Page 36 of Penalty Zone

“Are they coming to a game soon? Am I still invited to the Benz Christmas extravaganza?” he asks hopefully.

“You want to go back to Vermont?” The town is quaint, like a holiday postcard, but there’s not much to do.

“Yeah, why wouldn’t I?”

“I thought you and your dad would have plans.” I gesture at Leo, who stalks over to us.

It’s fine.

Leo will want to stay in the city and do Christmas with Mason. A father/son day.

They definitely won’t want to come to Vermont for a quirky, small-town Christmas.

Leo’s eyes ping-pong between us. “What’s going on?”

“Nothing,” I say, but unfortunately Mason speaks at the same time.

“We’re talking about going to Vermont for Christmas,” Mason says so quickly it’s hard to understand.

“Oh.” Leo’s silent after that, and it’s soooo awkward.

“See, he hasn’t planned anything. You don’t mind if I go with Caleb, do you?” he asks his dad.

Leo opens his mouth and closes it. It’s like he’s trying to decide the right answer. “I won’t ask you not to go, but I’d like to find time to celebrate together.”

“Maybe you could come to Vermont for a day,” he says to his dad, then faces me. “Your mom always says she’s got an open door and we can invite anyone we want.” He pulls his phone out of his pocket.

My panic rises as I envision my mom showing Leo all my naked baby pictures. And there are very few of me with clothes since she believes babies are free spirits who shouldn’t be inhibited by society’s constructs, including pants.

Amber eyes assess me, and I’m afraid to get caught in his spell, so I drop my gaze to the floor.

“New York is beautiful this time of year, and I wouldn’t want to impose,” Leo says cautiously.

“Mrs. Benz loves a crowd. I’ll text her.”

Strike me down and bury me.

“Actually, she told me to invite both of you. It’s fine.” I’ll never be able to look Leo in the eye after he sees the extent of my unconventional family, but it’s fine.

Everything will be fine.

Maybe I’ll slip into a quick coma for the holidays and recover just in time for the next game.

It could happen.

It’s probably wrong to invite that type of bad energy into my life.

Leo’s frowning at me but nods his head, and Mason flashes a rare wide smile and that tips the scales, knowing it will make him happy.

I excuse myself, but Leo follows me to an empty cocktail table.

“I’ll try to convince Mason to stay here if it bothers you.” Leo rests his elbow next to mine.

I shift closer, throwing caution out the window.

He hangs his head. “I asked him to come to Montreal the last couple of years, but he always said he had plans. Maybe I should’ve insisted. It’s so hard to know what the right thing to do is. I don’t want to force him to spend time with me, but I let things go on too long.” He cracks his neck.

The surprise must show on my un-poker face. Mason never told me his dad invited him for Christmas.

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