“Let’s go out here and talk.” I nodded toward the balcony before opening the door and leading her out.
We both took our seat and looked out over the back property.
“So, what did you want to talk about?” She sat her coffee down on the table between us and locked her big, green eyes on mine.
I let out a long breath. “I was thinking about last night. You were completely right in stopping what we were doing. I don’t love Nicole but I don’t want to hurt her like that either. I came home and sat here thinking about her, and you, and us. I couldn’t figure out for the life of me how I could fix this. Then it hit me,” I looked over to her green eyes that were watching me. “I’ve never loved Nicole. It’s always been you. I was afraid that I would break Nicole’s heart for a chance at you and you would leave again. But then I realized that it doesn’t matter if you leave, because you are the one that I love. It’s not right to Nicole. I can’t be with her when I’m already in love with you. I’m going to break up with her whether you stay here or not.”
She thought about what I had told her. Her eyes never stayed still, they bounced from one thing to the next. “Mason, I didn’t come back here to cause problems. I thought you were happy?”
“I thought I was too, but it was just a distraction. I only got with her to keep from thinking about you and she wanted to take the next step the day I saw your engagement. I thought you wouldn’t come back to me. It crushed me. I thought the only way to get over you was to be with her and ignore my feelings for you, but I can’t ignore my feelings for you anymore. I love you, Lennox. Always have and always will.”
I watched as she stood from her seat and began to pace in front of me.
“I don’t know about this, Mason. I can’t show up here and expect you to drop everything for me. You shouldn’t throw everything away for me. I left you. I hurt you. How can you still love me?” she asked, finally coming to a stop in front of me.
I stood from my chair and closed the distance between us. I pressed my lips to hers and tangled my hands in her long, dark hair. She wrapped her arms around my neck like I knew she would. She felt so good pressed against me. I got lost the second our lips touched.
I let my hand trail down her back to grab her ass. I felt her tense beneath my touch and heard her sharp intake of breath.
I pulled away quickly and opened my eyes to see her green eyes full of pain. “What’s the matter? Did I hurt you?”
Lennox walked into my room but stopped in the center of the floor.
“I guess it’s time I showed you.” She pulled her bottom lip between her teeth.
“Show me what?” I began walking toward her.
She reached down to the hem of her shirt and pulled it over her head. I let my eyes drop down her body, not understanding.
When my eyes landed on her beaten body, I felt like someone had kicked me in my stomach and stolen the air from my lungs.
Her entire midsection was one solid bruise of blue and purple.
“What the fuck happened to you?” I rushed to her side.
She didn’t respond but a single tear slid down her cheek.
“This is why you came back, isn’t it? He did this to you.” Anger rose up inside of me.
She didn’t answer, but nodded her head to confirm my thoughts.
“I can’t go back there and I’m afraid he is going to come looking for me.” Her lip began quivering as more tears slid down her cheeks.
I didn’t know what to do. I didn’t know what to say. I wanted to beat the shit out of him. I wanted to kill him for hurting her.
How the fuck could he do this to her. To HER?
I wanted to punch something or start breaking everything within reach, but I knew that would only scare her and she had been nothing but scared.
With my heart breaking, I dropped to my knees in front of her.
I wrapped my hands around her hips and began to trail kisses over her hip bones, up her sides, and across her stomach. I wanted to kiss her bruises away.
She tangled her fingers into my hair and directed me up to her lips.
I stood and kissed her gently, aware of where I put my hands. I couldn’t bear to cause her any more pain. I kissed my way down her jaw and to her neck. Her scent engulfed me as her soft skin teased me.
Lennox ran her hands up the front of my shirt, causing my muscles to tense beneath her touch. I kissed the spot on her neck that I knew would drive her crazy.
“God, Mason. I need you,” she moaned out.
Hearing her call out my name made my dick swell and it flipped a switch in me. It had been too long since I had heard my name fall from her lips like that.
With my lips moving with hers, I reached around and unclipped her bra, walking her backward toward the bed. She let it fall from her shoulders before yanking at my shirt.
I tore my shirt away from my body before gently laying her across the bed. I kept my weight off her, afraid of hurting her already broken body.
“Mason, I need you. Please.”
“I’m right here, baby,” I whispered against her soft skin.
I kissed my way down her chest and her bruised stomach until I came to her jeans, where I stopped and sat back on my knees. With my eyes locked on hers, I slid them down her legs along with her panties and looked over her beautiful body.
Lennox is here, in my bed. Naked and sprawled out in front of me.
Without thinking, I moved my mouth to her, tasting her.
I slid a finger into her causing her to moan and tighten around me. I sucked, licked, and thrust my finger into her until she moaned my name.
“Mason, I need you now.”
Tasting her, hearing her call out my name, and come for me was my undoing. Only she could cause those reactions in me.
I pulled my jeans and boxers over my almost painful erection and positioned myself at her entrance. I let my eyes fall over her sexy body before I pushed into her.
We both let out a relieved moan. “You feel so good, baby,” I whispered in her ear, unable to move an inch in fear I would come just from being inside her.
