“Sorry, buddy, no can do. Your mom said you have to be in bed by seven thirty.”
“Awww, but Esteballa, I likes to stay up really wate.”
“I know you do, buddy. But not today okay?”
He sighed a long and drawn out sigh and took the toothbrush I held out to him.
“Not fair,” he grumbled and started brushing his teeth. It was more a case of brushing his lips and tongue, but it would do. After he asked a few more times—read: fifty-three more times—if he could stay up another ten hours he was finally in bed.
Mason was on one side, and I was squeezed in on the other, Luca in the middle, grinning from ear to ear. He told us we both had to read him a story and stay in the bed while doing so.
I just couldn’t say no to his crooked grin. The kid was going to be a heartbreaker when he was older. His sandy blonde hair was falling around his face in curls and his blue eyes sparked of mischief. Nora was going to have to deal with a lot of teenage drama once he started dating. I just hoped I was still around when that happened.
“Goodnight, buddy,” Mason said and did a fist bump with Luca.
I kissed Luca’s forehead and followed Mason out to the living room. We both stopped in awkward silence, unsure of how to talk to each other.
“Do you want popcorn?”
“There’s a game on tonight,” we both started talking at the same time.
“Popcorn sounds great,” Mason said and sat down on the couch. I noticed that he sat in the middle, not leaving me much room on either side. I guess I was going to have to sit in the poop chair. The name was not just a name but described exactly what had happened on it. Nora wanted to get rid of it but hadn’t had a chance yet.
I made the popcorn and poured it into a bowl. Mason was flicking through the channels when I got back. I put the popcorn on the table and gave the chair a look. After a slight hesitation, I perched on the edge. It was uncomfortable and despite knowing that the chair had been scrubbed to within an inch of its life, I still didn’t want to sit on it. The only one who was ever game enough to do so was Willa.
But I didn’t know where Mason and I stood after the awkward and mortifying conversation this morning, and being close to him but not touching him would be torture. Today hadn’t exactly given me the warm and fuzzies.
Mason shot me a look that I couldn’t decipher but didn’t say anything about my awkward crouch.
I stayed in the exact same spot, until I heard the front door open and Nora walked inside. She looked from me to Mason, and I could tell she wanted to hold back a grin but didn’t quite succeed.
We said good night to Nora, who shot me a wide-eyed look that meant we would talk about this later, then drove back to his house in silence.
“Thanks for the lift,” I said, walking into the house ahead of Mason. I was tired, cranky, and my back hurt from the awkward position I had forced it in tonight.
“We both live here. No need to thank me for something that didn’t require any effort on my part,” he said and walked to the kitchen.
“I was just trying to be polite,” I mumbled and went straight to the stairs. I needed to put a closed door between myself and Mason. If sitting in the same room as him all night wasn’t enough torture, I also had to endure him ignoring me all night long. It was infuriating. And I had absolutely no idea what to do about it.
I stopped at the bottom of the stairs and took a deep breath. I could do this. It was just one eensy weensy staircase. My back would just need to do this one thing for me, and it could rest on a nice soft bed. It was hard enough getting down the stairs at Nora’s place. But at least I could discreetly slide down those. Since Mason hadn’t spared me a glance all night, he didn’t notice. Going up, however, required a little more effort.
My hesitation must have been obvious because Mason changed his direction and came to stand next to me instead.
“What’s the problem? You suddenly scared of stairs?”
I huffed, not dignifying his comment with an answer. Another deep breath in and I put my hand on the banister to pull myself up.
I suppressed the groan trying to escape when I lifted my leg up and leaned heavily on the banister.
“Why the fuck didn’t you tell me you were in pain?” Mason growled at me. Before I knew which side was up, I found myself in Mason’s arms and being carried up the stairs bridal style.
I winced at the pain in my back the move caused but stayed quiet. This would be the quickest way to get up there, and I really needed to lay down.Damn you poop chair, you not only have an unfortunate name, you are also uncomfortable enough that I put my back out.
He didn’t stop at the second floor, but instead took me all the way up to his room. He sat me on his bed, and I winced at the pain in my back from the movement. Mason kneeled down in front of me to take my shoes off, and I shuffled back on the bed, suppressing a pained groan.
“I am capable of taking my own shoes off.”
“Doesn’t look like it from where I am. You couldn’t even get up the stairs. How are you going to bend down to pull your shoes off?”
