Page 302 of Tell Me I'm Enough

“What happened?” she asks.

I shrug. “Nothing.”

“Okay, lies. But that’s fine. I’ll figure it out eventually. I just need to soften you up with a couple of Rom-Coms and a lot of calories.”

I let out a small laugh. “Seriously. I’m fine.”

She crosses her arms. “It’s funny that you think you know yourself better than I do as your best friend.”

I roll my eyes at her and just throw my feet on top of her lap, avoiding her probing.

Her phone rings, and she pulls it out from under her on the couch, answering and putting it on speaker.

“Hey, babe,”Bash’s voice fills the space, and I watch as Lydia’s grin grows, hearing his voice.

“Hey,” she says, all soft and bubbly. “What’s going on?”

“Oh, I just needed to ask you something about the plans—”

I hear another voice in the back.“Our plans!”

I know that voice, and my heart drops instantly at the sound. I’m left sitting there confused as hell as Lydia takes the call off speakerphone and puts it to her ear, so I don’t hear.

“Um, yeah. I’m just over here at Simone’s for a movie night. Can I—um, call you back?”

She nods tightly and then smiles.

“I love you, too.”

After she hangs up, she grabs the remote, trying to play it off by flipping through the channels.

“Was that…Mason?”

She looks over at me, shocked, and then rights her features, softening them a little.

“Um, yeah,” she says quickly, like it’s no big deal. I give her a confused look, and she lets out a little sigh. “He’s been…staying with Bash this summer.”

I tilt my head, thoroughly confused as to why this is the first time I’m hearing about this.

“What? Since when?” I ask. “How did I not know this? And…why?”

Lydia winces a little, like she’s not sure I was supposed to know that or not, and not really sure what all I do know.

“Um…well, at the end of the school year…Mason’s dad kind of…cut him off.” She pauses, scrunching her nose up. “And…cut him out of his life. So…he kind of didn’t have anywhere to go home to. And then Bash told him to come stay at his place for the summer to help him out.”

I’m stuck staring at her, trying to process what she’s saying and put together the puzzle pieces, but I’m still confused.

My heart hurts for him hearing that.

His dad cut him off? And he’s not home with his brothers?

“What happened?” I ask, still wrapped up in all the thoughts swirling around in my head.

Lydia just shrugs. “I don’t really have all the details, just that he told his dad he was changing his major, and he wouldn’t be taking over the business anymore.”

None of this makes sense.

All the years he put up with his dad’s crap just to…walk away from it all?