Chapter 13

Everything becomes a blur.

One second, I am storming into his office, ready to tell him that if he doesn't choose us, then I'm taking our daughter and leaving.

The next, he is kissing the life out of me, telling me he already made the choice.

When he finally pulls away, he leaves me standing there, touching my lips as he moves around the office.

While I'm stunned from Mason kissing me, he manages to cover the rest of my shift, gathers all of our things, and ushers me out of the building.

Over the years, I've replayed our night together in my mind over and over. Especially on those lonely nights. I had put him on a pedestal and had convinced myself that it wasn't as good as I remembered it to be. Only that kiss just proved me wrong. It brought me right back to that night all over again.

"You okay?" Mason asks, pulling me from my thoughts.

I look over at him and bite my lip. His dark hair is a little longer on top and in need of a trim, but somehow he manages to keep it out of his face, despite the fact that you can tell he's been running his fingers through it.

His beard is a little longer than a five-o'clock shadow, offering him the perfect amount of scruff. I loved how it felt when he kissed me, and I can't help but imagine how amazing it would feel between my thighs. I bet he would blow my world apart like he did all those years ago.

"You need to stop moving like that, or I'll be forced to pull over and help you out," he rasps without looking away from the road.

"Sorry." I cringe.

I hadn't even realized I had been rubbing my thighs together.

"Trust me, sweetheart, you have nothing to be sorry about. I love that you are so turned on right now, but I need to know what turned you on. Now tell me, what were you thinking about?" He smirks as he comes to a stop at a stoplight.

I feel my cheeks heat. "How I would love to steal your sweater."

Mason raises a brow. "Is that all?"

I shrug as I bite my lip to stop myself from smiling. While it's not what I was thinking about, it's still true. He's wearing a brown sweater with hints of gold and red that's soft to the touch. If given the opportunity, I would totally steal it for myself.

Mason hums, but starts driving as the light turns green.

"So where are we going?" I ask, changing the subject.

"Well, I know you didn't eat much this morning and I'm hungry, so I thought we could go grab some lunch."

Mason reaches over and grabs my hand and pulls it into his lap as he weaves his fingers through mine.

"I'd like that," I say softly.

He squeezes my hand. "Good. Are you in the mood for anything specific?"

"Surprise me," I tell him as I relax into the seat.

"With pleasure."

For the rest of the ride, the only sound in the car is the radio, neither of us feeling the need to fill the silence with mindless chatter. We have things we need to discuss, but I don't feel the need to force it to happen right this second. It's nice to just be in someone else's presence and not have to be on.

Mason comes to a stop outside of a building and I look around.

"Where are we?" I ask as he puts the car in park.

"This is Pleasure."

I raise my brow, making Mason chuckle.

"I know, not the best name, but the food is fucking fantastic."

"I'll take your word for it," I tease.

"Sit tight," Mason says as he lets go of my hand and gets out of the car.

I watch as he comes around the hood of the car and gives the keys to the valet before opening my door.

"My lady," he says, holding out his hand.

"Such a gentleman," I quip as I put my hand in his.

As soon as I'm out of the car, he pulls me into his body and whispers into my ear. "We both know I'm only a gentleman when I need to be," he says before lightly biting the shell of my ear, making me breathless. "Now let's go in and eat some food before I eat you."

"Mason," I scold with no heat as he pulls away.

"Too soon?"

"Just a little bit," I tell him honestly.

While I'm completely on board, I'm still scared that this house of cards will come crashing down around us, and I'll be the one left paying the price.

I only just decided I wanted to give this a real go, like twenty minutes ago. I need time to let my mind settle. Come to terms with my new reality.

"Got it. I'll move a bit slower."

"Not too slow," I tell him, making him smile.

"Not too slow," he repeats, kissing the back of my hand.

Mason ushers me into the restaurant, and the hostess leads us back to a table right away.

"Thank you," I say as Mason pulls out my chair for me to sit.

"You're welcome," he says as he takes a seat next to me.

"What are you doing?"

"Sitting," he deadpans as he picks up the menu.

"But why are you sitting next to me?"

He raises a brow. "Is there somewhere else you would prefer that I sit?"

I shift in my chair. "Well, no, but typically you sit across from the person you're with."

