Page 28 of Bang

"I'm not."

"Alright, noon it is."

True to his word, he'd shown up exactly at noon, driving a bright orange SUV, which happened to be the same exact color of his tool company's logo.

No coincidence there, huh?

The vehicle wasn't the only thing that caught me off-guard. It was Mason's clothes. The tailored business suit was long gone, and in its place were jeans and a black T-shirt, along with black high-top sneakers.

He looked ten years younger than he had last night, andalmosthuman, as he opened the rear hatch of the orange SUV and helped me load up my two battered suitcases, along with a few boxes containing extra clothes, some of my favorite books, and other basic necessities.

Today was Sunday, which meant my youngest siblings – Carrie and Tanya, who were still in high school – were home today, and thus, able to gawk at Mason to their heart's content.

I couldn’t exactly blame them.Blastwas the Home Network's number-one hit show of all time. With its killer ratings and wide appeal, it had made all three brothers famous.

My whole family loved the show, even my parents, who were not only supportive of my sudden career move, but viewed it as an excellent opportunity to bulk up my resume for next year's job search.

I saw what they meant. And yet, as I loaded up my things, next year seemed so very far away. At the moment, it wasthisyear that was scaring the pants off me.

After a final round of hugs and goodbyes between me and my family, Mason and I were officially on the road.

I could hardly believe I was doing this.

But from the look on Mason's face, it was exactly what he'd expected all along. Ten minutes later, as we pulled out onto the highway, I gave Mason a long, sideways look.

He looked too smug by half.

In fact, he lookedsosmug that I couldn’t stop myself from saying, "Good thing I said yes, huh?"

With his gaze trained on the highway, he replied, "Meaning?"

"Well, if Ididn'tsay yes, you'd haveLiviain your passenger's seat. Andshehas a lot more luggage."

Sounding only mildly interested, he replied, "Does she?"

"Oh yeah. You'd probably need to rent a trailer or something."

I wasn't even lying.Livia and I had both gone to Michigan State. I'd roomed with her during my freshman year.She had a ton of stuff.

In the driver's seat, Mason said nothing in reply. But I swear, I saw the hint of a smile play across his lips. What that smile meant, I had no idea.

I decided to push the issue. "So you must be pretty relieved, huh?"

"No. Because I knew you'd say yes."

"Oh, so you think I'mthatpredictable, huh?"

"No. I think I'm that persuasive."

I almost rolled my eyes. "Well, someone's awful sure of himself." Even as the words left my mouth, I recalled the first time I'd said this to him. It had been just last night, when he'd told me flat-out that I'd be saying yes to his offer.

And I had.

How embarrassing was that?

When I gave Mason another glance, he lookeddoublysmug.

Well, this was just terrific.