Page 22 of Mason
Mason started to lower his head again, only for someone to press and hold the doorbell.Flinching from the continuous, loud noise, I pressed closer to him.
“Apparently someone wants to test how homicidal they can make me today,” he grumbled.Kissing my brow, he reluctantly stepped back.“Who the fuck is it?”he yelled as he walked toward the door.
“DoorDash,” multiple voices called, then laughed when Mason jerked the door open.“Hey, little brother!”
“Vi, I swear,” he groaned.“Am I not a good brother to you?Because this feels like payback for something, and I don’t even know what the fuck I did to deserve it.”
“Dramatic much?”Violet rolled her eyes as she pushed past him, Shaw right behind her with Heavenleigh and Bliss.They were all carrying bags, some with delicious-smelling food, some from a designer boutique that only allowed people to shop in-store by appointment.“I picked up enough food for thirty people.Which usually means there probably won’t be enough to go around.You have an insanely big appetite.”
“Please, come in.My home is your home,” he said dryly as he slammed the door and followed them into the living room, where Heavenleigh and Bliss were already unloading takeout boxes full of appetizer-style food.
Shaw held the bags from the boutiques.“I checked your shoe size when we were here last night.And I have a good eye for dress sizes.We grabbed a few selections, though.One for tonight, another for tomorrow.”
“Tomorrow?”I asked, confused but too distracted by the food.I grabbed a mozzarella stick and crunched into it, enjoying the cheese pull.
“For your graduation ceremony, silly,” Vi said, dropping her own bags on the floor out of the way.“You’re going to look fabulous!”
“What the hell is happening tonight?”Mason demanded, his grumpiness steadily increasing by the second.Stopping behind the couch, he crossed his arms over his impressive chest, glaring from his sister to his cousins and Shaw.
“Uh-oh,” Bliss muttered.“Someone has their hangry face on.Here, have a chicken finger.”
“I asked a question,” he said, taking two pieces of chicken from the box and aggressively biting into one.
“We’re taking Sutton out,” Vi said evasively.
“Out where?”He enunciated each word.
“First Bass,” she responded with a shrug.“We’re all going.Arella is even back for the weekend.She’s meeting us at the club.Hayat is bringing Charlotte and Ali.”When Mason just stood there glaring at her, she huffed.“Come on, Mason.Hayat is about to go on tour.We’re not going to see her for months.We’re doing a combo celebration for Sutton’s graduation and Autumn’s Slumber headlining.”
“Am I even invited?”he asked, his tone oddly sullen.
“We’re not saying you can’t go to First Bass tonight,” Shaw answered.“You just can’t hang with us.It’s girls only.”
From the thundercloud that filled his face, that was not what he wanted to hear.Squeezing the bridge of his nose, he tipped his head back, muttering something under his breath.I crossed to him, hugging his waist.Most of the tension seemed to bleed from his muscles, and he quickly dropped a kiss on my lips.“Fine.But only because it’s the quickest way to get you psychos out of my house.Babe, I have some work to do.I’ll be in my office if you need me.”
I watched him disappear before turning to look at my new friends.They all wore the same gaped-mouth expressions.Heat crawled up my neck.“What?”
“I’m so glad my brother isn’t an idiot.Not gonna lie, I was scared he would fight it when it was his turn.It’s nice to see one man not fucking shit up when it comes to falling in love.”Violet gave a happy sigh.“He really is a great brother, and he deserves happiness—as do you.”
A week ago, I would have scoffed.Not just at the comments about love and happiness.It was too deep, too heavy, too fast.All I wanted to do was survive, not find some mythical everlasting love.A week ago, I hadn’t known Mason existed.A week ago, I had been scared.Not just of being alone, but of letting anyone close enough to love, only to lose them.
Finding him was my miracle.He’d given me more than I could ever fully appreciate.Not just a new family, a home, a life that wasn’t full of terrifying unknowns.He’d given me courage and confidence.Mason gave me a new fearlessness that had opened parts of my heart that would have always remained closed without him.
For the next several hours, the five of us ate, musicals playing as background noise while my friends worked on my hair and makeup, along with their own.I’d gone from having no friends at all to having more than I could count—and a family.The only thing that would have made all of it better was if Mom were there too.It was in my happiest moments that I missed her most, yet it somehow hurt less.
Mason
Cannon nudgedmy shoulder with his.“Is that the same beer you ordered when you got here?”
I grunted a response without looking at him.
“So, yes.Dude, you’ve been here for two hours,” he laughed, taking another drink of his own beer.
“I’m driving tonight,” I excused, keeping my gaze on the group of girls on the dance floor.My sister and our cousins were taking exceptional care of Sutton, which I’d expected.If she was going to be out with friends, I was glad it was with them.It didn’t stop me from hating every minute that she was away from me, though.
Sutton looked hot as fuck in the dress Shaw had picked out for her.It clung to her body, emphasizing every spectacular asset my girl had, without being overly loud.Those damn heels she had on made her legs look like they went on for miles.Not that I could see them from where I was sitting.I could barely catch a glimpse of her face or the back of her head since the others had her dead center in their group.They were like a herd of lionesses, keeping the more innocent ones on the inside, providing a protective circle that no one was brave enough to breach.
It helped that Violet’s and Arella’s bodyguards were on the periphery of the group, keeping a foot of distance between the group and the rest of the VIP clubbers.
