City of Sin - Chapter 67
Bee
I laughed as I started to fall again. Mason grabbed my hips to steady me, but I was already sliding forward on the ice. I ran straight into his chest, making him topple backwards as his skates slid out from underneath of him. I laughed as I fell down on top of his chest.
"Ow," Mason groaned. He was slightly out of breath and his nose was pink from the cold.
It was still flurrying and I wished I could capture this moment forever.
He looked so handsome and happy. I had been so worried that I wouldn't be enough for him.
But he had made all my worries go away with our conversations earlier.
He wanted a future with me. Or he wouldn't have asked me to be his business partner.
"Sorry." I smiled down at him.
"I'm pretty sure you broke my ass."
"No! One of my favorite parts of you!"
He laughed and sat up. "How does hot chocolate sound?"
"Perfect." I stumbled onto my feet. It was hard skating in the long dress, but it had still been fun. I reached my hand out to help him up. He grabbed it and pulled me back down on top of him.
"Are you trying to break my ass too?"
"I would never. That is my favorite part of you."
"You're a butt guy? How did I not know that?"
He shrugged. "I'm a Bee guy. Now let's go get some hot chocolate. I'm freezing."
We both got to our feet and skated off the rink, hand in hand.
I sat down on the bench and undid my skates as he bought hot chocolate at the refreshment stand.
He had said he had done this before with his mom and his brother when he was little.
But again, no one special later in his life.
The thought of me being his first love made me feel warm.
I didn't even need hot chocolate. It did feel good when he put the cup into my hands, but maybe it was more the gesture than the warmth from the cup.
He was taking care of me. He was showing me a romantic side of New York that I hadn't experienced.
He was trying to tell me I belonged. Maybe even more so with him than in this city.
I wasn't sure why he was trying so hard to convince me. I had been convinced a long time ago.
But I had run. I hadn't meant to hurt him. I never wanted to hurt him.
"You okay?" he asked as he put his arm around my shoulders. "I didn't actually break your ass did I?"
I laughed. "No. You didn't. Mason?"
"Yeah?"
"What did your dad say about the fight you had? About wanting to take over his business?"
"You were right. They're proud of me."
The way he said it sounded strange. Like he didn't really believe it. "Is that what they said?"
"Yeah. It was weird. I've spent so many years resenting them. I've been such an idiot. My dad just wanted what was best for me. He thought that was taking over the family business. He didn't know about all my dreams. Because I didn't tell them. I shut them out."
"They didn't know you wanted to start an advertising agency?"
"No. They knew I wanted to work in advertising." He laughed and shook his head. "My dad said I had turned out just like him after all. And he was excited to have another entrepreneur in the family. I didn't think that would be their reaction."
"Why did they cut you off then?"
"They wanted me to come back. Or maybe they just disapproved of my lifestyle. A combination maybe? It was just a misunderstanding. They were really excited to hear about you too. Almost as excited about hearing about the new company."
"Did you tell them about splitting it with me?"
"Splitting it? Who said anything about splitting it?"
"Oh. Sorry. I didn't mean..."
"I'm just kidding. Of course we're splitting it. And I didn't tell them about that. I'll let them meet you first. They'll get it." He smiled down at me.
"You don't have to do it, you know. You could just give me a normal position at the company. With Kendra or something. I don't need to share the business with you. I just want you. I don't want all that."
"I want to do it with you." He squeezed my shoulder. "Besides, I was getting really excited about the idea of sharing an office with you."
"It's too much, Mason."
"It's not like I'm going to let you skate by. You'll have to do half the work. I'm good with my decision. It's what I want. But if it's not what you want, we can talk about it."
"I won't be holding you back?"
"You won't be holding me back."
I smiled and looked up at the snowflakes falling down on us. The sky had an orangey glow to it. "You named your new company after me."
"I find you kind of inspiring, Bee. Now, there's one more part to the night. We can count snowflakes on our tongues on the way to the taxi."
I laughed and stood up. He remembered what I always did with my mom in the snow.
***
"Do I have to keep wearing this?"
"Yes," Mason said as he grabbed my hand, pulling me out of the taxi.
"I can't see anything."
"That's kind of the point, baby." He lightly grazed the side of my cheek with his lips. He had undone his tie and blindfolded me with it in the car.
"If this involves jumping off the Brooklyn Bridge into freezing cold water, I'm not sure I want to be an official New Yorker."
"Nothing that crazy, I promise."
"Have you done this before?"
"Blindfolded a woman and lead her toward the icy waters of the East River? Only a dozen times."
I meant to shove his chest but my hand landed on his abs. God I loved his abs.
"You're getting a little ahead of yourself there. That's the after party."
I laughed, but kept my hand on his abs. It helped me walk forward a little less shakily.
"Whatever it is we're actually doing, have you done it before?"
"I've been here before, yes. Not like this, though."
I heard something ding and then suddenly I wasn't cold anymore. We must have stepped inside a building. "Are we just back at your place?"
"So eager." He lead me farther into the building and then we stopped.
