Go Get Him
RILEY
I’m in the garden when I get the first shot I actually like.
It’s a butterfly, of all things. It’s been working the lavender at the edge of the path for ten minutes, and I’ve been crouched on the gravel that whole time with the camera up, waiting for it to open its wings and hold still at the same moment, which it refuses to do.
Rachel’s on the bench behind me with a coffee, watching in amusement.
“It’s mocking you,” she says, chuckling.
That makes me laugh, but I stay as still as I can to not chase the butterfly.
“It’s not mocking me. We’re simply playing a game of hide and seek.”
Her laughter rings louder and longer.
“Whatever makes you sleep at night, sweetie.”
That leaves a smile on my face. A genuine smile.
It’s the first one I’ve had in the past couple of days. Since I saw the results of the pregnancy test. Since I discovered I was carrying the baby of a man who may not have truly been in love with me.
My eyes sting with tears threatening to spill free, but I swallow them.
I haven’t told anyone. Not my mom, not my dad. Maybe if I ignore it long enough, it’ll disappear. It’ll be a bad dream, and everything will be back to normal.
I pause my thoughts when the butterfly finally settles, wings flat and open in the light, and I press the shutter and know before I’ve even looked at the screen that I got it.
I show Rachel the screen.
“Ouuu… That’s really good, Riley.”
“I know, right?” Pride swells in my chest. “So, what do you say? Want to be my next model?” I waggle my eyebrows.
“Oh, with all pleasure, my lady.”
She immediately drops her tea on the nearest table and rises to her feet. I look around, trying to find the perfect spot. I find a nice corner with perfect lighting.
“Over here,” I wave at her.
My attention is stolen when the back door suddenly opens.
It’s Mason, sleeves pushed up, keys still in his hand, coming across the patio, and the butterfly from earlier startles off the lavender and is gone.
“There she is,” he says, beaming.
I don’t wait. I run into his arms, and he wraps his arms around me, lifting me into the air. Giggles fly from my lips, and he laughs.
When he drops me, I don’t pull away. I rest my head on his chest, and his arms tighten around me for a minute longer before we eventually pull apart.
“Oh, forgive my manners…” I drop my camera on the nearest bench and grab Rachel’s arm. “Remember my friend, Rachel?”
“Of course, how could I forget Rachel?” Mason laughs.
They shake hands.
“It’s nice to see you again, Mase. Been a while.”
“Yeah… I guess you can say that.”
The click of my camera startles them, and their eyes find me.
“Perfect shot,” I grin.
Mason shakes his head, amused.
Rachel, on the other hand, goes to grab her purse. “Thank you for having me, Riley.”
She comes to me and kisses my cheek after a brief hug. “I’ll call you tomorrow. Go be with your brother,” she whispers in my ear.
She says her goodbyes to Mason and lets herself out through the side gate, and it’s just the two of us now.
Mason and I.
I don’t wait for him to say anything. I put the camera down on the bench again, and walk into him. I put my face on his chest, and his arms come around me in reflex.
“Hey. I’ve got you.”
A minute passes, and I don’t move.
“Ri, are you okay?”
That question breaks me.
I say it into his shoulder before I lose the nerve. “I love him, Mase.”
He goes still.
“Easton. I love him. I’ve been hiding it all along. Even before the restaurant. It’s why I brought him to see you.”
I pull back to look at him. “And I need to know that you’re okay with that. Understand that he won’t hurt me. I trust him.”
He watches me wordlessly, and I take that as an opportunity to tell him everything. From the moment I first got into his car at the red light.
That Easton is the opposite of Preston in every way that can be measured.
Preston turned my friends into problems until I had none, and Easton encouraged me to reach out to them again.
It’s why I reconnected with Rachel. I tell him about the photography.
The gig I got. The old camera he bought for me.
The times he drove me out of the house just to find a perfect shooting spot.
“He isn’t the kind of man I need protection from. He’s the kind of man who’d protect me. Even if it meant putting himself on the line.”
Mason’s watching me with an unfamiliar expression. His lack of words leaves me frustrated. And I decide to tell him the other thing I’ve been hiding.
“There’s something else.” My hands are shaking, and so is my voice. “I… I-I’m p-pregnant.”
He stumbles backwards, and my heart shatters.
Mason sits down on the low garden wall like his legs quit. Tears spring to my eyes.
“It’s his,” I say before he can ask. “I haven’t told him. I haven’t told anyone. You’re the first.”
He puts his face in his hands.
And it’s wrong, all of it, because I braced for shock. For the scolding. To tell me I’m being silly, and have made a huge mistake, but it doesn’t come. He stares at me, bleak.
“M-Mason?”
“He came to see me a few days ago.”
My heart stops.
He lifts his head. His eyes are red at the edges, a pained expression etched on his face.
“Easton called me, said he had to come by.” Mason’s voice is calm and quiet, barely audible, but I hear every word.
“And he told me all of it. That he fell for you the first afternoon. That he’d been carrying the Maya thing the whole time and never once put it on you.
That he was going to end things with you, because I asked him to, because I’d told him to let you go, and then you flew to Chicago, and he couldn’t do it. ”
I can’t breathe. My chest is tight. I move backwards, till I find a bench and sit on it. Mason is watching me with worry. He looks so apologetic, like it’s all his fault.
“He said he’d decided on the flight home he was going to call me. Tell me the truth and ask for my blessing. And then he got home, and you were gone, and the next morning there was the photo of you and Preston, and he decided he’d been right that he wasn’t good enough for you.”
He came for me.
He went to my brother. He did the hard, honorable thing.
My heart is racing now.
“W-what did you tell him?” I can barely get it out.
Mason looks at me, and I watch the shame move through him.
“I told him to wait.”
“You—”
“I told him you’d just gotten out of a relationship, and you’ll need time to heal and settle into your life. I thought… I thought it was for the best, Riley. I would never intentionally hurt you.”
He drags a hand down his face. “I believed I was protecting you. He agreed with me, Riley. He walked out, agreeing to stay away from you for as long as it took, because he thought it was the right thing to do.”
My heart breaks even more.
Even when he wants something different, he still puts me first. He still chooses what's best for me.
I need to see him.
I’m more convinced now than I’ve ever been that I’m in love with Easton Blake, and I need to see him and tell him to his face.
If I don’t, he’ll keep his distance. He’ll do it forever, if nobody tells him differently. He thinks that’s what love is supposed to look like now.
“Mase…” I rise to my feet. “I don’t want space. I want him. And I’m done letting all of you decide for me. I can make my own decisions.”
The realization sets into him.
“Oh Ri…” He stands and covers the distance between us. He hugs me. “In my need to protect you, I’ve turned into another Preston. I didn’t see it happening. I’m so sorry.”
Tears leak from my eyes, and I smile through them.
God. I’m crying a lot these days. Is it pregnancy hormones already kicking in? Or have I just been really emotional?
“It’s okay, Mase.” I sniff. “You’re a good brother. You always have my back, and I love you.”
He pulls back.
“Go, Riley.” He takes my hand. “Go get him.”
I don’t wait for another word. I’m already running towards the house.
Mason laughs behind me. I know I left my camera on the bench, but I also know he’ll get it for me.
I find my mother inside and tell her I have to go. She takes one look at my face and doesn’t ask anything. She only tells me to drive carefully.
I grab my bag, with the test results in it. I don’t have a plan for that part, or how I’ll tell him.
But right now, all I need him to know is that I love him, and I want him now. Not later.