Under the table, he places his arm on my crossed legs. "Typically, yes, and I would if Ari was with us."

"But…"

"But I just got you to admit that you want me as much as I want you. Which means I can openly touch you as much as I want, which I plan on doing a lot."

"You do?" I ask softly, feeling slightly overwhelmed in the best possible way.

Mason squeezes my thigh. "Sweetheart, I've been waiting for the green light for weeks."

"It's not like you haven't touched me," I say as I think back on all the times he's placed his hand on my back or brushed against me in the kitchen or when he held me as I slept.

"That was different." He shrugs. "Now tell me, what looks good to you?"

I shake my head and look down at the menu and pick the first thing I see. "The omelet with hash browns."

"Solid choice. I was thinking the stuffed french toast and sausage."

"That sounds good, too."

"We can share if you want."

I turn my body toward him slightly. "Really?"

"We don't have to if you don't want to. It's not a big deal."

"No, I want to. Back before I had Arianna, Chloe and I would go out with friends. One of my favorite things was when we would all go out to eat together and order different things. Then we would all share so we could have a little bit of everything."

"You don't do that anymore," he says rather than asks.

I shake my head. "No. When I got pregnant with Ari, all of my friends but Chloe drifted away one by one."

"I'm sorry."

I start shaking my head before he can even finish apologizing. "I'm not. As far as I'm concerned, the trash took itself out. Not that they were trash, but you know what I mean. They clearly weren't the kind of friends I thought they were. We were in a different spot in life. I was a single mom who struggled to make ends meet. They were going out clubbing and shopping. Things I couldn't do without money or a babysitter. The invites came less and less until they stopped completely. I'm not upset about it. It's life."

"Chloe stayed, though. She showed up for you," he reminds me as I think about the past.

I was sad when everyone drifted away. It was Chloe that kept me going, though. She became a second mother to Ari. Hell, she held my hand during labor.

"She did." I smile as I think about my best friend. "She jokes that she's the baby daddy."

"I mean, I'm here now, so she might have to give up that position, but I'm glad you had her. That you still have her. She is a little odd for sure, but she's an amazing friend to you and an even better aunt to our daughter. She's a blessing for our family."

My eyes start to tear up at hearing him acknowledge my best friend.

"Thank you," I tell him.

"For what?" he asks.

"Saying that. Being you. Being amazing."

He smiles as the server comes over. He takes our order, leaving us alone once more.

"So, I want you to know I'm serious about us. I know you have put limits on how many times I can come stay at your place, but I would like to propose an amendment," Mason says after a few moments.

"I'm listening."

"What about if we start spending some time at my house? Just to get you both comfortable there. I know you don't want to move in with me, and I respect that, but it is my home, and I would like to be able to bring both you and Ari there sometimes."

"That seems fair," I agree.

I'm surprised it's taken him this long to ask again. I had a million reasons why it wasn't a good idea, but they are fading away one by one.

"Good. How about we spend a few hours there on Saturday? We can have lunch and watch a movie or something."

"That would be okay with me."

Leaning down, he kisses my cheek, making me blush. "If I had known locking you down would make you so amendable, I would have done it a long time ago."

"Uh-huh. Keep it up, smart guy. I can always go back to being sassy."

He turns my chin then, kissing my lips. "I love Sassy Livvy. Bring it on."

The smile on my face is so big my cheeks hurt.

I don't hate it.

* * *

Ari laughs loudly as Olivia goes down the slide ahead of her. Once Olivia hits the bottom, she turns around with a big smile on her face and catches our daughter as she comes down.

"Daddy, did you see us?" Ari asks.

"I did, baby." I smile at my daughter.

My heart beats rapidly in my chest as I watch them. I never imagined myself with a wife or kids, but I can see it clearly now. Looking at them, I know this is what I want.

They are perfect.

They are mine.

Olivia sets Ari down and walks toward me but doesn't look away from our daughter as she runs off to play on the indoor play equipment.

"How did you find this place?" she asks after a moment.

When she's close enough, I pull her to my side.

"A quick Google search," I tell her as I drop a quick kiss to her lips.

"Mason…" she scolds with no heat as she looks around.

"She's going to see us kiss eventually," I point out.

Livvy looks up at me. "I know, but she's never seen me with anyone, so I don't know how she will react. It's always been just the two of us."

