“Yes, Mason. That’s dangerous. One of them could fall and get seriously hurt.” I could only imagine how injuring one of her children would halt the progress of my slowly mending relationship with Chelsea.

Kennedy’s lips twitched. “He’s like six-foot-four and has muscles for days. I’m pretty sure Mase isn’t going to drop them.”

My cheeks heated. I knew what he looked like. It was the kind of size that was hard to ignore. But he was always gentle and unassuming as he moved through the shelter, as if he understood that his size could be intimidating to the women and children there—people who had fled situations where size had been used to terrorize. “It doesn’t matter how many muscles he has. Accidents happen.”

She sobered, studying my face. “What is it with you and him?”

I clamped my mouth shut. It was impossible to explain just how or why Mason Decker got on every last nerve I had. “He…he’s too nice.”

A laugh bubbled up out of Kennedy, building on itself until she had to brace an arm on my shoulder to hold herself upright. “I’m sorry, did you say he’s too nice?”

I scowled in her direction. “No one’s that nice all the time. It’s weird.”

She patted my shoulder. “Oh, my paranoid friend. It’s no wonder you and Cain get along so well. You both think everyone is a potential serial killer.”

“Hey, if you would listen to those true crime podcasts I keep sending you, you would, too.” I kept my tone light, but pain lit a path along my sternum. A sensation carved by all the stories I’d heard in juvie. All of the things I’d seen. Hellish nightmares that would never leave. I knew that the worst of humanity could hide under a pleasant expression. Worse, it could hide under a face you’d always trusted.

Kennedy wrapped an arm around my shoulders. “I think it might be time for a breather from the creepy podcasts.”

“One woman’s creepy is another woman’s Zen.”

“That’s really messed up.”

“Anna! Anna! Did you see? I was upside down, and Mase made me fly.” Lyla ran at me, crashing into my middle and wrapping her arms around me with an oomph.

“I did see. Looked like…fun.” Incredibly dangerous fun, but at least she’d have a high before her concussion.

“Hey, Kenz. Anna.”

I looked up from my niece’s face to meet swirling hazel eyes. Something about the dance between gold and green was hypnotizing, which only annoyed me more.

“Hey, Mason,” Kennedy greeted.

I nodded in his direction. “Mason.”

The corner of his mouth quirked. “I’ve told you time and again, call me Mase.”