Page 39 of Hypnotized By Love

“The light’s still green,” he added.

I put the car back into drive and headed toward his mom’s house.

“You jump to some pretty bizarre conclusions,” he informed me, and I gripped the steering wheel tighter.

“It isn’t really paranoia when it’s confirmed,” I told him. “Things are making sense now. You have some secret friendship with my sister, and that’s why she’s pushing me so hard to talk to you.”

“What did she say?”

I was still all hopped up on rage and fear, so I wasn’t thinking clearly. If I had been, I never would have responded to his question,because it wasn’t his business. “She said we should talk so the next forty Christmases aren’t awkward.”

“We’ve been doing a pretty good job with that so far without even discussing it.”

Mason was right about that. We’d never talked about it, but the first Christmas after our friendship ended, he went to his dad’s house. The year after that, my mom had said he was coming back to Florida, and I told her that my roommate had invited me over to her family’s house for Christmas. Two years after that, I sat alone in my apartment with a frozen meal, as I was determined to avoid him. Nobody knew that I had spent it by myself, and I blamed him for that. Yet another reason I was angry at him—for costing me time with my loved ones.

I supposed technically it wasn’t his fault—I still could have gone home and just given him the silent treatment, but I knew it would have made everyone uncomfortable and both of our moms really unhappy.

The last couple of years, he’d spent Christmas exclusively at his father’s house. Maybe he’d come to the same conclusion as me.

“Kind of like a dance,” I remarked.

“A dance?”

“Yes. We were in a weird dance with each other, doing the same steps without communicating.”

He stayed quiet for a moment and then said, “There’s always communication when you dance. The way that you touch, how your body moves, the way you look at each other. You speak without words.”

His declaration sent sparkling, warm tingles through me, and I drew in a shaky breath. He was creating images I did not need. I’d never danced with Mason, not once.

And I’d always wanted it. To have him hold me like that, swaying to music; it was the epitome of romance to my teenage heart.

I didn’t say anything back, willing my heart rate to return to normal, and was relieved when I finally pulled into the driveway at his mom’s house. “We’re here. Have fun in your basement.”

He undid his seat belt and scooted forward again. “You know we don’t have a basement. I’m actually staying in the guesthouse.” The Beckett home was one of the nicest in the area—they had a pool and a small guesthouse, too. I’d spent many hours at that pool, enjoying watching Mason swim.

I expected him to say thanks and leave, but he just sat there.

Turning around to face him, I said, “Okay, get out now.”

“Let’s take Sierra’s advice and talk.”

“No thanks. I want to go home and sleep.” This had been a very emotionally draining day. I needed to hydrate and recharge.

“Not tonight. Like tomorrow. Let’s go to Flavio’s. Dinner’s on me. Again. Or I could call Bridget to see if she wants to hang out. Do you think nighttime skydiving is a thing? She can even bring that poor thing that looks like it escaped from a defunct Taco Bell ad campaign.”

What part of Bridget had seemed fun tonight? The part where she left suddenly or when she spent the whole time chatting us up to each other?

“You can’t go nighttime skydiving.” I didn’t know if that was a thing, but if it was, it sounded dangerous.

“Well, if I can’t jump out of a plane ... I’ve always wanted to jump off the roof into the swimming pool. Do you think I can make it?”

He got out of the car and began walking toward the main house, which was two stories. He really was going to jump off a roof.

I took off my seat belt and chased after him. “Jumping off a two-story house is dumb. I thought you said you were worn out!”

He grabbed an extremely tall ladder and set it against the side of his home. “Second wind. It’s time to say yes to life!”

“Say yes to life by not risking yours.” I saw the look in his eyes, the one that told me he might very well do something nuts, and again wondered how much of this was my fault and how responsible I’d be when he wound up in a full-body cast.

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