The bathroom door unlocked with a loud click.
Audrey jumped. She practically shoved the bright pink swimsuit back into her faded duffel bag. She yanked the zipper shut so fast it snagged on the fabric.
Mason walked out of the bathroom.
Thick, warm steam rolled out into the cold bedroom behind him. He smelled strongly of plain bar soap and clean water. He was wearing dry grey sweatpants. He held a small white towel in his hands, drying his dark hair.
He was still not wearing a shirt.
Audrey immediately looked straight up at the ceiling. She crossed her arms tightly over her muddy chest.
"The wooden beams in here are very nice," Audrey announced to the empty air. "Very rustic."
Mason chuckled. The sound was low and raspy. "You can look down, Audrey. I am wearing pants."
"I am not taking any chances," Audrey said stubbornly. "Put a shirt on, Calloway. Or I will throw my muddy shoes at you."
"I forgot to grab one from my bag," Mason said. His footsteps padded softly against the wooden floor. He walked right past her to his massive black bag. "You are very aggressive for someone who is currently covered in dried dirt."
"You did this to me!" Audrey yelled, finally looking down.
Mason was pulling a clean black t-shirt over his head. The fabric stretched tight over his broad shoulders before settling perfectly. He dropped the damp towel onto the back of a wooden chair. He looked completely refreshed. The exhaustion from the morning drive and the muddy drills was totally gone from his face.
"I gave you a hug," Mason corrected smoothly. "It was a gesture of pure affection. Now go take a shower. You smell like a swamp."
Audrey grabbed her clean clothes. She grabbed her shampoo. She glared at him the entire time she walked to the bathroom.
"Do not touch my flashcards!" Audrey warned before slamming the door.
"I am going to hide them!" Mason yelled back through the wood.
Audrey locked the door. She let out a long, heavy breath. She stripped off the ruined white shirt and the muddy jeans. She stepped into the glass shower and turned the hot water on full blast.
The heat hit her freezing skin instantly. It felt absolutely amazing. She closed her eyes and let the water wash the thick, heavy mud out of her hair. The muddy brown water swirled rapidly down the drain.
She stood there for a long time. The physical weight of the dirt washed away, but her mind was completely spinning.
Mason Calloway was a walking disaster. He was loud. He was obnoxious. He did not know what personal space meant at all.
But he stood up to Logan. He did not hesitate for a single second. He did not care about looking professional or polite in front of the team. He just saw Logan cornering her, and he instantly shut it down.
Audrey pressed her hands against the cool glass tiles.
She could not like him. It was a fake relationship. He treated it like a highly entertaining game. The exact second she showed genuine feelings, the game would be over. He would get bored. He would move on. That was what he always did.
She had to stick to the plan. Stay quiet. Stay annoying. Survive the weekend.
Audrey turned off the water. She dried off and changed into her safest, most boring outfit. She put on an oversized dark green sweater and thick black leggings. She twisted her clean hair into a messy bun. No makeup. No bright pink swimsuit. Just maximum comfort.
She walked back out into the bedroom.
Mason was sitting on his side of the giant bed. He was tossing a small rubber ball in the air and catching it. He looked up when she walked in.
"You survived," Mason said. "I was about to send a search party."
"I had to wash half a football field out of my hair," Audrey said. She grabbed her phone from the nightstand. "Are my flashcards safe?"
"I put them in your bag," Mason said. He stood up. He tossed the rubber ball onto the mattress. "Come downstairs. It is time for lunch."
"I am not hungry," Audrey lied.
Her stomach immediately let out a loud, highly embarrassing rumble.
Mason smiled his brilliant, annoying smile. "Your stomach is a terrible liar. Let’s go."
Audrey followed him out of the room and down the heavy wooden stairs.
The cabin living room was incredibly loud. The smell of grilled burgers and salty potato chips completely overpowered the smell of the woodsmoke. The giant players were crammed around the kitchen island and the dining table, eating huge plates of food.
Audrey scanned the room instantly. Her eyes searched for the dark, pristine coat.
Logan was sitting in a leather chair in the far corner. He had a silver laptop balanced on his knees. He was typing furiously. He looked like an angry villain doing his taxes. None of the football players were talking to him. They completely ignored his existence.
Mason walked straight to the kitchen. He grabbed two paper plates and piled them high with burgers, chips, and pasta salad. He walked back to Audrey and handed her a very heavy plate.
"Eat," Mason ordered gently.
"Thank you," Audrey muttered.
"Captain!" Leo yelled from the back door. He was wearing bright blue swimming trunks and holding a football. "We are going to the dock! Let’s go!"
