Primary Target - 9. Chapter 9

“So, are either of you going to the homecoming dance?” Ben asked me at lunch. “I don’t want to be the only guy hanging out with Jess and Kat. They’ll bore me to tears talking about their dresses!” Surprisingly, it was just me, him, and Josh – the rest of the gang got coerced into selling tickets to the dance by the wily Kat being held on the upcoming Friday. Student council members were scarce for the freshmen class, so Kat begged and pleaded until Jess and Eric gave in. Mason also was helping out much to my chagrin. I missed him already and started to pout a little bit. Ben saw this and was doing his best to keep my spirits up. He laughed a bit. “Dude, he’s only been gone for like ten minutes and you’re acting like you don’t get to spend all night with your guy.”

“I know,” I continued to pout. “But I can still miss him, right?”

He sighed. “I guess.” He turned to Josh. “C’mon, say something already.”

“The only comments I have are either soccer or Warcraft-related.” I looked up and saw a devilish grin on my best friend’s face. Josh and I hang out separately from the group on a constant basis – especially when Mason is busy doing council related things and the GSA doesn’t need to be involved. Recently, Josh has helped me step up my game for the team and I really admire his skills. He’s about as good as or even better than Conner, my older brother asking him for advice and tips when he's over at the house. “I was doing you a favor Ben.”

“Right,” Ben said as he rolled his eyes. “C’mon! Someone answer my question!”

“I’ll probably go to the dance, although I’ll be bored stiff while you guys dance the night away. I don’t know who I’d want to ask to go with me,” Josh sighed. “Looks like I’ll be flying solo.”

I thought about it. Mason would probably have to do some initial setup for the dance anyway as most if not all of the officers have to do something to help in turning the gym into a ballroom of sorts. At first I really didn’t want to go, but the more I thought about it, I’d almost have to go, at least for the sake of the GSA. I was doing my best to lead by example. A few weeks ago after we got Richie settled a bit more at the house Mason came out to the school by telling everyone that asked him that I was his boyfriend. I still shuddered even thinking it – I heard Ben and Josh chuckle at me. We’re still not completely out per se, but with how many people we’ve told and the rumor mill working in high gear, the news had to have reached everyone by now.

My thoughts drifted towards Richie again. He was doing a ton better but still had a ways to go before he could be normal again, if that’s even possible. Spending the nights in my room was helping, but I still felt bad for the kid. The nightmares he’s been having are starting to lessen but they’re still there – at least once a week if things have been good for Mason’s brother. But the best thing is that slowly – with my therapeutic sessions along with real ones Dad got him to go to – his sentences have been improving. It’s like his English is locked or unlocked due to his emotions, as I’ve noticed when he’s angry enough it pushes through the safe and allows him to talk normally as if doesn’t have whatever issues plaguing his speech. But if something frightens him, the safe is locked tight, reverting to broken, jumbled words strung together in an attempt to make a sentence. When he’s normal, his speech is broken, but it’s leaps better than when I first heard him talk. Mostly, it’s trying to find the right words he wants to use to convey his thoughts.

“Xan! Earth to Xan!” Josh almost shouted. He was poking my shoulder from across the table.

“What?” I snapped back out of my inner thoughts about Richie.

“Dude you spaced out hardcore,” Ben laughed. “Dreaming about Masey-poo?”

I smiled, but it was more of a sad smile. “No, I was thinking about Richie if you must know.” Their laughs died down. Mason and I told the group about Richie and the sympathy for the kid was admirable. “I still feel bad for him, you know? He still hasn’t gone back to school – he’s still a mess and it’ll cause more problems than help. When he does go back, I don’t doubt he’ll be fine academically speaking – he’s really smart for a kid his age. Like really smart. One time, I was struggling with some of my Algebra homework and he grabbed a piece of paper and solved it in two minutes whereas I was just staring at the problem trying to figure out how to even start it! But I’m really afraid that once he goes back, he’ll get teased mercilessly about how he talks, maybe to the point where he snaps on some kid…”

“I still can’t get over the fact that we were all blind to Mason’s issues at home,” Josh said as he shook his head. “Everyone I think knew he was withdrawing a bit at some level, but no one bothered to help.”

Ben nodded in agreement. “Yeah, but I’m glad you’re helping them both out, Xan. You’re good people – don’t let anyone else tell you different.” His expressionless face changed when he smiled. “Now, are you going to the dance or not?!”

