Page 46 of Forever Your Touch

Jo checked the camera one more time to make sure both she and Mason could be seen before starting her intro and introducing Mason by his YouTube name, CutiePie. To her it sounded girly, but his female subscribers loved it, from what she’d read on the comments. Hopefully, this would help him gain some subscribers too. His content was hilarious, and he deserved to be more noticed.

Then they sat down and started playing.Cuphead, despite its adorable artwork, was hard as hell. They were both shouting and growling at the game before too long, but she had more fun than she’d had in a long time. Mason was naturally funny. It was a perfect counter to her more serious tone. This was going to be gold on her channel.

Four hours later, they finally shut the computer down. Jo found Mason some sheets, a pillow, and a blanket for the couch while he changed into his pajamas. She’d changed into hers before she went digging for bedding.

She went downstairs and made up the couch. He was loud when he came into the room, probably so as not to startle her. She’d fall and injured herself. Some days she hated how awkward she was. It was her cross to bear, she supposed.

“Thanks for tonight, Josephine. It helped a lot.”

Her entire demeanor softened, and she hugged him. “I’m always here for you, Mase. I’ll be right here for as long as you need me.”

“I’m your FIBB, remember. Being there is my job, not yours.”

“I…” She cleared her throat, getting a little choked up at the look in Mason’s eyes. She had no words to define it, but it was important. And she chose to ignore it for obvious reasons. “You need to meet up with your parents early?”

He shook his head.

“Then get some sleep, Mase. You need it. We can talk some more when you wake up.”

He leaned down and kissed her forehead. “Night,moye dragotsennyy.”

“Good night, Mason.”

She disentangled herself and went to her own bedroom, slipping in beside a now snoring Ray. She lay there for the longest time, sleep eluding her as she fought the feeling of wanting someone else beside her instead of the man she’d loved for three years.

She was in some serious emotional trouble here.

And she had no idea how to fix it.

Chapter Twelve

Mason woke up to the sound of screaming. He jumped up, bleary-eyed, and looked around. It was coming from outside, and it was definitely Jo. He ran, and a fear so deep it ached settled in his chest. Ripping the door open, he bounded down the steps, and he would never forget what he saw.

Jo lay on the ground, her leg under the lawnmower. It was still running, and she was trying to get away from it, but the more she moved, the more she screamed. Ray’s mother stood on the front porch of her house, staring. She looked frozen.

Mason, however, was not. He ran and shut the thing off before trying to move it away from Jo. Her leg was a bloody mess. The blades had ripped all through her lower calf. His hands shook as he tried to assess the damage.

“Is she okay?” Mrs. Daniels asked, finally coming over.

“No, she’s fucking not okay,” Mason snarled. “Call 9-1-1 and then bring me some towels. We have to stop the bleeding.”

The woman didn’t say a word, just disappeared into the house.

Fuck. Mason ran his hands through his hair. She was still crying, but at least she’d stopped screaming.

“What the fuck were you thinking, woman?” Mason tried to straighten out her leg to see where the worst of the bleeding was coming from.

“Here.” Mrs. Daniels shoved a bunch of towels at him.

“The grass needed to be cut.” Jo whimpered when he lifted her leg up to slide the now open towels under it. He wrapped each one as tightly as he could. There were too many cuts.

“Mrs. Daniels, you’re going to have to help me. Press down along the top half, and I’ll do the lower half. Put as much pressure as you can on it. We have to try to stop the bleeding.”

He waited until she did as he asked before taking several deep breaths. He needed to calm the fuck down or he’d yell at Jo.

“Moye dragotsennyy,why were you out here cutting the damn lawn when you know how accident-prone you are?”

“I asked Ray if he could cut the grass this weekend, and he said he wasn’t going to have time. He was going fishing with his dad, and he had to leave early tomorrow for work. No one else was going to do it, so I did.”

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