I know the smile I give him in response isn’t much, but he takes it as if it is. He spins around, his hand reaching for something on the pool table. Seconds later, my clutch is being held out in front of me.

“I put your phone in there,” he says, handing it over in the most casual way, as if being incredibly thoughtful is a trait every man carries.

“Thank you,” I reply.

“Are you two leaving? I was going to get another round of shots,” Reed says from the other side of the pool table. A leggy brunette rubs her hand along the front of his polo shirt, teasing the two buttons at the collar.

“You seem good,” I shoot back at him, and he lifts his nose out of the girl’s hair and winks at me. “Happy birthday.”

“Thanks.”

Mia places her hand on my arm and frowns. “Do you want to talk about it?”

“No, not right now. I’ll call you later.”

She kisses my cheek and waves at Mason. Ben says his goodbyes, shaking Mason’s hand and wrapping his arms around me.

“Do I need to beat his ass?” he asks quietly into my hair.

I shake my head, snaking my arms around his back and squeezing him tighter. I love hugging my brother, the way I disappear the second his arms envelope me. He’s slightly taller than Luke, but has the same build, and I swear his arms could rip a tree right out of the ground without any effort.

“He cares about you. He may never say it, but that doesn’t mean it’s not true.”

“What if Mia never told you she loved you?” I ask, letting my arms drop to my side as he releases me.

He looks pained at the very thought of what I’ve just said. With a quick shrug, he drops his eyes to Mia as she joins his side. “I’d probably still be waiting for it.”

“Waiting for what?” she asks, leaning against his arm.

Ben kisses the top of her head. “Nothing, angel.”

Mason and I say our final goodbyes to the group before I let him lead me out of the bar. I feel drained, emotionally shattered. I don’t know why they call it heartbreak when every bone in your body seems affected. The pain isn’t stagnant in the center of my chest. It radiates out, then back in, pulsing at an unforgiving rhythm. I feel like I’m barely moving of my own accord, but I make it to the passenger side of Mason’s Denali without too much difficulty.

“I thought we would just go for a drive,” he says, opening my door for me. “I like to do that when I’m having a hard time with things. It helps me think.”

“I’ve done enough thinking,” I reply, strapping the seatbelt across my lap. My curt response has me pinching my eyes shut.

Asshole, Tessa. You’re an asshole.

Mason doesn’t have to do anything for me. He could just take me home and end what has to be the worst date of his life. I turn my head, nodding at his suggestion with a small grin. “I like going for rides.”

His smile is immediate, lighting up his entire face. “Me too, and my sisters tell me I’m like a chick when it comes to listening to someone else’s problems, so feel free to talk my ear off.”

I laugh as he shuts my door, and ask my question as soon as he opens his. “How many sisters do you have?”

“Seven,” he answers, strapping on his seatbelt and pulling out onto the road.

“Seven? Holy shit. Do you have any brothers?”

He shakes his head, giving me a quick glance. “No, just me, and I’m the youngest, so they used to use me as their own personal doll to dress up. The pictures are mortifying.”

I cover my mouth with my hand, muffling my laugh. “Aww, you poor thing. Did they put you in dresses?”

“Yep.”

“Makeup?”

“Yep.”

I let my head flop back against the seat with my chuckle. “Is that why you left Australia? To reclaim your manhood?”

He keeps one hand on the wheel, resting his other in his lap. Leaning forward, he checks for traffic through my window, then his, before pulling onto a back road.

His fingers scratch along his chin before he speaks. “Following a woman to another country who didn’t ask me to move with her sounds like the opposite, if you ask me.”

“Was she your girlfriend?”

“I always saw her as that. She didn’t, which I tried to be okay with. But that’s not me. I get attached really easily, and I’m upfront about it. I don’t hide my feelings or play stupid games. I’m almost thirty years old. I want something that’s real.” He looks over at me. “Not many blokes are like that, I guess.”

“Not a lot that I’ve met.”

He fixates his gaze on the dark road in front of us. “I realized how pathetic I looked after I uprooted my life, but I didn’t want to go back home. I needed something new. So I left her in Texas and drove until I didn’t feel like driving anymore.”

I cross one leg over the other, angling my body toward him. “She sounds like a C-word. If some guy followed me thousands of miles away, I’d probably ask him to marry me.”

The car comes to a stop at a red light, and he looks over at me, confusion creasing his brow. “C-word?”

“Cunt.”

His eyes go wide, and I can tell I’ve just embarrassed him a bit. “Wow.”

I give an apologetic shrug while my fingers begin nervously twisting the ends of my hair. “Sorry. My mouth doesn’t have much of a filter.”