Page 25 of On Broken Wings

“You need to talk to her about everything.” I sighed as I kicked my shoes off.

“You think I haven’t tried? She won’t stay in the same room as me right now.” He threw his hands in the air.

“You still love her, don’t you?” I grinned at him. I knew my brother. Feelings weren’t something he liked to admit to. Dani was somebody completely different for him, and he’s loved her since they were kids.

“You already know the answer to that.” He scrubbed his hands down his face.

“What are you doing tomorrow?” I changed the subject because I could tell he didn’t want to talk about Dani anymore. “I need a favor.”

“You know tomorrow is my late night. I’m free until about five. What do you need?” He let his head fall back on the couch so he was looking at the ceiling.

“I wanna go to the mall. Say around noon. I need some things.”

“What things?” he mumbled.

“Girl things.” I glared at him. I wanted him to stop asking questions and just say yes. Anything of the female variety seemed to do that to him.

“Sure.” He sighed. “I’ll take you to the mall. I need to get a few things anyway. We’ll make a day out of it.” His head rolled to the side. “How do you feel about pizza for dinner?”

“I feel great about pizza.” I clapped.

“Good. I’ll order dinner. Why don’t you pick a movie? We can just chill tonight.” Mason motioned to the remote.

“Ok.” I grinned as I grabbed the remote and started flipping through the choices.

“No romances, no documentaries, and no foreign films.” He pointed at me. “I know you, and I know you’re looking to watch The Notebook for the millionth time.”

“You’re no fun.” I stuck my lip out in a pout. “Fine.” I flopped down and crossed my arms over my chest. “Something action based with lots of explosions. Sound about right?”

“Works for me.” He nodded as he began dialing the pizza place down the road. Deep dish and movies. This was my kinda night.

Chapter 11

Jenni

When I woke up this morning, I had this nervous feeling in my stomach. Now that we’re on our way to the mall, I have it all over me. Mason hasn’t questioned my intentions, but I know he suspects something. My legs have been bouncing like crazy, and I’ve tugged at my sleeves no less than ten times since we left the apartment.

When we pulled into a parking space, I sucked in a deep breath, and released it slowly. “I know something’s up, Jen. Wanna enlighten me on why we’re really here?” Mason cut the engine and turned slightly to look at me.

“I need your opinion on something,” I muttered as we climbed out of the car, and began walking to the entrance.

“I don’t know how I can offer an opinion on something for you.” He reached for the door to the mall entrance and held it open for us.

“Well, you’re all I’ve got right now.” I rolled my eyes and flipped my hand in the air. “This way.” I motioned toward the bookstore a few doors down. Mason followed right on my heels, but the closer we got, the slower my feet began to move. I was rethinking this whole thing, and ready to put an end to it by the time we reached the bookstore.

“What exactly are we doing?”

I shoved him behind a shelf at the front of the store. Evan wasn’t far away, and I didn’t want him to hear us. “Shhhh!” I put my finger to my lips, and Mason’s eyes lit up with laughter. His shoulders shook, and he made a snorting sound as he tried to hold it in. “You see that guy over there?” I pointed to where Evan was shelving some books.

“Yeah.” Mason nodded.

“He’s the one I was telling you about. The one who wants me to go out for coffee,” I whispered. “He asked me to study here tonight after his shift. What do you think?”

“I think we’re crazy for doing this.” He chuckled. “You know we’re adults now, not kids. Do you want me to talk to him?” He lowered his voice as he faced me so his back was to Evan.

“No! I want you to tell me if he looks like a nice guy.” I shook my head frantically as all the scenarios of how this could go wrong floated through my head.

“I can’t do that without talking to him.” Mason shrugged as if it was obvious.

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