Page 68 of Escape Velocity
“I—I liked you, Callum.”
“I would hope so,” Callum says, a ghost of a smirk on his face.
Mason shakes his head. “No, I—I liked you as… as—” Mason bites his lip and Callum tilts his head, eyes searching wildly in Mason’s, his grip on Mason’s shoulder only tightening.
“As more than a friend,” Mason says, his voice small. It feels like a weight off his shoulders that he didn’t even know he was carrying. He’s never admitted it to him, and he’s willing to risk losing Callum again if it means he knows that they’re on the same page. He refuses to torture himself by being friends with someone who cannot or won’t reciprocate how he feels.
“More…?” Callum says, his eyebrows furrowed. He takes his hand off Mason’s shoulders and turns around.
Mason feels colder, like Callum was the only thing keeping him warm.
He knows what’s coming.
I don’t see you like that, Fanning.
I like girls, Fanning.
You’re my best friend, but that’s all you’ll ever be.
Callum rubs his face and paces.
Why isn’t Callum saying something? Why is he pacing?
“Callum…”
Callum stops and looks at Mason and walks up to him. Mason furrows his eyebrows at Callum, towering over him.
“I—I think I do… too…” Callum says, his eyes wide.
For a moment, the wind stops blowing and the trees stop shaking. It’s like every bird stopped in mid-flight and the water in the river froze over.
Mason blinks rapidly. “You what?”
Callum smiles, his amber eyes aglow with his realization.
“I liked you, Mason. As more than a friend.”
Callum takes Mason’s cheeks in his hands and cradles them like Mason might crumble at his touch.
His calloused hands are scratchy on his rosy cheeks, but his hands keep the pain and cold at bay.
Wind rushes through them, and amber leaves tumble to the ground around them.
Callum’s eyes pool with affection, like he’s opened the dam and let himself feel.
Mason had to have known Callum must have felt this way deep down.
He used to kiss Mason on the forehead and hold his hand at any chance before they went their separate ways all those years ago. Before either of them knew what any of that meant.
Now, in hindsight, it’s different.
Mason doesn’t know what he wants. The person he’s pined for for years feels the same, but can he forgive him for what he’s done? Would anything ever be enough to make up for his wrongdoings?
Mason swallows and looks up at Callum. Callum rubs a thumb along Mason’s cheek and warmth pools in his stomach.
He leans his head into Callum’s hand, and he hears the roar of the crowd at a football game.
He sees every physics problem as solvable.