Mason looked at Audrey. "You want to freeze in the lake?"
"Absolutely not," Audrey said. "I am going to sit on the porch."
"I will sit with you," Mason decided.
"You do not have to," Audrey pointed out. She took a bite of her burger. It tasted incredible. "Go play with your friends. I do not need a babysitter."
"I know," Mason said. He walked toward the back door, fully expecting her to follow him. "But I like sitting with you. You complain a lot. It is very entertaining."
Audrey rolled her eyes, but she followed him outside.
The back porch was massive. It led down to a long wooden dock that stretched out into the dark, freezing lake water. The wind coming off the water was sharp and biting.
The football players did not care about the cold at all. Jackson and Leo ran straight down the dock and jumped into the water with a massive splash. They instantly started screaming about how cold it was.
Audrey sat down on a wooden bench at the very end of the dock. She pulled her knees up to her chest and wrapped her arms around her legs. The oversized green sweater kept the freezing wind out perfectly.
Mason sat down right next to her. He stretched his long legs out over the water. He was eating his burger casually with one hand.
"They are going to get hypothermia," Audrey observed. She watched Leo try to dunk Jackson under the freezing water.
"Probably," Mason agreed. "But they have a lot of energy to burn. If they do not swim, they will just break furniture inside the cabin."
They sat in silence for a few minutes. It was not the suffocating, heavy silence Audrey hated. It was surprisingly peaceful. The loud splashing of the team sounded like background noise. The air smelled like fresh water and pine trees.
Audrey looked at Mason from the corner of her eye.
He was watching his team. The playful, teasing look was completely gone. He just looked quiet. He looked like a normal guy taking a break.
"Why do you do it?" Audrey asked suddenly.
Mason turned his head. "Do what?"
"Date all those girls," Audrey said. She kept her voice low. "You are smart. You are observant. But you date people for two weeks and then just drop them. Why?"
Mason stopped chewing. He looked back out at the lake. The cold wind ruffled his dark hair. For the very first time since she met him, he actually looked a little uncomfortable.
"Because two weeks is exactly how long it takes for them to realize I am boring," Mason said quietly.
Audrey frowned. She stared at his strong side profile. "You are a lot of terrible things, Calloway. But you are definitely not boring."
Mason let out a short, breathy laugh. "Everyone expects the football captain to be this perfect, exciting guy all the time. They want the guy from the parties. They want the guy who scores the winning goal. They do not want the guy who is too tired to talk after practice. The exact second I stop entertaining them, they get disappointed."
He looked at her. His brown eyes were completely serious.
"So I leave first," Mason stated simply. "I break it off before they get the chance to look at me like I am a massive disappointment."
Audrey felt a strange tightness in her chest. The campus golden boy, the untouchable heartbreaker, was just entirely afraid of not being enough. He put on a massive, loud show so nobody would look too closely at the real person underneath.
It was exactly what she did with her dark hoodies and baseball caps. They just used completely different methods to hide.
Before Audrey could say anything else, heavy footsteps stomped onto the wooden dock.
The peaceful atmosphere shattered instantly.
Audrey looked over her shoulder.
Logan was walking down the dock. He held his silver laptop in one hand. The cold wind whipped his perfectly styled hair around, ruining the neat look. His face was tight with barely controlled anger.
Mason completely dropped his relaxed posture. He sat up straight. His broad shoulders tensed.
"Foster," Mason warned. His voice was a low growl. "I told you to stay in your corner."
"I am not here for you," Logan said sharply. He stopped a few feet away. He ignored Mason completely and stared directly at Audrey.
"Audrey," Logan said. His voice was perfectly cold. "We need to talk about your journalism internship for next semester."
Audrey felt the blood drain entirely from her face. Her hands gripped her knees tightly. "What about it?"
Logan tilted the screen of his laptop toward her.
"The Student Council has final approval on all department funding recommendations," Logan stated. A cruel, triumphant smile finally broke through his angry expression. "And I just reviewed the list. I am rejecting your application."
Audrey stopped breathing. Her dream internship. The only reason she was pushing so hard this entire semester.
"You cannot do that," Audrey whispered.
"I can," Logan said smoothly. "Unless you stop this ridiculous fake dating stunt and come inside to talk to me right now."
Mason stood up. His fists clenched tightly at his sides. He looked entirely ready to throw Logan into the freezing lake.
But Audrey moved first. She stood up, her green sweater blowing in the wind, and stepped directly in front of Mason.
She looked Logan right in the eyes.