Page 98 of Word to the Wise

“It’s not going to get worse.” I roll my eyes. “The spots are already starting to fade.”

“Good. You’re going to have to try harder than that to get rid of me.”

“I’m not trying to get rid of you.” I swat at him, but he catches my hand, kissing the back of it. “You’re the one who never mentioned you’re allergic to strawberries.”

He shrugs. “Guess it never came up.”

“Well, I wish this wasn’t how it had.” I shake my head. “Any other secret allergies I need to be aware of?”

“Nah, just strawberries.” His eyes blink as he yawns, and he must be getting tired between the drinks and the medicine. “It’s how I knew you were trouble.”

“What do I have to do with your strawberry allergy?” I narrow my eyes. “I mean, besides the obvious after this evening?”

Mason laughs. “You have no idea, Reed.”

“Then tell me.”

Mason rolls onto his side, and I slide down next to him so I’m pinned between him and the back of the couch. He pulls one of my legs up over his hip, but it isn’t sexual. He’s holding me like he just needs me close in whatever capacity I’ll give him.

“Remember us going out to the club the first time you came to town?”

“And my brother ditching me for Lyla? Yes.”

“I wasn’t complaining.” Mason winks, and it sends a flutter through my core. “But yeah, you smelled like strawberries that night. And I knew it didn’t matter if you had a boyfriend or if you were Sage’s sister… It didn’t matter if one bite of you would kill me from an allergic reaction. I wanted you anyway.”

“Smelling like strawberries doesn’t mean I’m actually made of them, you know.”

Mason reaches up, brushing my hair off my face. “Always so rational.”

“Sorry.”

“I’m not.” He traces my cheekbone, watching my face with such intent I’m desperate to know what he’s thinking. “How did Carter get so lucky? He didn’t deserve you, Reed.”

Mason drops his hand and a hint of sadness drifts through his expression before he forces a smile, which is likely for my sake.

“I didn’t know any better, I guess.” It might have been a rhetorical question, but for some reason, I feel the need to answer. “And I thought he was someone hewasn’t.”

Carter is a salesman at heart, and I fell for it. I believed all the lies he told me. I didn’t see past the chocolates, flowers, and dates those first couple of years.

He hung love up on a string and asked me to reach for it. So that’s what I did. It was the fairytale I didn’t believe I could have growing up. He dangled the attention I was desperate for, and I took the bait.

That first year was everything I could ever ask for. Or so I thought.

Looking back, I was blind to the warnings. It wasn’t him falling head over heels; it was manipulation at its best.

From the beginning, he would make small comments about my friends. Playful at first, until the rift started to grow between me and them. Eventually, he’d cut them out of my life entirely.

At restaurants, he’d always order my food. I thought it was sweet, and he wanted me to try new things, but really, he was training me to manage my calorie intake.

I was young and naïve. It was control, not love.

And every time Mason does something for me that is genuinely forme, I realize just how true that was.

Carter didn’t care about my well-being. He never cared about anything more than himself.

I sigh. “We were both so young. I don’t know if he was always that person or if me being so agreeable made him that person, but I guess it doesn’t matter.”

“Nature vs. nurture,” Mason says, and I nod. “That only works for some things, Reed. In this case, it wasn’t you, so don’t putthat on yourself.”

---