"Ah!" I almost fell over when the floor started moving.
Mason laughed. "It's just an elevator, Bee. You're okay." He had pressed my back against the side of the elevator.
My fingers were gripping his shirt tightly. I tilted my head up even though I couldn't see him.
"You know?" He kissed the side of my neck.
It felt like I could melt onto the elevator floor.
"The last time I had you in this dress, I had pictured doing all sorts of unspeakable things to you." He kissed my neck a little lower.
"Unspeakable?"
"Your favorite." He lightly bit my earlobe.
A small moan escaped from my lips.
"But not yet, baby. Not until you're a real New Yorker."
"You don't want me right now?"
"You should see the way the other people in the elevator are looking at you right now."
"What? Mason!"
He silenced me with a kiss. A kiss that made the tips of my fingers and toes tingle. He pulled away far too soon.
"We're alone." His voice was low. He had missed this too. "But we still have a few things to talk about."
The elevator doors dinged and I felt a blast of cold air hit me. Mason quickly wrapped his arms around me again.
"Where are we?" It was freezing. Way colder than it had been before. The wind whipped through my hair. We had to be up high somewhere.
"Bee." Mason pulled us to a stop and put his hands on either of my shoulders.
"I could say all that cliché stuff about you being the other half of me and all that.
And it is true in a sense. I'm a better version of myself when you're around.
I'm not even sure I like the guy who I am without you in my life.
But all of this is new to me. This feeling is new. "
Holy shit, is he going to propose? I didn't want him to propose.
I wanted to enjoy where we were. I didn't want to rush this feeling.
We had our whole lives for that. I did want him in every way possible.
But not like this. Not because he was scared I'd walk away again. I wasn't going to do that. "Mason..."
"But it's a little of an understatement to say I have commitment issues.
I know you want the whole white dress and a ring thing, but I'm not ready for that.
And I 'd be lying if I said I was. I know how I feel.
And I'm hoping that's enough. I'm never letting go of this feeling.
You're all that I think about. But I need more time for all that.
I want to take things slowly with you. I like taking things slow. "
It was like he had just hit every worry. My tears felt icy as they fell down my cheeks. I wished he would take my blindfold off. I wanted to see him. "I have commitment issues too. I'm terrified of love because I'm terrified of losing it."
"You're not going to lose me."
"I don't want you to make promises you can't keep."
"I'm not going to break any promises I make you. I'm not letting you go. I'm never letting you go." He pulled the blindfold down my face.
The whole city stretched out beneath us, completely lit up in the night, covered in a blanket of freshly fallen snow. It was beautiful.
"Because this is how you make me feel. Like I'm on the top of the world. And when I let you walk away, it felt like I was freefalling from this building. I've never felt so alone before."
"Me too. I mean, not falling, because I've never been up here." I smiled up at him. "I just felt really, really cold. Like your arms were the only thing that could ever warm me again."
"I don't want to be alone anymore, Bee. I want to be with you.
Ever since I've met you, I haven't been able to stop thinking about you.
And I'm so sick of standing still. I said a lot of things I didn't mean the other day.
I think I was just scared to tell you I loved you because of all the stupid shit I had done.
Telling you and then you walking out seemed unbearable.
So I just said all these terrible things.
But it didn't make it any less painful. I still had those feelings even though I didn't tell you. "
"It's okay, I think I was kind of easy."
He laughed. "Because I couldn't keep my hands off you. I knew what I was doing, and I knew what I wanted. But you were anything but easy."
I smiled up at him. He had snowflakes in his hair and his nose was still pink from the cold. I wasn't sure I had ever seen him more handsome.
"I know I was a mess when you met me. I'm still a mess. I think part of what took me so long to realize I was in love with you was because I couldn't believe you could possibly love me. You deserve better than me, Bee. You deserve..."
"A great love. You're my great love. You make me feel like this too." I glanced back at the horizon stretched out before us. "Like I'm on top of the world. I've never felt that way before."
"You haven't?"
"Never."
"Well that's good. I already had a moving company pick up all your boxes and bring them back to our apartment."
"So cocky."
He grinned. "Yes...I am." He glanced down at his pants and then back up at me.
"We've had this conversation before, Mason. That is not what cocky means."
"Isn't it though?"
"No. You always make everything dirty."
"Welcome to the city of sin, baby."
I laughed. "Does that mean I'm an official New Yorker?"
"A kiss at the top of the Empire State Building on Valentine's Day seals the deal. Do you think you're ready to hold that title?"
His question was deeper than just about being a New Yorker.
It was about being his business partner.
It was about being his. I was all in. It was time to start our life together.
And I couldn't imagine my life without him.
He had given me my dream job, but more importantly he had given me himself.
He had opened up to me in a way I didn't even know he was capable of.
I had gotten everything that I had ever wanted. "I'm so ready." Take that, New York.
He leaned down and kissed me, making my whole body feel warm with the delicious sparks that only he could give me.
And I knew it didn't matter where we were. Whether we were at the top of the Empire State Building or in the middle of Central Park. Wherever he was, that was home.