4. Mason
4
MASON
F ollowing Lana through the streets of Blackstone Falls has my heart halfway to beating out of my chest. “I Hold On” by Dierks Bentley plays on the radio. It’s one of my favorites, and I take it as a sign that there’s a real kind of magic in the air.
MASON: I won’t be home tonight
BODHI: Wear protection
MASON: (eyeroll emoji)
BODHI: What’s her name?
MASON: Lana
MASON: She’s the one
BODHI: What one?
MASON: THE one
BODHI: You just met her today
MASON: Mark my words brother—I’m gonna marry this woman
BODHI: Consider them marked and wear protection
MASON: Be easy brother
BODHI: Easy and free
The words ping around my head the way they always do. We don’t use them often, and sometimes I think he’s outgrown the back-and-forth, but to me, they’re sacred. They started as something just for us—a bond between brothers. But it had been a comfort more nights than I can count.
Lana’s car signals ahead, and it pulls me back to the present as she parks in the driveway of a small ranch house. The landscape is tidy, and two rocking chairs sit on the porch.
Pulling in next to her, I turn off my truck and take a breath. An addictive kind of energy hums through my veins, that feeling that I’m exactly where I’m meant to be. I push open the door, and she watches me as I unfold myself from the driver’s seat and make my way over to where she stands with her arms crossed over her chest.
“You cold?”
She smiles. “A little. This jacket is more for fashion than function.”
Threading my fingers in her hair, I cup her face, tilting her back as I slant my mouth over hers. Her hands slide over my stomach and around to my back under my jacket, bringing her body flush against mine.
“I should have asked how you feel about dogs before we came here,” she murmurs, nipping at my bottom lip.
“Dogs are fine; my brother and I have two rescues.”
“I have three. Ranger is Beck’s. He’s a Fawn Great Dane. We got him as a puppy from the shelter after his ears had been clipped. Bear is a Dutch Shepherd and he’s two—very protective of me and the kids. I worked with a trainer after we moved here, just to be safe, you know?”
“I love that you did that,” I tell her as I knead the back of her neck as she continues.
“And Noodle is a Scottish Terrier that we got at the adoptathon event around Christmas over at Vetted Paws. He was Holland’s present.”
“I was there.”
“You were?” she asks, surprised.
“Yeah, Sorren and Tanner are all tangled up with the Thayers. Bodhi and I work for Case and Otto. They’re twins but the whole family are good people.”
“I think I heard something about that maybe.” She shrugs a shoulder. “It’s hard to keep track.”
“You get used to it.”
“I don’t know about that. You’ve caught me on a good day. Usually a full day of work and shuffling the kids around has me dying to take my bra off and decompress.”
“That’s definitely something I can get behind.” I grin—it’s wolfish but I can’t help it. I’m trying to take it slow, be a gentleman, but Lana has every single cell in my body primed and ready for more.
“Mason?”
“Yeah?”
“It’s been a really long time since I’ve done this, and after I had my daughter, my ex was never able to make me orgasm during sex. And I don’t know if I can’t anymore or if he was just too lazy to try.” Her breath catches on the last word, the vulnerability so stunning as she searches my face.
“We’ll go slow, figure out what you like,”—I take her mouth in a lazy kiss, teasing and tasting, giving her a preview of what’s to come—“and I promise I have no problem putting in the work, Dream Girl.”
“I think I feel more like Mrs. Robinson,” she snarks and I laugh.
“You’re hotter.”
“Let’s go before I figure out how old you were when I went to prom.”
I snicker as she takes my hand and leads me to the door where we’re greeted by three very different barks.
“Maybe I should put Bear in his kennel. Ranger and Noodle will be fine but…”
“Whatever you’re comfortable with is fine with me.”
Blowing out a breath, she eases the door open, giving the dogs commands to sit and shuffling us inside. Noodle’s whole body vibrates on the floor, his trimmed black fur giving him the best eyebrows and goatee I’ve ever experienced on a dog.
Ranger barks again, his tongue lolling out the side of his mouth as Lana pets him and then motions for me to do the same. We repeat the ritual with Noodle before both dogs take off with a treat.
“Who’s a good boy?” she says to Bear as she strokes his fur. His attention is on her, but I can tell he knows exactly where I am too. Approaching slowly, I let him sniff my hand, keeping myself relaxed and open. I really don’t want to add a dog bite to my collection of scars, but if I do, it will just be because he’s protecting his girl.
And that’s something I can’t dispute.
Seems like it’s still my lucky day.
Lana watches in fascination as the dog leans into my touch, letting me scratch behind his ear as she takes off her jacket and sets it over the kitchen chair.
She runs through a series of commands with Bear before giving him a treat, which he takes into the living room where the other two are curled up on their respective beds.
“Now that they’re taken care of,” I murmur as I take her hand, “it’s time to take care of you.”