His face warmed like when he’d realized he was holding him.
And as Mason removed his hand, Chase wished he hadn’t.
He liked the feeling. It was unlike any sensation he’d ever experienced before. His touch felt… safe.
“I’m sorry if I sounded like I was mad,” Mason went on as though he’d sensed how much his catching his mistake had upset him.
“No, I’m sorry. I’ll be more careful.”
“Want me to help you with that box?” Mason asked.
Chase smiled. “If you don’t mind.”
Mason helped him, and they continued working for another hour until Mason checked his watch.
“Guess we should head up to the house soon,” Mason said. “Dinner’ll be ready in a half hour or so.”
“Okay, that works.”
Mason’s expression shifted. “You wanna see something cool?”
Mason seemed to have something mischievous on his mind, which intrigued Chase. “Sure.”
Mason led him out of the shed and into the woods. Excitement raced through Chase. Why did Mason want to show him something?
Mason led him to an old shed. “This is from the old farm that used to be here,” he explained. “Pa uses it to store stuff now.”
Mason opened the door and led Chase inside the dark shed. Chase could tell by the way Mason glanced around, like he was paranoid that someone might catch him, that they weren’t supposed to be there, which only made their adventure all the more exhilarating.
Mason reached around and pulled a string to a light, illuminating the shed. It was a small space with paint cans and other debris, including wood boards and shelves of boxes.
A four-wheeler was placed on the inside of the door. Chase had seen a few going down the road around town because some of the teens had some, and he’d gone over to a few kids’ houses who got to use them, but he’d never been on one.
“You want to go for a ride?” Mason asked.
“Can we do that?”
Chase didn’t want to get in trouble, especially with Mason’s mom already being suspicious that he might be a bad kid, but Mason quickly said, “Sure. We just can’t tell Ma or Pa.”
He could tell by Mason’s expression that he’d pulled out the four-wheeler a few times without his parents around because he looked mischievous about it.
“I don’t know how to ride it, though,” Chase said.
“You’ll ride with me. Me and my pa do it that way all the time.”
“And you’ve done this before?”
“Of course. Come on.”
Mason got on the four-wheeler and drove it out of the shed. “Get on.”
Chase obeyed, mounting it behind Mason.
“Put your arms around me,” Mason instructed, and Chase followed the instructions before Mason revved the engine and started on a path into the woods.
Chase liked having his arms around Mason like that—in a way that made him uneasy, yet was pleasant at the same time. Just like earlier when Mason had his hand on him, he felt safe.
Mason guided them through the woods, into a field. The four-wheeler picked up speed as they raced through knee-high grass.
