34. Chapter 34
Cameron
Hot water ran down my back as I rested my head against the white tiled wall of the shower.
Today had been a long fucking day, and it was only about halfway over.
Something about worrying always made the day feel longer, and seeing as Mason had yet to speak a word since Lucian’s outburst this morning, worrying had been all I got done.
I sighed, letting the water pummel the tension in my shoulders.
Maybe Seb was right, and I overreacted. It doesn’t matter how much you love someone.
When you spend enough time together you’re bound to argue, and Mason and Lucian had pretty much been bound by the hip.
Plus, it wasn’t like he didn’t try to make it better.
He’d made her breakfast before he left for work.
But Mason had also been avoiding me since Lucian left.
Soph said that Mason had been hiding in her office.
Sitting in while she did meetings and that was normal for Mason.
But it didn’t feel normal. Soph added that Mason needed time to not talk and be near someone safe and quiet after she had a meltdown, but I didn’t think she’d done that. Hell, all she did was cry.
Sure, it lasted forty-five minutes straight, and it didn’t seem like she could control it, but she was also sad. When I looked up meltdowns online, I saw people screaming, hitting themselves and others, and completely losing control. Mason wasn’t like that.
When I asked Sophia, she tried to explain the level system and how autism is different in everyone, but I just couldn’t understand her, and it didn’t matter how hard I tried.
The creaking of the door disrupted my thoughts, but when a voice didn’t follow the interruption, I assumed one of Sophia’s damn cats had snuck in here.
The furry little monsters didn’t understand personal space, and I knew I was just a few minutes away from having Pepper or Richard hop up on the edge of the tub and watch me shower.
I knew they were just animals, but I didn’t like those creepy little things watching me. With that in mind, I wrapped up my shower before reaching out of the curtain to grab a towel. I scrubbed my face with the plush cotton before wrapping the towel around my waist and pulling the curtain open.
In front of the mirror stood a vision in dark green silk. The dress clung to her curves like it was made for her, and my breath caught in my throat.
“Mae?” I called, stepping onto the bathmat. “What’re you doing in here?”
She glanced over her shoulder, allowing her lips to part just enough for me to see the gap in her teeth. I couldn’t exactly explain why, but her presence left me a little weak in the knees.
“I’m getting ready for my date with Lucian.” Her voice was soft, and her accent seemed a little thicker than normal.
“Sweetpea, that ain’t…” My lips rolled into a thin line as my gaze went to some less-than-gentlemanly places.
The way her ass looked in that dress had to be illegal .
It was round and firm and pulled the fabric so tightly that it creased.
Heat rushed my chest as I forced my gaze back to her face.
Being a gentleman had never been this hard for me, but fuck she was making me want to rip that dress off with my teeth.
“Why in here ?” My voice came out rougher than I intended.
“Because this is where my make-up is.” She extended a finger in the direction of the black quilted bag on the bathroom counter. “Did you want me to go away? ”
“What?” I breathed, stepping a little closer. “No, I just thought all this steam would make it hard for you to get ready.”
She glanced up at the steam still swirling along the ceiling before shrugging and focusing on the clouded mirror. “I like the warmth.”
I swallowed hard as I wrapped an arm around her, letting my palm linger on her bump as I leaned over her to wipe the mirror off a little.
“There’s my pretty girl,” I murmured as my hand swept low enough to reveal Mason’s reflection.
She didn’t say anything, but her face said it all.
A look of pride colored her cheeks as a smug grin pulled at her lips.
Seeing Mason starting to get her confidence back was magical.
It was like getting to watch a flower bloom; each time she opened up, it revealed another layer to her, and each layer was more beautiful.
I couldn’t wait to see what she was like underneath it all.
But something about her kept nagging at me, and while I knew I wasn’t supposed to know she was autistic, I couldn’t just ignore it.
“Hey, you mind if I bug you a bit while you get ready?”
“Not at all…. But move your hands a little,” she coached.
Instantly, I removed my touch, but I quickly learned that wasn’t what she meant. Mason put down wherever she had in her hand to guide mine to just below her bump.
