I went to my room, set the wineglass on the nightstand, and slipped into a pair of cotton pajamas. My body was totally relaxed, but it was still too early to go to bed. Deciding I might as well get some work done, I pulled my papers from my tote bag and sat on my bed as I began to grade them.
My eyes were starting to close. It was only nine o’clock, but between the bath and the wine, I was exhausted. It didn’t help that my brain was going a mile a minute.
I needed to talk to Mason. He’d know what I should do.
? ? ?
When I woke up, the sun was shining. I picked up my phone from my nightstand and saw I’d missed a call from Drake last night. I was disappointed I didn’t talk to him, but I must have been really out if I didn’t hear my phone go off.
I didn’t bother to call him back since I was already running late, especially if I wanted to catch Mason before classes started. After a quick shower, I towel-dried my hair and scooped it up into a damp ponytail, and then twisted it into a bun that I fastened to the top of my head with a clip. Once I was dressed, I grabbed my keys and was out the door in a flash. Luckily for me, today was Mason’s day to grab coffee, so I didn’t need to worry about that.
I found Mason alone in the teachers’ lounge, looking over some math equations that resembled hieroglyphics.
“Is that new math?” I asked, wrinkling my nose.
He chuckled. “No, it’s trigonometry.”
“I’m glad I had you to help me with my math homework in college, or I would have failed.” I took a sip of my coffee. “Thank you for this.”
“What’s up? You look frazzled.” He set his pencil down and pushed the papers aside.
“I overslept, but I wanted to talk to you about something.” Just as I was about to elaborate, a few other teachers strolled in, and it was almost time for the first bell to ring. “Want to go out for dinner with me?”
“Of course. I’ll pick you up around six. Will that work?” he asked as we got up and walked toward our classrooms.
“Great. Thanks, Mace.”
We parted ways and began our day, which dragged, of course, since I wanted it to end quickly. But it was standardized testing week, so we didn’t have full days after today. Thank God.
At six o’clock on the nose, Mason rolled up in front of my apartment in his Jeep. I was happy to see he had the top up since it looked as if it was going to rain.
“Hey, thanks for coming to get me,” I said as I hopped into the passenger seat.
“My pleasure.” He smiled at me and I began to relax. “I figured we’d go to the little French bistro we like near Reston. Is that okay?”
“Yes. That’s great.”
“You’re twirling your hair. You must be stressed.”
I dropped my hand. “Sorry, I didn’t realize.”
“What is it, Luce?”
His smooth tone calmed me, but I could tell he was concerned.
“I was going to wait until we got there, but I may as well start now.” After I cleared my throat, I said, “I’m thinking about telling Drake my story.”
Mason’s head snapped toward me and then back to the road. “Are you sure, Luce?”
“I’m falling for him, and he has a big election coming up. If I don’t tell him now and it comes out later, he could be screwed, and I could be . . . well, I’m not worried about me as much.”
We turned into the parking garage and walked into the restaurant. After we were seated and ordered our drinks, Mason had a troubled look on his face.
“You don’t think I should, do you?”
That conflicted look he wore said it all; he really couldn’t answer me or tell me what to do. He was struggling with this situation, just as I was.
“Mace.” I reached across the table and put my hand on his wrist. “I’m not asking you to tell me what to do; I’m just telling you what I’m thinking about doing.”
He nodded. “Drake is a great guy and if you trust him, then tell him. It’s just . . .” His hand raked through his floppy hair. “What happens if the wrong people find out? Are you prepared for that? You’ve worked so hard to protect yourself, but if it’s weighing on you, which I can see it is, you should tell him.”