“I wasn’t but it sounds like everyone else is, so what the hell?” An idea popped into my head. “Hey! Don’t tell Mason that I want to go, okay? I want to surprise him by acting all moody about it and saying I don’t want to go. Do you guys do a dinner before if you’re going as a group or no?”

“Depends, really,” Josh shrugged. “Last year for one of the middle school dances we did, but the second one we didn’t have enough to go so we didn’t. Why?”

“Well I was thinking that if you don’t, I want to do a romantic dinner beforehand with him. If you guys do it, that’ll still work for me. If that’s the case, I’d like to show up unannounced – if you go by yourself Josh, just pretend you are going with someone as a blind date thing so you won’t make him ask why you need an extra seat at the table.”

Ben grinned wickedly. “Man, you are so devious!” He laughed a bit. “I like it!”

“Okay, can either of you buy our tickets? And make sure that Mason is totally in the dark? I’ll get one of the forms from Kat about the abiding the rules of the dance that I so humbly came up with.”

“If you buy the tickets like that, they’ll give us one of the forms. I only need to buy one, right? Mason gets in free since he’s an officer of the council?” Josh asked.

“I think so,” I said as I pulled some money from my wallet. “Here’s enough for both of us if it’s needed – just return the change to me tomorrow somehow.”

Ben hesitated. “Won’t that be a bit hard if you’re trying to be sneaky?” I looked at my friend quizzically. “I mean, you two share a locker, a home, and are pretty much together all day long. It’s like you two are already married or whatever.”

I sighed dreamily. “And we can get married in this state too…” I thought about it a bit. “I wonder the minimum age it’d be allowed…” I tapped a finger on my lips.

“Whoa there Romeo,” Josh said, slapping the table and getting my attention. “You’re almost fourteen, right?” I nodded. “The biggest problem is that you’ve only known Mason for a month! And you’re already thinking of marrying the guy?”

“No, not really,” I laughed a bit. “I was just doing some out loud muttering. I mean, I know that Mason might not be the one, but I can hope, right?” My two friends just nodded a bit. I decided to change the subject. “So who are you going to the dance with Ben?”

I was a bit surprised when I saw a blush creep up his face – the group comedian getting shy? This had to be good! “Well…” he started, scratching his head. “I was hoping that Shannon DiMarco will give me an answer soon. I asked her three days ago and I’m sweating bullets waiting!”

“Easy Ben!” Josh soothed with a smile. “You know she’ll say yes. She’s just a shy girl. I bet she’s in council with her girlfriends right now.” Just then, my eyes caught sight of the girl in question heading in our direction.

“I wouldn’t bet on that,” I mused dryly. Ben’s face whipped at me with both a hurt and almost angry expression, but I held my ground. On cue, the lovely redhead stopped at the end of our table.

“H-Hi… Ben?” she asked quietly. Again his head whipped in the direction of the new voice. She almost batted her eyes at my friend and I had to suppress a harsh laugh – I didn’t want to scare Ben’s prospect away. I watched as Ben almost melted in front of me. I wonder if that’s how I look when I see Mason…

“If you’ll excuse me, I have an errand to run for a friend,” Josh sighed as he looked at me. “What shall I do with your change?”

“Whenever,” I shrugged. “I’m in no rush.” Josh nodded once to Shannon and disappeared. I turned to Shannon with a genuine smile. “So what brings you to our table, Ms. DiMarco?”

She tucked some of her flowing, fiery hair behind her ear, obvious due to nerves. “I… just wanted to let Ben know that… I’ll go to the dance with him.” I turned to my buddy – he was frozen. I laughed lightly. “So… what time should I expect to be picked up?” Ben didn’t respond except for a few stutters.

I decided to intervene to help Ben save face. “How about he picks you up at seven?”

“T-That should work,” she answered me, not taking her eyes off Ben. She slid a piece of paper onto the table. “H-Here’s my number and address. I’ll… see you on Friday.” She walked away and faded into the cafeteria crowd.

Ben snapped back to normal after the effects of her proximity faded. “D-Damn it! What the hell just happened here?!” I couldn’t help but laugh. “What?! Did she… t-turn me down?!” I watched as the sheer panic wash onto his face. My laughter stopped.

