Page 35 of Word to the Wise

I’m not good for much, but I can be good for her like this—as her friend. So that’s what I’ll be. What she needs at this moment. Because she is worth it, and I’ll help her see that eventually.

Even if I’m not.

11

Reed

The best thing aboutbig cities is all the things to do. Around every corner, there’s something happening, and it’s impossible to get bored. When I was a teenager, I’d sneak off the compound with Lyla and Ellie, and we’d explore LA like it was our own personal playground.

Until my brother would inevitably find us and drag us back before our fathers caught us.

Exploring is something I’ve missed in the years I’ve spent with Carter. He was never as adventurous as me, and he preferred nice dinners in restaurants to a slice of pizza from a cart on the street.

So when Mason surprised me by wanting to just spend the afternoon wandering, he didn’t realize how much I appreciate that kind of freedom.

After lunch, we grab ice cream and go window shopping. We laugh at the ridiculous dresses that probably cost more than the cars driving down the street and try to imagine how he’d fit into some of the men’s suits with his oversized frame.

Carter always expected me to be dressed to perfection. To be perfectly presentable from the moment I woke up until the moment I went to bed. But as I look up atMason and he smiles at my nearly makeup-free face, I can’t contain the faintest flutter that comes to life in my chest.

“Where to now?” I ask when we stop outside a nondescript door a few blocks away from Twisted Roses.

“You’ll see.” Mason pulls the door open and waits for me to walk past him.

Stepping inside, I’m met with ceilings that go up at least five stories. It’s not what I expected from the sidewalk, and my eyes widen as I take in the big open space. Rock-climbing walls are everywhere, with the highest one in the very back where a few people are currently descending.

“Rock climbing?”

“Didn’t you say you were going to climb Everest someday?”

“You remember that?” It was a random joke I told him at the bar while we were waiting for drinks the last time I was in town.

“Well”—Mason waves his arm out—“I do. And you’ll need to get some practice in first.”

It might be the single most thoughtful thing anyone has ever done for me. While I love how protective my brother is, he treats me like a fragile creature that needs to be caged sometimes. Mason wants to set me free from everything that’s been holding me back these past few years.

He wants me to live again. And not only that, but he’s also taken me somewhere he genuinely thinks I’ll like.

“Bad idea?” He looks down at me, and his eyebrows pinch as he meets my expression.

It must be impossible to read, given the concern that washes over his face. But that’s only because I’m in shock, staring around, not sure what to think.

“No.” It’s almost a whisper. “Not at all.”

The smile that climbs his cheeks sets his blue eyes ablaze. It colors his cheeks, and I almost melt at the sight of it. One glance and my heart would be in trouble if I was looking for anything more than a friend.

“Good.” Mason walks us up to the counter and hands over his card to reserve our spot.

The girl behind the desk bats her lashes at him and flirts not so subtly as she takes our information down. I’m getting used to seeing this reaction when it comes to Mason interacting with women. One smile and they melt.

I get it; I’m not immune either.

“Just out of curiosity…” I lean my hip against the counter when the woman helping us goes to retrieve our harnesses. “What if I was afraid of heights? Did you consider that?”

“I did.” He faces me. “But you don’t strike me as a girl who’s afraid of all that much, so I figured it was worth the risk.”

I wish I could see myself through Mason’s eyes. I’d like to get lost in the fearless girl he imagines me to be. I’m scared of plenty, and most of those things aren’t easily overcome. But the way he grins as he hands me a harness says he believes I could do just about anything.

I can’t figure out why he has so much faith in me when I don’t have any. But I bask in that and let it be enough.