Page 153 of Please Save Me

“If I tell you just how long I’ve waited to hear that, would it ruin the moment?” I asked, running a hand through my hair.

Mason’s grip on me tightened into a full hug, her short hair swaying as she shook her head. “You’ve always liked me,” she said.

“That was never a secret, Princess.”

My yearning for Mason had plagued me from the moment I met her. But somehow, she was worth over a decade of waiting.

“No, but you love me like they do in my books,” she said, her accent coloring her words.

I fought a laugh. “What, like how Draukox claims Gloria like an animal?”

Beneath Alien Shadowswas the only one of Mason’s books I’d ever read, and I wasn’t exactly eager to read more unless it resulted in us having more sex.

“You didn’t read the ending, did you?” Mason teased.

“Nope, I’m only interested in the good parts.”

“The endingisthe good part!” Mason laughed, the sound filling the empty streets like a song. “At the end of the book, Draukox sacrifices himself to save Gloria.”

“Okay, my interest may be piqued,” I admitted, feeling a shiver run down my spine as a stray wind snuck into my jacket. I held my hand on her back, ushering her to keep walking. If I was cold, she had to be freezing. The last thing I needed was for her to get sick in addition to everything else going on.

“The bad guy captured Gloria to get to Draukox, and they were about to kill her,” she continued, her eyes lighting up with excitement. “But they didn’treallywant her; they wanted him! So, he surrendered himself to them just to see her safe. It was kind of a cliffhanger, but luckily, I have book two on the shelf.”

Her excitement was infectious, and I wished I could match it. But I’d settle for just listening to her talk.

“I might have to check it out.”

We walked along in silence as we looped past the Chinese restaurant again. I quickly checked my watch, only to see that we still had about twenty minutes to kill. When asked if she wanted to take a break from walking, Mason gave me a feverish no before saying something about her body needing to be up.

I didn’t question her. Instead, I took notice of how the snow fell quickly enough to cover the tracks from our previous lap. Maybe I should have asked Cameron if I could borrow his truck. He had those big tires that all truck owners insisted they needed, and I imagined they’d do better in snow than the ones on my SUV.

“Hey… Just double checking, you’re not in labor or anything, right?” I tried to sound calm despite the growing concern that had taken root.

Mason paused, tapping her fingers to her lips as she thought. “I don’t think so. I feel like that hurts, and this is just… uncomfortable.”

Herwords did little to ease my worry. She was right. Labor was supposed to be excruciating. My sister had told both of us as much. But the uncertainty in her tone made my heart race a little faster.

“If it gets worse, you’ll tell me,right?” I needed an extra layer of security.

“Yeah… but that’s not what I want to talk about.”

I studied her, trying to read the emotions flickering across her face. “What do you want to talk about then?”

“You and Cameron.”

A strange flutter filled my chest, causing me to look away from Mason as my cheeks burned. “What about him?”

“Well, you two have kissed and had sex, and you’ve just been acting different around him.” Her explanation did little to alleviate the sudden heat in my cheeks.

“Different, how?”

“More like how I remembered you before I left for Lyon.” Her smile was audible.

“... Is that an insult?”

Had that been why Mason spent less time with me? No one liked scrawny, awkward, nerdy Sebastian. And while I didn’t have a ton of people who enjoyed my company, it was starting to feel like I had a few.

“No!” Mason said like I was stupid. “I liked younger Sebastian.”

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