Page 98 of The Young & the Sinner

Mason

I didn’t sleepthe entire night I was in her room.

I alternated between watching her sleep and feeling her chest move with every breath she took. I watched the peacefulness on her face, something I was sure had avoided her for months now.

There was just something off about her during dinner last night. I didn’t know what was going on inside her head, only that there was this devastating heartbreak in her eyes that I wanted to fix.

She didn’t come to me last night like she usually did. Obviously she wanted to be alone, and I should have left her alone. So far, our nights together have been at her instigation. I supposed it made it easier to tell myself we weren’t doing anything wrong because she needed me to hold onto her at night to keep all the monsters at bay, and I was doing just that.

And when she didn’t need me to hold her anymore, I should have been able to let her go.

But I went to her last night. I slept in her bed—a bed I had no business being in—and to make matter worse, I kissed her. Kissed her how I wanted to since our very first kiss.

I moved my fingers up to my lips. I could still feel her there, hours later.

I should have held onto my self-control.

But she had sounded so sad when she asked me to kiss her, and I didn’t have the heart or strength to tell her no.

The way she had responded to me…

Jesus, it was like she was made for me.

I couldn’t get enough of her. Which was exactly why I needed to stay away.

Carefully extracting my arm out from under her, I climbed out of her bed.

The sun hasn’t risen yet, but dawn was definitely breaking, letting in enough light for me to take in her delicate features.

I wanted to crawl back into bed and hold her close.

But I didn’t.

Instead, I leaned down and kissed her forehead. She wrinkled her nose a little in the most adorable way, but she didn’t wake.

And when it felt like I couldn’t possibly walk away from her, I did just that, just to prove to myself that I could.

* * *

I hardly ever spend anytime in the break room at work. Mostly because I liked to get my coffee from this small coffee cart just outside the building, and when I do eat lunch, I have my assistant order something for me down the street.

But today, I needed at least four cups of coffee just to get me through the morning, and I was only on cup number three. Logan caught me in the break room just as I was refilling my cup.

“Long night?” he asked with a smirk.

I doubt he fully understood just how long my night was. And I didn’t spend it the way he obviously thought.

“Didn’t sleep,” I said, taking a small sip of the coffee. I almost checked my watch for the time. I didn’t want to talk with Logan about anything, not with the way I was feeling. I leaned against the counter and watched him. “Why are you looking at me like that?”

He adjusted the cuffs of his dark blue dress shirt. He’d long ago gotten rid of his blazer, his muscles budging beneath his shirt. I imagine he only did that because we just hired three twenty-something interns. “I was just wondering when you were going to bring her around.”

“Bring who?” Gage asked, joining us in the break room. I let out a low groan. This was not what I needed right now.

“This girl he’s obviously seeing,” Logan answered with a smirk.

My heart thudded in my chest, even if what he said couldn’t be farther from the truth. “Why do you think I’m seeing someone?”

“Are you kidding me?” It was Gage who said this. “You’ve been distracted, you don’t hang out with us after work anymore. And I can’t remember the last time you picked up a woman and took her home.”

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