“Ben… you silly, silly straight boy,” I shook my head and patted his hand a couple of times. “She said yes you goof. She even left you her number and address. I told her you’d pick her up by seven on Friday. If that doesn’t work for you, you’ll have to call her and change that on your own.”

I sat back quickly when Ben jumped out of his seat and screamed, “YES!” at the top of his lungs. Quite a few eyes turned to him and almost silenced the entire room. Slowly, he sat back down. “Sorry…”

The final bell rang, ending school for yet another day with Mason being absent from our Art class. I didn’t think it was anything to be concerned about, but it still made me wonder. What was keeping him? I hadn’t seen him since this morning before classes really began and the brief bit at lunch. I sulked as I trudged to my locker, hoping he’d be there exchanging his books. I arrived there only to see Josh using his own locker nearby. “Hey, have you seen Mace at all? I went by all his classes this afternoon but he wasn’t there at all.”

Josh frowned. “No, I haven’t. Now that you mention it, he’s in my Web Design class and he wasn’t there today. Why don’t you call him? School’s over so you’re allowed to use your phone.” Of course, such a simple solution. “Hey I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“You’re not getting a ride with us today?” I asked puzzled.

He shut the door to his storage bin. “I have things I need to hang out for, but thanks anyway of course. Tell your brother I said hi.” He started walking away. “Oh and be prepared to get owned in PvP tonight Horde filth!”

“In your dreams Alliance dog!” I laughed as I waved him off. I dug for my phone and started walking towards the exit as I called my boyfriend. He answered on the second ring.

“And what do I owe the pleasure of your call, Xan?” he asked almost mockingly. At least he seemed to be in a good mood, wiping away some of my worries.

“Hey babe. I was just wondering what happened to you today. You disappeared after lunch and I couldn’t find you.” I made sure to throw a bit of poutiness into my voice.

“Aw, I’m sorry babe… I didn’t want to make you worry about me. No see, every time I tried to get back to class I got sucked back into Student Council crap. But I put my foot down – I’m not missing my ride home.” I heard the grin in his words. “I’m out at the front gates waiting for you, babe.”

“Kay,” I said smiling. “Love you.”

“Love you too. See you in a bit.” I closed my phone and practically skipped towards the exit. Just hearing his voice helped to lift my spirits and chase away any doubts. I rounded the corner and almost came to a stop. There was a familiar vehicle parked in the now vacant bus lane. I saw my brother standing by the passenger side of his Santa Fe, but that’s not what made me almost stop.

Conner was wearing a tuxedo.

Why is wearing that? I asked to myself. I couldn’t read his eyes – the sunglasses he wore prevented any eye reading. His head turned and I reasoned he saw me – he started towards me. I did finally stop. As Conner neared, I saw that he was even wearing a pair of white leather gloves and had some sort of hat pinned underneath his left arm. Any remaining students giggled at the sight – I wanted to be one of them but I was too weirded out by the sight of seeing my older sibling in a full-blown tux.

“Master Jacobs, your ride is prepared,” Conner said in that fake snooty voice he likes to use sometimes. “If you’ll accompany me…” Gently, he placed one of his hands on my back and guided me towards the vehicle.

“Um… Conner?” I was totally out of my element here. “Where’s Mason? He said he was waiting for me out here.” Conner said nothing as he walked a bit faster towards the vehicle, leaving my side and taking his hand with him. I took a few steps as he reached the back door and pulled it open. Instead of holding it open for me, someone stepped out.

I came to a complete stop once more.

He exited the Santa Fe in a white tux jacket with a black silk dress shirt offsetting a white tie. His blond hair styled in a semblance of a faux hawk but not quite – it still suited him just the same. I felt my knees almost give out as he alighted the sidewalk in slow motion. Time was irrelevant. Breathing was almost irrelevant. The Oakley’s on his face also hid the windows into his soul from me.

Mason stood inches from me and I quivered. Sexily, he slowly pulled the shades from his face and I instantly stared into his liquid metal eyes. I would’ve fallen on my face had Mason not snaked his arm around my waist and held my weight and dipped me slightly. I couldn’t take my eyes off his as I felt the mystery he portrayed for me alongside the love he felt.

He leaned in for a quick, but quite passionate kiss before he pulled back. I couldn’t help but bite my lower lip as I almost whimpered as he teased me. “You coming, babe?” he asked. “The night is young, just like us.” I wanted to speak, but I was too awed by my boy holding me even as he stood me back on my feet. He held his hand out for me and took it out of habit. Slowly he walked us to the car and helped me in. He sat next to me in the back and pulled the door closed.

