Page 112 of Please Save Me

“You know… you can’t eat ice cream without that.” I chuckled as I took a scoop of ice cream for myself.

Ice cream, other than soft serve, always gave me heartburn. But knowing she was okay would be worth the discomfort. The sweet, tangy cream melted on my tongue as I waited for Mason to take her spoon back.

“I’m not hungry.” she mumbled, picking up her phone.

My heart sank as she retreated into herself, and I placed a hand on the device, hoping my presence would weigh her down. I’d seen infectious joy, but I’d never seen someone look sad enough for their melancholy to transfer to me.

“Sweetpea, you’re breaking my heart,” I warned.

“Well, he’s breakingmine,” she whimpered, tears collecting in her eyes.

A strange pang of helplessness hit me. My current relationship had been my first ever polyamorous one, which meant I had absolutely no idea what to do when one partner hurt the other like this. All I knew was right now, I wanted to kill Lucian.

“Mason,” I said softly, hoping the words to make everything better would magically follow.

Unfortunately, that wasn’t the way life worked.

The distant sound of tires on gravel stole our attention, and I silentlyprayedfor Lucian, not because I wanted him to go on their date but because I wanted him here to make this better. But, instead of a neon green Jeep, I noticed a sleek blue SUV. A barely audible but sad-sounding noise escaped Mason as Sebastian stepped out.

He was dressed head to toe in an expensive-looking navy suit. I expected him to immediately head inside, but instead, he walked to the back of the SUV and opened the door. After a moment, he lifted Jasper out before running to the other side to do the same for Juniper.

So, Lucian had stood Mason up, and he couldn’t even get his own kids? I wanted to call him a piece of shit, but I didn’t want to make the situation worse. So, instead, I placed a hand on her shoulder and went to unlock the door for them.

The second the door opened, Juniper burst in with the same hundred demands she had every day. She wanted a snack, she wanted to watch cartoons, she wanted dinner, and just about anything else a kid could want after school.

Jasper wasmuchcalmer, and Sebastian looked exhausted. I assumed this was because of the kids' inability to stop talking in the car and not because he’d just finished his day at work.

Normally, we didn’t do screen time directly after school, but today was already a mess, so I put some show about super-powered kittens on the TV and turned my attention back to Mason. Before I’d even said anything, Sebastian was down on her level, comforting her.

He held her hand as if it were made of glass as he brushed a kiss on Mason’s knuckles.

“Don’t worry about Lucian,” he whispered. “We can go on a date. Where do you want to go?”

Her bottom lip quivered, and I patted Sebastian’s shoulder, causing him to shoot me a glare.

“I don’t think it’s the date part she’s upset about,” I said. “She’s been waiting for Luce to come home for three hours.”

Sebastian’s jaw dropped as his attention shifted back to Mason. “Three hours? Princess, you said Lucian was a little late.”

Mason’s shoulders raised as she wiped at her eyes. “I don’t want to make a big deal out of this.”

“Mason, it is a big—”

I clamped my hand over Sebastian’s mouth to prevent him from saying something stupid.

“I know you said you’re not hungry, but do you want to order dinner?” The chicken pot pie was kinda off the menu if she was going to be home.

“No.” Mason shook her head. “I don’t like today. I want to go to bed.”

I removed my hand from Seb’s mouth as he and I shared a worried glance. I didn’t want Mason skipping dinner, but after everything Lucian had put her through today, she had a right to be done with it.

“Seb, why don’t you take her up to your apartment?” I suggested.

Lucian was in a hell of a lot of trouble when he got home, and I didn’t want her to wake up because of me hollering at him.

Mason nodded as Sebastian stood, offering her a hand as he did. She hesitated a moment before taking it, allowing him to help her to her feet.

For the first time in their relationship, I noticed how good Mason and Seb looked together. With both of them dressed up like that, they looked like some sort of power couple ripped directly from a movie screen.

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