“We always have a great time hanging out, the three of us, and when that dick came after you last night, Simon and I realized…we make a pretty awesome team.”
“Yeah and if there’s one person in the world I don’t mind sharing with, it’s my bro,” Simon confirms.
Todd puffs up his chest a little. “And we’re man enough to be confident that even if we have to share, it doesn’t diminish what we have with Katie.”
I shake my head in shock. “That is a very mature thought.”
“It’s still going to be hard,” Katie says. “We’ll need to make sure we’re communicating with each other, and there will be times when jealousy makes us do silly things, but they know I love them both.”
“And that’s enough,” Simon says.
“My gosh,” I say, sitting back and taking in this cute little arrangement of people. “I’m happy for you all.”
“We also know you’ll want to spend time with Katie,” Todd says, like that was even in question. “And we respect that.”
It must be a Christmas miracle, or maybe it’s the thin air up in the mountains, because somehow the bro twins have developed emotional intelligence. Or maybe they just care enough about Katie that they’re willing to do what it takes to hold onto her. Is that what I should be doing? Or am I Katie in this analogy? Do I just need to lay my cards on the table and wait?
“It’ll be a nice time for you two to be able to hang out as friends and not rivals, too,” Katie says to her twin boyfriends. “Plus I was sort of lying when I said I liked watching you play video games, so you can do that when I’m with Max.”
“Sounds good,” Todd says.
“You’re so smart!” Simon says.
From the corner of my eye I spot Mason passing through the parlor. His shoulders are hunched over and he looks tired. I watch as he moves to the breakfast tables, stares at the food, then turns back around and leaves. What’s up with him?
“Well, I’m happy for you guys,” I say. “I’ve got to go check on something. But I’ll see you before we head out later.”
“Are you okay?” Katie asks as I get up.
“Yeah, I think so.”
Right now it’s not me I’m worried about.
I follow Mason out, along a corridor to the den, then down some stairs and onto a balcony. Mason mustn’t know I’m following him because he doesn’t stop; instead he takes a path leading off into the snow-covered mountainside.
Without a coat the cold already has me shivering, but something is up with Mason—I don’t know how, but I can just tell. I follow his tracks until I spot him sitting on a rock, staring out at the mountains.
“You’ll catch your death out here, you know?” I say, and he turns but doesn’t seem shocked to see me.
“You didn’t need to follow me out here,” he says in a monotone voice, not his usual peppy self.
“Is something wrong?”
He huffs and turns back to the mountains. Without waiting for an invite, I take a spot next to him on the rock.
“You don’t need to babysit me,” he says, and I have no idea where this is coming from.
“Who said I was babysitting? I happen to like freezing my ass off.”
“You should go if you’re cold.”
“Did I do something?” I turn to him and notice his set jaw. “You can talk to me.”
“Sure.”
Why is he being dismissive? I grab him by the shoulder and turn him so that he has to face me.
“Mason, what’s going on?”
