Page 68 of Risk
“Yup.” I pop the rest of the cupcake in my mouth. “Even if it means being terrified on a plane to get to him.”
Mason kisses the top of my head.
We sit together for a few moments, people watching, then he says, “My parents hold the purse strings to our trust funds. My grandparents put in so many stipulations, it got exhausting to meet expectations just to get money out of it.”
“That sucks. I thought when you turned eighteen or twenty-one or whatever that you just get it all.”
“Not with us.” He stretches his arm across the back of the bench, and I lean against him. “They tell us what our careers will be, where to have our primary residence, who we have to marry.”
“Holy hell.”
“It’s crazy what people will do when there’s a lot of money on the line.”
“I guess so, but that’s awful. So, you didn’t want to go to Yale?”
He exhales loudly. “I didn’t even want to go to college. I wanted to be a baseball player.”
I can just imagine Mason in a white uniform on a baseball diamond. “The next Bambino?”
He groans. “I would never have been that legendary. But man, did I want to run bases and travel and be part of a team.” Mason plays with my hair like it brings him comfort. “I wasn’t even allowed to play in little league. Baseball was so far from my realm of existence it was a complete fantasy with no hope of ever coming true.”
Hearing the sadness in his voice cracks my heart down the middle. “I’m so sorry.”
“It’s not your fault.”
“Still, I’m sorry. You probably never got to be a kid.”
“It wasn’t all struggle and strife. I had my grandfather on my dad’s side. He’s the one who took me to games. So even if I couldn’t play ball, I still got to feel the magic of it.”
“From the sidelines.”
“I didn’t care. I loved it.”
A spontaneously wonderful idea pops into my head. “How much time do we have before dinner?”
He glances at his watch. “Two and a half hours.”
“Good.” I yank out my phone and start googling. “Will you take me somewhere right now?”
“Absolutely. Where do you want to go, Princess?”
“You’ll see.” I stand up and grab his hand again, leading him back to the hotel so we can get his car.
Chapter 22
Mason
Following the directions Leah gives—because she won’t let me look at her map—we end up in front of an arcade and sports complex.
“Come on.” She lets herself out before I have the chance to open the car door for her.
“You want to play arcade games?”
“Nope.” She yanks the big glass door open and holds it for me. “We’re going to the batting cages.”
My heart slams to a stop. She’s in a dress and heels. I’m in a stuffy suit. “We’re not dressed for this.”
“We’ve got clothes on, don’t we? That’s good enough.”