Page 35 of Fun and Games

His eyebrows flew up with concern.

"Did something happen?" he asked, alarmed. "Is your family okay?"

My fingers trembled as I bent down to pick up my wallet, avoiding his eyes.

"Everything's fine. I forgot I had a… thing," I forced out. I slid from the booth with haste and fiddled with my purse. I was afraid if I met Mason's eyes he would see the anguish behind them.

Mason stood as well and reached a hand out to me. I flinched back and clutched my bag to my chest. His expression went surprised, then pained. He had no idea why I was reacting this way, but I couldn't bear explaining it to him.

"I've got to go," I repeated, taking several steps back.

"Let me know when you get home?" he asked, still looking confused.

I gripped my bag tight, nodding silently, then turned on my heel and fled.

Thirteen

I knewI'd hurt Mason when I ran off.

I hadn't meant to. I hated seeing the disappointment on his face, the confusion.

But that message from my sister had torn my heart out of my chest, and I knew if I'd stayed one more minute I would have fallen apart in front of him.

David's mom has something for you, something of his that she thinks you would want.

That single sentence was enough to send me tailspinning.

I hadn't seen or talked to David's mother since the funeral. It had been too hard. I'd moved my personal things out of the apartment we shared and told her she could do whatever she wanted with the rest.

My parents said I should move back in with them. My sister offered me a place to stay, too. But their loss was almost as bad as mine — David had been a part of the family for so long — and I knew I wouldn't be able to handle their grief alongside my own.

I needed to be by myself, at least for a little while, so I packed up and moved to a neighboring city. Just for a few months, I'd told everyone. Long enough to clear my head.

But I never stayed in one place for too long. There were too many interesting cities to discover, so many places I wanted to see. I felt like I had to fulfill the dreams I never got to experience with David. That was when I'd gotten the idea to start my travel blog.

My parents worried. I knew that. So did my sister. But it was better this way. Easier. Less painful.

But less painful didn't mean painless.

I ignored the text until I got home. Even then, I took my time taking off my shoes, placing them carefully in the front closet, setting my bag down, putting my keys in the bowl next to the front door, and changing out of my jeans into a pair of comfortable yoga pants.

Only when I had done everything I could to procrastinate did I look at my phone.

My sister had texted again.

Please, give me a call, was all she had written.

Bracing myself, I tapped the phone screen and put it to my ear, listening to it ring.

My sister picked up without even a hello.

"Bree?" she asked, even though I knew she had my name in her contacts and it would have shown up on her phone the second I called.

"Yeah, it's me." I took a seat on the sofa, gingerly placing myself in the center of the cushions. The guy who owned the apartment I was subletting must have always sat in the same spot near the side of the sofa next to the arm, because there was a deep groove there. I always sat in the center. It felt weird sinking down into some strange guy's butt imprint.

"You've been avoiding my texts," she said. It wasn't exactly accusatory, but I heard the disappointment in her voice.

"I've just been busy," I said. "Settling into the new place, getting used to the new job."