Hello Quelly! Welcome on the boards!
*waves* My impression from his wishing to avoid Mason's date requests [..] is that he knows he doesn't feel the same way about Mason as he does about Lois.
Yep. That's it.
But here he makes Mason and Lois sound equal before the interruption, so what was he about to say next? Was there a "but" coming?
And what does he mean "I think about you a lot"???!
Thing is, Clark is a (very) nice guy, and he's somehow intrigued by the fact that Mayson prefers his "real" persona to the superhero. In my experience, nice guys don't like to openly reject a girl they care for (even if not in a a romantic way), because that will make them look as jerks. Trying not to hurt the girl, they beat about the bush. Add to the mix that Clark's relationship with Lois is still an undefined work in progress (so he can't really say there's something going on with her), and that all will result in a pathetic babbling
(And yes, there was definitely a "but" coming)
I'm also dying to know, when he says about the secret keeping them apart "how do I say this?!", is he wondering how to say it's Lois, or is he thinking the problem is superman?
My two cents: Lois is certainly a (big) part of the question, but in this case I think there's also a reference to the Superman question: the "I don't know how to say this" line could mean that while Clark doesn't want to reveal his secret to Mayson (because otherwise it would make me very mad! He's telling it to her and not to Lois?!?), he's still trying to explain that there's a big part of him (the superhero) that she can't appreciate, and that in itself would make a big obstacle in building a relationship between the two of them.
One thing is for sure: that call for help occurred at a very convenient timing
