Page 110 of Please Save Me

“Oh?” I arched my brow. “Then how’d you figure it out?”

“I knew you were hiding something.” Mason shrugged before very subtly breaking eye contact. “It was weird that Seb wouldn’t show me what Calvin looked like, plus tractor restoration is aweirdhobby.”

It wasn’t weird to me. I liked working with my hands, and old tractors were cheap and readily available…. But I also realized that I hadn’t met anyone else with that hobby.

“Guess you're right.” I chuckled a little, rubbing a hand across my jaw. “So… what'd Seb tell you about Calvin that had you on edge?”

It couldn’t have been anything too crazy if she moved past it so quickly.

“Seb said that Calvin Waters was from a cult that sacrificed pregnant women and that he'dhurt me.” Mason’s voice shook a little, but she didn't back away.

And, while I wanted to tell her Seb was full of shit, he'd been more honest than I expected. Still, it was more than I ever wanted Mason to know.

“And how do you feel about that?” I started slowly.

If it didn’t bug her, I was willing to drop the topic. Mason worried a lip through her teeth, shifting her weight between her feet, seemingly shrinking under the weight of my question.

“I don’t think you’d hurt me,” she admittedon a breath.

That was a good way to avoid the question. Slowly, I reached up, and she rested her chin in my palm, allowing me to run a thumb across her cheek. Whatever she just applied came off, revealing more of her freckles.

“I wouldn’t… and I wouldn’t let anyone else hurt ‘cha either,” I promised.

“Is the cult true?”

My chest swelled with a breath I found myself unable to release. “Yeah… It is.”

Her eyes widened as fear slowly crept in. That was the one way I hoped Mason never looked at me, but I couldn’tblameher. So, instead of letting her mind wander to the worst places, some of which might be right, I realized I needed to tell hereverythingI could.

“The leader of the cult killed my family in a house fire.” Saying it out loud reignited the ache from years ago. Still, I pressed on. “He had a plan for me, and I played along for more years than I’d like to admit–”

“Like me with my dad?”

Her interjection caused me to pause. James Albright had abused his daughter in novel ways in attempts to make her more palatable; Dale beat me within an inch of my life to make me follow orders. So, while it wasn’t exact, her comparison wasn’t terrible.

“Sorta, yeah,” I admitted. “But that ain’t the main idea here, Sweetpea.”

“Then what is?”

Mason’s head tipped to the side, causing the silky strands of her bob to caress her exposed shoulder. I was torn between sweeping her hair back and very subtly slipping the strap of her dress off her shoulder, but I held back.

“I never actuallyhurtanyone.” The words escaped before I could think better of them.

Sure, I never had a part in killing the women, but Dale would have me sleep with them, and the ones who got pregnant were the ones who died. Outside of the first girl, I didn’t really know any of the women I slept with. Dale didn’t want me talking to them, just in case they were impure. He didn’t want them tocorruptme.

“I don’t think you could hurt someone.” Mason’s smile was made of pure sugar as she placed her hands on my shoulders. “You’re a very nice man.”

The left corner of my lips inched up into a smile so crooked that it could’ve charmed a snake.

“I think you’re the first person to lovemeformein over two decades,” I said before realizing I could push my luck a little. “You do love me… right?”

Mason always showed her love, but she didn’t often sayit.

Her eyes locked on mine, resulting in a moment that felt so fragile that a sneeze could’ve shattered it. A flush inched across her face as she nodded.

The wings of a butterfly tickled my ribs as I inched closer.

“Can ya say it?” I whispered, suddenlycravingthose words like most would drugs.

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