35. Chapter 35
Cameron
My eyes drifted to the clock on the wall as I tried to focus on making dinner. It’d been three hours since Lucian should have been here to pick up Mason, yet she still sat in the reading nook, all dressed up, with no place to go.
My knife rocked through the celery on the cutting board as I cut it into small chunks. With the vegetarians out of the house, I’d planned to make chicken pot pie for dinner, but it was looking more and more like I’d have at least one of them home.
Mason was currently curled up in the chair, Richard having made a home for himself on her lap. Mason worked her free hand into the orange tabby’s fur while the other scrolled through her phone, probably waiting on messages that weren’t coming.
I sighed as I put my knife down and headed to the freezer.
The puff pastry was stuck in the back, hidden under a bag of peas and a pint of blueberry cheesecake ice cream.
I hesitated for a moment as I held the cardboard container.
The pastry needed to thaw, and I could wait a few minutes to work on dinner.
Right now, I needed to preemptively mend a heart .
Slowly, I walked over, two spoons and the ice cream in hand. Mason had looked away from her phone and now focused out the window while Richard’s purrs echoed through the space.
“Hey,” I said softly, not wanting to spook her. “Baby girl looks hungry.” I pointed to Mason’s bump with my free hand.
Mason’s head turned to me, and I noticed the streaks of makeup running down her cheeks. She took a deep breath as she looked at her belly and then back to me. I thought she was going to ask for a spoon, but Mason’s mind wasn’t in the room with us; instead, it was on him.
“Do you think Lucian’s okay?”
With how sad she was, he’d better be dead , but I wasn’t going to tell her that.
“He probably just got caught up at work,” I explained, forcing a smile. “He’s a tattoo artist. If he’s working, it’s hard for him to get to his phone.”
She nodded slowly, but her gaze remained downturned.
“Here.” I forced a spoon into her hand before kneeling to sit cross-legged beside her. “You’re going to get sick if you don’t eat.”
Mason accepted the spoon, her fingers curling around it almost mechanically as she dipped it into the half-empty pint. She lifted the spoon, but instead of eating the ice cream, she watched as it slowly melted.
“Do you think he stood me up?” she asked as purple swirls dripped back into the container.
“What? No.” I acted offended she’d even think that. I didn’t have the heart to tell her I had a feeling she was right. “That boy has no sense of time. He’s probably on his way right now.”
Mason forced a small, humorless laugh as she put the spoon back in the container.
“You know… you can’t eat ice cream without that.” I chuckled as I took a scoop of ice cream for myself.
Ice cream, other than soft serve, always gave me heartburn. But knowing she was okay would be worth the discomfort. The sweet, tangy cream melted on my tongue as I waited for Mason to take her spoon back.
“I’m not hungry.” she mumbled, picking up her phone .
My heart sank as she retreated into herself, and I placed a hand on the device, hoping my presence would weigh her down. I’d seen infectious joy, but I’d never seen someone look sad enough for their melancholy to transfer to me.
“Sweetpea, you’re breaking my heart,” I warned.
“Well, he’s breaking mine ,” she whimpered, tears collecting in her eyes.
A strange pang of helplessness hit me. My current relationship had been my first ever polyamorous one, which meant I had absolutely no idea what to do when one partner hurt the other like this. All I knew was right now, I wanted to kill Lucian.
“Mason,” I said softly, hoping the words to make everything better would magically follow.
Unfortunately, that wasn’t the way life worked.
The distant sound of tires on gravel stole our attention, and I silently prayed for Lucian, not because I wanted him to go on their date but because I wanted him here to make this better.
But, instead of a neon green Jeep, I noticed a sleek blue SUV.
A barely audible but sad-sounding noise escaped Mason as Sebastian stepped out.
He was dressed head to toe in an expensive-looking navy suit. I expected him to immediately head inside, but instead, he walked to the back of the SUV and opened the door. After a moment, he lifted Jasper out before running to the other side to do the same for Juniper.
So, Lucian had stood Mason up, and he couldn’t even get his own kids? I wanted to call him a piece of shit, but I didn’t want to make the situation worse. So, instead, I placed a hand on her shoulder and went to unlock the door for them.
