Leap Through Eternity (2 page)

“What are you thinking about?” Cole wrapped his hands around his torso, and Mason’s eyes drifted lower again. God, how was such a body even possible? Did he live in the gym or something? He
had to
work out regularly. That meant Cole was a different person than Mason. His only exercise was carrying the groceries upstairs. Sometimes not even that, because taking the elevator was easier. Mason was glad he was wearing a sweater that covered up his body. He’d always been self-conscious about being skinny and tall. Then again, he couldn’t tell that to Cole. He just met him.

“Oh, nothing special,” he lied again. Was he supposed to feel bad about it? “I wish there would be snow. I love Christmas, but it’s just not the same without snow. Or my family.” Mason, being family oriented, loved having people around, especially on important days. For someone who thought of himself as sociable, he sure kept quiet around new people. He needed time. He opened up sooner or later. Still, not even that was accurate in the given moment, because he was talking to Cole normally. He even threw a couple—okay, a lot—of lies in there, which wasn’t like Mason at all. He liked to think of himself as an honest person.

“I haven’t seen my family in ages. Then again, they don’t support my life choices,” Cole retorted, and Mason wondered which life choices he was talking about. Was it too soon to ask? “I introduced my boyfriend to them a couple of Christmases ago. They weren’t too pleased. And as it turned out, they were kinda right—the guy was an idiot.”

Mason had to suppress a smile. That wasn’t happy news, but at the same time…. Well, Cole had mentioned a boyfriend from a couple of years ago. Did he tell him that with a purpose?

You’re an idiot
, Mason told himself. There was no purpose behind Cole’s words. He was just chatting. Besides, not like Cole would even give him a moment of his time if they met somewhere else. But right now they were both stuck outside. Talking to the awkward neighbor was harmless. Mason glanced at Cole. Did he think like that? He always had an odd habit of assuming the worst about people. But judging by everything Cole had told him so far, he hated liars and irresponsible people, and, well, Mason was both.

“Oh,” he muttered once he realized Cole had to be expecting some sort of a reply. A stupid one, granted, but still something.

Besides, it didn’t look like Cole minded. “You’re one of those people who are obsessed with holidays, right?”

Mason looked up to find Cole’s eyes studying his face. “Why would you say that?” He could’ve just admitted it, but he didn’t want Cole thinking he was a crazy person. Even though at this point he was starting to think he was. He never flirted with people. He never told lies. And he never set fires…. Well, that used to be true, and then the given evening happened.

“You’re disappointed because there is no snow. You’re wearing an oversized sweater with…. Are those dancing reindeer? Also, your scarf has a lot of happy Christmas trees on it. And let me guess! The window up there is yours.”

Mason looked up when Cole pointed at one of the windows, lit up with a bunch of Christmas lights. Mason blushed.

“Ha, I knew it!” Cole took Mason’s blush for an answer and grinned. “There’s nothing wrong with that. Why are you blushing?” he asked and Mason shrugged.

“It sounds odd when you put it like that. You’d most likely think I’m weird if I told you…. If I told you I have a closet full of Christmas sweaters like that and that it’s my favorite time of the year.” Mason frowned because he
hadn’t
planned to tell Cole those things. He never knew when he should keep quiet.

“I think it’s adorable.” Cole’s words were softly spoken.

Mason looked up to see if he was mocking him, but his expression was sincere. Oh. Oh, man. How was he supposed to survive this?

“So are you having a huge Christmas party or something?” Cole went on like nothing had happened. Maybe it hadn’t. Maybe he told people they were adorable every day. Even if Mason could almost swear he could hear a tingle of nervousness in Cole’s voice.

“No. I’m on my own this year,” Mason admitted and frowned. He didn’t like the sound of it. He wasn’t used to spending the holidays alone. He didn’t like the idea. Even putting up the Christmas tree on his own felt weird.

“Well, don’t worry about it. I never have plans for those days. Sometimes I manage to forget it’s Christmas in the first place.” Cole snickered, but Mason found himself amazed. He didn’t know it was even possible to forget Christmas. He loved the holiday. He usually counted down the days!

“Maybe you could stop by my apartment? I’ll cook a Christmas dinner, and I always make too much food for myself anyway. You’d be more than welcome! I mean, if you have time. Or, you know, the energy to deal with that. Or whatever.” Mason worried he sounded too eager. And he stumbled over the last words anyway.