I frown. "Have I missed something?" I look back at my daughter, who's spinning a fake steering wheel. "Has she made a comment or anything about me being around too much?"

"Hey," Livvy says as she touches my jaw, bringing my attention back to her. "No, she hasn't said anything of the sort. In fact, I know she loves having you around."

"She's said that?"

Livvy shakes her head. "No, but I can tell from the way she asks for you first thing in the morning if she wakes up before you get to our place. Or in the way she reacts when I pick her up from day care without you. She loves you."

"I love her too."

Livvy's eyes soften. "I know. Trust me, you have nothing to worry about when it comes to your daughter and her wanting you around."

"And what about her mother? Does she want me around?" I tease.

Livvy rolls her eyes, but the corners of her lips tip up. "Her mother is adjusting to having a man around the house to help."

"Is she now…"

"You're ridiculous."

"You like it."

"I do." Her little tongue sweeps across her bottom lip.

Fuck it.

I lean down and kiss her again.

"You just can't help yourself, can you?" she muses.

Childlike laughter makes us turn our heads.

Ari is standing in front of us, bouncing on her toes with a smile on her face. "Did you just kiss Mommy?"

"I did. Is that okay?"

Ari giggles. "I think Mommy liked it."

"Yeah, but did you like that I kissed Mommy?" I press as I hold Livvy a little tighter.

"Does this mean you two are together now like a real mommy and daddy?"

"Yes…" Livvy says hesitantly.

Ari's eyes light up. "Then I love it. You can kiss anytime you want…but maybe wait until I'm not looking."

"I'll try my hardest to wait until you aren't looking," I say gravely, making her giggle again.

"Daddy, will you help me with the monkey bars?" she asks.

"Oh, I can help you, baby," Livvy says as she starts to pull away from me.

Ari shakes her head. "I want Daddy to help me."

I can't help but puff out my chest a little bit. My girl wants my help and no one else's. It's a heady feeling.

"How about you go over there and grab us a couple of drinks?" I tell Livvy as I let her go and reach into my pocket.

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah," I tell her as I hand her my wallet.

"I have money, you know," she says as she reluctantly takes it.

"I know you do, but why use yours if you can use mine?"

"If you're sure."

"Money isn't an issue, sweetheart."

Livvy rolls her eyes. "What do you want to drink?"

"If you could just get me one of those flavored vitamin waters, that would be great. Just not the coconut one."

"The coconut one, got it," she says sarcastically before walking off.

"Your mommy's silly," I tell Ari.

"I know," Ari says as she takes my hand and starts pulling me toward the monkey bars.

"Alright, ready?" I ask as we come to stand underneath the bars.

"Ready!"

I pick her up by the waist and lift her up. Without me prompting her to, Ari grabs onto the bars. She reaches for the next one, but her arms aren't quite long enough to reach, so I help her out. When we make it to the end and back, she sags against my shoulder.

"Oof, that made me tired."

"Did it? Does that mean you're ready to go home?" I chuckle.

Ari shakes her head. "No, I don't wanna go home, but do you think Mommy got me some water?"

"I bet she did. Should we go find out?"

"Yes, please."

"Do you want me to put you down?"

Ari shakes her head no, so I turn her around in my arms. As soon as I do, she rests her head on my shoulder.

"Love you, Daddy."

My heart stutters.

She loves me.

I know she does. Hell, Livvy just told me she did, but hearing it come from her mouth for the first time is…indescribable.

"I love you too," I rasp, full of emotion.

Livvy frowns when she sees us approaching. "Is everything okay?"

"Everything is perfect."

"Are you sure?" Livvy presses.

"Positive. I'll tell you later."

"Okay." Her eyes move to our daughter and soften. "Are you ready to go home?"

Ari shakes her head. "No, I want to play a little bit longer, but I need a drink."

Livvy grabs an unopened bottle off the bench she was sitting on and holds it out.

"Down, please," Ari says, so I set her down.

After taking a drink from the water, she hands it back to Livvy before running off to play again.

"What was that all about?" Livvy asks as I pull her into my arms.

"She told me she loved me for the first time," I rasp.

Livvy wraps her arms around my waist and rests her head on my chest. "It feels amazing, doesn't it? Being loved so innocently."

"It does."

And it really fucking does.