Chapter 13
Sutton
I was emotionally exhausted by the time Mason and I got back to his condo.
Home.
That’s what he kept calling it. Not just his, but mine too. With every passing day, that felt more true. And now, with Shane’s generous offer, I wouldn’t have to worry about making rent or choosing between my electric bill and groceries ever again.
Carrying my new cello into the living room, Mason placed it on a stand near the sliding French door. Right beside another case that I recognized.
My heart lifted into my throat as I stood there looking down at the beaten-up old thing. I was so in love with the new cello. It played like a dream. But the realization was only just starting to set in. My mom’s was gone.
Part of me had known that already. When no one had mentioned it following the accident, I suspected that it had just been tossed.
Maybe that would have been better. Not knowing, making up endless scenarios in my head, leaving the possibility open that I might one day get to play my mother’s cello again…
“I’m sorry the luthier couldn’t repair it,” Mason said when he saw my face. Crossing to me, he cupped my cheeks in his hands. “I know how much it meant to you.”
With a choked half laugh, I felt the first tear spill down my cheek. “It’s like I lost her all over again, Mase. It was all I had left of her.”
“Come here.” He pulled me into him, and I buried my face in his chest, wrapping my arms around him tightly as the first sob broke free.
For the longest time, we just stood there.
He held me, letting me cry it all out while holding me up.
When I finally pulled back to look at him, his shirt was soaked and I felt considerably lighter, as if a part of me was finally starting to heal.
In my heart, I knew I’d never fully recover from losing my mom.
But I felt her all around me, and I was yet again convinced that she had sent Mason and his family to me.
“Thank you,” I murmured.
Wiping at my tears with his thumbs, he frowned. “For what, beautiful girl?”
So much, the list was endless.
“Being you,” I said instead.
Something darkened in his eyes, and not for the first time, I felt the crackle of need between us.
I flattened my hands against his back, not holding on anymore, but finally giving in.
Trusting that Mom knew what she was doing when she sent me this man.
Listening to my heart that it was safe to love him.
He felt the change in my touch, and his body immediately responded, going hard in a way that caused heat to explode in my core. His eyes dropped to my mouth, his exhale a half groan as he slowly lowered his head, giving me plenty of time to stop him.
I didn’t.
“Sutton,” he breathed my name like it was a vow, a promise, maybe even a warning. I accepted them all and pushed up onto my toes, brushing my lips against his.
Oh fuck.
I wasn’t sure what I was expecting. Butterflies and goose bumps, perhaps. Not tiny explosions of sensation erupting throughout my entire body. Not the quiver of heat and want that shook me. Definitely not the whimper that escaped when he grasped the back of my head and deepened the kiss.
I moved my hands from low on his back to his chest then up around his neck. I felt the rumble in his chest before my ears fully registered his growl, a feral sound that had those tiny explosions going off right between my legs.
First kisses weren’t supposed to be like this. They were supposed to be clumsy and awkward. Teeth bumping teeth. No one knowing where to put their hands. Heavy breathing because no one remembered they could breathe through their nose.
Mason didn’t have any of those issues because he was an experienced man, over a decade older than me.
He knew exactly what he was doing, tipping my chin at the perfect angle so he could tease my lips open, playing with the tip of my tongue until I whined, signaling permission for him to invade my mouth.
He kissed me until I was clutching at his shirt, my breathing labored because I wanted more. Of his lips. His hands. More of those explosions that felt so good, they were borderline painful. More, more, more.
One kiss and I was greedy for this man. Which wasn’t surprising. This was Mason. He was meant to be mine. My savior. My protector. My safe harbor.
My anchor.
Please let me be his compass.
Lifting his head, he brushed his thumb roughly over my bottom lip. “So fucking beautiful.”
His voice was full of reverence, with something extra, because he’d accepted what this was long before I had allowed the truth to settle inside me. It wasn’t simply trust. Or mere adoration. It was all of our broken parts sliding into place like puzzle pieces.
I’d never thought about what love would feel like, not the forever kind. All I’d ever known of love was what I felt for Mom, and despite how strong that was, it wasn’t even close to comparing to this.
And that was fucking terrifying in the best possible ways.
Blue-gray eyes locked with mine, his entire face lighting up when he saw that I finally understood.
This wasn’t him being my white knight. We weren’t simply friends.
He was mine and I was his, exactly the way fate had intended.
Whether my mother had handpicked him from heaven or not, Mason was the other half of my soul.
“Hi,” he said tenderly, his gaze taking in every detail of my face as if he were seeing me for the first time.
