Page 131 of Mason

I take a breath, sitting heavier in the chair.

She turns, finally meeting my eyes. “That’s why I pulled away. Why I was so distant. Withdrawn.” She swallows. “I didn’t understand what I was feeling, and I sure as hell didn’t know how to process it.”

My chest feels like a vice is squeezing the breath out of me.

Because I remember.

I remember when Mia went from being the vibrant little girl who followed me around, always wanting to sit in my lap, always dragging me into whatever ridiculous game she made up?—

To the teenager who barely spoke to me.

The one who gave me one-word answers, who looked at me like I was a stranger.

I always figured it was just the growing pains of adolescence.

I never thought—fuck.

I rub a hand over my jaw, my throat tight. “I should have told you.”

Mia sighs. “Yeah. You should have.”

The weight of my regret settles in, thick and suffocating.

Years. I’ve wasted years.

“But I get why you didn’t.”

I snap my head up. Her expression isn’t hard anymore. It isn’t even angry.

It’s understanding.

It’s accepting.

She smirks a little, shaking her head. “Honestly? It made more sense the older I got. I started thinking about all the time we spent together growing up, all the ways you were always there. The way you treated me, the way you looked out for me.” She lifts a shoulder. “That doesn’t come from nowhere.”

I let out a breath, one I feel like I’ve been holding for years.

The silence stretches between us for a moment, not uncomfortable, not tense—just full.

Then she bumps my shoulder again.

“So, what now?”

I exhale, dragging a hand through my hair.

“Now? I stop being a coward.” I turn to her, meeting her gaze. “I make it right.”

Her lips twitch. “Yeah?”

I nod. “Yeah.”

She looks back at Shelby, her eyes darkening slightly.

“I just didn’t realize Shelby meant so much to you,” she says, watching me now, really watching me.

I glance down at the woman in the hospital bed, still, pale, too fucking fragile with all those wires hooked up to her.

I brush my thumb along the back of her hand, my throat burning.

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