The second the door opened, Juniper burst in with the same hundred demands she had every day. She wanted a snack, she wanted to watch cartoons, she wanted dinner, and just about anything else a kid could want after school.
Jasper was much calmer, and Sebastian looked exhausted. I assumed this was because of the kids' inability to stop talking in the car and not because he’d just finished his day at work .
Normally, we didn’t do screen time directly after school, but today was already a mess, so I put some show about super-powered kittens on the TV and turned my attention back to Mason. Before I’d even said anything, Sebastian was down on her level, comforting her.
He held her hand as if it were made of glass as he brushed a kiss on Mason’s knuckles.
“Don’t worry about Lucian,” he whispered. “We can go on a date. Where do you want to go?”
Her bottom lip quivered, and I patted Sebastian’s shoulder, causing him to shoot me a glare.
“I don’t think it’s the date part she’s upset about,” I said. “She’s been waiting for Luce to come home for three hours.”
Sebastian’s jaw dropped as his attention shifted back to Mason. “Three hours? Princess, you said Lucian was a little late.”
Mason’s shoulders raised as she wiped at her eyes. “I don’t want to make a big deal out of this.”
“Mason, it is a big—”
I clamped my hand over Sebastian’s mouth to prevent him from saying something stupid.
“I know you said you’re not hungry, but do you want to order dinner?” The chicken pot pie was kinda off the menu if she was going to be home.
“No.” Mason shook her head. “I don’t like today. I want to go to bed.”
I removed my hand from Seb’s mouth as he and I shared a worried glance. I didn’t want Mason skipping dinner, but after everything Lucian had put her through today, she had a right to be done with it.
“Seb, why don’t you take her up to your apartment?” I suggested.
Lucian was in a hell of a lot of trouble when he got home, and I didn’t want her to wake up because of me hollering at him.
Mason nodded as Sebastian stood, offering her a hand as he did. She hesitated a moment before taking it, allowing him to help her to her feet .
For the first time in their relationship, I noticed how good Mason and Seb looked together. With both of them dressed up like that, they looked like some sort of power couple ripped directly from a movie screen.
His smile was so wide that his cheeks creased as he straightened her dress out.
“Are you sure you just want to go to bed? You’re far too beautiful to keep to myself.” His words oozed with a sort of charisma that almost had me swooning.
But instead of falling for his charms, Mason nodded, and the two headed up the stairs.
Dinner passed, and Lucian wasn’t home. Bedtime with the twins passed, and Lucian still wasn’t home.
Soph and I sat on the couch, watching some reality dating show where all the contestants had a felony. Normally, I didn’t mind watching her shows, but right now, I couldn’t focus on the drama on TV. All I could think about was Lucian and how his absence had hurt Mason.
“I’m gonna kill him,” I warned.
Sophia shot me a fleeting but skeptical glance. “No, you’re not.”
The house shifted before Sebastian bounded down the steps. He’d changed out of his suit and into a pair of pajama pants. With how he looked, I couldn’t imagine Mason protested too much.
“Still no Lucian?” he asked, his words dripping with disbelief.
This had to be bad if Lucian’s brother couldn’t believe this bullshit.
“No Lucian,” Sophia confirmed.
Sebastian took a deep breath before letting it out with a grumble. “I’m going to kill him.”
Sophia’s eyes widened as she choked on her wine. She quickly placed the glass on the table, and I patted her on the back. After a moment of hacking, she regained her composure.
“Let’s not do anything crazy,” she said through a nervous laugh.
Those words seemed to carry a lot more weight when Seb said them .
Sophia had said that she knew Seb’s job was sketchy, but her reaction made me wonder if she knew exactly what he did.
The dangerous glint in Sebastian’s eyes told me his comment wasn’t an empty threat.
“What’s crazy is not holding someone accountable for their actions,” he continued as he walked toward us before pointing at the TV. “What are we watching?”
“Partners in Crime. It’s a dating show where all the contestants have a felony. Do you want to watch it with us?”
Sebastian’s lips twitched into a grimace, but after a beat, his expression softened, and he meandered toward us. Eventually, he settled in between Sophia and me on the middle cushion. It may have been my imagination, but I swore he sat a little closer to me than he did her.
