Breaking Perfect

“Oh, not nice, Mr. O’Malley,” she pouted and picked up two cards.

“All is fair in love and Crazy Eights,” he informed her.

Mase laughed. “You’ll see Sean is a cut throat gamer, Lib. I can’t believe you won two hands already,” he said as he threw down a three, causing Sean to miss his turn and bring it back to Libby. “I doubt he’ll lose gracefully again at this point. My boy is a terrible loser.”

Sean’s eyes shot to Mase’s while Libby evaluated her hand. Had he realized what he said? Yes. The look in his eyes told him he caught the old endearment, however, it also told him it was a slip.

“There. Of course, I’m now holding suits that have already been used. I can’t believe you put a two on me.”

Sean and Mase stayed locked in a non-speaking stare a moment longer and then Mason turned away to take his turn. Every time Mase did that, looked at him like that and then tore his gaze away, it felt like he was tearing a layer of flesh with it. Sean tried to sound light, as if nothing had distracted him. “Believe it. Cuteness will only get you so far in cards, my dear. I plan on cleaning the floor with you.”

A few minutes later Sean was down to his last card and Libby had a fist full of them. He watched as she struggled to find the perfect order to fan them out in. His mind strayed, wondering if she preferred to line them up by color, suit, or number. Any unknowing onlooker would see no difference in the way she organized her hand from any other person, but after what Mase told him earlier Sean found himself looking for signs of her Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. He was right, the longer one was around her, the more used to it one became and the harder it was to see.

“I’m out.”

Sean’s gaze shot from Liberty to Mase. “Son of a bitch. I didn’t even realize you were close.”

“That’s because my strategy was to let my beautiful wife distract you. See how well my diabolical plan worked? Shall I do my evil, maniacal laugh? Muahaha!”

Although Liberty only laughed at her husband’s joke, Sean was incredibly self-conscious of how transparent he’d become. As always, Mason, no matter how unobservant he appeared to be, missed nothing. Sean had been intently watching Libby, maybe even ogling her at times, but for him to scrutinize this part of Mase’s current life…it was mind boggling in so many ways. He hoped Mase wasn’t pissed he was analyzing. He would have to be less obvious. Really, he should stop, but she fascinated him.

“Indeed,” he admitted. “Try not to be so beautiful next time, Liberty. I may be a terrible loser, but Mason is an even worse winner. If he wins this hand it’ll be unbearable and I’ll have to go to a hotel just to avoid being exposed to his obnoxious gloating.”

She laughed. “You’re as much of a sweet talker as Mason. You two must’ve driven the girls on campus crazy. I can just imagine the traffic through your frat house. Tell me, Sean, did Mason constantly have a tie hanging from his doorknob or some other symbol for ‘Do Not Disturb’?”

“Are you asking if I was a whore in college?” Mase asked, pretending to be completely appalled by her insinuation.

“Yes,” Liberty answered unrepentantly. She looked back at him. “Well, Sean, was he? Was Mason the campus man whore?”

Sean busied himself with shuffling the deck and dealing out the next hand. How to answer such a question? Finally he said, “Uh, actually no. I mean we only met my sophomore year. Mase was already onto his masters by then, so I have no idea how he spent his time while earning his undergraduate, but during the two years I knew him I can only recall him ever going out with one person.”

“Ah,” she said as if she’d just been given a valuable clue to a puzzle. “An old flame. What was her name? Was she pretty? Mason never tells me any of the juicy parts of his past.”

Sean cleared his throat and looked up at Mason. He should’ve kept his mouth shut. Mason only looked amused at the corner Sean boxed himself into.

Thankfully, Mase asked for coffee and Liberty’s focus was pulled to solely meeting her husband’s needs. She disregarded their conversation and stood, excusing herself to immediately go make a fresh pot.

After she left the room Mason looked at him. “That would have been an interesting explanation to hear. Do me a favor and try not to go there again.”

His words were reproving, but his tone was light. They looked at each other for a long sobering moment. “Why didn’t you ever tell her?” he finally asked quietly.