I finally snapped back to reality. “Okay you two… what’s the deal?”

“You’ll see…” Mason said with a twinkle in his eye.

Conner climbed into the driver’s seat and looked towards Mason in the rearview. “Where to, sir?”

“You know where, Con.” This was starting to get weird. “Oh, babe… you can’t go there dressed like that.”

“Where are we going?” I giggled. I like a good surprise every now and then, but this was getting to be a bit too much. I almost voiced my protests, but a single finger across my lips stopped me.

“Shush, hon. Just trust me on this, alright. No questions?” Mason stared deeply into my eyes. I wanted to ask him, not caring about this surprise anymore. This whole act, while totally romantic and sweet, started to feel over the top. I mean, how the hell did Mace pull this off during school hours? But as I stared into his silvery eyes, a gentle smile on his face as he held my hands, all my pretense faded away, dust in the wind. How could I refuse his request?

“No more questions,” I sighed as I smiled back at him. He brought a hand to my face and held it, stroking my cheek with his thumb. I absolutely loved when he did this – it was definitely a good way to shut me up and have me just go with the flow. I reluctantly turned away and wanted to gaze at the lush scenery as we drove further out of town. Where was Conner taking us? I had a few guesses, but I decided to ignore them.

We pulled into a gas station after about ten minutes of driving. Conner came to my side of the SUV and opened my door. “If you’ll accompany me again, sir.” I rolled my eyes as I stepped out of the car. He went to the back of the vehicle and popped the trunk door. Hanging in the back was a dry cleaner’s bag draped over a set of clothes. “Please take these garments into the lavatory and proceed to get ready for your evening.” I just shook my head as I pulled the outfit down, already having an idea of what lay underneath the bag – one of the older style, paper bags helping to obscure my view.

I entered the bathroom and jumped into the handicapped stall. I removed my pants and shirt, draping them over the edge of the stall when someone entered the restroom. I tore the bag open and as I suspected, a full out suit similar to Mason’s, but opposite – black jacket, white silk shirt, black tie and slacks. Once I was fully dressed, I saw my old clothes disappearing over the stall edge.

I jumped out and almost started to shout, but I saw that it was Conner – he folded it all up and stored it away in a bag. He dropped a pair of really dressy shoes at my feet and didn’t say anything. I sighed as I slid my Adidas sneakers off again and slipped into the stiff leather ones as Conner again swooped in and collected my sneakers. “Your tie, sir?” he asked with an eyebrow raised over his shades.

“Conner, you know I don’t know how the hell to tie one of these! You had to help me with my tie for…” I trailed off. I didn’t want to go down that road, especially if my guy had something special planned – I didn’t want to be somber the rest of the evening. He set the bag down and took the accessory from me.

“Don’t tell Mason I slipped out of my role, but this calls for a big brother moment, not Mr. Car Driver. Do you want me to do it or explain it to you?”

“Just do it for now, but I’d like you to show me later, okay?” Conner stepped behind me, draping the thin piece of cloth around my neck a bit.

“Mom would be so proud of you, buddy,” Conner said as he proceeded to tie my tie. I heard the thick emotion in his voice. “You landed yourself a great guy.” I just nodded carefully, unsure of my voice. It took my brother about three minutes and a few tries, but he got my tie done and tucked it into my jacket. “You’re looking good, kid.” We started to leave, but Conner grabbed my shoulder, stopping me. “We need to fix your hair a bit, I think.” He took out a small package from his jacket pocket – a small tube of hair gel and a comb. He wet the comb and ran it through my hair speedily and then ran some gel through my hair, almost matching Mason’s hair.

“There,” he said as a small tear escaped his eye. I wasn’t sure if it was sadness from remembering Mom or happiness at seeing his little brother growing up a little. I decided it could be a little of both. He naturally reached for my head of hair to ruffle it but stopped in time. Smiling, he gently tapped my cheek with his open palm. “I’m proud of you too, by the way.” I almost burst into happy tears as I heard the emotion in his voice again. He cleared his throat a few time as he slid the shades back over his eyes, slipping into the role Mason provided him.

