Page 66 of Grand Love

Leaning down, I manage to get the shoe off. I flex my toes and drop my head back, relishing in the relief. I don’t know why we wear them.

I need a pint of water and my bed, and maybe a shower. Yes, definitely a shower. I already know I will feel like the earth’s ending tomorrow. Without thinking, I grasp my dress at my waist and pull it down over my strapless bra, shimmying it over my hips.

“Uhh, yeah okay, bye.” Mason reminds me of his presence, and I look up to see him shoving his phone into his pocket. His eyes are wild with something carnal, but they hold anger too.

“Why are you angry?” I ask.

“What are you doing?” His jaw clenches tight as his stare drops away and to the floor.

“Once upon a time this wouldn’t have bothered you, Mason.” I throw my arms out at my sides.

He shakes his head, making me rage when he doesn’t lift his head to look at me. “Things are a little different now, don’t you think?”

My throat burns with a deep ache. “Then why are you here?”

His eyes finally lift to me and I’m momentarily paralysed in place.

I swallow thickly, my heart hammering in my chest. Letting my dress fall, I step out of it and then kick it to the side. Reaching around, I unhook my bra letting it fall to the floor. Mason leans against the doorframe, his legs crossed at the ankle, his muscular arms straining in his black shirt. He’s everything I remember him to be, and yet I crave his touch so I can be reminded of his love. Because I miss this man’s love above all else.

If we ever did anything right, it was the way we loved each other.

He doesn’t move, doesn’t blink. He just stands and watches me with his troubled eyes. And those brows, low and dark.

“Do I look different to you now?” I ask, popping an arched brow.

“Nina,” he warns.

“What? You don’t like the marks your son left me? They aren’t going anywhere, Mase.” I walk towards him, forcing myself to not cover my body. His eyes narrow as he looks down his nose at me.

“You have no idea,” he rasps.

I lick my lips. “No?”

Something passes between us, the air in the room becoming electric.

He shakes his head, not taking his eyes from my face as he pushes off the doorframe and walks over to my chest of drawers. “It’s late.” He pulls out a sweatshirt and comes back to me, slipping it over my head and pulling the hem down past my thighs. “Get in the bed, Nina.”

I swallow thickly as I look up at him, my chest aching with the look in his eyes. Nodding my head, I turn and climb into bed, sliding my pillow to the centre before laying my head down. I watch as Mason settles back into the chair beside Ellis’s cot, his eyes trained on me.

“Mase…” I pause, not really knowing what I want to say. “I’m—”

He shakes his head, tipping his chin up. “Go to sleep.”

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