Both of you are right: Masks and distance make a difference - and in the end, that difference doesn't matter. We are talking about 10^x virus particles with x=1 is enough for an infection. So if a mask reduces x from 5 to 3, this is a drastic reduction, but it will infect or spread anyway. A MIT study that looked at some well known super spreader events showed that all people in a room are similar affected, regardless if they sit 6 or 60 feet away from the spreader.