Page 132 of Finding Us
“I believe you.”
“I’ve actually been thinking of reaching out to a therapist. I have a lot of fucked-up shit from my childhood to unpack.”
“My mum and I had some extensive therapy when we first moved to Melbourne … it helped. It made me see that I wasn’t broken, just damaged. Our fathers may have not loved us the way a parent should, but we were lucky to have mothers that did.”
“We were,” he says, pulling my body against his and wrapping me tight. When he rests his chin on the top of my head and exhales a long breath, I know he’s thinking about his mother.
I lay my cheek against his chest and listen to his rapidly beating heart. I hate that he’s going through this, and I doubt he’ll ever be able to accept what happened to her, but I hope in time it will get easier.
We stay like this for the longest time. It’s nice to be in his arms again. His phone pings in his pocket, and when he lets me go, I instantly miss his warmth, so I wrap his jacket around my body.
“Connor,” he says, looking down at the screen.
Connor: Did you find her?
Mason: Yes.
Connor: And?
Mason: She’s with me now.
Connor: Good.
Mason: How’s Blake?
Connor: He’s asleep in front of the TV.
Mason: Can he spend the night there? I’ll come get him first thing in the morning.
Connor: Why? Where are you going?
Mason: I’m taking your sister back to my place.
Connor: Why?
Mason: To punish her. I can see a good spanking in her future.
“Oh, my God,” I screech as I read over the thread. “Why would you tell him that?”
He chuckles. “Because it’s fun.”
Connor: Dude! What the fuck?
Mason: You asked. Did you want me to lie to you?
Connor: YES!!!!
Mason throws back his head and laughs.
“You’re so mean,” I say.
“Your brother is too easy.” He slides his phone into his back pocket and reaches for my hand. “Let’s get you home before you get arrested for public indecency.”
“I’m not naked … I have clothes on.”
“Hmm,” is his only reply.
After Mason strapped his helmet onto my head, he pulled me in for an earth-shattering kiss that I felt right down to the tips of my toes. When we arrive back at the parking garage at our building, he does the same thing but in reverse order.