When I finally had a handle on my body, I slowly began to move inside her. Holding myself off her, I pulled out only to thrust back in while looking into her eyes, giving her nothing but the love I felt for her. The love I had always felt for her. I pounded into her hard and quick until she screamed my name and came for me, digging her nails into my back.
I didn’t want to finish yet. I had waited five long years for her. I did everything to distract myself to keep from finishing, but she looked into my eyes and whispered, “I love you, Mason.” She felt too good to last any longer. I buried myself in her and filled her in three jerks.
I leaned my forehead against hers. “I love you so fucking much, Lennox.” I pressed my lips against hers before sliding out of her.
She automatically curled into my side. She softly trailed her fingers over my chest while kissing my overheated skin, all the way up to my jaw.
“Should I have used a condom? You had me so worked up, I wasn’t thinking straight.” My breathing was still labored, heart pounding against my chest.
“I’m on birth control.” She moved her lips back to mine.
It was starting to get dark by the time we came out of the bedroom. We had spent all day in bed getting to know one another’s bodies again. She felt better than I even remembered.
For the first time in five years, I felt happy, like a whole person. My love for this girl was life changing. She controlled my every move, my every thought, without even knowing it. She was clear across the country and still had me wrapped around her little finger.
“What are you hungry for?” I asked looking over to Lennox, who was leaned against the island only wearing my t-shirt.
“You,” she answered seductively.
“Haven’t had enough yet, baby?” I stalked toward her.
She stood up straight, shaking her head while biting her bottom lip, and offered me a sexy gr
in.
I wrapped my hand around the back of her neck, pulling her lips to mine. I moved her to the position I wanted her, leaning against the kitchen island. I slid her t-shirt up over her ass and freed myself from my boxers before entering her from behind.
My right hand held on to her hip softly, while the other slid up under her shirt to firmly grasp her breast, squeezing her hard nipple in between my fingers.
Thrusting into her with everything I had, I felt her tighten around me before arching her back and screaming my name. I filled her again before coming to a stop, leaning against her.
“We have to take a break. I don’t think I have any fluids left in me,” I joked before pulling out of her and pulling my boxers back up.
She turned to face me. Wrapping her arms around my neck, she planted a soft kiss to my lips.
“I know, I just can’t get enough. I never thought I would get this again.” She pulled away, only a few inches so I could see her green eyes shining brightly.
“I didn’t either. But now that I have you, I’m not letting you go.” I gave her a long, slow kiss.
Lennox and I made a frozen pizza for dinner, grabbed a few bottles of water and went back upstairs to the bedroom where we spent the rest of the night lying in each other’s arms. We ate, watched TV, cuddled, kissed, and touched. It felt like I finally had my world back. I had lost everything and she had finally returned to me.
I woke up Sunday the happiest I’d ever been. I looked at Lennox asleep in my arms and knew I was the luckiest guy on the planet. I knew there wasn’t anything I wouldn’t do for her. I loved to watch her sleep, I loved the way her lips pooched out in a pout, the sound of her breathing, and the warmth of her body pressed to mine. I softly kissed her on the forehead and her eyes fluttered open.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to wake you.”
“I’m glad you did. I don’t want to miss another second of being with you.” She smiled brightly, causing my heart to pick back up.
Lennox and I took a shower together. I helped wash her hair since her side hurt from all the strenuous activity we’d been doing.
I still couldn’t believe that had happened to her. I almost felt to blame for it all. If I hadn’t pushed her into going, she never would have met that asshole. Just looking over her body made me want to track him down and beat him until he was black and blue before ending his pathetic life. How could he lay a finger on her? Didn’t he realize how special she was?
All I knew was, it would never happen to her again.
I wouldn’t let it.
8
Lennox
I woke, but didn’t move. I wasn’t sure if the night before was a dream or not. When I felt his soft lips press against my forehead, I knew it was safe to open my eyes.
After Mason and I showered, we made our way downstairs for breakfast.
Mason started pulling food from the fridge to cook while I got busy pouring us both a cup of coffee. I added in cream and sugar before taking a small sip. “What kind of coffee do you buy? Mine never tastes this good.”
“Only because I didn’t make it.” He stood in front of the stove, barefoot and only wearing a pair of loose jeans that hung from his hips, giving me a nice view of his strong back.
I let my eyes drift over his shirtless back. He only got more defined over the years causing me to want him more than ever.
Mason turned around to face me. “Why are you looking at me like that?”
“Sorry, what?” I asked, being snapped back to reality.
Mason let out a small laugh. “Are you ready to eat?”
I grabbed us some forks along with the syrup while Mason served up the pancakes.
We sat and ate the delicious breakfast that he made, talking about all the work that he had done to the house. We kept the conversation light, not wanting to ruin everything with questions that regarded us. He asked about my previous tours, recording albums, and how I liked living in California. I kept my answers short, not wanting to tell him that it wasn’t for me. I knew Mason, he liked to take the blame for everything and I was afraid he would blame himself somehow.
