Page 113 of Kiss and Tell

“If you want to talk to him, you should do it,” I said. “I don’t think it will go as badly as you’re expecting.”

“He hates me,” Mason said flatly.

My heart ached for him.

Connor hadn’t been the only one who had lost his best friend.

“Come on,” I told him. “I’ll put you on the guest list.”

Thirty-Seven

Mason followedme reluctantly into the bar. He turned his head back and forth, taking in the crowd much like Connor had.

“There’s a lot of people,” he said.

“This event is a pretty big deal.”

I couldn’t keep the note of pride from my voice. I’d worked hard on this. Connor, Jessie and Gael had as well. There were our fellow shop neighbors, yes, but a sizable portion of the bunch were newspaper and magazine journalists along with food and drink bloggers. From the chatter I’d overheard, they were mighty impressed with the place.

This grand opening was something people were going to talk about long after it was over.

I spotted Connor near the bar counter, chatting with a handful of people.

Mason froze behind me.

“I don’t know if this is a good idea,” he muttered.

“Trust me,” I told him.

I walked over to Connor and tapped him on the shoulder to get his attention. He turned to me with a wide grin. He stopped. His eyes went wide, then narrowed, his face turning blank.

“What’s he doing here?” His voice was devoid of any emotion.

“Just hear him out,” I said, running a smoothing hand up and down his arm. “I think you should listen to what he has to say.”

I motioned for Mason to come forward. He did so with hesitant steps.

“Mason.” Connor nodded cooly.

I heard Mason take an audible breath in, his chest expanding, then let it out.

“First of all, I need to say I’m sorry,” Mason started out with halting words. “I know you hate me, and I’m not denying that you have good reason, but I never meant for any of this to happen, and if I could do it all over again I would do things differently.”

As Mason spoke, Connor’s face slowly turned from stony to bewildered.

“I don’t hate you,” Connor said, puzzled.

“You should,” Mason stated. “It’s all my fault.”

Connor paused, taken aback.

I didn’t know what Mason thought of his silence, but he continued talking, as if once he started, he couldn’t stop the words from tumbling out of his mouth.

“It’s all my fault,” he repeated, casting his eyes down, as if he couldn’t meet anyone’s gaze. “I pushed you too hard. Made you do too many shows, made you take on too many contracts. I thought I was doing what was best for your career, but I only ended up ruining it.”

By the end his voice had turned thick and liquid, full of pain and remorse.

“I don’t expect you to forgive me, but I need to apologize anyway,” Mason continued. “Just know that I never meant for any of this to happen.”