I tried to ignore him and focus on the TV instead, but I couldn’t. It was like the chill of his soul slowly seeped into mine, making my hair stand on end forcing me to acknowledge his existence.
He pushed his glasses up with two fingers as he leaned into the blue velvet of the sofa. Should I ask him about Mason? No. If there’d been anything to update me on, he would’ve.
She was probably sleeping, and he didn’t want to risk waking her. But I had so many unanswered questions nagging in the back of my head. Did she eat dinner? Did she calm down at all? Was her heart still broken?
Please, for the love of God, do not let her heart actually be broken.
My breathing became manual as I stole a glance at Sebastian. His posture was relaxed, but tension had etched itself into his features. I couldn’t tell if he actually wanted to be down here, but if he didn’t, why bother?
His icy gaze slowly slipped to me as if he could tell I’d been watching him. Neither of us looked away when our eyes met. Instead, his eyes rolled as his lip curled like he couldn’t believe I had the gall to look at him.
I ended up the loser of our staring contest, my attention shifting back to the TV just in time to see some brawny guy remove his shirt.
“Oooh, I bet they’re gonna do it!” Sophia said excitedly .
Before the show had a chance to turn x-rated, it cut to a commercial. A crusty-looking white dog bounded across the screen, tongue out and eyes in different directions.
The soft jingle of keys broke the stillness of the night before the door creaked open. My head snapped back just in time to see Lucian walk in with a fast-food bag in hand.
His hair was pulled back in a messy bun with stray curls sticking out in almost every direction. Between that and the creases running across his black button-down, he looked like shit.
“Look who’s finally home,” I grumbled.
Lucian’s hickory gaze pinned on mine with a look of complete and utter contempt.
“I didn’t ask for your input,” Lucian growled.
“You didn’t need to,” Sebastian retorted. “Where were you?”
Lucian’s jaw squared as he looked between all of us. “Busy… Where’s Mason?”
“Asleep.” And thank God, because I didn’t want her to have the chance to forgive him.
“Asleep where? I brought her dinner.” Lucian held up the bag with a subtle shake in his hand.
“If you wake her up, I’m breaking your neck.” Sebastian’s tone was so cool that I almost didn’t process his threat.
Lucian’s gaze narrowed, and Sebastian stood. He slowly stalked to his brother, but before he could reach his target, Sophia leaped out of her seat, standing between the two of them. She placed a palm on either of their chests.
“Hey, so, can we maybe not kill each other?” she suggested.
Sebastian’s expression softened as he looked at Sophia, but his posture remained rigid. It was like he was one wrong word away from snatching Lucian up by the collar. And honestly? Good for Seb.
“I just want to know where Lucian was,” Sebastian explained.
“I was busy, alright?” Lucian snapped, taking a step back from Sophia. “Now, where is Mason? I need to tell her I’m sorry. ”
“Sorry is for when you mean it!” Sebastian growled.
“Ahht, nope. No, thank you, this is not a night-time conversation,” Sophia continued, slightly panicked. “The kids are asleep, Mason is asleep. We aren’t doing this right now.”
“I need to see Mason,” Lucian reiterated, his tone clipped.
Sophia raised her brows as she stared Lucian down.
“You need to stop,” she warned.
The authority in her voice seemed to make Lucian pause, and for the first time, he didn’t argue. Instead, he huffed before his shoulders slumped.
“I just want to make this right,” Lucian explained.
“Well, you can’t ,” Sebastian’s addition was halted by a stern look from Sophia.
“He can’t fix this tonight .” She took a deep breath before turning back to Lucian. “Go to bed. I need to think about your punishment.”
“Punishment? For what?” Lucian gasped.
“For breaking our girlfriend’s heart, Lucian .” Sophia said his name like an insult. “You can’t just waltz in after standing her up, say sorry, and expect everything to be fine.”
The way Lucian crossed his arms suggested that he could.
Sophia snapped her fingers and pointed toward his room. “Bed. Now.”
Lucian’s hands dropped to his hips, and for a moment, I thought he’d argue with her. But he seemed to think better of the idea as he dropped the paper bag on the table and stomped off to the back of the house.