“Mason…”
“Do you have any idea how much you’ve hurt him?”
I wiped the tears from beneath my eyes. “You don’t understand.”
“I think I understand completely. You were alive and you stayed away…”
“That’s not the whole story.”
He just stared at me.
So I told him. I told him all of it. And when I got to the part about Matt in the pool with James’ sister I couldn’t stop crying. Because I was talking to Mason. No one knew Matt better than he did. And he was staring at me like I was heartless.
I heard Kennedy defend Matt. I heard James. I heard Penny and Rob. But seeing Mason’s face? It was like I finally believed I’d gotten everything wrong.
But it didn’t change anything. I couldn’t change the past. And even if I could…I didn’t want to. It had been a long time since I’d thought I was a monster. But I felt like one right now. I felt like a Pruitt.
“I’m going to tell him,” I said. “I swear I am. I just need…”
“You’ve already robbed Matt of 16 years, Brooklyn. I’m not going to let you rob him of any more.”
I clenched my jaw to make my bottom lip stop trembling.
“And you’re out of time. If you don’t talk to him now, you’re going to miss your chance.”
“Miss my chance at what?”
“The life the two of you always should have had.”
I shook my head. “I don’t want that life.”
“Are you sure about that?”
I pressed my lips together.
“You better be damn sure. Because he’s finally ready to move on. He’s waited 16 years for you. And if you won’t tell him to wait another day, I’m not going to tell him either. He deserves happiness too.”
“You mean with Kennedy?”
Mason nodded.
“But that’s what I want,” I said. “I want them to be happy.”
“I think we both know that isn’t true. If you didn’t have feelings for him, you’d already be up there telling him your story instead of telling it to me. You’re avoiding him because you still love him.”
I shook my head. That’s what Miller had said in his letter. That a piece of me still loved Matt. I didn’t want that to be true. I really, really didn’t. But…what if it was? Why else would seeing Mason have affected me like this? Why was I panicking about seeing Matt? Why couldn’t I make myself go up to his office right now?
“I think Kennedy really likes him,” I said. “And I don’t want to interfere.”
“But what if you wait and don’t interfere? What if they move forward and then you realize you do still love him? What then? Every second you wait this situation gets messier and messier. You have the power to fix everything.”
I shook my head. “I don’t. Even if I did still like Matt, which I’m not saying I do, that would devastate Kennedy. She’s the only friend I…”
“Think twice before ending that sentence, sis.”
I smiled at him. “You can’t call me that anymore.”
“I think I might still be able to.”
