Nobody But You: A Single Dad Romance

by Megan Green

  Cami chuckles. “And I’m the nerd? Okay, back to your story.”

  “Mason was this hot jock back then, you know?”

  She nods, unsurprised by this tidbit of information as well.

  “And I was this chubby nerd. I don’t think we spoke more than one word to each other from kindergarten to junior year. And that was only the word thanks a few times the year I sat behind him in History.”

  “So, what happened?”

  “One of our teachers told Mason I was good at math, and Mason needed a tutor.”

  “Oh my God!” Cami squeals. “This is like an ’80s movie come to life!”

  “Chill, Molly Ringwald. It wasn’t like that. We didn’t fall in love.”

  She pouts her lower lip out. “Well, that’s no fun.”

  I exhale slowly, trying to steady myself before the next part of this story. “Well, I didn’t say one of us didn’t.”

  This gets her attention, and she sits up straight, turning to face me head-on.

  “Mason and I became inseparable soon after that,” I continue, a smile briefly coming to my face as I remember all those hours we spent together. “Turned out, we had a ton in common. We liked the same movies, the same music, the same TV shows. We became fast friends, and before I knew it, I was head over heels in love.”

  “Aww,” she says, pressing her hand to her heart. “Young love is so innocent.”

  I scoff, “I’d say. Mason was my best friend. And I was convinced he felt the same way as I did. But he ran with a different crowd. The popular kids. And they would never approve of us being together.”

  Cami’s smile falls. “So, he hid you away?”

  I shake my head. “Nothing like that. Not really. I mean, he didn’t invite me to come hang out with him and his friends, but he never made me feel like he was hiding our friendship from them either. But I knew it couldn’t be more than that—at least, not until after graduation. And I was okay with that. I was okay with waiting for him.”

  “He wouldn’t date you because his friends didn’t think you were cool enough?”

  I shrug. “He never said it in so many words. I just knew that was the case. But the way we were when we were alone together, there’s no faking that sort of relationship. That intimacy.”

  “You slept together even though he wouldn’t date you?”

  I whip my head up, my eyes widening as I realize how that sounded. “No. No, no, no. We never so much as kissed, though there were a few times I thought he was going to. But something always interrupted us, something always standing in our way. No, when I said intimacy, I meant … I don’t know how to explain it. There was just something special about the time we spent together. It was like we were the only two people on the planet.”

  “Okay,” Cami says, her tone showcasing just how skeptical she is about the whole situation that existed between Mason and me. “Well, something must’ve changed; otherwise, we wouldn’t be having this conversation.”

  I nod slowly. “He asked me to prom.”

  Cami’s brow furrows. “Um, isn’t that a good thing?”

  “I thought so. I thought maybe he was finally ready to tell his friends about us. Finally ready to take our relationship to that next level. I went out the very same night he asked and found a dress, spending far more of my college money than I wanted but knowing I needed to look perfect. I’d never been so excited.”

  Cami stays silent for a moment, waiting for me to continue. When I don’t speak for several more seconds, she cracks. “Oh, come on, don’t leave me hanging. What happened? Did he stand you up? Dump a bucket of pig’s blood on your head? Tell me!”

  I let out a disappointed sigh. “Nothing like that. In fact, my dream was over before it ever really began.

  “The following Monday at school, one of his friends, Tiffani, pulled me to the side. Told me she’d heard about him asking me. I tried to shrug her off because she’d never exactly been nice to me before. But then she told me everything Mason and their group of friends had planned for me that night. How the whole thing was just one big joke. He had no intention of actually taking me to the prom. They just wanted to embarrass me.”

  “And you believed her? How do you know she wasn’t just jealous?” Cami asks incredulously.

  “Because when I looked up at Mason at the end of the hall, surrounded by his friends, they were all looking my way. Watching as Tiffani talked to me. She told me they thought she was down there, letting me know what time to expect the limo, trying to convince me that we were all friends now so that their plan would go off without a hitch. But her conscience got the better of her, and she couldn’t go through with it.