“There, it’s a little more comfortable,” she explained, her body melting into mine as she resumed working on her face. “What did you want to talk about?”
“Are you autistic?” The question came out quickly because I knew if I thought about it for too long, I’d chicken out.
Every inch of Mason froze for a beat before her gaze slid to mine in the mirror. “I–What?”
“Sophia said you are, and so did Seb…. but they also both told me not to talk to you about it. I just–are you?”
Mason’s lips parted at my question. The room fell silent save for the distant sound of chaos from somewhere in the house.
Her eyes searched mine, and for a moment, I thought she’d tell me to leave.
But, after what felt like forever, she relaxed a little before applying something from a silver tube directly onto her face.
“I am,” she said, rubbing the clear goo into her skin. “But it’s not like it is on TV and movies.”
“Then, what’s it like?”
Her eyes widened as she reached for another tube. This one was closer to her skin color.
“For me, it’s mostly being shitty in social situations,” she explained, dabbing the liquid onto her face before grabbing an egg-shaped sponge. “I have a hard time understanding what I'm supposed to do with other people, and I can’t deal with big feelings, especially my own.”
“Is that why Lucian got to you so bad this morning?”
Mason nodded as she bounced the sponge on her skin, smearing the makeup into her flesh.
“It was worse with Lucian because I didn’t expect it from him … That’s not how he acts with me.” Sadness tinged her words, and my anger with Lucian reignited.
“If he ever spooks you like that again, I’m hittin’ him.” My grip on her waist tightened, and I pulled her a little closer.
She laughed as she reached for yet another product. Just how much make-up did she need?
“Have I ever done anything like that to you?”
A tongue darted across her lips, and I mentally prepared myself to apologize for whatever I did.
“Not you specifically, but Seb has by telling me about you .” The way she said that had all the gears in my head turning, and not in a good way.
He had been willing to lie to Mason to make himself look better, and while I was starting to get invested in Sebastian, I didn’t necessarily trust him.
“What’d he tell you?” My words came out softer than I intended, almost like they wanted nothing more than to die on my tongue.
Mason put her makeup on the counter before spinning to look at me. Her belly pressed into my thighs, and part of me was glad to have the distance. Her yin-yang eyes bounced around my face like she wasn’t sure which part of me to focus on.
Her chest swelled with a breath, and I stood a little straighter.
“I–” Mason cleared her throat and squared her shoulders. “I know you’re Calvin Waters.”
My face scrunched as I tried to figure out why she’d tell me that.
“What?” she asked.
“Nothing, I just–is that how you found out?” I guessed it’d make sense. I just thought Mason was smart enough to put two and two together.
“What?” Now, it was her turn to be confused. “No! Well, kind of. But I figured it out on my own, thank you.”
“Oh?” I arched my brow. “Then how’d you figure it out?”
“I knew you were hiding something.” Mason shrugged before very subtly breaking eye contact. “It was weird that Seb wouldn’t show me what Calvin looked like, plus tractor restoration is a weird hobby.”
It wasn’t weird to me. I liked working with my hands, and old tractors were cheap and readily available…. But I also realized that I hadn’t met anyone else with that hobby.
“Guess you're right.” I chuckled a little, rubbing a hand across my jaw. “So… what'd Seb tell you about Calvin that had you on edge?”
It couldn’t have been anything too crazy if she moved past it so quickly.
“Seb said that Calvin Waters was from a cult that sacrificed pregnant women and that he'd hurt me .” Mason’s voice shook a little, but she didn't back away.
And, while I wanted to tell her Seb was full of shit, he'd been more honest than I expected. Still, it was more than I ever wanted Mason to know.
“And how do you feel about that?” I started slowly.
If it didn’t bug her, I was willing to drop the topic. Mason worried a lip through her teeth, shifting her weight between her feet, seemingly shrinking under the weight of my question.
“I don’t think you’d hurt me,” she admitted on a breath.
