement about us reconciling.”

Mason grinned, ducking down to kiss her temple. “That makes two of us, but I wouldn’t call it a hernia, per se…”

Sawyer snorted. “Oh yeah?”

Shamelessly, his gaze roved over her, and she regretted not taking him up on his offer to be even later to brunch. She pressed her legs together to fight the growing ache there. The movement did not go unnoticed by Mason, one corner of his mouth quirking up in a crooked grin.

“We should rejoin them before we scandalize their couch.” She nuzzled his cheek before standing, pulling Mason up after her.

“So, how did you two meet?” Mason asked as they migrated over to the dining room table.

Lily lit up. “Well, we didn’t get stuck in an elevator together or anything adorable like that—” she began with a saccharine smile.

Sawyer took a pull from her Bloody Mary. This was going to be along brunch. She could only pray that after this initial meeting, the novelty of Sawyer Dating Someone would wear off.

“Anyway,” Lily said, catching her breath after giving Mason an unabridged version of her and Beau’s relationship timeline. “We got married last New Year’s Eve, rented out a bunch of cabins an hour north. Kept it small and partied for three days straight. Highly recommend.”

Sawyer tensed. Lily hadnotjust implied they were getting married not even twenty-four hours after they’d decided to try this whole… whatever they were doing.

“Sounds fun,” Mason said diplomatically.

She simultaneously wanted to kiss him and slither down her chair to the floor. She made a mental note to not leave Lily and Mason alone together. Between Lily’s big Mrs. Bennet energy and Mason’s romanticism, Sawyer and Mason’s entire life would be planned out less than a day after Sawyer finally managed to wrap her head around being in a relationship that was about more than just sex for the first time in years. She stabbed a potato morosely.

“It was fun,” Beau agreed with a pointed cough. “Sawyer, how’s the book coming along?”

Despite her mental turmoil, she smiled. “Not to jinx it, but pretty good.” Mason squeezed her knee under the table, and she grinned more broadly. Normally, she’d leave it at that, but she couldn’t help but gush, rambling about the subplots and character arcs and some of the Easter eggs she’d snuck in from her prior books, especially one fromWhy We’re Not Togetherthat she hoped would survive edits.

“That one’s my favorite,” Beau said sweetly, and Sawyer felt a rush of affection for him. It was her favorite, too, even if finishing it had been the hardest thing she’d ever done, dragging herself through theedits after losing Sadie, the title of the book like a slap in the face every time. “I always thought it’d make a good movie.”

Sawyer focused on scooping eggs onto her fork, praying the conversation would move on effortlessly. Alas, today was not her day.

“Oooh, yes,” Lily cooed supportively. “What do you think, Mason? You know movies better than us.”

Sawyer’s head snapped to the side to gauge his reaction.

Mason tugged at the collar of his shirt, his gaze darting to her furtively. “Er, yeah, it would. But that’s kind of up to Sawyer.”

She couldn’t make sense of his tone, his PR Face suddenly in place. She didn’t miss the subtle fidgeting. Mason didn’t fidget.

“Would you?” Beau asked, genuinely curious.

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