Page 103 of Surviving Love

“I was sorry to hear about your sister,” Mom said softly. “A terrible waste.”

“I agree.” Jack’s face tensed. “Her daughter, Molly, is a joy though. My parents are raising her.”

“That’s wonderful.” Mom nodded approvingly.

I took a sip of my lemonade.

“So why do you love my son?” Mom asked.

I started coughing and put a napkin up to my mouth quickly so I didn’t spit lemonade out on the white carpet.

Jack patted my back, looking concerned. “You okay?”

I nodded, still coughing a little. “Went down the wrong pipe,” I whispered.

Mom smirked. “He’s lying. He’s getting weird again because I asked why you love him.”

I felt like my face was on fire. I’d expected this meeting to be hard on Jack, not me. So far, I seemed to be the only person in the room having a dreadful time. Jack looked cool as a cucumber, and even Mom seemed relaxed.

Clearing his throat, Jack said, “It’s hard to pinpoint what made me fall in love with Mason. We started out butting heads, to be honest. But that first day, he and I worked together so well as a team, my respect for him took over. He never whined or complained like a lot of the other contestants. He’d signed up for hard, and he never backed down from it.”

I was embarrassed to hear all his thoughts about me, but it was also flattering as hell. “You worked hard and never complained either.”

“Yeah, but I was cut out for roughing it. I had you pegged as a city boy who wouldn’t last the week. You proved me wrong.”

“Do you think he might have given you a run for the money if he hadn’t had to come home for me?” Mom asked.

Jack glanced at me, looking sheepish. “I don’t think I’d have let him sit next to me at the final two. He might have won over me.”

I scowled. “Wait, you were going to vote me out? You promised you’d take me to the final two.”

He laughed. “It’s calledDevious Islandfor a reason, Mason.”

“You lying bast—” I stopped myself and glanced at Mom. “Bad person.”

Jack grinned. “Nice catch.”

Mom wagged her finger at me. “Language, son.”

“I didn’t say anything.” I laughed gruffly.

Jack set his glass down on a coaster. “Mason definitely might have gotten more votes. But he left, so I got lucky.”

Mom lifted her chin. “I think my boy would have beat you, Jack. He’s such a sweetheart. America would have loved him.”

“God, Mom, stop.”

Jack smiled. “Americadoeslove him. He was one of the most popular players this season.”

My cheeks warmed when Mom looked at me, surprised.

“You didn’t tell me that,” she said.

“There were other popular players. It doesn’t mean anything.”

“It means the show would have you back in a heartbeat.” Jack glanced at me. “Would you do it, if they asked?”

“Maybe.” I tried to imagine being out there without Jack and didn’t really love the idea of that. My experience had been special because of him.