“Wow, you do love your holidays! I never did. I used to hate winter. It’s cold, and everything is freezing, and this year I’m stuck outside with nothing on! It’s just splendid.” Cole’s voice was laced with sarcasm. Mason worried he’d just ignore his invitation, but Cole went on. “And that does sound fun. I might stop by. Even though I am not stepping inside your apartment if you decorated it to look like a winter cave or something.” It took Mason a couple of moments to figure out Cole was teasing him.

Mason blushed again. “N-No,” he whispered. There were candy canes all over his apartment, but did that count? He sure hoped not. “It’s safe, I promise. My apartment is 3A.” Mason explained and smiled. He realized Cole was staring at him. “Wh-What?” Mason muttered, feeling more than a little uncomfortable. Cole was the definition of beautiful. He didn’t know what a man like that could be doing staring at Mason’s face. He didn’t have any distinctive features. Or at least that was what he believed. He never cared much for what other people thought. It usually turned out to be useless. At least Mason had kept telling himself that, years ago when he felt self-conscious about it.

“The smile. It suits you,” Cole murmured and then shrugged. “3A? Wow, I live in 9F.” He chuckled, and Mason realized that was the reason he was so naked. It took ages for the firefighters to get up there and wake him up. They had to just throw him out. Poor fellow.

Mason suddenly realized Cole said his smile suited him. Did he hear that right? Oh, this wasn’t good. “Umf.” Mason made a noise. He congratulated himself.
Great social skills, you idiot.

“Anyway, I’ll drop by around nine. Is that all right with you? I’m working in the afternoon, but I should be done by then,” Cole explained, and Mason was glad to avert his attention.

“You work on Christmas?” He sounded doubtful. It wasn’t that he doubted his words, but it seemed horrible to him. Then again, Christmas was sacred to Mason. He wasn’t especially religious or anything. He just loved the day. It felt special to him.

“Yeah, sadly, people commit crimes every day. It’d be amazing if they stopped, but you know.” Cole offered him another one of his brilliant smiles, and Mason felt his insides melt.

“You’re a police officer?” He had to ask; of course, he did.

Cole grinned. “Here to protect the town! Even though I’m not doing a great job protecting it from idiots who set fires in the middle of the night.”

Mason tried to stop imagining Cole in the uniform. He had to look delicious. Mason frowned because he was well aware that was not an appropriate way to think of a person. But how could he help himself? He didn’t even realize he had a weakness for men in uniform. Okay, he had to calm down. He liked him too much already. Did his breathing change? He really hoped he’d imagined it. Also, did he lie to a police officer? Did that count as an offense? He felt confused and attracted to him. No, wait, what? But Cole also brought the idiot up again. And Mason, being the idiot, felt stupid.

“Oh.” He smiled. This wasn’t easy. He didn’t realize lying would be so stressful. “But your job is to protect people from, you know, violent people. And you most likely do that well!” Mason wanted to punch himself. He sounded like an idiot. No, he sounded
exactly
like an idiot— he was.

“Is that what you think police officers do?” Cole narrowed his eyes at him, and Mason felt his cheeks burning up again.

“Um, well, I think, yes, no, I mean….” He stuttered nervously, and Cole laughed.

“Relax! I’m kidding.” He winked, and Mason thought he was going to melt again. It shouldn’t be possible to look that good. And also be funny and smart! Not fair! Why was he even talking to him? Mason felt like such a stammering mess.

A group of firefighters emerged from the apartment building. One of them clapped to get the attention of people scattered around. “Okay, listen to me! We put out the fire in 3A! Thank you for your patience! It was an accident, and please, everyone, pay attention to whatever you plan to do! Safety first.”

Did Mason just imagine it, or did the firefighter pierce him with his eyes? He was still talking when Mason sensed Cole staring at him from the side.

Only then did it hit him. The firefighter said it, didn’t he? He had given him away. He told everyone where the fire was, and Mason recalled his own voice, inviting Cole over.
Oh no.

“You’re the idiot.” Cole’s voice sounded calm. Too calm. The smile disappeared from Cole’s face, and he studied Mason. Did he know he was lying all along?

