voice. Sobs shake my body as reality sets in. I need to do this. Nothing can fix me. Not even Mason, or can he? Can he be the one that makes it all go away? Can I let go and just fall into his arms and let him love me?
“Whit? My chest hurts. It aches when you’re not with me. I hate it. The bastards that hurt you can’t touch you again. I promise you that.”
What the hell did he do? I turn my head and glare at him. He nods his head confirming my thoughts. He killed them. He did it for me.
“I promised you that they would never hurt you again. I don’t break my promises Whitley. And right now I’m promisin’ you that if you get off there and come home with me, I’ll fix you. I’ll make you whole. I’ll do whatever the hell you want me to do. Just don’t leave me. I lost her Whit. She was everything I had. Now you’re standin’ there and tryin’ to leave me too. Stay with me Whit. I can’t lose you too.”
His eyes fill with tears. My heart shatters into a million pieces. I nod my head slowly. Mason moves toward me slowly but with purpose. When he’s standing right next to the rail he wraps his arms around me and lifts me over. He falls to the ground with me in his arms. He cries. I’m crying. The hardest man I’ve ever met in my life cries with me.
“You mean everything to me Whitley. I love you,” he sobs into my neck.
“I love you too.”
Epilogue
Mason
Seven Months Later
Leaning in close to her ear I whisper, “Keep shakin’ that slutty little ass of yours and I’ll make you pay for it.” Her body trembles, but she laughs. I step away from her and watch her giggle with a few of the other girls.
“Now, Mr. Swartz how dare you say that to me? What kind of girl do you take me for?” she teases me. Her tits are resting on the bar in front of her for everyone to see. I should spank her ass in front of everyone for that.
“I take you for the kind of girl that likes me to fuck her in random alleys, hotels, up against the wall in the kitchen. You tell me darlin’.” I wink at her. Whit laughs and throws her head back.
“Pick your pleasure baby. You know I like it.”
She winks back at me. Viking slaps a hand on my shoulder with his eyes lingering a little too long on her chest. Whitley notices and flashes him a nipple. I swear to all things holy that this girl is going to kill me.
“How’s everything?” Viking asks.
I bring my beer to my lips and shrug. “You see her everyday brother.”
He chuckles as I keep my eyes on her.
“She seems happy. What’s the shrink say?”
Whitley has come a long way in the last seven months. After her little stunt on the bridge, she had to be hospitalized. I knew it was coming, but when she stayed in there for a fucking month I nearly lost my shit. The girl was far more screwed up than any of us knew.
She wouldn’t see Jackson or me at all for the entire month. Jackson and I talked regularly about her, but he only knew about as much as I did. It hurt a part of me to know that she was going through her own living hell by herself in that hospital, but I also knew she needed to work on herself.
I gave her space and then the day came that she could come home. I was there waiting for her. My home had now become our home. Whitley saying she’d move in with me was the best thing that’s ever happened to me. We stay up at night talking about her therapy sessions, Briann, and well everything. Even the little things that don’t matter to most people. Those things matter to us.
“Said she’s doin’ good. She’s movin’ on like she should be.”
I watch her walk around the backyard of our house chatting away with the other guys. She looks perfectly happy now. I walk away from Viking and sneak up behind her. I wrap my arms around her waist, pull her into me, and let my lips linger on her neck. “How about you come inside and show me what the pleasure was you were teasin’ me about earlier?”