Page 72 of Escape Velocity
“You okay there, champ?” Mason asks. Callum finally looks up from the floor and at Mason and nods, swallowing hard and blinking rapidly.
Mason raises an eyebrow questioningly at Callum, hoping to probe something out of him as to why he’s suddenly so sensitive.
“Sorry. I—I don’t really—I don’t know how I feel?—”
Mason puts his hand on Callum’s arm, making him go completely still.
“Callum. We’re just hanging out in the library right now. We don’t have to know anything about anything. I don’t even know how I feel.”
Callum swallows and nods, his arm relaxing in Mason’s soft grip as Mason keeps talking like he’s an emollient.
Mason studies Callum like he’s a spooked animal that he’s taking into his care. Clearly, Callum hasn’t dealt with his feelings like this before or in a very long time, and it’s clear that Mason makes him nervous.
“I—thank you, Mase. I—I really needed that. I want to be around you, but I really don’t know…”
Mason tilts his head slightly as Callum licks his lips and winces.
“It’s just been a long time, you know. You and me.”
Mason sighs and nods. He knows that it was Callum’s decision to create schism between them, but what matters isthat he’s back now, and where they’ll go next will take a lot of conversations like this to know how to proceed.
Callum rubs his face. “And I—I’ve never felt this way about another… guy, I?—”
Callum runs a hand through his hair.
Mason can tell he’s starting to get overwhelmed. He needs to reel Callum in.
Mason lets go of Callum’s arm. “Look, I have my book. If you want, you can just sit with me and study or whatever it is football players do in their downtime. We can just be around each other.”
Mason smirks. “You do take classes, don’t you?”
Callum snorts and nods. “Yes, smart-ass. I do. I just have to go back to my dorm really quickly, but just—stay here and I’ll get my stuff. I’ll be back in a second, I’m in the dorms next to the library. I’ll only be a few seconds.”
Mason nods and Callum bestows Mason with a wide grin as he peels off out of the library like he’s on the football field and has the ball, ready to make a touchdown as the other team tries to tackle him down.
Mason shakes his head as his face flushes again and sits back in his usual spot, unable to fully concentrate on his problems after he opens his textbook.
They are playing a treacherous game. Not many people are in the library on a Sunday at nine o’clock at night, but he wonders what people will think when they see the two of them together. Someone who used to write good things about him in the paper and then stopped, and now they’re back to being friendly again.
It can go either way. If they spend time in public together, people will talk. If they spend any time together things might implode, and then people will talk even more.
It seems like all people did was give their opinion onhim and Callum. Joel. Craig. Jenna. Fiona. His parents. Callum’s parents. All of Northwood.
He just hopes that wherever he and Callum end up, that eventually they’ll be able to exist without the whispers and treachery of the school and town.
21
CALLUM
He burstsinto his dorm room, breathless but giddy.
He can’t stop thinking about Mason’s opal eyes and the freckles on his cheeks. How he wanted to lean down and kiss him in those stacks. How much he wants to be around him all the time.
He grabs his book bag that’s leaning on his bed and slings it over his shoulder.
“Going somewhere?”
His giddiness already starts to dull as he hears Joel’s voice.
