Page 25 of The Secret Crush Book Club (Peach Blossom #3)

Eighteen

“I like her.”

Zoey paused where she was reaching into the fridge to turn and look at Mason. He was putting clothes in his suitcase and not looking at her, but she knew he could tell she was looking at him.

“You like who?”

He looked up with a bland expression. “Your sugar mommy.”

It was a good thing she wasn’t drinking anything, otherwise it might have ended up everywhere. She pulled out the bottle of juice she was reaching for and straightened up. “I don’t have a sugar… You are so weird.”

He grinned before shrugging. “It is what it is. But anyway, I retract my earlier statements. I like her and having seen you two interact, I feel good about letting you date her.”

“You don’t let me do anything, asshole.” She threw a dish towel at him, feeling satisfied when it tagged Mason on the side of the head. He threw it off and scowled at her, looking like a little kid. “I wasn’t basing my choice off of what you said.”

“So, you wouldn’t have considered my thoughts at all?”

She wanted to say no, but Zoey truly did value Mason’s opinions.

He wasn’t always right about things, but he was more objective when it came to this case.

If he had left the lunch and immediately told Zoey to get the hell away from Dani, she might have had to seriously consider it.

“I would have considered them, but in the end, the decision is mine alone.”

“Of course,” he agreed easily. “You’re a grown-ass woman now. All I can do is provide my brotherly advice and hope you take it.”

Zoey poured them both some juice before walking over and handing Mason his glass. “Okay, and what brotherly advice do you have for me now?” She knew even with Mason saying that he liked Dani that he probably had more comments and concerns to convey.

Mason took the glass before taking a sip.

He smacked his lips exaggeratedly before speaking.

“My only advice to you is to take it slow and to really think about whether or not this relationship serves not only you but also Dani. Dating as a single parent is tough—I should know that. It means that she is going to have to consider Jordan before anything else, including herself. Including you.”

“I know that,” Zoey said. She truly did know that.

She had seen the sacrifices that Mason had made when raising her.

She knew that part of the reason why he was still single even after all these years was because he got used to it.

He was enjoying the freedom of not having responsibilities and he deserved to, after partially putting his life on hold to raise her.

Despite what Mason said though, Zoey knew that he still considered her as much as he could when making decisions about his own future.

They had had many arguments with her telling him to put himself first when it came to what he decided to do next.

His upcoming move meant that maybe he was finally taking what she said seriously.

“You say that, sis, but I don’t think you really understand what that means,” he said gently.

Zoey narrowed her eyes and opened her mouth to speak, but Mason put a hand on her arm, halting her words.

“No, listen to what I have to say first. I don’t mean that you would do something to mess things up on purpose.

But, things are even more complicated for the two of you because you have already met Jordan and he already seems fond of you. ”

“He’s an amazing kid,” Zoey threw out.

“Absolutely he is. And I can’t blame him for liking you. You’re my sister, so I know how amazing you are. But that also makes it more difficult if things don’t work out between you and Dani.”

“Do you ever regret it?” Zoey asked, looking down at her cup. “Choosing to take me in, I mean. Do you ever regret doing that?”

“Never,” Mason said, his voice fiercer than she had ever heard it.

“But, you were so young,” she continued.

There hadn’t been many options back then.

Zoey had gone to stay with their paternal aunt and her husband for a few months, and they had been very nice.

But they had three kids of their own and not enough time or space.

Zoey hadn’t been mistreated, but she had almost immediately faded into the background of the life they had already established.

She still kept in contact with them, but she hadn’t been sad when Mason had arrived and announced he was going to be taking her with him when he left.

Mason leaned against her, his larger shoulder pushing her against the couch. Zoey couldn’t help but laugh and push against him. He flopped over her like he had always done when they were kids.

“So were you,” he said as he pushed back up, letting Zoey go. “We were both young, but we had each other. I wasn’t about to be separated from you. Not if I could help it.”

Zoey smiled. “I feel the same, really. I just don’t like the idea that you never got to have your wild streak because of me.”

Mason laughed, throwing his head back before looking at her with familiar crinkled eyes.

“That you thought I didn’t have time to have fun means I did a great job.

I had plenty of time when I needed it. Please believe that, and don’t feel guilty.

If anything, you kept me from making some really idiotic decisions that would have made both of our lives harder. ”

Zoey nodded. She didn’t say anything, despite wanting to push back immediately.

Instead, she let his words wash over her.

Zoey knew that no one went into a relationship expecting to break up.

But sometimes—hell, often—if she was being honest, things happened.

She too had some concerns about the fact that she was already involved in Jordan’s life.

She knew herself and she knew that if she and Dani broke up, she wouldn’t treat him any differently.

But it was still something that she had to really think about.

She didn’t doubt that Dani was having similar conversations with her family and friends, and she knew that at some point if they both decided that they wanted to continue this relationship and maybe move it to the next level, they needed to have this conversation together.

“So, like I said,” Mason continued, grabbing her attention again. “I like Dani. I like the fact that there’s another person telling you to celebrate yourself. And as much as it pains me as your brother to admit, I like that she couldn’t take her eyes off of you while we were eating.”

Zoey nearly spit her juice out and covered her mouth with her hand as she looked at Mason. She hadn’t noticed Dani doing anything unusual or staring at her any longer than she normally did. Was there something that she was missing?

“What do you mean?”

Mason gave her a look. “You really didn’t see how she was looking at you? Zoey, come on.”

Zoey pushed his shoulder. “Shut up. Make sure you have your passport so we can go.” She stood up from the couch and walked away to keep from showing just how flustered Mason’s last comments had made her. She had a lot to think about.

* * *

Zoey had a little pep in her step today as she walked into the library for her shift.

Mondays were normally rough, but she couldn’t find it in herself to be down today.

Her weekend had been too damn good, and she was still riding the high of it into a new workday.

She had just reached the staff room when her cell rang, and Zoey quickly moved to answer it.

“Hello?”

“Should you be on your phone in the library, Ms. Big Name Author?”

Zoey couldn’t help the smile that lit up her face when she heard Dani’s voice over the line. They hadn’t seen each other yesterday because Zoey had gone up to Atlanta to take Mason to the airport so he could catch his flight out.

“‘Ms. Big Name Author’? Is that what we’re going with these days?”

Dani’s soft chuckle had Zoey clutching at her cell. That sound did things for her, and she wanted to wrap it around her and pull it out whenever she needed a fix.

“Am I wrong?”

“No,” Zoey admitted. She still felt weird about saying that, but Mason had been on to her for years about downplaying her achievements.

With both of them tag-teaming her, Zoey figured she should probably start listening and tooting her own horn a little.

“Why are you up so early? I thought you were off today?”

“I am,” Dani replied. “But I wanted to catch you before your shift started and make sure you were okay. I know you had to take Mason to the airport last night. It was tough enough for me to watch Vini drive away, and I knew she would be back in like two weeks. I can’t imagine having to say goodbye to your brother for months, if not years, at a time. ”

Zoey felt warmed by the thought of Dani caring about her. “I think I’m used to it at this point. But thank you for checking on me.”

“Of course,” Dani said as if it were the most normal thing in the world and not something that rearranged Zoey’s feelings from the inside out.

How was she supposed to take things slow in the face of Dani’s kindness?

“I’ve got to head out, but Jordan will be in later for the esports league. He didn’t want to miss another week.”

“Great. I’ll look out for him. I know the other boys will be happy he’s back.” They said their goodbyes and Zoey stood staring at the phone before her alarm went off and she headed back out to the main area to get started on the day’s responsibilities.