Chapter 31
I love us like this and I’m not ready to go back to reality
Lying in Mason’s arms, I forced myself to stay awake, not wanting to miss a minute of his snoring. Tonight, he had made me feel special and safe, and it meant more than anything I’d ever done in my life. He meant more than anyone else ever had in my life.
I brushed his cheek with a finger, unable not to touch him. With his disheveled brown hair and soft features, he looked like an angel. My angel.
Like he had always belonged in my life, my bed, and my heart.
His eyelids fluttered open, and he fixed his gaze on me, a sleepy smile tilting his lips up.
“Hey you,” I whispered.
“Hey, love.” The look in his eyes sent my heart into overdrive. “You’re not sleepy?”
“I am. But I also wanna watch you sleep. It’s much more enjoyable.
I still can’t believe we did all this. It feels surreal.
A very good and enjoyable dream, and I’m afraid that if I fall asleep, I’ll wake up and realize it was my mind playing tricks on me.
” I shifted in his arms, my bare front pressing against his muscled chest, capturing his mouth with mine.
“Mason, you have a game this weekend. You should go back to sleep.”
“I feel totally rested. You’re all I need, baby. You’re all I’ll ever need.”
I kissed him with all the tenderness I felt inside. “I love this. You and me.”
“I told you we were meant to be,” he said, his grin taking over his gorgeous face.
I slapped his chest. “You’re too cocky, but this time, it suits you. Anyway, I can’t say you were wrong. Nothing has ever felt so right.”
He pushed himself up on one arm and claimed my mouth in a slow kiss. “You like me cocky. Admit it.”
“You think?” I smiled against his mouth.
“Don’t pretend otherwise. I know you do.”
I leaned back to watch him. “Mase, you would tell me if I were ever just a game to you, right?”
Every trace of humor vanished from his expression, and he moved to a sitting position, pulling me up with him without letting go.
“Mel, you are not a game and have never been. Back in high school, I cleaned up my act because I was serious about us, and I knew you would never give me a chance unless I could prove to you that I was done being an idiot. All the times I acted out, it was because I couldn’t have you…
or thought I wasn’t good enough for you. ”
“Oh, Mase…”
“I’m sorry it took me so long to figure my shit out. I’m also sorry for making you doubt my intentions, and for all the idiocies I did in the meantime.”
“For the longest time, I pushed down my desire for you because I thought you would never fall for a girl like me. That I was mostly invisible to you.”
“Baby, you were never invisible to me. Not a single day. Not since you’ve moved next door and stirred up an array of hormonal reactions inside me. That confused me a lot, and I had no clue how to be the man—or rather the boy—you deserved.”
I sighed, and he wrapped his arms around me while I buried my face in his chest, breathing in his masculine scent. “I’m glad you’ve managed to shake off your old habits. You were right all this time about us. I’m sorry I didn’t believe you for so long. Thanks for not giving up on me.”
“I’ve always known you were the one. I even made a whole playbook to win you back after our friendship fell apart last year.”
“You made a playbook for me?”
He nodded. “Yeah. It was a four-step game plan.”
“Tell me more.” I batted my eyelashes. “Please.”
“Okay. Step one was to set you free and wait. Step two was to see how things would evolve once we were in college and to make sure you and Clarke were over.”
I heard the wistfulness in his voice.
“To be fully honest, I prayed every night for it to happen. I’m sorry if I was never a fan of your relationship.”
“Never be sorry, okay? It was never my intention to break your heart. I’ve said it many times already, but I wanna make sure you know it.”
“I do.” He planted a kiss on the top of my head. “Step three was to revise my plan once we were in college. Which I did multiple times because you were not easy to convince at first.”
I cringed. “And step four?”
“Sweep you off your feet.”
I felt giddy inside hearing how he had planned to seduce me. “Tell me, Mase. Did it work?”
His grin was full of mischief now. “What do you think, Shepard?”
“That you should write playbooks for a living. Football playbooks, romance playbooks, all kinds of playbooks.”
“Ha. Ha. No, thanks. They’re only reserved for you.”
“I like that.”
“Quick question, though. Will you wear my jersey at the game?”
“Yes. I thought you would never ask. By the way, given the choice, I’d never wear anything else for the rest of my life.”
“That’s my girl.” He kissed me as we lay back on the bed, holding my naked body against his.
“Are you coming home with me for Thanksgiving next week? I was thinking we could leave on Tuesday night after practice or early Wednesday morning and come back to Crestwood on Friday night or Saturday morning.”