Mason finished topping off the gas in the SUV, careful not to stain his tux. We all slid back into the car and Conner continued to drive for another five minutes before the car came to another stop. I looked out and saw the sign – the Marina. My eyes widened; we were going to eat here for dinner? No way… Dad told me from his co-workers that this was one of the top restaurants in the area for upper class eating – I guess that’s why the tuxes were necessary.

Conner opened my door and proceeded around the other side and did the same for Mason. He took my hand into his as we strolled towards the maître di at the door. I was excited he did that – I wanted to, but I wasn’t sure how public he wanted to show his love for me. I know that school is one environment, filled with few adults and a lot of peers of our age. This was the real world – with real world effects. Adults could easily snub us or worse. A bit of the fear that Dad and Conner tried to instill into me after my incident at the mall came to the surface a bit, but I felt Mason squeeze my hand and they faded away. I was with my boyfriend – damn the world and anyone who tries to interfere!

The maître di looked a bit disapprovingly towards us. “Can I help you, gentlemen?” the man stated in a rather convincing light French accent.

“We have a reservation for six,” Mason said as he glanced at his watch. “Under Jackson. I know we’re a bit early, but is there any chance we could get seated earlier?”

The host glanced over the schedule in front of him for a moment. “In fact, we can. We had a last minute cancellation.” He grabbed two menus. “This way, gentlemen.” As we entered the building, I was awed at the grandeur of the place. Art deco everywhere stood out in the low lighting of the dining room as light and gentle conversation filtered around us. The maître di sat us near the back in such a way that I thought he was trying to hide us from the rest of the diners. No matter in my opinion – it’ll let other things happen away from prying eyes. Mason waved off the host as he asked if this was acceptable. He couldn’t walk away fast enough.

“I don’t think he likes us,” I said with a slight frown on my face. Mason removed his shades again and let them sit on the seat on his open side. We were in a booth normally used for I’d guess eight or so people but of course we opted to sit right next to each other, comfortably holding hands with one another under the table. “I think he was trying to hide us away or something.”

“Who cares?” Mason whispered. “We’re here – together. Isn’t that all that matters?”

I turned to Mason. My frown faded. “That’s all that really matters.” But a thought crossed my mind. “What’s Conner going to do for dinner? Surely you didn’t ask him to just sit out there and wait for us!”

Mason put his free hand on my thigh, instantly quieting me down. “Relax, babe. He said he’d beg off for Wendy’s or Arby’s or something like that. He’ll be back for us. I just wanted your birthday to be special – just the two of us.”

My birthday? I pulled out my phone and glanced at the calendar. Sure enough, September twenty-eighth was displayed as the current date. I just shook my head as I recalled how quickly the month disappeared. I looked back at the same time last year, just wishing that Jared would give me a chance with him at our shared party, being only a week younger than him. I desperately wanted a boyfriend even if it wasn’t him that I blew out my birthday candles wishing for one. After a few weeks with absolutely nothing, I figured my wish was left unfulfilled. Now I realized some wishes just take time to be granted.

“Aw, Mace…” I said as I took both of his hands into mine. “That’s so sweet of you. Thank you.” I frowned as I glanced behind him, being reminded of what kind of place we were in. “You better haven’t done anything else for my birthday! This place alone had to set you back a good bit. Hell, I didn’t even know you had money!”

Mason recalled his hands and placed them lovingly on my shoulder. “My gift for you is at the house. This wasn’t my gift to you – Dad and Conner sprung this on me at Conner’s insistence. Conner offered to be the ride while Dad funded the meal. He thought we should get out of the house for a bit with no pretense of Student Council or GSA meetings. Or as much as we both love him… no Richie. Dad wanted us to spend some time together romantically.”

“M-My Dad…” I couldn’t finish as I felt tears streaking my face and my throat choking up. I never thought Dad would do such a loving thing like this for me. I mean, I knew he still cared for me, but somewhere deep down I always just thought he only tolerated me on the surface. That he didn’t want to be involved with my romances since they would be homosexual and not the “boy-girl” things he could expect from Conner. Somewhere in the back of my head, there was a bit of a nagging voice always telling me that this would never happen – Dad would always favor Conner. I usually just chose to ignore that voice, but upon meeting and falling for Mason, it grew a bit louder with each day. Now I could finally silence that voice.

“Hey,” Mason cooed. “What’s wrong babe?” He wiped my tears away with his thumb. He looked a bit worried but still held onto most of his smile. I blinked rapidly for a moment.

