Chapter 29
I had six years to plan the perfect date
With my hand still in his, Mason steered me toward the entrance of the middle school. His lips connected with the side of my head. “I’m glad we’re doing this together, Shepard.”
A smile broke free on his gorgeous face.
My heart swelled a little more at the sight.
We were really doing this. Giving what had always been there between us a chance to blossom. I would have to pinch myself later to make sure it wasn’t a dream.
Despite all my fears and reservations, how I ended up giving Mason Pierce a shot still surprised me, but “When you know, you know,” my dad had once told me. And there had been that kiss. The one that had tilted my world and the fragile balance between my head and my heart.
“Me too.” I pressed my head against his shoulder. I wanted to touch him, to feel the heat of his body against mine, to be loved by him, just to make sure it wasn’t a dream after all, and I wouldn’t wake up alone in my bed, sad and confused later.
Deep down, no matter what bullshit I fed myself, I knew Mason had been right. We belonged together, which our kiss last night had confirmed. It was about damn time I stopped fighting it.
Mason dug into his pocket and held out his open palm to me. “Here. Just in case.”
A loud laugh bubbled free. “Ohmygod, you’ll never cease to amaze me.” I accepted the pair of purple foam earplugs he handed me. “Thanks.”
“Better to go in overprepared than not prepared at all.”
I pushed my body closer to his, holding his hand in mine, and kissed his jaw. My head and my heart finally agreed. If Mason Pierce was destined to be mine, I would never let him go.
Titan, Mason’s little cousin, ran up to us when we entered the school and passed the ticket booth. “Massssson, you came.” His eyes drifted to me, and he watched with a wary frown. “Are you Mason’s girlfriend?”
I stifled a laugh and pinched my lips together, not sure how to respond to the boy’s bluntness.
He waited for me to say something. “So, are you?”
“The thing is—” Mason began.
“I guess I am,” I said, cutting him short.
Mason jumped back, grabbing both my hands in his. He cocked one eyebrow, a smirk playing on his lips. “So, you guess you are?” he asked, his voice quivering and his eyes filling with a cocktail of emotions directed at me that I wanted to bask in for the rest of my life.
I bobbed my head. “Yeah. It’s been a long time coming. That first kiss sealed the deal, didn’t it?”
“It did?”
“It did,” I repeated. “I’m yours, Mason Pierce. Hearing myself say it out loud feels right.”
“So, just to double-check, we are an item now, right?”
I smiled so big I feared I would unhinge my jaw. “We are. One hundred percent.”
“You’re not gonna change your mind?” he asked.
“I won’t.”
“Good.”
He didn’t let me add anything else before capturing my lips with his. Gravity left my body. I was floating. Mason held me against him, the warmth from his palms shooting through me in addictive waves. I wasn’t scared anymore. In fact, I felt oddly at peace.
In that instant, I wanted to sink into him and lose myself in his arms.
“Ugh, you guys are gross,” Titan said from behind us.
Mason and I broke apart, laughing. He pulled me against him again, and I leaned into his strong body, resting in the crook of his arm.
“Sorry,” I told the little boy. “We’ll try to behave ourselves.”
He looked behind us. “Where’s Craig? He should be here by now.”
“Here’s the thing, man. I wanted to impress my girl.” Mason cupped his mouth with a hand and lowered his voice. “I thought seeing you rock that stage would help me gain some boyfriend points. Craig forfeited his ticket so Mel could come. I hope it’s okay with you.”
Titan bumped his fist with his cousin’s. “She’ll fall in love with you, Mason.” His eyes shimmered. “Or maybe she’ll fall in love with me too.”
Mason snickered. “We’ll see, man. Come on, you should go get ready.”
“My mom and dad are already seated. They told me to tell you to join them when you arrive. They saved you two seats.”
We said our goodbyes, and Mason pushed me against the wall of a dark hallway, kissing me. “What you said back there”—he jerked his head toward the entrance—“it pleased me. A whole lot. I’ve been waiting forever for you to realize we were it, love.”
“Love?”
He shrugged. “It fits you.”
“Then kiss me,” I murmured. “Kiss me hard, Mason Pierce.”
An ache I had never experienced before pooled in the deepest part of me, and I opened up for him, fisting the front of his sweater to make sure he wouldn’t vanish as his tongue tangoed with mine.
After a minute, we eased apart to catch a breath, hearts still racing, and pressed our foreheads together.
“Fuck, Mel. Now I just wanna get out of here.”
I cradled his face with my hands. “You have me, Mase. I’m not going anywhere. As long as you’ll have me, I’m staying right by your side.”