“I haven’t decided if I’m going yet. I have a shift at Lola’s on Tuesday night and one on Friday.”
“If you don’t wanna go, we can lock ourselves here and celebrate together. All my roommates are going home for the holiday, so we’ll have the place to ourselves. Or we can leave Wednesday morning and drive back before your shift on Friday.”
I bit on my thumbnail. “Where will we stay? I don’t feel comfortable asking my parents if you can sleep over, and I’m not sure they’ll like the idea if I say I’ll be sleeping at your place either.
I kinda don’t want us to be separated, though.
I haven’t told them about us yet, so it might surprise them at first.”
“We could tell them together. How about we see how things go and decide what’s best then? I could also reenact senior year and climb the wall of your house and join you in your bedroom at night and rock your world. What do you say?”
“You wouldn’t dare.”
“Is that a challenge?”
“I won’t say no to what you did earlier. It sent shivers all over me. The most delicious shivers I’ve ever felt. For now, though, kiss me, and I’ll forget that climbing my bedroom wall is your solution to our sleeping arrangement.”
I didn’t have to ask him twice. Mason caressed my bare leg under the covers, and tingles ran across my skin beneath the pads of his fingers. I rubbed my aching self against him, unable to resist him when his hand neared the apex of my thighs.
“Are you sore?” he asked breathless, cherishing the flesh of my throat with his lips and his tongue.
“A little. Perhaps we can give it another try later. After I shower and we fuel up on food, I would really love a do-over. I heard the second time is even better.”
“Each time is always going to be better, love. Because it’s you and me.
Let’s sleep for now, though. I love us like this, and I’m not ready to go back to reality this early.
I’m so happy the town cut the water across campus today to fix the pipes, and the university canceled all classes and sports practices.
Let’s enjoy this moment while we can. We’ll discuss Thanksgiving another time. ”
Releasing me, he rolled to his side and pulled me against him, the warmth of his skin a delicious temptation as it spread across my back.
Soon, his breaths evened.
His arms went slack around me.
My eyelids fluttered closed.
“I love you, Mason Pierce,” I murmured. I couldn’t keep my eyes open—and the words in—any longer, and so I followed him into his dreams.
“Hi, I’m Melinda. You must be Amber,” I asked the girl with long, braided blonde hair, dressed in purple workout gear, sitting at the kitchen table and cradling a mug of tea between her hands.
“Yes. Mel?”
I nodded, and she moved to her feet, pulling me into a hug. “It’s so nice to finally meet you. I’ve heard so much about you.” She released me and stepped back, giving me a once-over. “You are even prettier than what Mason told us.” She smiled, putting me at ease.
“Huh… Thanks.”
“Want tea?” She nodded toward the mug on the table.
“Sure.”
“Awesome. Sit, I’ll make you one.”
I took the seat right next to hers at the small square table. “Were you about to go for a run, or did you just come back?”
She added a tea bag into the black mug she fetched from the cupboard above the sink and poured hot water from the kettle. “Nah. I was about to do some Pilates. I do that most mornings. It infuses me with energy, and I feel better afterward.”
I scanned the room around me. “Where’s everyone?”
“Asleep.” Amber brought my tea over and sat back.
I blew on the billowing steam.
“Devin usually wakes up at five every morning. I don’t have it in me to wake him up when he sleeps so soundly.
I’m surprised the team doesn’t have something football-related today, although the university shut everything down until tomorrow.
They usually watch game tapes or train together at the gym even on the weekends. ”
“Same with Mase. He was deep asleep when I woke up. He didn’t so much as shift when I escaped his bed.”
“I think Carson should be up soon, though.”
“Carson?”
“Bailey. All the guys use their last names around here, but I prefer to use their first names whenever I can. It feels more personal. Mason told me you were on the swim team. Are you hitting the gym later?”
I glanced at my calypso-teal leggings and the white racerback tank top I’d put on after I showered before coming downstairs. “Nah, I thought maybe Mase might wanna go for a run later. We used to go together back home.”
“Oh yes. He said something about you two being neighbors. Wanna join me? I keep Pilates DVDs here, and we have two mats because I sometimes talk Devin into doing a few moves with me. He hates it. Mason is usually easier to convince. He’s really a nice guy, by the way. You did good.”
I toyed with the mug’s handle. “I know. Our getting together was long overdue.”
“At the beginning of the semester, I wanted to match him with my roommate, but he was adamant he was unavailable. He really is a big fan of yours.”