Page 17 of Please Save Me

Oh God, did it lead to Mason.

When I was with her, I felt more likemethan I had in years. I wasn’t sure if it was knowing she had somehow remained sweet enough to make my teeth hurt despite enduring similar abuse. Or, if it was just the fact that she embodied everything I wanted in a partner back when I was Calvin, but I knew I felt the most likemewhen I was with her. That’s why this fight was killing me.

Once I was certain Mason wouldn’t want to see me anytime soon, I took a nap. One just long enough to make me functional for the rest of the day, but it did little to wipe away the exhaustion clinging to me like a wet cloth over my face.

It was suffocating, and I had no idea if it was from being tired or just how much my heart ached for making Mason cry. I didn’t want to stress her out anymore than she already was, but I also knew I couldn’t let this go on. And, unlike someone else who recently messed up, I was willing to admit I made a mistake if it meant healing part of Mason’s broken heart.

Whether or not you know it, the time you have with a loved one is a finite resource. Sooner or later, one of you will be taken from the other. This could be from death or just drifting apart. Either way, I knew that well enough to understand that fights weren’t worth losing precious time. And in my heart, I knew I loved Mason, and I’d like to think she’d feel the same, even if she knew the truth about who I was.

So, I waited for Sebastian to leave the house with his gym bag before venturing upstairs. Another thing I learned was fights were more easily forgotten when you didn’t try to make amends empty-handed. That’s why I brought the biggest piece of the brownie I had baked and a scoop of vanilla bean ice cream. I knew she wanted chocolate, but the idea of putting a scoop of fudge ice cream on top of a brownie with chocolate chunks seemed like overkill. And, if I were wrong about that, I’d get a different brownie and fix my mistake.

I didn’t bother knocking, just like Seb didn’t bother locking the door when he left. Both of these facts made for an easy entrance. Mason wasn’t in the living room, so I knew that meant she was probably lying down still. So, I ventured back into Sebastian’s bedroom to see Mason cuddled up and facing away from me.

She was lying on her side in a blue shirt I didn’t recognize and leggings that made me want to do someveryinappropriate things with her. But that could wait. Right now, I needed to make things right with my baby girl.

I used a knuckle to rap on the doorframe, and Mason peered slightly over her shoulder. As I turned, I could see an e-reader in her hands. She preferred softcover books; something about liking the way the paper smelled and hardcover books feeling weird.

Seeing as we had a bookshelf stocked with romance novels that Sophia had been collecting and never reading for years, there was no reason for Mason to use technology to read unless she was avoiding going downstairs like I had been avoiding coming up here.

The tinge of red around her beautifully mismatched eyes made me feel worse.

“Hey.” Her voice was as soft as a spring breeze and just as welcomed.

“Hey… I brought you something.” I offered, holding up the plate.

Mason studied it for a moment before looking away. “I’m not hungry.”

That didn’t feel true. Mason may have been tiny, but more often than not, she was snacking on something. I assumed that’s why Rosie was growing so well.

“You sure? I made ’em just for you when you were in the hospital… I was so worried about y’all that I couldn’t sleep a wink.”

“If that’s true, you would have checked on me.” Her accusation was bitter.

A strange, icy feeling washed over me as I processed what she said. “Sweetpea… you think I didn’t check on you?”

“I know you didn’t.” She placed the e-reader on the nightstand before rolling over to look at me. She pushed herself up to a sitting position with her elbows, and her shirt rode up slightly, revealing a slip of pale skin on her stomach. “Sebastian showed me his phone. He had no texts or calls from you, Lucian,orSophia. No one called or texted me either.”

Sebastian was quickly proving to me just how untrustworthy he was. To say that boy was a snake was an insult to reptiles.

Luckily, he hadn’t been smart enough to consider the fact that I could easily disprove his lie. So, I walked over to Mason and put the plate on her bedside table. In the short time between scooping the ice cream and coming up here, the frozen dessert had started to melt, causing a small white pool under the brownie.

I didn’t bother asking before sitting beside Mason. My weight caused the springs to squeak and draw her in a little closer. It only took a second for me to pull out my phone and bring up my conversation with Sebastian. I counted each of the messages out loud and in French for dramatic effect before offering the phone to Mason.

“In the nine hours you were gone, I texted Sebastianoverthirty times, once for every time I thought of you. If you don’t believe me, here’s the proof.”

Mason’s lips pressed into a thin line as she studied my phone as if the messages were written in hieroglyphics.

“Do you think he lied to me?” Mason finally asked.

Did I think Sebastian lied to Mason and deleted the messages to make me look like I didn’t care? Without a shadow of a doubt, yes. But I was a better manthan him, which meant I had no intention of digging his hole any deeper than he already had.

“Maybe he just didn’t have service.” I suggested.

Mason slowly nodded before pointing to my peace offering. “Can I still have that?”

I smiled. “Of course, honestly, I’d be a little offended if you didn’t try it after all my hard work.”

I didn’t make her struggle to grab the plate; instead, I handed it to her.

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