Page 95 of Hot Ice, Tennessee

I shook my head. “I know that’s not the right idea.”

“Or maybe it is,” he said. “If Kane wants to disown me as a friend, let him go right ahead. But I don’t think he’s ever going to stop talking to you again.”

I set my jaw. “I don’t know if that’s true.”

A buzz of fear set through my whole body.

Seeing Elliot around here again only reminded me of how much I’d hated not being able to talk to Kane for the past two years.

Kane shouldn’t have cut me off.

But now, I at least understood why he did. I was as lost and foolish as Elliot’s new guy was. Ishouldhave trusted Kane.

And instead, I’d lost two years to my own naive decisions.

Mason lifted an eyebrow. “I’m never going to make you live a lie. And I’m certainly never going to take you away from your studies. Fuck, if anything, I’ll be pissed if youeverprioritize me over your school.”

I puffed out a feeble laugh.

Fuck, Mason was already better to me than Elliot ever was, and he wasn’t even my boyfriend.

I sighed, looking up at the evening sky. “Sometimes I really do think it would be easier for me to go full lone wolf again. Cut everybody else out, only visit you, and raise my middle finger to the rest of the world and their endless opinions.”

Mason hummed, reaching out and squeezing my forearm. “I don’t think you really want that.”

I grumbled. “No. I guess I don’t.”

“Do you want to tell your brother?” Mason asked, point blank. “If there were no other considerations to worry about, would you want him to know?”

“Yes,” I said. “A million times, yes.”

“Then let’s tell him.”

“You sure about that?”

“Let him judge me. He’s not unreasonable. He’s just… unafraid to express his opinions, and can be headstrong. Does that remind you of anyone else you know?”

I reached out to give Mason a quick tap on the shoulder. “You.”

“I was going to sayyou,” he protested.

“Fuck off.”

“I’m going to tell him tonight,” Mason said. “End of his shift. He always has a wheat beer and half of a chicken sandwich right before he counts the registers at the end of the night, and I swear that’s when he’s happiest. So I’m going to do it then.”

I grabbed Mason’s arm and gently pulled him in toward me. I wrapped my arms around him, burying my face in his hair. He kissed me again, this time with an urgency behind it. I knew Kane was busy behind the bar inside, but it still felt like I was breaking a rule to stand out here kissing Mason deeply, knowing there was at least a possibility of being seen.

But when my lips were on his, all other logic seemed to float away.

I pulled him in as close as I could, letting my tongue slide out against his.

When I saw someone walking up to the front of the building, a cold flash went through me. I only saw him come out from my peripheral vision.

Wait.

That’s not—

The moment I turned, Elliot was there again.

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