“Flawed plan,” Mason comments, dancing a delicate finger across the rim of his mug, back and forth. The movement is hypnotizing. “What about when there’s a mission and you’reallin on it.”
“You’ll go with us and stay in the car like last time.”
“You’re not going to shove me in the panic room at your place like Dante did to Reid?”
I take a small sip of tea to avoid answering. The panic room had a flaw where it had been possible for someone to use heat on the hand scanner to mimic one of our hands. It’s been fixed, and now the panic room only opens with a verbal password that someone can’t use a recording to imitate. The new procedure took weeks to test.
“I’ll put you in the panic room if I have to,” I say cautiously, hoping Mason picks up on the weight of my words. I won’t think twice about putting him in there. I’ll do anything to protect any of my brothers, and that means Mason by extension. “But if I have a mission, Hayden will watch the cameras. I’ll put him on watch duty.”
Mason makes a sound that’s a mix between a snort and a hum. “I guess you have it all figured out.”
“You’re sassier than I remember.”
Mason closes his eyes on a sigh. “This is how I am once the anxiety starts to ebb. I took a pill after I showered.”
I can feel my eyebrows furrow. The look on my face must be one of confusion because Mason chuckles and ruefully shakes his head.
“I take daily medication for my OCD. It helpsa lot, but I’m not cured. I have weekly therapy to help. It’s not fast acting but sometimes just taking the pill makes me feel better.” Mason sighs and looks down at the table, looking more tired than I’ve ever seen him. “Back when it was really bad, I had so many compulsions I almost flunked out of college. It took me an hour to do something that would take another person, like, five minutes. I’m still getting better but…” Mason splays his hands on the table and shrugs. “Work in progress, I guess.”
“And the OCD…”
Mason shrugs again. “I definitely think I always had it, but cancer was the first trigger, then my parents dying just… intensified it.”
We finish our tea in silence. Despite the homework I need to finish, all the things I could do to double-check the safety of the alarm system I installed, or the way I could count the spray of freckles across Mason’s cheeks—I don’t do any of that. Instead, I take our mugs to the sink, hand-wash them twice, then put them into the dishwasher.
When I turn back around, Mason is watching me with a confused, but thankful, sort of look. I smile at him, the same smile that calmed him the other night after he’d committed his first murder. Nodding toward the living room, I say, “Show meThe Goonies?”
Mason’s face lights up like the Fourth of July. We move to the living room and settle on the couch, far enough away from each other that we’re not touching, but close enough I can feel the heat of him. I can’t help but watch him through most of the movie though. Sometimes his lips move with the lines because he has them all memorized, and I find that more endearing than I should. Dangerously so.
CHAPTER 6
PARKER
The next morning, I dress in slacks and a sweater, then haphazardly put my hair up in a half bun at the top of my head. When I descend the stairs with my bag and rifle tossed over my shoulder, Mason is waiting anxiously in the kitchen. He’s already broken my rule.
“You’re supposed toalwaysbe on the same floor as me. Remember?”
“Will I be safe here?” Mason asks, voice a little frantic.
I nod, because it seems to lessen his anxiety. “Yeah, this place is Fort Knox. But if you want, I can take you to the house on my way to campus?”
Mason shakes his head furiously. “No, I need to be in my own home.” He laughs awkwardly. “Although, I have no work to do now that I’m not hacking for my uncle.”
“Do you need a job?”
Mason shrugs. “Not really. We’ve enough money from the wrongful death settlement to never have to work a day in our lives. Our parents would be happy about that at least, I think.”
“Well, I only have two morning classes, then I’ll be back. I can talk to Hayden to see if he can use your hacking abilities, but Robin is kind of strict about people helping us unless they’ve approved of you.”
Mason waves his hand in a dismissive way. “Go to class. I’ll be here. Not going anywhere.”
I take a step forward, to do what I don’t know, and Mason takes a step back with wide eyes. We stand awkwardly for a few moments, both unsure of what I was about to do. I sigh, then flee the house to head to school.
What is wrong with me? Jesus. I rub my eyes with one hand while carefully steering with the other. Why did I step forward to touch Mason, attempting to calm him with my touch? When I know he doesn’t evenwantto be touched. I’m going crazy. The predictable steadiness of my morning classes slightly calms my already frayed nerves though. By the time I’m done, I feel like I’m going to spiral.
Instead of texting Dante after class, I call him.
“Uhm, are you dying?” Dante asks when he picks up after the first ring. We never call each other, so I don’t blame him for being curious.
