Well after the originally planned four-hour session, the twins were closing the doors and turning the Open sign to Closed as the last of the customers left.
Jeri and Tobi stayed to help clean up the store. I watched them in amusement, their affection for each other obvious.
Mason had insisted on seeing everyone who had been in line since he had missed yesterday’s session. It meant a lot to me that he realized the effect the missed event might have had on my brothers. He even signed a bunch of bookplates for the twins and left them for anyone who might not have been able to make it to today’s event.
As I packed the last of his gear back into the Jeep, Mason shouldered his backpack.
“Thank you,” he said, his eyes on the ground.
I watched him for a minute, wishing he’d look up at me.
“All I did was drive,” I said, closing the back of the Jeep.
“You did a lot more than that,” he said, finally granting me my wish, his beautiful blue eyes looking up at me through his dark lashes. “And you damn well know it.” He reached out tentatively to touch my arm. His fingers brushed over my biceps and sent lightning bolts zinging through my body. “Seriously. Thank you.”
He dropped his hand quickly and went to the passenger side to get in. I stood there a minute and just watched him get in the car. I was so screwed.
Time for Dungeons and Dragons!
8
Mason
I rodethe high of the successful signing all the way to Lee’s parents’ house. I’d instantly liked his brothers. I thought Sonny and Hicks were as nervous and excited as I was! Lee had said they were twenty-one, but man, they looked about sixteen.
After I’d gotten through my first few fans, I realized that each one of these people was just like Jeri, someone who my stories had affected, had touched in some way. When I started thinking of them like that, as individuals who each had their own story to tell instead of a nameless, faceless crowd, it got so much easier to interact.
Plus, I'd seen Lee subtly managing the crowd in the store, doing his best to keep the numbers small so I wouldn’t panic.
My thoughts turned to Jeri’s boyfriend, Tobi. He’d been helping me move a couple of cases of my graphic novels out to Lee’s car. Lee came over to us and awkwardly thrust a chilled bottle of water at me.
“Drink this,” he ordered. My surprise must have been apparent because he added a follow up, “Um, please.”
“Uh, okay…?” I said, a little confused.
He blushed, stammering something at me about getting dehydrated and almost ran back inside.
Tobi and I looked at each other for a moment and the boy burst out laughing.
“OMG, did you see his face? Mr. Devereauxlikesyou!” Tobi teased.
“He doesnot!” I exclaimed, staring dumbly at the bottle of water in my hand, which was starting to drip with condensation.
“Mason and Lee sittin’ in a tree…” Tobi sang.
“No way. He’s just, um… health conscious,” I added lamely.
“Uh huh, riiiight…” Tobi drawled. “I’ve never seen him act like that before. I know! I bet he wants to beyourHigher Power!” the boy snarked.
I narrowed my eyes at the teen and proceeded to dump half the contents of the water bottle over his head.
The ensuing water fight soon included the whole team, but we managed to keep it out of the bookstore, much to the twins’ relief.
By the time Sonny turned the Open sign to Closed, it was dark outside. I glanced at my phone, not quite believing how late it was. I saw I'd missed a number of texts from Lizzie.
LIZZIE: Hey bug! How’s it going?
LIZZIE: …Bug?