  “Even after all that though, I told her I didn’t believe her. That Mason would never set me up like that. She told me to believe whatever I wanted but not to blame her when it all went exactly as she said. With that, she flipped her hair over her shoulder and walked back to her friends. When she joined them, they all started talking in hushed voices, staring at me over their shoulders. Then, Mason leaned in, and the entire group burst out laughing. Tiffani turned to me and shrugged as if to say, I told you so. It was then that I knew she was telling the truth.”

  “Tell me you went down and confronted him,” Cami demands.

  I shake my head. “I couldn’t. I was so hurt. Utterly devastated that this person I’d thought was my friend had been so cruelly stringing me along for all those months, just so he could get a few laughs with his real friends. I turned and ran, not stopping until I reached my front door. I never went back.”

  “You what?” she shrieks.

  “I never went back to school. I locked myself in my room for days, and when my mother finally coaxed me out, I told her there was no way I could face walking those halls again. I’d taken enough advanced placement courses that I already had the required credits to graduate, even with missing the last month or so of school. So, she called and arranged for my diploma to be mailed to me.

  “Then, a few months later, the day after my eighteenth birthday, I left Harts Creek. And I didn’t come back once, not until Dr. Bailey called and made me an offer I couldn’t refuse.”

  “Wow, Mads,” Cami says, throwing her arm around my shoulders and hugging me into her side. “That’s a hell of a story.”

  I nod. “But now, do you see why I can’t get involved with him? He destroyed me, Cami. Made me turn my back on my hometown because just the thought of seeing him again burned all the way down to my soul.”

  “He was a kid, Maddy. Kids are stupid, especially when they’re surrounded by their friends. I’m sure he’s changed.”

  I think back to the man I watched on Saturday night, the Mason who donned a feather boa and clip-on earrings in order to play tea party with his daughter. It was certainly something I’d never expected to see from him.

  And the way he’d stepped in to take care of Hope, to pay her extensive medical bills, even though they’d only found her the night before.

  Those things don’t scream immature boy who only wants to impress his friends.

  “I don’t know that I can trust him not to break my heart again,” I tell her, my voice meek and barely audible over the sound of my pulse in my ears.

  Now that I’ve gotten all that out there and admitted to myself that I am considering the possibility of something more between Mason and me, a giant ball of anxiety settles over my chest, making it hard to breathe and even harder to steady my shaking hands.

  Cami sits up straight, turning to face me and taking my shoulders in her hands. “You can’t keep living in the past, Mads. You need to talk to him. Give him a chance to explain himself. Hell, I’m not entirely convinced that Tiffani chick didn’t make the whole thing up. She could’ve orchestrated everything to make it look the way she wanted. She preyed on your insecurities.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “You said over and over in that story that you were in different ‘crowds,’” she says, throwing up air quotes around the last word. �
��You called yourself a loner, a chubby nerd. Understood that you guys couldn’t be together because his friends wouldn’t accept you. It’s clear you didn’t feel like you were in the same league. That he was too good for you.”

  I don’t argue because she’s right. I couldn’t even begin to count the number of times I sat and marveled over the fact that someone like Mason Cooper had been spending time with someone like me. And not only that, but he’d also actually seemed to enjoy our time together.

  “Bitches like this Tiffani chick feed on that kind of shit. They’re so bored with their own damn lives that when they see someone else falling victim to their own insecurities, they attack. Tiffani probably hated that Mason wanted to take you to prom instead of her. So, she made sure it didn’t happen. All it took was a little niggle in your ear, and boom, she got exactly what she wanted.”

  I shake my head. “No, he didn’t end up taking her to prom. The school mailed me my yearbook. There were pictures. He and Stephanie Harris had gone together.”

  Cami rolls her eyes. “That’s not the point. You didn’t go with him, which is what she wanted all along.”

