Page 5 of Possessive Billionaire
“Hooah,” I growl. “Let’s go.”
4
Avery
I’m at the hospital.Dad got out of surgery a few hours ago. The doctors say he’s going to be fine. He just needs his rest. My hand shakes as I lift the paper cup of coffee to my lips.
“There you are.”
Mason pushes through the exit door. He’s still covered in blood. His clothes are ripped and stained and he has bandages all over his arms from where someone tried to kill him with a knife.
“I just needed some fresh air.”
He leans on the wall next to me. Our backs against the concrete. Looking out on a huge parking lot full of people facing the worst days of their lives.
I hate hospitals.
“You okay?” Mason doesn’t look at me as he talks.
He’s so close, I can practically feel the heat radiating off him. There’s nothing I want more than to pull him close and surrender to his touch.
“I can’t help thinking if you hadn’t rescued him when you did…” I let the words hang in the wind. When I talk next it's barely a whisper. “I keep thinking, what if he’d died? I don’t know what I’d do without him, Mason. He’s all I have.”
Mason pulls me into his arms. I wrap my hands around his thin, muscular waste. It feels good to be so close to him. To breathe in his masculine scent.
“Shh.” His mouth is close to my ear I can feel him speak. “It’s okay. Everything’s okay. You’re dad’s one tough son of a bitch. He’s gonna be right as rain in no time at all. So, they ripped his fingernails off. They ruptured a testicle. He has four broken ribs and a fractured wrist and a sprained ankle and his kidneys are damaged. His eardrums are burst and the doctor says he has a concussion and they want to keep him overnight to make sure he hasn has brain damage–”
“Boy, you sure know how to make me feel better.” Tears run down my face. It’s physically painful to hear how much abuse my dad’s body has been through in the last twenty-four hours. It’s hard to accept that this is reality. That I’m not in some horrible, crazy dream.
Mason cups my face in his hand and lifts it up until I’m looking him in the eyes. “What I mean is, I’ve seen him in worse condition. And he always comes back. The man’s damn near indestructible.”
“He’s not as young as he was when you knew him,” I say. “He’s getting old.”
“Hey!” Mason knits his eyebrows and scowls at me. “We’re the same damn age! I hope you’re not calling me old!”
I can’t help but laugh. “You know what I mean.”
He brushes a stray strand of hair out of my face. My arms are still wrapped around his body. I don’t know what’s happening between us. This moment feels so natural. I never want to let him go.
“Look, Avery,” he says, “you’re right. It’s not gonna be easy. And yeah, he’ll probably take longer to recover than when he was a twenty-one-year-old stud. But he’s still a stud. And he has you by his side. And that’s all that matters. He’ll bounce back from this. And I'll make sure he gets the best medical treatment money can buy.”
I stare at his big, pink lips. It would be so easy to reach up on tiptoes and kiss him. My whole body trembles with excitement at the mere thought of it.
“My dad was right about you,” I say.
“Oh, yeah,” he smiles. “What did he say? That I’m the most handsome man alive? That my charm knows no bounds?”
“No,” I slap his chest playfully, “he said you were the best man he’s ever met.”
Mason bites his lip. He lets go of me and looks away. There’s an elderly lady sitting in a wheelchair by the entrance. She looks like she’s a thousand years old. There’s a cigarette clasped in her knotted, wrinkly hand. She’s staring at the sun without moving. It’s hard to tell if she’s dead or alive.
“What’s the matter?” I ask. “Did I do something wrong?”
He turns back to face me. For the first time since I’ve met him, there’s fear in his eyes.
“Your daddy was wrong, Avery. I’m not the best man he’s ever met. If I was, then I would not be having these feelings…”
His words trail off. I think I know what he means, but I need to hear him say it.