“Mase, how did you know?” We stood side by side on the sidewalk in front of a little Thai bistro I loved. He couldn’t have known it was my favorite restaurant in town. Unless… “Who told you?”
His face reddened. “I may have an informer.”
“Ohmygod, you’re terrible. You really have someone spying on me. Who? Do I know him? Or her?”
“Promise you won’t get mad if I tell you.”
“No promises,” I said, unable to stop grinning like a fool.
“Mel, you can’t kill a fly. I doubt you could really get mad. After all, I’m way too charming.”
I backhanded his chest. “Talk.”
“Leila. She’s friends with Cassidy. I happen to know her. She worked at the athletic facility.”
I stepped back, my humor dying down. I knew how Mason used to get what he wanted from girls back in high school.
He must have sensed my hesitation because he rushed to add, “No. Never. It’s not like that.
She has a girlfriend. The last thing she wants is a boyfriend.
Believe me. Some guy on the team tried to get into her pants and ended up with a shiner.
Her car broke down one day, and I gave her a ride.
When I realized you both stayed at the same dorm, I asked if she knew you.
That’s all. Don’t hate her. I gave her tickets to our games in exchange for info. ”
“Oh…” I asked a question that had been taking center stage in my mind for a while now. “That night with Jett. Coincidence or not?”
“Leila.”
“When you walked into my sociology class, how did you know my schedule?”
“Leila.”
“She must really like to watch you play.” I raised an eyebrow and gave him a pointed look.
“Her girlfriend is a big football fan. We all do crazy things to impress the ones we lo—the ones who are important to us.”
I didn’t miss the slip of his tongue. Another surge of warmth spread through me.
“I’m important to you?”
He kissed me, caressing my tongue with slow strokes of his own. “The most.”
“Good.”
“Am I forgiven?” he asked, and I lost myself in the feel of us.
“Yes.” A whimper passed the rim of my lips when he brushed a loose strand of my hair back, massaging my scalp with his fingertips. “Let’s go inside.”
“Will you let me feed you?”
I pushed him back, laughing my heart out. “Such a pig.”
“Just for you, love.”
The way he said love sounded a lot like I love you.
For now, I would withhold the words. What Mason and I shared was love, even though I felt it was too soon to exchange the words officially.
In some ways, I’d always known it, and maybe that was one of the reasons I had pushed him away last year.
Because it was scary to think you had met your person when you were just a kid and could tell from that day something unique, almost like a force greater than life itself, existed between the two of you.
After dinner, we drove out to an empty field and lay on a blanket Mason kept in his car. He had lit up a trail of paper lanterns, and lying on our backs, we watched the stars. I rested my hand on his chest, and he covered it with his like it belonged there.
“Do you think there’s life out there?” I asked.
“Yeah. I believe we’re not alone in the universe. It’s way too big for only one planet. And I’m sure that for every Mason out there, there’s a Melinda who possesses his heart. I swear none of them would want it any other way.”
I propped myself up on my elbow and stole a kiss. “All the Melindas wouldn’t want it any other way either.”
“Girl, you’re gonna ruin me. I’ll enjoy every minute of it and won’t ever stand in the way.” He molded his lips against mine, and once again, time stopped as we lost ourselves in the magic of us.
Mason pressed his lips together, trying to reel in his smile as we stepped in through the back door of a brownstone building.
Fairy lights had been hung from the ceiling, and soft music played from a small speaker set on a folding table covered with a navy-blue and golden tablecloth, Elk River High varsity colors.
In one corner, cushions and containers filled with snacks were lined up on the floor, facing a projector.
It reminded me of our very first date in his backyard, back when we were kids.
“Wow, it’s beautiful. What is it?” I asked.
We were on date number two. Mason had planned tonight but hadn’t revealed anything other than I had to dress up.
I had opted for a knee-length black dress with an open back under a blush-pink cardigan with black suede heels.
Mason looked sharp in his black trousers and white shirt.
He had left the top three buttons undone, and I thought he was the sexiest thing I’d ever laid eyes on.
“Winter Formal do-over. We never had a chance to go together. I will forever regret how things turned out that day. We’re having a second chance at every event we missed during our senior year.”
“Does it mean we’ll go to prom together?”
He nodded. “And we’ll go on a camping trip right after.” The senior camping trip Paige organized—the one I’d missed.
“Oh, Mase. I love it. Did you do this all by yourself?”
“Nah, Craig and Rutherford helped me with the decor. Amber borrowed the projector from the student center and got us the swooniest romantic comedy she could find.”