  I let myself think over everything she just said.

  My God, what if she’s right? What if, this entire time, I’ve been angry with Mason for something he had nothing to do with? What if I destroyed our friendship because I had been so convinced that I wasn’t good enough, and I’d latched on to the first person who told me what I’d already thought I knew?

  “I need to talk to Mason,” I say, sitting up and wiping my face. I didn’t realize until now that, somewhere along the way, I’d started crying.

  Cami grins at me. “That’s the first thing you’ve said today that makes any damn sense.”

  “Dr. Maddy!” Hannah screeches as she rushes through the lobby.

  When she reaches me, she throws her arms around my legs, hugging my knees. I lurch forward at the sudden contact, reaching out my hands and steadying myself against the counter before I fall face-first against the tiles.

  I grin as I twist at the waist, looking down at the towheaded little girl currently wound around me. A few seconds later, Hope is at her side, dancing around the two of us, her disgruntled barks indicating her displeasure at being left out of the hug.

  “Sorry about that,” Mason says as he steps inside the door behind me. “I let her have a second bowl of Lucky Charms this morning, and she’s a little amped up.”

  My eyes flick to him for a split second before Hannah starts yanking on my coat. I see enough to know that his face is set in a cautious smile, as if he’s not quite sure how I’m going to react to his presence this morning.

  I don’t have time to ruminate on the look, however, the tiny dictator in front of me demanding my attention.

  “Dr. Maddy. Dr. Maddy. Dr. Mad-dy,” she says, putting emphasis on both syllables of my name the final time.

  I crouch down, trying to plaster on a patient smile. “What is it, sweetheart?”

  “It’s my birthday on Sunday! I’m having a party!” She’s practically bursting with excitement with her big news, her little feet not able to stand still.

  “That’s great, Hannah. I’m sure you’re going to have a whole bunch of fun.”

  She nods enthusiastically. “Daddy invited all my friends. And Elsa is going to come!”

  “Wow,” I say, my jaw dropping right along with hers at her astonishment. “Not Elsa!”

  She giggles, throwing her little fists up in front of her as she bounces. “I know! Daddy said she’s coming all the way from Arendelle just to see me.”

  “That’s amazing. You are a pretty special little girl though,” I say, giving her a light pinch on the cheek.

  “You’ll come to my party, right, Dr. Maddy?” she asks, her eyes round and hopeful.

  I open my mouth to answer, so caught up in her enthusiasm that it takes me a second to catch up. When I realize that going to the party means being around Mason—and potentially, Mason’s friends—I falter.

  “Oh, um, I don’t know, sweetie—”

  “Please,” she begs, drawing out the word as she clasps her hands together in a pleading gesture. “Oh, please, please, please, please?”

  I look to Mason for guidance. Or assistance. For all I know, he’s pissed I ignored his text, and the last thing he wants is for me to crash his daughter’s birthday party.

  But he just smiles. “You should come. There will be tons of food. And tons of people. It’ll be a good way to get reacquainted with the town.”

  I stand, my eyes dropping to the tiles at my feet. “I, um … I’m not sure that’s such a good idea.” My hand comes up to my face, my fingers rubbing over my eyebrow before moving to my hair. It’s a habit I’ve had since grade school, something I thought I’d kicked years ago. But apparently, the threat of potentially seeing some of my old nemeses brings it right back from the grave I thought I’d buried it in.

  I see as Mason watches the movement, his eyes lighting up in understanding after a few seconds. Back when we were in high school, he’d always tease me about the motion, telling me how adorable I was when I was nervous. It wasn’t until I told him that it only happened when I was around his friends, or talking about his friends, or having anything to do with the people he considered friends that he finally understood.

  Maybe it wasn’t so much a habit as it was a nervous tic I had whenever I felt insecure. As if I could somehow hide behind my hand.

