Page 76 of Right Number

Since I was in my senior year of college, I’d been fortunate enough to have the ability to plan my class schedule to only have classes three days per week. That gave me long weekends where I could sometimes fly to the West Coast to see Mason. We’d really been racking up the frequent flier miles over the past year, but it was worth it to spend as much time together as we could. Mason lived alone in a one-bedroom apartment which had become my second home over the past year. After staying with him for the summer, we’d agreed I should leave some of my toiletry items and a few clothes there. Each time I came to visit, I left a few more things. It was to the point I barely had to pack anything when I went to see him. Mason surprised me on a visit by decorating some of the previously bare walls in the apartment with framed prints of my photography which made his place really feel like our place. In fact, I was planning on moving there with him after graduation. Crazy, huh?

I’d finally told Mason everything about my chaotic childhood and all of the many, many moves with Bev. Mason still hadn’t met Bev in person, but he’d talked to her a few times on the phone, so he’d had a small dose of her. I shouldn’t have been surprised at how understanding he was about all of it, but a little part of me still was. When we’d started talking about what we were going to do after my graduation, he left the decision entirely up to me as to where I was going to live. He let me know that he’d make it work no matter what I chose: to move in with him, stay where I was at, or go somewhere entirely different. Having that type of power, to take control and make the decision on my own for my own reasons felt really good—it made all the fears I had completely disappear. Once that happened, the decision was simple. I wanted to be with him…in our place.

Over the past year, in between actual visits, there were constant phone calls, texts, and lots of dirty, sexy FaceTime. Who am I kidding? There were lots of dirty, sexy phone calls and texts too. I couldn’t help it. My boyfriend was freaking hot as hell and we had to figure out some way to make the time apart from each other a little easier. Although, I had to admit, we’d been able to spend far more time together in person over the past year than we’d originally anticipated. The keys seemed to be flexibility, trust, and great communication. There’d been a few times things hadn’t gone as planned, but we’d learned to roll with the punches and make it work the best we could.

My phone buzzed with an incoming message and I immediately swiped it open when I saw it was from Mason. It was a meme of a white cat with its eyes closed, and its face scrunched up, that said “Love you! Kiss me!” Mason and his damn kitty and puppy memes. I laughed as I typed out a message back. “Plane just land?”

I didn’t have to wait long for a response. “Yep. Seat was in the back, so still waiting to exit. I know you’re nervous about tonight, so I wanted to send you something silly while you waited.”

My heart melted a little; he knew me so well. That was one benefit to the long-distance part of our relationship. We’d talk or text multiple times throughout the day and had a standing, nightly phone date. You couldn’t help but get to know someone really well when a substantial part of your time together was doing nothing but talking. “I have lots of kisses for you so hurry off that plane,” I texted back. As glad as I was that his plane had landed, I knew any nervousness I was feeling would be completely gone once I was in his arms.

“In that case, I’m climbing over the seats and pushing down anyone who gets in my way!” I laughed so hard I snorted at the vision of Mason trying to climb over the plane seats. I looked up and saw a few people walking by glance in my direction. I tried to rein in my laughter as my phone chimed again. “Are you laughing yet? Feeling better?”

Damn, I loved that man. “Yes to both of those, but I won’t be feeling totally better until you’re here with me.” I could feel my excitement grow as my heartbeat started to pick up, knowing he was only minutes away.

“Off the plane and headed through the terminal to baggage claim.”

I was grinning ear to ear when I typed back, “Perfect! I’m here waiting for you.”

“Love you and can’t wait to see you,” Mason replied.

I felt myself swooning. I didn’t think there was any possible way I could ever get tired of hearing Mason say he loved me. “Love you too,” I wrote back before slipping my phone into the back pocket of my jeans and scanning the crowd looking for my man.

Sure, there’d been some ups and downs over the past year, but we’d made it through all of them, and as cheesy as it sounded, we were stronger for it. Every day I was grateful we’d taken the leap into trying to make this crazy thing between us work. I knew, deep down, what we had was the real deal. It truly was the kind of thing people spent a lifetime looking for…and we’d found it in the most unusual and unexpected way.

