Exchange

Chapter 21

We had been walking for a while, strolling casually, too tired to move any faster when Mason suddenly said, "So was it all you thought it would be?"

I glanced at him, hands tucked into my pockets, and shivered out, "What?"

He gave me a one-shouldered shrug, his eyes following his steps.

"Today, England, exchange." He shrugged again. "Everything, I guess. Was it what you hoped it would be?"

He looked at me with genuine curiosity, and my chest gave a small flutter.

I looked down and thought about his question.

"More," I finally replied. "It's been more that what I thought it would be. Probably the best couple of weeks of my life."

Mason's warm eyes caught mine and he smiled; a sincere smile that I couldn't seem to look away from. "I'm glad."

We fell into a comfortable silence again, content amidst the buzzing atmosphere. My eyes strayed over our surroundings, enjoying the way the city's lights illuminated the night around us. There was something eccentric about the evening.

However, at the same time, I couldn't act oblivious to the temperature. It was cold. I would never admit it to Mason, but he had been right. I was freezing in the coat I was wearing, which had definitely been made more too look good rather than keep a person warm.

I thought of Kate begrudgingly as I remembered her practically forcing me to buy the damned thing back home.

But rubbing my hands up and down my arms, along with my rattling teeth, eventually caught Mason's attention.

He smirked.

Asshole.

"Looking a little cold over there, Pierce," Mason commented, flicking his eyes down my body.

"You should get your eyes tested then, Tanner," I replied just as sweetly, dropping my hands from my arms.

Mason's smirk grew, though he kept his eyes forward. "And you wonder why my ego is so big when you're constantly proving me right."

"Sh-shut up."

I cursed myself silently for the shiver that gave me away, but Mason only chuckled.

"Always so stubborn," he said, though there was a softness in his voice that made the remark sound more complimentary, rather than the insult he was intending.

"Here," he said, removing the dark grey scarf from his neck and gently wrapping it around my own.

My insides warmed at the sweet gesture, but I managed to appear unaffected. "I thought it was my pneumonia?"

Mason's lips turned up briefly into a smile, before he gave a small shrug. "You've made me go soft, Pierce."

I let out a breathy laugh and looked down. God. God. What was he doing to me?

How was it possible that this was Mason Tanner? How had things changed so much in just a couple of weeks?

As we started walking again, I couldn't help but think about this version of Mason, kind and sweet, and compare him to the one I had known in the past. How could he go from hating me to this? My thoughts were then bombarded with another question, the one that had baffled me for years on end. Why had Mason hated me in the first place?

I glanced over at him, silent for a few minutes as I tried to work up the nerve to ask. "Hey Mason? " I said abruptly, my eyes focused on the ground.