He’s referring to when he got really drunk and told Aiden that he doesn’t know me and isn’t good enough for me.

“Of course he is. Plus, you guys are cool. He knows you didn’t mean it.”

Mason pauses for a second, pouting as if thinking about it.

“Besides,” I add, “I can do whatever I want. I don’t need Aiden’s permission to do things. He’s my boyfriend, not my father.”

“Yeah, I guess no one can tell you what to do, not even your dad.” His eyes widen, realizing his mistake. “I mean . . . when he was alive . . .”

He trails off awkwardly. We don’t really talk about my dad. Only Aiden knows the truth; everyone else just knows that he died.

“I think I started becoming more stubborn recently,” I say, just to fill in the lingering awkward silence.

He puts his ball down at the start of the next hole. “How are you handling everything? I mean, like, the whole no dad thing?”

It’s cute, really. He wants to talk to me about it but doesn’t know how to approach the subject.

“I’m all right. I mean, with everything going on, I haven’t really had a chance to think about him. But every once in a while, when I’m home alone with no distractions. . . . Sometimes it hits me that he’s gone.”

“Yeah, I guess with everything going on with Kaitlyn and Anna and Andrew and stuff, your mind stays pretty occupied.”

I meant more of the Tony situation, but sure, that too.

“I can’t even imagine what I’d do without my dad,” Mason continues. “He’s one of the only people I know will always be there for me; he’d never let me down.”

Oh boy. Ohhhh boy.

The guilt is eating at me.

Should I just tell him now? I feel like this is my opening. Brian hasn’t said anything. It’s been almost three full weeks and he still hasn’t spoken to Mason. I can’t keep lying to him. No one else is in here right now; I can get it over with. Rip the Band-Aid off. He needs to know.

“Listen, Mason. There’s something I need to tell you. I should’ve told you a long—”

“Well, well, well, if this isn’t a coincidence.”

We turn at the interruption and find Noah, who just walked in with Charlotte and Julian.

“It’s not a coincidence. You knew we were going to be here,” Mason says.

Noah feigns innocence. “Me? It’s not like I knew mini-golf is your thing with Amelia, as well as calling her k-bear.”

“I can’t tell who you’re jealous of here, Noah. Mason? Or me?” I laugh.

“Please. I don’t care about finding a thing with Mason.”

“I thought you gave up on trying to find our ‘thing’? You haven’t mentioned it in a while.”

“I did forget, because, you know, we had a lot of shit going on. But I promise you, by the end of the month, we will have a thing!”