Chapter 36

“My apartment is just a couple blocks,” he said, holding out Mason’s beer. “You don’t mind walking, do you?”

Mason took the bottle and shook his head. “Not at all.”

The July heat pressed on his neck and back, but it didn’t bother Mason. Life poured out of every building and lingered on every corner, and the city pulsed around them. Mason had loved Mexico City when he lived here before, and he thought it wouldn’t take much to make him love it again.

“Did you…did you ever wonder if what happened between us was just a fling?”

Anton sipped slowly from his beer. Mason wondered if he was even aware of the way his thumb kept caressing Mason’s hand.

“Yes,” Anton finally admitted. “I hoped it wasn’t, but…you left. And you were so angry with me. Sometimes, it feels like all I’ve done since you came for Cinco de Mayo is think. It was probably inevitable I think that might be a possibility.”

“But you know why I left, don’t you?”

“Because you thought I was staying with Pedra.”