  Now, Mason takes a step toward me, his hand coming to rest on my forearm. “Hey,” he says, his voice low enough that only I can hear. “Don’t worry. Nobody you know will be there. I fell out of touch with those assholes long ago.”

  I let go of the breath I was holding since Hannah invited me. And another layer of the armor I’ve been so desperate to hang on to when it comes to Mason cracks.

  He’s no longer friends with the people who used to tease me so badly. Not only that, but he also called them assholes.

  During all the time we spent together back then, he never spoke ill of his friends. Sure, he said he didn’t agree with a lot of what they did. What they said. Especially when it came to me. But he insisted that, deep down, they were good people. That they were just misunderstood.

  Hearing that he’s finally accepted the truth about them, that some people really are just assholes, makes me feel like maybe he has changed.

  I smile, reaching out to pull Hannah to my side, my eyes never leaving Mason’s. “What time should I be there?”

  11

  Mason

  “Can’t believe you didn’t spring for Anna, too,” Reese says, shaking his head as he helps me lay out the Frozen paper plates and napkins I bought on every table.

  I scoff, “Dude, do you have any idea how much it costs to rent a damn Disney princess for an afternoon? Plus, the bouncy house and enough chicken nuggets to feed an army of crotch goblins? My bank account couldn’t handle springing for Anna, too.”

  Reese keeps flinging paper plates across tables like I haven’t even spoken. “My goddaughter is worth it.”

  I look over to where Hannah stands, watching the workers inflate the princess-themed bouncy house, a giant smile plastered on her face as her eyes dance with excitement. My heart swells with love for that little girl, and I can’t even disagree with Reese.

  “Fuck, you’re right. I should’ve gotten Anna, too.”

  “Lucky for you,” Reese says, puffing out his chest, “I had the foresight to call the company and schedule both princesses. I mean, it’s not every day my goddaughter turns five.”

  I stare at him in shock. “You did what?”

  He waves me off. “Don’t worry, tightwad. It’s all taken care of. Their frosty little sidekick just might be making an appearance, too.”

  I shake my head, secretly loving that he cares enough for my daughter to make sure her day is extra special. Reese Lawson is a lot of things, but first and foremost, he’s a damn good guy.

  “You’re out of control,” I say
with a laugh. “Hannah is going to lose her shit when half the cast of her favorite movie shows up. I thought she was going to die of shock when I told her just the one was going to be here.”

  Reese lifts his gaze to my daughter, the crinkles in the corners of his eyes deepening as he smiles. “That’s the idea.”

  We finish setting up the eating area as my mother brings out two giant trays of chicken nuggets, followed by my father with a pan of French fries. I told Hannah she could have anything she wanted for her birthday dinner, so of course, she chose the most cliché thing a kid could ask for.

  I run inside and grab the veggie tray I picked up as well, just to try to give off the impression to the other parents that I’m not entirely irresponsible. I don’t have much hope that it’ll even get touched, but it’s the thought that counts, right?

  A few guys from the station are outside when I come back out, Reese greeting and clapping each of them on the back like it’s been years since they’ve seen each other instead of only a few hours. I set the tray down on the food table before jogging over to join them.

  “Well, look who it is!” Campbell shouts when he sees me approaching. “I was starting to forget what that ugly mug looked like. Gotta say, time hasn’t done you any favors.”

  I slug him on the shoulder as I join them, reaching my other hand out to grip Liam’s in greeting. “’Sup, Cam. I’m happy to see you’ve not slimmed down. Those extra pounds look real good on your ass.”

  Campbell flips me off, a wide smile on his face. “Fuck you, fucker. So, what gives? You suddenly too good to come hang out with us down at the station? It’s been forever.”

  I roll my eyes. “It’s been three weeks since I last stopped by. And I’ve been a little busy.”

  Hope chooses that time to bark from behind the closed screen door, evidently unhappy at being left inside when there’re all these new people for her to meet.