“Hi,” I breathed back, enthralled with how his lips had plumped ever so slightly from our kiss, the way the light caught his lashes. My blood seemed to hum through my veins with a level of happiness I’d never imagined was possible.
Mason started to lower his head again, only for someone to press and hold the doorbell. Flinching from the continuous, loud noise, I pressed closer to him.
“Apparently someone wants to test how homicidal they can make me today,” he grumbled. Kissing my brow, he reluctantly stepped back. “Who the fuck is it?” he yelled as he walked toward the door.
“DoorDash,” multiple voices called, then laughed when Mason jerked the door open. “Hey, little brother!”
“Vi, I swear,” he groaned. “Am I not a good brother to you? Because this feels like payback for something, and I don’t even know what the fuck I did to deserve it.”
“Dramatic much?” Violet rolled her eyes as she pushed past him, Shaw right behind her with Heavenleigh and Bliss.
They were all carrying bags, some with delicious-smelling food, some from a designer boutique that only allowed people to shop in-store by appointment.
“I picked up enough food for thirty people. Which usually means there probably won’t be enough to go around. You have an insanely big appetite.”
“Please, come in. My home is your home,” he said dryly as he slammed the door and followed them into the living room, where Heavenleigh and Bliss were already unloading takeout boxes full of appetizer-style food.
Shaw held the bags from the boutiques. “I checked your shoe size when we were here last night. And I have a good eye for dress sizes. We grabbed a few selections, though. One for tonight, another for tomorrow.”
“Tomorrow?” I asked, confused but too distracted by the food. I grabbed a mozzarella stick and crunched into it, enjoying the cheese pull.
“For your graduation ceremony, silly,” Vi said, dropping her own bags on the floor out of the way. “You’re going to look fabulous!”
“What the hell is happening tonight?” Mason demanded, his grumpiness steadily increasing by the second. Stopping behind the couch, he crossed his arms over his impressive chest, glaring from his sister to his cousins and Shaw.
“Uh-oh,” Bliss muttered. “Someone has their hangry face on. Here, have a chicken finger.”
“I asked a question,” he said, taking two pieces of chicken from the box and aggressively biting into one.
“We’re taking Sutton out,” Vi said evasively.
“Out where?” He enunciated each word.
“First Bass,” she responded with a shrug.
“We’re all going. Arella is even back for the weekend.
She’s meeting us at the club. Hayat is bringing Charlotte and Ali.
” When Mason just stood there glaring at her, she huffed.
“Come on, Mason. Hayat is about to go on tour. We’re not going to see her for months.
We’re doing a combo celebration for Sutton’s graduation and Autumn’s Slumber headlining. ”
“Am I even invited?” he asked, his tone oddly sullen.
“We’re not saying you can’t go to First Bass tonight,” Shaw answered. “You just can’t hang with us. It’s girls only.”
From the thundercloud that filled his face, that was not what he wanted to hear.
Squeezing the bridge of his nose, he tipped his head back, muttering something under his breath.
I crossed to him, hugging his waist. Most of the tension seemed to bleed from his muscles, and he quickly dropped a kiss on my lips.
“Fine. But only because it’s the quickest way to get you psychos out of my house.
Babe, I have some work to do. I’ll be in my office if you need me. ”
I watched him disappear before turning to look at my new friends. They all wore the same gaped-mouth expressions. Heat crawled up my neck. “What?”
“I’m so glad my brother isn’t an idiot. Not gonna lie, I was scared he would fight it when it was his turn. It’s nice to see one man not fucking shit up when it comes to falling in love.” Violet gave a happy sigh. “He really is a great brother, and he deserves happiness—as do you.”
A week ago, I would have scoffed. Not just at the comments about love and happiness.
It was too deep, too heavy, too fast. All I wanted to do was survive, not find some mythical everlasting love.
A week ago, I hadn’t known Mason existed.
A week ago, I had been scared. Not just of being alone, but of letting anyone close enough to love, only to lose them.
Finding him was my miracle. He’d given me more than I could ever fully appreciate.
Not just a new family, a home, a life that wasn’t full of terrifying unknowns.
He’d given me courage and confidence. Mason gave me a new fearlessness that had opened parts of my heart that would have always remained closed without him.
For the next several hours, the five of us ate, musicals playing as background noise while my friends worked on my hair and makeup, along with their own.
I’d gone from having no friends at all to having more than I could count—and a family.
The only thing that would have made all of it better was if Mom were there too.
It was in my happiest moments that I missed her most, yet it somehow hurt less.