Mason bit down on his lower lip. Was he supposed to lie again? “I didn’t plan it! I was baking cookies and I forgot! I just… I got distracted! I didn’t plan to set anything on fire! I just wanted to bake some cookies!” Mason panicked, and the words were abrupt.

Cole shook his head and Mason cringed. Was that disappointment?

“I just…. I’ll go in now, okay?” Cole sounded more official, already walking toward the entrance, and Mason rushed after him. He felt bad, especially because he didn’t even have the power to not glance at Cole’s butt. He knew it—it
was
an amazing butt.

“Cole? Come on, don’t be upset.” Mason almost reached for him, but he thought better of it. He was a police officer. Who knows what he’d do if someone grabbed him without a warning? Mason felt horrible. He wanted to ask him if he was still coming to his place, but he didn’t dare.

“I’m not upset.” Cole glanced over his shoulder. “I’ll see about the invitation. Good night, Mason.” He offered a tiny smile.

Mason stopped trying to catch up. He frowned and watched Cole disappear up the stairs. He couldn’t shake off the feeling that he had messed up.

M
ASON
WAS
sulking around his apartment the next day. Nothing could cheer him up, and he gave up trying to bake perfect cookies. Not like he could use his oven anyway. The firefighters had made a mess out of his kitchen, and he spent a couple of hours cleaning it up, but that was all he did. Such a weird day. For the first time in forever, it didn’t feel like the holidays at all, and he kept thinking about Cole. He didn’t even know him all that much, but he felt a peculiar longing for him.

It was odd. His mother always said the holidays brought out the best in people and made it easier to connect to them. Well, turns out she was wrong. Mason had turned out to be an awful person who lied. That was new, but he didn’t know how to deal with it.

And then the day before Christmas came. Mason decided to avoid the windows. People outside seemed happy and cheerful. He just felt nervous and anxious. He couldn’t expect Cole to show up, right? He tried to distract himself. At eleven o’clock in the morning, someone knocked on his door.

He couldn’t help but feel his heartbeat speed up. He rushed to open the door and was disappointed to find an old lady standing in front of his apartment.

“Mason?” Her voice was pleasant and she smiled. “You probably don’t know me, but I live upstairs. My next-door neighbor asked me to stop by. He is such a pleasant boy, so
of course
I said yes! He wanted me to give you this.” She handed him his neatly folded scarf. Mason realized she was talking about Cole. He recognized her. He’d seen her around and said hello to her a couple of times when he met her in the hallway.

“Thank you,” Mason murmured, a bit absentmindedly. So Cole didn’t do it himself, which had to mean he didn’t want to see him. It also meant he wouldn’t be coming to dinner. He thought he already knew that, but he still felt disappointed.

“The young man is terribly ill! I suppose it was the night of the fire, you remember? The poor thing was thrown out of his bed! No wonder he coughs like that.” Her voiced dripped disapproval, and Mason looked up.

“He’s ill?” He repeated just to make sure and smiled, and she tilted her head. Maybe she thought he was crazy. No sane person would be happy to find out someone was sick, right? So why did he smile? Even Mason didn’t know. Maybe, just maybe, it was because that meant Cole
couldn’t
come. Well, he probably wouldn’t want to come to dinner with someone who was at fault for him falling ill in the first place.

“Yes. You’ll have to excuse me, dear, I’m on my way now!” She offered one last polite smile and then walked away.

Mason was left on his own again, and he closed the door.

Right. So Cole didn’t feel well, and Mason was to blame. He wondered if Cole would let him know about the illness if he could. He spent the next few hours pacing around his apartment with the scarf in his hands, and then he made up his mind.

The thing was, Mason wasn’t exactly a brave person. He liked safe choices. He liked simple things, and he considered himself to be an ordinary person. Ordinary people didn’t take risks. And yet he found himself in his kitchen again, trying to cook, even if he was pretty sure his microwave couldn’t handle everything he wanted to make. But he had to try.

A
COUPLE
of hours later, Mason knocked on a door. He felt nervous, and he didn’t seem to be able to get his breathing—or his heartbeat—in check. The number on the door read 9F: Cole’s apartment. While most doors on this floor had Christmas ornaments on them, Cole’s was plain and simple. Mason didn’t expect anything else from him.