29. Lana
29
LANA
W e passed out and woke in the same position, bodies pressed together and limbs tangled. We’d made love, the slow and lazy kind they write songs about on rainy days. It was the kind of thing that had tears streaking down my face from the sheer emotion of it. Mason hadn’t said anything, but I know he felt it too.
The reverence he’d had simply brushing the wetness from my face had almost opened the floodgates, but thankfully I’d managed to keep myself in check.
We’d had sex plenty of times, messed around with hands and mouths in various stages of undress. He’d even fucked me until I forgot my own name, his body relentless as he owned me from the inside out.
But we’d never made love before this.
I’d never felt more connected to a person in my entire life, like our souls were twining together in a way that could never come undone.
And I didn’t want them to.
Because Mason Amato had been made for me.
I can’t stop the smile that stretches over my face because last night I didn’t know if I’d ever have this again, but as the morning sun pours in through the curtains, it feels like we were always meant to wind up here.
Together.
“You’re not supposed to be awake yet,” Mason murmurs into the crook of my neck, his breath on my skin sending a shiver racing down my spine. I wiggle back against him, his body hard and shamelessly pressed against me.
“I didn’t know I could be this happy,” I admit and then giggle when he leans up on his elbow and rolls me onto my back.
“Tell me.”
“I love you.” I say the words without hesitation and smile as he gapes at me, his mouth opening and closing without a sound.
“Lana, I…”
“I know what you meant,” I say, brushing the hair from his eyes. I love how disheveled he looks—sleepy and sexy and mine. “But I do.”
“I don’t want you to say it just because of yesterday. I want you to mean it because you want it…want me.”
“I love you, Mase. I thought it was too soon, and maybe it is but I don’t care. Yesterday was the biggest reality check of my life, but I have no doubts, baby. I’m all in.”
He curses under his breath, his eyelids fluttering shut for a beat before opening again. “I’ve never said it. Not to a woman. Not romantically.”
“Then make sure you mean it when you’re ready,” I say quietly, placing my palm over his beating heart and holding it there.
“I do, it’s just too raw still. Yesterday—” His voice cracks and I hook my leg over his and pull him on top of me, wrapping my arms around him and holding him tight.
“Don’t rush. I’m not going anywhere.”
“Are you sure?” he murmurs into my chest, and I laugh, raking my nails along his scalp, delighting in the way he leans into my touch.
“I am; are you? You have a whole lot of crazy to look forward to here.” I wave my hand toward myself and then around the room, trying to illustrate my point.
“I want it.” Sucking my nipple into his mouth, he teases me with his tongue before letting it go with an audible pop. “I want you.” His mouth moves to the other side. “The kids.” This time when he releases the sensitive peak, he moves up my body, his mouth hovering over mine. “I want it all.”
“Well then, buckle up, Mr. Amato, because it’s yours.”
MASON
Apparently I want it all translated to meeting Lana’s parents. They’d kept Holland and Beck overnight, and instead of Lana going to get them, she’d asked her parents if they’d come for dinner.
To meet me.
Because we were all in.
It’s what I wanted, why I’d been so mad when she pushed me away, but it didn’t make this next step any less terrifying.
“You look great.” Lana’s voice is a purr as she wraps her arms around me, pressing her chest into my back. “Stop worrying.”
“I’ve never met anyone’s parents, Dream Girl.”
“Think of it like ripping off a Band-Aid.”
“That’s the opposite of comforting.”
She chuckles as she squeezes me tighter before sliding her way around till we’re chest to chest.
“They’re excited because they know you make me happy. The kids talk about you. I talk about you. Seriously, it’s going to be fine.” She places a kiss on my chest.
“And they know how old I am?”
She rolls her eyes like this wasn’t a sticking point she had yesterday. “Uh-huh, and they already got all the oh my God Lana do you know he’s eleven years younger than yous out of their system.”
I chuckle at her theatrics but I’m thankful for them too, because while I don’t need everyone to like me, I really want her parents to.
And luckily, I don’t have to wait long before John and Nancy Dalton come bustling through the door with Beck and Holland in tow.
Holland hugs her mom and then makes a beeline for me. “Missed you, kiddo.”
“I just saw you.” She giggles, and my heart aches in my chest because there was a moment there where I didn’t think I’d have this again.
“Dad, this is Mason,” Lana says, my head snapping up to meet her gaze. “Mase, this is my dad, John, and my mom, Nancy.”
Her father and I are roughly matched for size, his frame a little slimmer but fit for his age. He’s graying at the temples, his brown hair a shade lighter than Lana’s. Her mother is petite, her blonde hair pulled back in a low ponytail, and aside from their hair color, they look so much alike.
Keeping my arm wrapped around Holland, I hold out my hand to Lana’s father and smile. “It’s nice to meet you.”
His shake is firm but not overpowering, and I let myself relax the slightest bit knowing this isn’t a pissing match over Lana. Nancy’s smile is blinding as she offers her hand and says, “We’ve heard so much about you.”
“Likewise,” I say as Lana tells the kids to go and wash up for dinner.
They scramble out of the room, the promise of pizza the perfect motivation to get them moving.
“Lana, where’s that blanket you wanted me to look at?” Nancy says, “the one with the hole in it? I keep forgetting to grab it from you.”
“It’s upstairs.” Lana hitches a thumb over her shoulder and winks at me as her mom follows her out of sight.
Not subtle.
Swallowing hard, I turn back to John who is studying me with an amused expression.
“They’re shit at poker,” he says and my lips twitch.
“I can see that.”
“And I like seeing my daughter happy.”
“Me too,” I say honestly.
He nods. “I won’t lie and say I didn’t have concerns about the different stages of life y’all are in, but I’ve been in this house not ten minutes and it’s pretty damn clear that you’ll be marrying my daughter someday.”
I open my mouth and close it. “As long as she says yes.”
“I have a feeling you’re in luck.” His smile morphs into something more serious, his gaze focused on something on the wall behind me. “You’ve given them a piece of the happiness I feared they’d lost in the divorce and the move and hell, even before all that.” He swallows hard, his eyes locking on mine. “I can’t put into words how grateful Nancy and I are to have them back.”
Emotions clog my throat, his words unexpected but settling so much of the pain that still lingered from yesterday.
The validation that I wasn’t imagining that I fit here.
“Thank you for saying that, because loving them is the easiest thing I’ve ever done.”
He grins. “Glad to hear it.” Beck and Holland slide on socked feet back into the room, making us chuckle as they grab plates and napkins before diving into the pizza box. “Mason?”
“Yes?”
“I’m gonna say yes,” John says, and then pauses, his mouth tipping up on one side, “but I’d still appreciate the ask.”
Rolling my lips in, I nod, before letting the smile take over my face. “Yes, sir.”