Before I knew it, it was approaching late morning and we were still sitting around our breakfast plates drinking coffee and talking.
“I should be getting back. Do you mind giving me a ride?”
“Yeah, we probably should get going. I didn’t realize how late it was getting. I need to check in with the weekend crew at the shop.” Mason took both our plates and put them in the sink. We made our way toward the bedroom to change back into our clothes before heading out toward the truck.
“Listen, Mase, I don’t know what happened between us yesterday, but I don’t think it should happen again. At least, not until you’re single.” I turned to meet his eyes as we drove down the gravel country road.
“I agree, that’s not me. I’ve never been a cheater and I’m sorry things went that way,” he turned his eyes back to the road and shrugged. “I mean, I’m not sorry about what we did. That part was amazing, but it shouldn’t have happened, yet. How long do you plan on sticking around?”
“I was thinking about getting an apartment for a while. The breakup hasn’t been released yet and I would like to let everything calm down.”
“I know it’s none of my business, but how the fuck did you end up with that guy? Why did you accept his proposal?”
I let out a small laugh. “I honestly don’t know. I started dating him because I was lonely. I just needed somebody. Before I knew it, we had been together for six months and he popped the question. I don’t know why I said yes, I regretted it the minute I accepted. Just confused I guess.”
“I understand that, but Lennox, if I ever see that motherfucker, I will kill him,” he said with an almost deadly expression.
“What are you going to do about Nicole? Do you plan on telling her about us?” Butterflies filled my stomach.
He let out a long breath. “I’m going to break it off with her tonight. I don’t know what I’m going to tell her. I just know I don’t want to hurt her, she doesn’t deserve any of this.”
I agreed with him, Nicole didn’t deserve to be hurt. As far as I knew, she had always been good to Mason. I felt horrible about the way we went about everything. I knew about Nicole but once I heard him say he was breaking up with her, I didn’t give her another thought. I hated that I turned Mason into a cheater. I got caught up in the moment, and for the first time in five years, Mason was in front of me, wanting me. I couldn’t think past that, he was there and I wanted him. I didn’t care who got hurt. Like I said, I’m selfish.
We pulled up to the coffee shop where I left my car and Mason put the truck in park. “Can I call you?” Hope filled his eyes.
“You better call me.” I smiled before getting out of the truck.
Since I was already at the coffee shop, I ran inside to grab a coffee and a newspaper to try and find an apartment.
I was waiting on my coffee when I began to flip through the paper.
“Looking for an apartment?”
I turned around to look over my shoulder. It was Ashley.
“Yep,” I answered before turning back around to ignore her. Ashely was a big part of all my problems before I left to start my music career. She hated me because I was with Mason and she never passed up the opportunity to make my life hell. Everything from writing names on my locker, to vandalizing my car, and sneaking into bed with a very drunk Mason to make me think they had slept together. I didn’t like the girl and that hadn’t changed.
“Lennox, I know I was a bitch back then, but do you think you could forgive me? What do you say, from one ex to another?” She offered up her best smile.
“No, and you were never an ex. Mason didn’t date you, you stalked him.” I grabbed my coffee and walked away to fill it with cream and sugar.
“Well, none of that matters now, does it? He has someone and it’s not either of us.” With a flip of her blonde hair, she walked away.
I took a deep breath and grabbed my coffee, heading to my car.
“What are you doing?” Dad asked when he walked into the living room to see me sitting on the couch looking over the newspaper.
“Looking for an apartment. I can’t stay here forever and I’m not ready to go back to California.”
“I take it you and Mason met up.” Dad sat down beside me.
I pulled my eyes away from my paper and looked over to him. “Yes, and I know what you’re going to say.”
“Do you?” he asked with a lift of his brow.
I took a long breath. “You’re going to say, I need to stay away from him, that he’s only going to hold me back and I have bigger issues at hand. I just don’t know if I want that life anymore, Dad. Every day for the past five years I’ve thought about Mason. I don’t know if I’m ready to give up on my career, but I do know that I don’t want to lose Mason again.”
“You don’t know me at all, do you? That’s not what I was going to say at all.”
“What were you going to say, then?” I sat down the paper and gave him my full attention.
“I was going to say, I support whatever you choose. You’re not a child anymore, Lennox. You can make your own decisions.”
A small smile broke through. “Thanks, Dad. I don’t know if I’m ready to quit music, I just know I need a break for a while.”
I made a few phone calls and set up appointments to look at a few apartments, before giving the paper to Dad to do the crossword puzzles.
I turned my phone on and it went crazy with alerts again. I didn’t bother looking through them, knowing most were from Chris, but I did call Alissa to check in.
“Hello?” she answered.
“Hey, sorry I haven’t called.” I curled up in bed, trying to get as comfortable as I could with my bruised ribs.
“How are you doing?”
“I’m doing better. I’m going to go look at apartments tomorrow.”
“So, you’re planning on staying awhile then?”
A Second Chance at Forever (Chance #2) Page 8