“I… I just never thought…” I had to stop again as the gesture my father showed us touching my heart in ways I didn’t think possible. “I just never thought he’d do something like… this… for me, ever.”

Now Mason’s smile faded. “You don’t give him enough credit, Alex.” That’s the first time Mason used my original nickname. I didn’t know what that meant, but usually if Dad says it, I’m either in some trouble or the situation is pretty serious. At least he didn’t go with Alexander; I’d really be in for it. “You don’t realize how proud he is of you. He told me while he and Conner set this up for us that he had hoped you would meet someone that could be publicly affectionate with you so he could do things like this, as long as it was done carefully. He wanted you to experience romance and love just like Conner – dates, dances, movies, even parties.” My tears started to flow faster, unrelenting. “You should know how much he loves you. He just tends to hide it behind his Navy training. He told me he is trying to break out of that habit, but it’s not easy for someone that’s been of that lifestyle for the twenty or so years he served.”

Our waiter – a college-aged kid named Jack – slid up quietly to our table asking about drinks or appetizers. I said nothing as I just tried to hide my face from the shame I suddenly felt. I felt two sets of eyes on me before I heard Mason ordering for the both of us. Jack wandered off. “Y-You’re mad at me now, aren’t you?” I whispered, unable to look at my boyfriend. I didn’t want to see the disapproving frown on his face – I couldn’t bear it. My shame felt overpowering.

He pulled my hands away from my face with a bit of gentle force – I didn’t want to leave my dark sanctuary just yet. I did keep my head down as a sniffle escaped from me, but Mason softly made me look him in his eyes. Instead of a frown, he had his smile on his face again so I stopped resisting his attempts to make me look at him. “I’m not mad at you, Xan. Maybe a little disappointed in you, but not mad. I never got the chance to know my real father – he died when I was around four I think. I don’t really remember much about him. I wish I did, though. And then… Eddie…” I saw him grit his teeth before he sighed and the smile came back. “Never mind – I don’t want to ruin this night. Let’s just enjoy ourselves, okay?”

Jack came back with our drinks and a basket of rolls and butter. He asked if we were ready to order, but we said we needed a few more moments. He smiled and said there’s no rush and disappeared again. I actually cracked the menu open for the first time and almost balked at the prices of the food. I almost lost it again, remembering that Dad was doing this for us. I tried to make it a point to ignore the prices – I could already hear Dad’s voice in my head saying that. Jack came back and we were ready. Mason decided on a chicken masala dish with an extra order of fettuccini alfredo while I decided on a filet mignon with cut potatoes and freshly steamed mixed vegetables. Jack took our menus and said the food would be out quickly.

Dinner was excellent. I felt so stuffed when it came time to leave, I thought Mason would have to roll me out of the booth – I felt like I gained fifty pounds. The steak was so tender it almost melted in my mouth. Mason’s extra dish of pasta was very tasty. Even the masala was good – Mason fed me a bite while I fed him a piece of my steak. We giggled a bit after that before we continued our talking and eating, just enjoying each other’s company. I made sure to steal a few kisses from him. I felt Mace smile against my lips as he returned them with a bit of ardor.

I leaned into Mason, my head on his shoulder, as we left the restaurant in good spirits – Jack was an excellent server and made sure to leave him a great tip, especially when he approved of our date and said the host was a stuffy old man too set in his ways to understand. On our way to the car, Mason’s new cell phone chimed, signaling a text. He pulled it out and read it. I watched his face as the jubilant smile faded quickly. “Mace… what’s wrong?”

He didn’t say anything as he ran to the car after shoving his phone into my hands. I looked down at the screen and saw it was from Dad. “Come home ASAP” is all it said. I chased after my boyfriend. He was pounding on Conner’s seat, trying to wake my brother up but it wasn’t really working. I leaned forward and blasted the SUV’s horn, making Conner’s head whip into mine. I told him to get us home now as Dad sent a text to Mason saying as such. Conner quickly consulted his phone and read a message from someone as well. I saw Conner’s eyes widen and told me to buckle up. Quickly.

“I hope this doesn’t ruin our date,” Mason said, a bit shaken. I think he feared the worst. “I really wanted this to be special for us.”

I took his hand. “It was, trust me.” I smiled at him, but I also was wondering why Dad sent that text to Mason. Was there something wrong with Richie?