Blood rushes in my ears. I say nothing as she connects the dots in her mind. I know the second the realization hits her because her bright blue eyes widen.

“Holy shit! Your mom and his dad? No way! Mason’s gonna flip his shit when he finds out!”

I shush her and pull her closer to the door and away from the nosy neighbors.

“No, Anna, we can’t tell him. At least not yet.” I need to convince her to stay quiet about it. I’m trying to get my life back to some semblance of normal. Telling Mason about our parents is the complete opposite of what I need right now, of what he needs right now.

She stands her ground. “What? Why not? He should know. His mom should know. Oh my God, poor Natalia. Have you ever met a nicer woman than her? She’s going to be crushed.”

“Anna, I know. But please. This isn’t what he needs right now.”

“Wait, how long have you known about this?”

I rub my temples, feeling a headache coming on. This is getting a lot more complicated. “A while, I guess.”

“Amelia! How can you not tell him?”

“I know, I know, I’m a terrible person. I just can’t do that to him right now. I’ll tell him, I swear, just not right now. Plus, I told Brian that he needs to tell Mason. I shouldn’t have to be the one to hurt him. If Brian doesn’t tell him, then I’ll say something.”

One thing at a time. Get Luke out of jail. Take down Aiden’s dad. Get Ryan and Kaitlyn off my back. Stay hidden from Tony and off that stupid S-Live Time app. Break Mason’s heart.

Then I’ll be back to normal.

Annalisa crosses her arms. “Does Aiden know?”

I nod solemnly.

She exhales with defeat and runs a hand through her hair. “Wow. And he didn’t tell him?”

I wrap my arms around myself and hesitate before I answer. “I convinced him not to.” I sound selfish even to myself. “I’ll tell Mason, just not yet. I can’t keep being the reason he’s unhappy.”

She stares at me for a while, not saying anything. I shift from foot to foot under the scrutiny of her gaze.

Finally, she sighs. “I won’t say anything. But we’re going to have to tell him. For real, Amelia.”

“If Brian doesn’t, we will. I promise.”

I hope it doesn’t come to that. Maybe I’ll be long gone by the time Brian tells Mason and his wife. Maybe I’ll get to keep being a coward and not have to deal with it at all, even if that’s not what I want or what Mason deserves. And then there’s the whole “It’s not just an affair” thing Brian threw at me. Is this a real thing? Are they going to keep seeing each other when we move? Are they going to be together when this is over? I just want everything to be normal, but it’s all spiraling, and normalcy is slipping right through my fingers, and I can do nothing but stand here and helplessly watch it happen.