That was a good way to avoid the question. Slowly, I reached up, and she rested her chin in my palm, allowing me to run a thumb across her cheek. Whatever she just applied came off, revealing more of her freckles.
“I wouldn’t… and I wouldn’t let anyone else hurt ‘cha either,” I promised.
“Is the cult true?”
My chest swelled with a breath I found myself unable to release. “Yeah… It is.”
Her eyes widened as fear slowly crept in. That was the one way I hoped Mason never looked at me, but I couldn’t blame her. So, instead of letting her mind wander to the worst places, some of which might be right, I realized I needed to tell her everything I could.
“The leader of the cult killed my family in a house fire.” Saying it out loud reignited the ache from years ago. Still, I pressed on. “He had a plan for me, and I played along for more years than I’d like to admit–”
“Like me with my dad?”
Her interjection caused me to pause. James Albright had abused his daughter in novel ways in attempts to make her more palatable; Dale beat me within an inch of my life to make me follow orders. So, while it wasn’t exact, her comparison wasn’t terrible.
“Sorta, yeah,” I admitted. “But that ain’t the main idea here, Sweetpea.”
“Then what is?”
Mason’s head tipped to the side, causing the silky strands of her bob to caress her exposed shoulder. I was torn between sweeping her hair back and very subtly slipping the strap of her dress off her shoulder, but I held back.
“I never actually hurt anyone.” The words escaped before I could think better of them.
Sure, I never had a part in killing the women, but Dale would have me sleep with them, and the ones who got pregnant were the ones who died.
Outside of the first girl, I didn’t really know any of the women I slept with.
Dale didn’t want me talking to them, just in case they were impure. He didn’t want them to corrupt me .
“I don’t think you could hurt someone.” Mason’s smile was made of pure sugar as she placed her hands on my shoulders. “You’re a very nice man.”
The left corner of my lips inched up into a smile so crooked that it could’ve charmed a snake.
“I think you’re the first person to love me for me in over two decades,” I said before realizing I could push my luck a little. “You do love me… right?”
Mason always showed her love, but she didn’t often say it .
Her eyes locked on mine, resulting in a moment that felt so fragile that a sneeze could’ve shattered it. A flush inched across her face as she nodded.
The wings of a butterfly tickled my ribs as I inched closer.
“Can ya say it?” I whispered, suddenly craving those words like most would drugs.
Mason hesitated, her throat bobbing as she swallowed.
“I love you, Calvin .” Her words were soft as a feather, but they hit me with the impact of a freight train.
Those three words mixed with the name I’d been born with was like an atom bomb directly to the chest. My breath caught as emotions ripped through me.
Sadness for the life I’d lost, gratitude that I’d found someone like Mason to share my life with in the most intimate of ways, and finally, uncontrollable love for the woman in front of me.
It was the type of love wars were fought over, and stories were written for. My heart was full to bursting, and somehow, I was expected to just act normal. All she’d done was tell me she loved me, but it felt like she’d formally freed me from a curse that I thought would eventually kill me.
I bent down, pulling her lips to mine. I meant to be gentle, honest to God. I did. But what started soft and sweet ended with me tangling my hands in her hair while she pulled my lip through her teeth.
This was escalating and escalating quickly, and while I wanted nothing more than to pin her against the wall and toss her around like a doll, she had somewhere to be .
When I finally did the responsible thing and pulled away, her hair stuck up in every direction, and her chest heaved. Mischief lit her beautifully mismatched eyes as they pinned on me.
“We’ll have some fun after your date,” I promised.
Mason tipped her head back and groaned, causing me to laugh.
“It’ll only be a couple of hours, right?” I said reminding her just as much as I did myself. “When he’s supposed to be here anyway?”
She held up a finger as she grabbed her phone. “Forty-five minutes.”
I sighed as I ran a hand through my damp hair.
Forty-five minutes on top of however long their date would last felt like forever.
But I was fine waiting just as long as I got to see her happy.
Luckily for me, Lucian loved her, and while this morning was a really bad example of that, deep down, I knew he’d never intentionally hurt her. At least, I didn’t think he would.