After what happened in the kitchen. The tension, the awkward silence, and Mason’s perfectly inconvenient call. I needed air. Not the kind you breathe… the kind that clears your head.

I slipped out to the pool, letting the cool evening breeze brush against my skin. The water shimmered under the moonlight, still and inviting. But I didn’t get in. I just sat at the edge and dipped my toes in, staring into nothing while Mason’s name looped in my head.

Why did he call? And why now?

He ...