I smile against his corded neck. “I mean your arm. Does it hurt to hold me?”
“Answer’s the same.” His hand slips up my thigh and under my cutoff shorts to grip my bare bottom. He groans, and his fist in my hair tightens. “Your roommate home?”
I chuckle, and the sound rolls from my throat thick with lust. “No, but I don’t want to stay here for another second.” Leaning back, I fix my eyes on him. “The next time I’m naked with you I want it to be in our bed.”
The fog of desire clears from his crystal-blue eyes for a second, and love like I’ve never seen shines from their aqua depths. Just like floating on that surfboard and staring out into the infinite sea, locked in Mason’s eyes I’ve never felt more a part of something. More needed, complete.
And finally free to hold tight to my forever.
Forty
Trix
The next few weeks pass in a blur. Mason and I have nothing but time to settle in to our new lives together. Mason’s back to training at the UFL; bypassing doctor’s orders to take four weeks off, he took one.
I’ve started working part-time at the Youth Center until something full-time opens up. If there’s one look that could rival Mason’s when he came to rescue me in the desert, it would be the relief and joy on Denny’s face when I showed up at the Youth Center. His bright eyes and larger-than-an-eight-year-old-face-can-handle smile only solidified my purpose in life: to love kids who don’t get enough at home.
Other than the occasional nightmares and Mason disowning his brother, I’d say life is good. Great even. Better than I ever expected.
Turns out Detective Hodgeson was right. The DA didn’t press charges for Elijah’s death, and all the guys came out of that night as local heroes. We were able to put the night behind us and focus on moving forward.
But, there’s just one last thing I have to do.
I check the clock on the bedside table, waiting for the last number to click over from nine to zero when the strong arm that’s tossed over my body tightens around my chest. One big hand cups my breast, and I’m pulled back into the cradle of Mason’s torso.
“How long you gonna stare at it?” His groggy voice at my ear sends waves of goose bumps across my skin.
I sigh. “I’m willing it to freeze.”
“How’s that working?”
“It’s not.”
His low chuckle makes me grin. “Shooting ice with your eyes, huh?” His lips brush the shell of my ear. “Been watchin’ too many Disney movies.”
I turn in his arms, and he loosens his hold to allow me room before tugging my body flush with his. He slides his massive thigh between mine, and our legs tangle beneath the sheets. My body warms, and I’m amazed at how even the softest, most innocent touches feel erotic.
He kisses my forehead. “Nervous about today?”
I sigh and nuzzle into his neck. “I don’t want to go.”
“Then don’t.” His tone is serious and laced with anger.
“I have to. You know I have to.”
He nods, but the way his muscles tense says it all. He doesn’t want me to go.
After Hatch was released from the hospital and put in prison, his lawyer said they’d grant my parents and me a private meeting. I immediately turned them down, not interested in hearing what he has to say or bringing up the past that would only upset my mom and dad. But my parents insisted on going. And I can’t let them go alone.
“It’s fucked up I can’t be there with you.”
I peer up into the most loving and loyal set of blue eyes that soothe my frazzled nerves. “His lawyer set the terms. Besides, it’s probably best to keep you two separated.”
“Psht. Guy deserves to get his ass—”
I press my lips to his and hold them there until his muscles unclench and he exhales. “Let’s not talk about him.” I check the clock over my shoulder then turn back to the handsome and nearly naked man in my arms. “I have twenty-five minutes before I have to be in the shower.” I slide my hand beneath the elastic of his boxers and tease him with my fingertips.
He groans.
“There has to be a better way to spend the next twenty-five minutes that doesn’t involve talking about Hatch, right?” I bite my lip to keep from smiling as he flashes me a crooked grin.