Page 10 of Hammered and Nailed
I froze in surprise. "You’ve… kissed a guy?"
He shrugged again casually, as if he hadn’t just told me something that had blown my mind. "It’s not a big deal. I’m straight, not homophobic."
I furrowed my brow deeply, staring at him without blinking. "You seriously don’t think it’s a big deal?"
"Nah. Why would I? It was just a kiss."
"I can’t believe you’ve never told me. What’s the story?"
Even in the moonlight, Mason’s cocky grin was visible on his face. "Trevor McCauley. Freshman year of college."
"Wasn’t he the gay kid on the football team?"
Mason shrugged and waved it off as an inconsequential part of the equation. "We were at a party playing spin the bottle. Ask me why college kids were playing spin the bottle, because I thought we left that shit behind in middle school. Anyway, Trevor was clearly panicking. Eyes wide. Sweating. It was clear he was nervous about spinning the bottle on his turn. I don’t know why he didn’t just get up and leave, to be honest. Either way, when the bottle landed between me and Laura Reynolds, I did what I had to do. Leaned in and kissed him. I didn’t mind taking one for the team.”
"How did he react?"
"He didn’t seem to mind it. Hell,Ididn’t mind it, if I’m being honest. It wasn’t like he was a bad kisser."
"You weren’t bothered that he was a guy?"
"A kiss is a kiss. It’s not like I had to blow him or whatever."
"Yeah, that would have been something." I laughed, a sound that came out a little wild and untethered. "How did I not know this?"
Mason looked up at the night sky. "I don’t know. You weren’t at that party."
"And you never thought to tell me?"
"It didn’t seem important at the time. I was just trying to help Trevor. It wasn’t serious. I figured youwouldhave heard. It was all anyone could talk about for a week, until the next party, when three guys from the football team went streaking across sorority row.”
I nodded, mind churning. We’d been best friends since ninth grade. Even though we hadn’t been joined at the hip in college, I was surprised he’d never told me something that felt so major. He’d kissed a guy before. The knowledge made my stomach squirm in ways I didn’t understand. "I think I’ll go ahead and turn in," I said after a moment. When Mason raised his eyebrows, I shrugged sheepishly. "Wiped, you know?"
He nodded, grinning. "Worked you too hard today, I guess."
"Guess so. Good night."
I headed back to the cabin and into the bedroom, stripping down before pulling on clean boxers and a T-shirt and slipping under the covers. As I lay there, begging for sleep to take me, my mind replayed the day and the kiss conversation and how confused I was about the weird feelings bubbling up inside of me.
Chapter Five
Mason
Thefollowingday,weheaded to Margaret's home to inspect the damage. She offered us lemonade and cookies the moment we walked through the door. Not wanting to be rude, we accepted her offer and made small talk for a bit.
"So, you’re a teacher?" Margaret asked, turning to Emery.
"Yes, ma’am. I teach high school theatre."
"Well, that’s quite a job. You put on plays, then? Do you ever do musicals? I likedChicago. I saw it when it first came out on Broadway, you know."
I let out a low whistle. "That’s impressive."
"I lived in New York for a time when I was in my twenties. My girlfriend was a costume designer. She got us tickets to all the new shows."
Her…girlfriend?She probably meant a friend, right? Older ladies called their friends "girlfriends" all the time. While I was turning that over in my mind, I must’ve missed something, because the next thing I knew, Emery was saying my name.
"Right, Mason?"
