17

Mason

From the momentI stepped foot into the house, Lennox had been trying to wait on me hand and foot. I finally had to get out of bed and go sit on the balcony. She knew I was annoyed with all the special attention everyone had been giving me, so she left me alone. I didn’t know why everyone was making such a fuss. I knew I could have died in the fire, but that was no reason to treat me like a baby. I was healing well and they needed to accept that I liked to do things on my own. It was bad enough that I had been taken out of practice for a couple of weeks.

I had met with the police in the hospital to talk about the fire. I told them that someone had hit me with something, knocking me out. When I woke up the fire was blazing. I didn’t have much information for them, I didn’t see anyone there, but someone was.

I thought back to that night, I let myself into the shop and quickly pressed in the security code. I made my way back to my office where I rifled through my closet, looking for the security system. When I found it, I picked up the box and turned around, that’s when I was hit. It knocked me out cold. I never saw anyone or heard anyone else come in. The police found no proof of anyone being there and there wasn’t any proof of someone starting the fire. They blamed wiring as the cause, therefore not looking for an arsonist.

My phone rang drawing me from my thoughts. I picked it up and saw Nicole’s name flashing across the screen. I almost hit ignore but changed my mind at the last second.

“Hello?” I answered, annoyed by her calling.

“Can we talk?”

I let out a long breath and rubbed my forehead, avoiding the stitches. “I have nothing left to say to you.”

“Listen, I know how you feel about me after what happened, but we need to talk. Can we please meet, without her?”

“I don’t know what you’re getting at. What could you possibly have to say to me after what you did?”

“Mason, what I have to say, you probably want to hear. It’s up to you if you come or not. I will be home until noon.”

I sat my phone down and thought about whether I wanted to hear her out or not.

What is she going to say to me? She’s sorry? Offer some kind of explanation? I don’t want to talk to her after what she did, but a part of me wants to know why she did it and what she has to say for herself.

I made my way downstairs to find Dane, Alissa, and Lennox all sitting around the island in the kitchen drinking coffee. I took a seat with the rest of them, I needed to explain where I was going.

“Nicole called, she has something she wants to talk about. So, I’m going to go hear what she has to say?”

Everyone’s eyes were on me, but they remained quiet.

“I know what you guys are thinking and you may be right,” I leaned back, rubbing my hand through my hair. “But, I need to hear her out. The last time I saw her, after the doctor said she wasn’t pregnant, I didn’t give her a chance. I just left and haven’t talked to her since. I know I don’t owe her anything, but I really want to know what she has to say. And, it would mean a lot to me if you guys supported this.”

“Yeah, okay,” Dane shrugged before turning his attention back to Alissa, not giving a shit about what I did.

“Lennox?” I questioned when she remained quiet.

“Well, this is your decision and if it’s what you want to do, I will support it.”

I could tell by the look on her face that she didn’t want me to go. Her eyebrows were pulled into a frown, she refused to make eye contact, and she was biting her lower lip.

“Thank you.” I stood and bent down to give her a kiss. “I love you and I will be back soon.”

I made the hour drive to Nicole’s house and knocked on her door.

She opened the door with a look of surprise. “Hi, I didn’t know if you were going to make it.” She stepped back and opened the door wider, allowing me to walk in.

“I had to talk myself into it.”

I followed her into the kitchen and sat down at the table. “So, what do you have to tell me?”

“I feel like I owe you an explanation.” She sat a cup of coffee down in front of me.

“Okay, this should be good,” I cross my arms over my chest as I leaned back in the chair, not bothering with the coffee. “I would love to hear why you thought it was a good idea to tell me you were pregnant.”

Nicole sat down in the chair next to mine, holding her cup with her one good hand. “I know I never should have lied about being pregnant. I was just so afraid that I would lose you.”