Exchange

Chapter 19

"You're not an idiot-"

He flashed me a mischievous smirk. "So is that why you two decided to leave early? So that you could fit in a little kinky-"

"Oh my God!" I screeched, blocking my ears with my hands.

His words were obnoxiously loud and I was cringing at what he was insinuating about Mason and I. And if Mason were to hear it.

"JT shut up- nothing happened-"

JT burst out laughing. "You guys left an hour earlier than the rest of us and you're telling me nothing went happened?"

I growled. "Yes-"

"It's okay Rose." Molly chuckled. "You don't have to deny-"

"Mason and I did not hook up!" I exclaimed loudly, raising my voice over theirs, and cutting off their teasing.

There was a beat of silence when a low voice said, "Bad timing?"

My eyes darted over to the doorway where Mason was standing, dressed like JT in only a pair of grey sweatpants. Embarrassment trickled through me at what I had just shouted and I threw glares up at both JT and Molly who were watching the scene unfold with amused eyes.

"Perfect actually." Molly responded to Mason, throwing him a glance and a smirk. "We were just leaving."

"Of course you were." I mumble, watching my traitorous friend leave the room with knowing eyes.

I then settled my gaze on Mason, who already had his eyes on me.

I became warm under his stare, which ran down my body, lingering on his sweater wrapped around my body, before coming back up to meet my eyes. I opened my mouth, attempting to say something that would defuse the tension I was feeling, however was hit with another sharp pang in the back of my head.

Flopping back on the pillow, I opted my words for a groan, and threw a hand over my eyes.

"Here."

I jumped at the sudden proximity of his voice. Turning my head, I saw Mason standing in front of me with an outstretched hand, and a smirk as plain as day on his handsome features. Against my will, my eyes flitted down to his bare torso, admiring the hard abs and broad shoulders, before quickly skittering back up to his face again.

I then noticed the box of painkillers in his hand and narrowed my eyes at him.

"I don't have a headache." I said indignantly, pushing myself up against the headboard.

I tried not to wince while doing so.

Mason cocked an eyebrow. "'Kay, if you say so."

He chucked them onto the far bedside table and I watched with hidden dismay as the box landed out of hands reach. Why was I always trying to prove something to this boy?

There was an awkward silence then, and for some reason, I felt like something had shifted between us. Despite nothing happening last night, I suddenly felt weird.

And despite the fact that the previous evening was pretty blurry in my head, looking at Mason now, I realized that all of my memories with him were clear. Like I had personally stored them away in a part of my mind that the alcohol hadn't touched.

Because suddenly I was remembering the heat of his hand on my lower back, the way he had complimented me quietly in my ear- erasing all of my insecurities in an instant. How his smile had filled me with a giddy warmth from across the dance floor, how he had carried me home.

I swallowed and suddenly felt self-conscious under Mason's intense, honey-coloured eyes. My hair was hanging raggedly down my shoulders and I hadn't even taken my make-up off from last night.