“It’s good to meet you, Katie.” I hate that name. My mother uses it and I purposely ignore her when she does. It’s not my name, but Mr. Powell has always called me ‘Katie’ and I’m too polite to correct him now.
“Hello, Mr. Powell. This feels funny, don’t you think?”
“A little, but Mason says it’s necessary.”
“Yes he does.” I poke him in the ribs only for him to take my hand back into his.
“Well if you’ll excuse me, I’m cooking dinner.” Mr. Powell excuses himself from the living room, leaving us standing there. It feels a bit awkward and I don’t really know what to do. I swing our arms back and forth and look around the room, anywhere but at Mason.
“Want a tour?”
I nod, unable to find my voice. He leads me through the house, stopping and talking again with his dad. When we reach his room, the jitters are in full-force. I know I’m not allowed in a boy’s room, but curiosity gets the best of me. I step over the threshold and look around. His room is a little messy, not spic and span like mine, but it looks comfortable. I walk around, touching his trophies that sit on his shelf and the ribbons that hang along the wall. I pick up a picture of him and Liam Westbury and study it. It’s of them in their football uniforms from the fall. Josie and I went to a few of their games this past fall. I’d like to think I’ll be going to more as Mason’s girl, but I’m not getting my hopes up.
The creak of the bed gets my attention. I turn and see Mason sitting on the edge, watching me. He’s quiet, reserved. Does he not want me here? I’ve heard so many things about him from other girls that I know he’s experienced. He’s probably brought me here for sex. I’m not ready for that at all.
“Come here,” he says. He doesn’t pat the bed and offer me a place the sit. Do I sit next to him anyway? I smile softly and walk toward him. He places his hands on my hips when I’m close enough for him to touch. Even when he’s sitting, he’s taller than me. His hands move up and down, over my hips. “I wish you weren’t wearing a skirt.”
“Why?”
“Because I like the way your legs feel against my hands.”
My throat feels tight. Would he really want to have sex with his dad downstairs?
“My mom says a lady wears a dress when meeting parents for the first time.” I close my eyes and wish I could crawl in a hole and die. Did I really just say that?
“You’ve met my dad before, Katelyn.”
I shrug. “I guess this was different.”
“Why, because you’re my girlfriend?”
My heart stops beating when he says the word ‘girlfriend’. I want to smile, but my mom warned me that boys say things to get into girls’ panties.
“Girlfriend?” I squeak out.
“Yeah, I mean unless you want to date around or something. I just thought…”
“Okay,” I blurt out.
“Okay,” he says. He kisses me softly. Small, sweet pecks. “Can I try something?”
“I guess.”
He doesn’t tell me what he’s going to try, but he kisses me again. This time, I feel his tongue on my lips. I pull back and look at him.
“You’ll like it, I promise.”
I shake my head. “I don’t know, Mason. I’m not like those other girl’s you’ve been with.”
“What girls?” he asks as his hands start roaming again.
“I’ve heard the rumors.”
Mason sits back a little. He looks at me and shakes his head. “Katelyn, I promise you, I’ve done nothing but kiss a few girls.”
“You’re not having sex?”
“No,” he laughs and leans forward placing his hands back on my hips. “Now let me kiss you good and proper.”
“What are you thinking about?” Mr. Powell shakes me from my daydream. I have to shake my head to clear out the cobwebs. So much has happened in this house, so many memories.
“Thinking about the day I met you, officially.”
“That was such a long time ago.” He pulls me into a hug. I want to remind him that it wasn’t really that long, that our connection was just taken from us far too soon.
We walk up the steps, his arm around me as he ushers the twins inside. Nothing has changed since the first time I was here, except for minor cosmetic things.
The girls run up the stairs and put their stuff in Mason’s old room. I haven’t been up there since before Mason died and have no intention on going up there now. There are far too many memories of the two of us in that room.
“Can we talk?” I motion for us to sit down. He follows, taking the cushion next to me. He’s my second father. I could tell him everything and not worry about him judging me, but now? Now I’m not so sure he won’t judge.
“What’s going on, Katie?”
I take a deep breath and close my eyes. When I open them, he’s not looking at me. His face is pensive. I know he’s missing Susan and Mason. “I’ve met someone.”
He bites his lip and looks even farther away from me. “Are you taking the girls away from me?”
“What? No! Why would you ask that?” I pull on his arm so he’ll look at me. When he does, my heart breaks for him. His eyes are glistening. I shake my head and fight back the tears. “I’d never take them from you, ever.”