I snapped back to attention when my eyes landed on Mason walking though the sea of people. With his tousled hair and handsome features, he definitely stood out in a crowd. He must have seen me at the same time because his face lit up with a huge smile. I started to push my way through the crowd towards him. I couldn’t wait any longer.

When I finally got to him, I eagerly jumped into his arms, grabbed the front of his jacket with both hands, and planted a kiss on his lips. It wasn’t just any kiss…it was a kiss full of fire I hoped would convey exactly how much I’d missed him.

“Damn, Anna,” Mason whispered in his deep voice when I pulled away from him. “I hate being away from you, but I sure do love your greetings after a bit of time apart.”

All the nervous feelings were gone as I snuggled deeper into his embrace. Mason leaned down and kissed the top of my head which, even after a year, still made me absolutely melt every time he did it. I pulled back just enough to tip my head up and smile at Mason. We were in the middle of the airport with people all around us, but I gave absolutely zero shits about what anyone else thought. The only person I cared about was right in front of me, smiling down at me like I was the most special thing in the world. “I’m so happy to see you.” I reached up to brush my hand across the stubble on his cheek. “Is there something wrong with wanting to kiss my insanely sexy, smart, and funny boyfriend when I see him?” I asked in a flirtatious tone.

Mason smirked back. “I find nothing wrong with it at all. Other than all the blood in my body is rushing south and my jeans are suddenly way too tight.”

I gave Mason a wicked little smile as I pressed myself closer to him. “Glad to know all the parts of you are happy to see me.” I rubbed against him as I stood up on my toes to plant a soft kiss on his lips.

Mason cleared his throat. “How fast can we grab my luggage and get the hell out of here?”

I looked at him in surprise. “You checked a bag?” He’d made the flight several times over the past year and, while we always met in the baggage claim area, he’d never actually checked a bag. We only met there because we’d discovered early on it was the best place to grab a cab after a flight landed.

“I had to this time. My suit for the Spring Art Show would’ve been a wadded-up mess if I’d tried to get it in my carry-on. If this dress you’ve been talking about is half as sexy as it sounds, I need to bring my A-game tonight so you’ll want to be seen with me.” Mason kissed the top of my head again.

I couldn’t help but laugh. My dress for the night was pretty damn hot. The last season of Sass Queens had ended with a new store only a few hours away from where I lived. So naturally, Bree, Sarah, and I’d taken a road trip a few months ago to finally set foot inside a Sass Queen store. We’d had so much fun, and I’d found my dress for the Spring Art Show. It’d been hanging in my closet since our trip, and I couldn’t wait to wear it. I’d given Mason a few hints, but I thought he was going to be surprised when he actually saw it.

“Well,” I said looking up at Mason while I remained nestled in his arms. “Let’s grab your bag and go. We still have time before our dinner reservation for a proper greeting and I can show you exactly how much I missed you. Bree and Sarah are gone until tomorrow, so we have the place to ourselves.” I ran my finger down his chest and licked my lips just to be extra clear on what I was implying. Bless my roommates and their never-ending understanding over the past year. Sometimes when Mason came to visit, we stayed at a hotel, but most of the time, he stayed at the apartment with the three of us. Bree and Sarah were always so thoughtful about giving Mason and me some alone time without us even asking for it. They really were the best friends ever.

Mason pulled away and grabbed my hand. “Screw the suitcase. Let’s get out of here.”

“Nice try. We need to grab your suit, then we can get out of here.” I laughed as we made our way hand in hand to the baggage carousel with Mason’s flight number flashing above it.

Everything was once again right with the world since he was there with me.

MASON TOOK MY HAND as he helped me out of the cab. “Why thank you, sir,” I said with a smile.

“You’re most welcome, gorgeous,” Mason replied as he pulled me in for a quick kiss. We’d just finished an amazing dinner at a new restaurant in town and were on our way to the Spring Art Show. So far, everything had been perfect…but that was the thing about when Mason and I were together. It didn’t matter what we were doing, it was perfect because we were doing it together.

“So Bree and Sarah are going to meet up with us there?” Mason asked as we started walking toward the Art Show building.

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