Page 116 of Escape Velocity
His mom’s eyebrows nearly fly off herface. “What? Mason? This—what?” his mom nearly screeches.
Mason nods. “It’s true.”
He intertwines his fingers with Callum’s. “I saved the best disappointment for last.”
His mom starts to pace and rubs her temples. “You said… a month?”
“Yes,” Mason answers.
“Does Joel know about this?” she asks.
“Maybe,” Mason says.
Mason watches her pace. She’s processing. She doesn’t seem to be angry. She just seems surprised.
“And you—you like him like that?” she asks as she points from Callum to Mason.
Callum smirks. “Yes. I do.”
Callum squeezes Mason’s hand and looks down at him. “I like him a lot, actually.”
Mason’s heart flutters in his chest but it might just be the anxiety from having his mom find out. If he was ever going to be let back into his home, he might have just delayed his welcome back.
She stops pacing. “And you—you like him, Mason? Even after?—”
Mason nods. “Even after everything he did. He was trying to protect me and him from his dad?—”
He’s interrupted by another twig snapping.
He freezes as he sees Mr. Brown come hurling through the thick brush and into the clearing.
Callum immediately lets go of Mason’s hand, and Mason rubs his arm as he pretends that the action doesn’t sting.
“What the hell is going on here?” Mr. Brown yells.
For a split second, Mason’s transported back in time to the last time the four of them were in this clearing together.Back when Mr. Brown forcefully tried to keep Callum and Mason from seeing each other and cut all ties with the Fanning family.
His mom panics as she turns to face Mr. Brown.
“I told you to stay away from my family!” he yells as he charges at Mason.
“Hey!” his mom yells, getting Daniel to stop in his tracks.
Callum’s eyes bulge as he watches it all unfold.
“Your son is trying toruinmy son’s career,” Mr. Brown hisses at Mrs. Fanning.
“Callum’s a great football player on his own,” Mason retorts before his mom can.
Mr. Brown huffs and turns back to Mason. “I don’t know what kind of weird, little obsession you have with Callum, but it needs to stop,now.”
Mason looks to Callum, but Callum’s focused on the looming oak tree beside them and smiling at it.
Mason looks down and notices the carving he had put into the tree’s bark seven years ago.
Their initials with two crowns underneath.
M.F. + C.B
