“Sure,” he says.
I follow him back to his home office-gym-man cave Charlie had made for him. It consists of a desk in one corner and a treadmill and workout bench in another. On the wall between two windows hangs a ridiculously huge flat screen television, and facing the television are two comfy-looking leather couches—one of which is currently occupied by Mason, who is lounging on it with his feet on the wood coffee table and his phone in his hand.
When he hears us enter, he looks up and smiles.
“Son.” He drops his feet to the ground and stands. “How are you?” he asks, enveloping me in a hug.
“Alec is here to talk to me,” Tristan says, trying and failing to contain his laughter.
“Oh yeah?” Mason quirks a brow at Tristan.
They both sit next to each other, crossing their arms over their chests and bringing their ankles up to their knees at the same time.
Fuck, can these two have any more of a bromance?
“So, what’s up?” Tristan asks. “First.” He raises his hand. “How are you holding up?”
So, we’re going to do small talk first… well, okay then. “I’m hanging in there,” I tell them honestly. “I miss my dad like crazy. We used to talk in the morning when I would get off my shift, while I was driving home. Sometimes I go to dial his number and it hits me all over again that he’s gone.”
Mason nods and leans forward, dropping his elbows onto the tops of his thighs. “I can’t replace your dad, nor would I ever try to, but if you ever need to dial a number to talk, I’m here.”
“I know,” I tell him. “And it means everything to me.”
“You have a lot of people who love you,” Mason says. “You’ll get through this.”
And cue my perfect transition… “That’s actually what I wanted to talk to Tristan about.”
Mason and Tristan both laugh. Of course these assholes aren’t going to make this easy for me.
“Go on,” Tristan prompts.
Fuck it, I might as well just come out and say it… “I’m in love with your daughter.”
“Which one?” Tristan asks. Fucker knows damn well which one.
“Lexi.”
“Yes!” Mason fist pumps. “You owe me a hundred bucks.”
Huh?
“Damn it!” Tristan says, grabbing his wallet from his back pocket and pulling a bill out, smacking it on the table. “I thought for sure you would wait until after Lexi graduated.”
“I knew you wouldn’t wait that long. At the rate Lexi’s going, she could be in school forever,” Mason says, swiping the bill up and stuffing it into his front pocket. “I do have to give you credit, though. You waited longer than your mom thought. She predicted you would give in once Lexi graduated from high school.”
“What the hell… Did you all seriously bet on when Lexi and I would get together?”
“I didn’t,” a feminine voice says. I glance back and see Charlie standing in the doorway. When the hell did she get here?
“Oh, don’t play innocent,” Mason says. “The only reason you didn’t bet was because you didn’t think he would get the guts to admit his feelings.”
“Really?” I ask, slightly offended, but also, not, because it did take me a long ass time to finally speak up and tell her how I feel.
She laughs and sits next to her husband. “Well, in my defense, I kind of figured Lexi would hightail it out of here after graduation.”
Like she’s planning to do if she wins her comp and gets a surfing contract…
I push the thought of Lexi leaving from my brain. I just want to be part of her life, even if it means she needs to travel and surf. I want to be there to watch her spread her wings and fly, not be the reason she feels like they’ve been clipped.
“So, I take it you finally reeled her in?” Mason asks.
“Do not refer to my daughter as a goddamn fish,” Tristan says, pointing his finger at Mason in warning.
Mason raises his hands in surrender and laughs. “You know what this means, right?” he says to Tristan. When Tristan just glares, Mason continues, “We’re about to be related.” He waggles his eyebrows and Tristan’s gaze swings over to me.
“Is that why you’re here?” Tristan demands. “To drop the bomb you’re dating my daughter and to ask my permission to marry her?”
“Eeek!” Charlie squeals. “I get to plan a wedding!” She stands and does some weird dance, which has Tristan wrapping his arm around her and pushing her back down.
“Alec,” Tristan prompts, his brows furrowing in… anger? Fuck, this isn’t going as planned.
“Yes,” I croak out.
“Yes, what?” Tristan says.
“I’m in love with Lexi and I’m dating her and I want to marry her,” I rush out.
Mason slaps his hand on his leg, and I glare at him. “You’re seriously not helping.”
“What did I do? This is great. I wish your mom were here to see you sweating bullets.” He pulls out his phone. “Can you start over, so I can record it?”