Page 103 of Off Plan

“Obviously. But don’t beat yourself up over it, Mase. You can’t be the best at everything.” He yawned and tucked his face into my neck.

I lifted my hand to his ribs threateningly, though I was too tired to even tickle him. “You lie like a rug on the floor.”

“Listen to those baseless accusations, all because I happen to be a better judge of character.Tsk, tsk.” Fenn kissed the underside of my jaw. “Stick with me, baby. I’ll train you up right.”

I sucked in a tiny breath and held it.

I could hardly believe how much I’d changed since Micah had said that to Con a few weeks back.

I’d learned I was strong and adaptable, that I was brave enough to live my life openly, and lucky enough to have a lot of friends. I also learned it wasdefinitelypossible for me to be jealous of Micah and Con and their relationship which was steady and solid and real.

“You’re younger than I am, you realize? By a solid five years?” I croaked.

Fenn shrugged one shoulder. “So?”

So… I swallowed.

“I’ll stick with you,” I agreed. But as Fenn’s breathing evened out and the sweet weight of him grew heavier against my chest, I wondered how long we’d have.

Chapter Seventeen

Fenn

“No,what I’m saying is David Tennant brings a certain gravitas to the portrayal—”

“And I’m saying Matt Smith’s hotter,” I proclaimed, crossing my feet at the ankles and stacking my hands behind my head on the bed. “So bite me.”

Mason turned from the closet, where he was hanging his clean laundry, and glared. “‘So bite me’isnota compelling argument as to why we should start bingingDr. Whoon season five.”

Unfortunately for Mason, his glare wasn’t quite as impressive when he was wearing nothing but his boxers and he was still damp from our post-sex, post-nap shower. I had to crush my lip with my teeth to stop myself from smiling.

Outside the open curtains, the sky was still bright. The humidity haze had caught the glow of the sinking sun and turned everything liquid gold, and tiny water droplets from the passing thunderstorm still clung to everything, but I had no desire to be out there, and apparently neither did Mason.

We were doing our usual evening routine, where he bustled around the room tidying shit that was already tidy while I spread out on the bed and watched him, chatting about stupid stuff. It was comfortable. Itshouldhave been reassuring. Hell, after the mind-blowing sex we’d had just a couple of hours ago, there shouldn’t even have been aneedfor reassurance.

But there was a strange tension in the air I couldn’t identify or dispel. If Beale had been around, he would have said it was a portent or some shit… but he fuckingwasn’t, so we were not calling it that.

Mason paused in his tidying and looked over at me. He opened his mouth and took a breath like he was about to speak. Then he hesitated, shut his lips, cleared his throat, gave me an anemic smile, and resumed his task. For the fourth time in fifteen minutes.

He clearly had something to say but didn’t want to say it.

I ran a hand through my hair, smiled back half-heartedly, and watched the shadows shift as the sun sank, deliberately not calling Mason out on whatever words were stuck in his throat. Also for the fourth time in fifteen minutes.

Because whatever he didn’t want to say, I sure as fuck didn’t want to hear, and so the tension in the room ratcheted up another notch.

Mason’s phone chimed from the table in front of the window, and he glanced in that direction but didn’t move.

“Want me to check it?” I asked, eager for distraction. “Might be about a patient.”

Mason shrugged. “If you want. But the answering service doesn’t text, they call. It’s probably Toby wanting to know, ah—” He cleared his throat. “—how I’m doing. You know, on second thought, don’t bother—”

But it was too late. I was already up and off the bed, grabbing his phone from the charger.

“It’s Toby,” I confirmed, checking the screen. “He says ‘I need a status update! Has Edgar been invaded? Have the barricades been breached? Were there casualties? Report, soldier!’ Followed by an eggplant emoji, a bomb emoji, a peach emoji, a volcano emoji, a fire emoji, and a Red Cross emoji.” I lifted an eyebrow toward the suspiciously frozen man in front of the closet. “Baby, who or what is Edgar?”

Mason closed his eyes, flattened his lips together, and shook his head very minutely. “That’s not… It doesn’t…” He inhaled sharply. “I refuse to answer on the grounds I may incriminate myself.”

“Incriminate yourself?”