Page 11 of Mason
“It would have been a really good dream if you were, but I’m glad you’re real.”Sutton’s caramel gaze floated to me.“Both of you.”
Sutton
“This is so unnecessary,”I repeated for the fourteenth time today, glaring up at the beautiful man standing over me.“Walking is an option.”
“Hospital policy,” Harper spoke up from beside her son, a ghost of a smile teasing her lips as we waited for her driver.“Every patient must exit in a wheelchair upon release and be accompanied to their vehicle by a member of personnel who was responsible for said patient’s treatment.”
“You can walk from the chair to the back door of the car,” Mason said, keeping his hands stuffed into the pockets of his wrinkled slacks.
He’d been wearing the same pants for the last two days, the entire duration of my hospital stay.While Harper had gone home the night before to shower and take care of some work, returning that morning with a change of clothes for me and a different shirt for her son, Mason hadn’t left my room once.Thankfully, his mom had brought him a basic black T-shirt and not one of those slutty button-ups.I was tired of the nurses coming into my room to drool over his damn chest.
I’d had several visitors during my stay.His godmother Dallas, who, to my embarrassment and delight, was real.Violet, his sister, and her bestie, Shaw, had also dropped by.His sister had the same purple hue in her eyes as their mom, but she and Mason shared so many facial features, there was no mistaking them for anything other than siblings.
Mason’s dad, Shane, had also come to visit multiple times.There was something about his eyes when he looked at Harper that caused me to pause and pay attention.Not in a bad way.How his blue-gray eyes lightened, his life-experience-lined face softening, as if his entire reason for breathing was right in front of him and he couldn’t bear to look away from her.And then there was the sizzling chemistry that crackled between them.
I’d never been exposed to a healthy relationship between a couple.Mom never dated.She didn’t have time or the emotional energy to spare.Once, I asked if she ever thought about having a life partner.She’d scoffed at first, making a joke of it.But then she’d gone silent for a long pause and had shaken her head without a single glimmer of regret on her face.Wade Myers had cured her of dreaming of a happily-ever-after love.
Shane brought us homemade meals three times a day.He’d mentioned remembering how terrible the hospital’s food was from his own stay “back in the day.”Although he didn’t explain why he’d been a patient, he’d shuddered when he said it, making me think it had been a particularly traumatic experience.
Father and son were alike in more than simple looks.It was in their mannerisms, in the tone of their voices when they spoke to different people.I could tell with a single sentence how important the person they were speaking to was to them.Over the two days I’d known them, I’d developed an entire pyramid system based on who mattered most from their different tones alone.Harper was at the top, their queen in the hierarchy for the Stevenson men.
Even their laughs were different with each person, the same deep, genuine adoration when it was someone close to their hearts.Always a brief bark of humor, sometimes forced, sometimes dry and sarcastic, when aimed at a person who couldn’t breach their close-knit inner circle.Not exactly mean or rude, simply setting boundaries.A silent yet forceful, “This is all you can have of me.”
It wasn’t fake or loud, just…honest in a way few people openly expressed.And that was what put me at ease with Shane Stevenson the most.Not the complete and uninhibited adoration on his face when he looked at his wife.Or the sparkle of joy each time he spoke to either of his children.Although those mattered, they were proof that a father could love his children unconditionally in a way I hadn’t been privy to before.How he was so open about his feelings for everyone who stepped into his orbit each day was refreshing.
Hearing the differences when he or Mason spoke on their phones, whether it was a personal or business-related call, I felt in awe that I was among the group that got the softer versions of both men.Shane’s laugh when he bestowed it on me always matched the cadence he used with his daughter or Shaw.He had one laugh that was specifically for Harper and another for when he spoke to someone named Emmie on the phone.It was warm, not overwhelming in heat, just kind of cozy with affection.
Harper said I’d meet Emmie soon.She was curious about me, but Shane’s honorary sister was always busy.Running the business she had created with Shane, sorting through the ever-growing problems of each of her family members and clients.It sounded exhausting and frustrating.When did the poor woman get a moment to herself?
I hadn’t met Emmie yet, and I already wanted to hug her.
Once Neil parked in front of us, Mason moved to open the back door of the SUV before the driver, who was also Harper’s personal bodyguard, could step out.My nurse, Misty, pushed my chair closer, and I started to rise without assistance.
Mason muttered a curse, his arms going to either side of my waist as if he thought I would fall at any moment.“Is it physically impossible for you to allow anyone to assist you?”
“I’m not an invalid,” I snipped at him, emotionally exhausted from how hard I had to fight the urge to simply let this man take over.Not just helping me walk the few steps from the chair to the car, but everything.
From the smallest to the largest tasks, making the decisions I was too scared to think about most days.It would be so easy to turn my life over to him and let go of the stress, the heavy weight of adulthood that had come too soon and was too overwhelming.He was right there, appearing to want to do just that—take it from me, make it better, care for me.
But that was too risky.If I gave in to the need to unburden myself or open my vulnerable heart to him, I wouldn’t survive when he decided he was bored.There was no ending where I didn’t lose something to this man.He was already making it impossible not to fall for him.If I gave myself permission to love him and then he walked away, I wouldn’t survive it.
After two days of his rapt attention, being spoiled by his grumpy yet gentle care, I was dreading going back to my apartment without him.
And Harper.I was going to miss her as much as I would miss her son.
“You are still recovering, beautiful girl.Take things slow and lean on me,” he instructed, keeping his tone low even though his jaw was clenched tight enough I could see the muscle ticking beneath his days’ worth of beard.“Good.Now let me help you up.”
The SUV was raised a good bit off the ground with a sturdy step that descended when any of the doors opened.Before I could place a foot on it, Mason lifted me and set me down in the seat.Grabbing the seat belt, he stretched across my body to fasten it.
Blue-gray eyes captured mine.With a wink, he brushed my hair off my face and dropped a quick kiss to my forehead before stepping back.Neil was loading a few things into the back, so Mason opened the front passenger door for his mother.
“How about lunch?”Harper suggested, glancing back at me with a warm smile.“If you’re not up for eating out, we can pick up something on the way home.”
Stopping for food would give me more time with them both, but with each minute I was with them, the grief of knowing I’d be saying goodbye to them soon began to choke me more.“I-I’m not hungry.Thank you, though.”
Mason opened the other back door and made himself comfortable beside me while Neil slid behind the wheel once again.“Home?”he asked, looking at Harper.
“My place first,” Mason announced.“Mom said she has to go into the office this afternoon.Once we have Sutton settled, Mom has to get back to work.”
