Page 126 of Rival
I nod, knowing he is. He hasn’t said it to us, but it’s obvious. “I am too.”
Mason sits back on his heels, subtly trying to wipe his face, then picks up a blanket to lay over her so she’s warm. He remains silent while Jaxon and I talk, but the fact he hasn’t given anyone shit tells me he’s pretty much in the same boat as us.
“I’ve told her. Every time we’re alone, I tell her. It seems as if it only hurts her when I do, but I can’t stop saying it.” Agonized over the damage he’s done, Jaxon wipes his hand over his face, then looks toward the kitchen. “I’ll finish up dinner.”
After he disappears, I shift my legs back onto the couch and help Edith turn slightly to the side, never waking fully. Her fingers dig into my chest to hang on, her mouth parted as she sighs softly.
Mason sits on the coffee table, his arms hanging loosely between his legs to watch her.
“You gonna help Jax in the kitchen?”
He frowns and shakes his head. “I did enough. You think she knows I’m here for her, no matter the outcome of paternity? Or if any of you stay as well?”
“Why, Mason Cooper, are you wantin’ to have a heart to heart with little ol’ me?” I press a hand to my mouth in a gasp, then laugh when he scowls at me.
“Shut the fuck up. I’m serious. I know I wasn’t smart with everythin’, but I didn’t know about all of you. It started off as fun, but she grew on me so fuckin’ fast and Idolove her. I do. Maybe it makes me a fuckin’ pussy, but Christ, I didnotsee her comin’.”
My humor dies down when I hear how torn up he is and he just keeps going.
“I talked to Jax. He wants her to stay here after the baby is born, which is fine, as long as he doesn’t try to tell me I can’t come over whenever I want. I was thinkin’ about bringin’ little Bonnie over for her, but then realized those twoothershits would be torn up about it. So, I thought maybe it’d be okay to have three cats, then I started readin’ about dangers to pregnant women and changin’ out litter.”
“Mason,” she mumbles against my chest, twisting her head only slightly to peer at him.
Both Mason and I widen our eyes, a bit embarrassed she’s been listening the whole time. She shifts to sit up, but doesn’t stop using me as a pillow, so I get stuck as the two of them have their talk.
“Before you say anythin’, you gotta know I’m fuckin’ in this. Iwantto be here and with you. I fucked up thinkin’ I could just have my fun with you and not tell you I was fallin’ for you. And when you told me you were pregnant, I honestly just short-circuited. I was so shocked by what you said I can’t remember a moment after.”
Blowing out a breath, she leans forward, touching his hand. “Mas—”
“No. I need you to hear me. Ifucked up. I knew your dad was a piece of shit, and I’m so fuckin’ sorry I didn’t say a word andlet him drag you away. I barely remember it happenin’, but I’m sick over it. I want this little girl to be mine more than I want to breathe, and if she’s not, I still want to be her daddy.”
Edith’s chin lowers as she sucks in a deep breath. “What if I can’t choose? What if I want Griffin to stay too, then we find out she’s yours?” Her hand falls to her belly as she peers up at him.
“Don’t care,” he says, shrugging his shoulders. “You want him, you can have him. I won’t stand in the way of that. I just hope you’ll want me as well. Even if the baby isn’t mine, I’ll make sure she knows I’m her dad, too.”
My heart tightens, aching for her when she murmurs, “I just want her to be loved. If you can be here to give her that, it’s all I’ll ever ask for.”
I open my mouth, readying my argument that she’s just as deserving to be loved, but he beats me to it.
“That’s a load of crap. Ofcourseshe’s gonna be loved, but so areyou, girl.”
When her head falls, Mason cups her chin to keep her looking up. She’s chewing on her lip, doing her best to believe him.
“Listen, and I feel like I’m beatin’ a dead horse, but this is where I’m at.” Her head turns to where Jaxon just walked back in, but he doesn’t interrupt, clearly picking up the sincerity of the moment. “I want to take a chance, Ido. So, for now, we’ll pretend things will move forward, but I have to see after she’s born. Not because I don’t believe you, but because it’s hard for me to accept that you, any of you really, would be here if it were only me.”
Pointing a finger toward Jaxon, her voice cracks. “He told me he loved me a month ago. Did you know that?” She doesn’t wait for him to answer. “That was the first time I’veeverheard those words spoken to me, and I still question it, which is terrible. To reduce something so precious to doubt? I wanted to hear thosewords my whole life, and up until the moment I found out about her, I would have curled around that feeling of someone possibly loving me and protected it like it was the most previous thing in the world. Now, all I want is forherto have it.”
Edith is openly crying now, but her posture is stoic, like a fucking queen sitting in the room before her subjects desperate to please her.
“Girl, I know you know when I first hired you on it was to fuck with him. I swear to God, one week and all that changed.Youchanged me. I’m awful with apologies and words, but I want you to let me love you, because fuck, I fuckin’ feel it.” He grips his shirt and I glace at Jaxon, meeting his look of surprise.
“I know you’re sorry for what happened. I don’t blame you for manipulating me at the beginning. My father was an easy man to hate. His actions belong to him, and only him. I can also understandwhyyou didn’t say anything when I told you about my pregnancy. But Mason,that’sthe part that makes sense in my head and still hurts in my heart. Time heals that part, and itishealing. I promise you andthank youfor that.”
He surges forward from his seat and kisses her lips hard, holding her face to keep her from falling back. When he pulls away, his eyes dance over her face before meeting her eyes to have a silent conversation I think only the two of them understand.
Finally, he nods and lifts the corner of his mouth in a smirk. Sitting back down, he picks up her feet and wordlessly continues her massage.
Seems as if the conversation is done for today.
