43
MASON
Lana finds me sitting in my truck in the driveway well after I arrived at the house. I want to erase the concern from her gorgeous face but I can’t find the words, so I just let her lead me inside before pulling her into my lap on the couch.
“I need to tell you something,” I say quietly, choking on the sob that wants to escape.
“You can tell me anything.”
“Bodhi was gonna leave Blackstone Falls.”
“What?” She gasps and I nod.
“And when he said it, I didn’t even think; I just said I’d leave too. And the crazy part is that before it all happened, I was thinking how damn near perfect my life is with you and the kids and being here in Blackstone Falls. But the second he said he was leaving, all of that disappeared. I panicked.”
Soft hands cup my face, her thumbs wiping away my tears before she’s pressing kisses to my cheeks. “I’m so sorry. I can’t imagine how scary that was for you.”
“I was going to leave you. I was going to go and I’m sorry. I don’t know what kind of man that makes me, Lana. I felt like Icouldn’t breathe without him, and he was standing right in front of me.”
I can hear the anguish in my voice, the soul-crushing belief that I’d be on my own.
“Shhh…” she soothes as I cry into her shoulder, my tears soaking the fabric of her shirt as she holds me.
“I’m so sorry. I’m so, so sorry.”
“Mason, listen to me.” It takes a minute for me to blink enough to clear the water from my eyes and focus on her face—the beautiful face I’d practically forgotten when I thought I was losing my brother.
“I’m so sorry,” I whisper, my eyelids fluttering shut as she presses a gentle kiss to my lips.
“Enough. I’m sorry today was hard and I’m sorry tomorrow will be too. I won’t pretend it makes me feel good that you were ready to run, but there’s not a single bone in my body that doesn’t believe you’d come back to us.”
“What?” I ask, not sure I heard her right.
“Oh yeah, Mason Amato, we got your number, and if you think I’m learning that fancy braid when Bodhi does it so well for Holland or putting the hours in playing catch with Beck and running drills like you, you’re nuts.” Her grin is full of mischief as she takes my hand and puts my palm over her heart. “It’s yours and I don’t want it back. You’ve made me and the kids better. You made us whole, and you didn’t for one second look at me and thinkshe’s too much work.”
“Lana,” I breathe out, my voice cracking on her name.
“You knew we were a package deal, but you didn’t think twice. And guess what? We love your brother. He’s ours too. Holland and Beck have never been so excited to have so many uncles, and really, if we need to pull out the big guns, we’ll make him tell Holland he’s leaving, and he can deal with the consequences.”
I laugh. It’s weak but it’s there as a piece of my heart fits back into place.
“You wanna run? We’ll run, but, like, I need to pack snacks and extra clothes for the kids because even though they’re bigger, they’ve never met a puddle they haven’t wanted to jump in, and you’veseena hangry Beck—it’s not pretty,” she murmurs against my lips, the visual giving me the ability to breathe and the realization that I don’twantto run. Not anymore.
“Why do I think you’ve lumpedmeinto thatneeds a change of clothescategory?”
“If the shoe fits,” she says casually, lifting a shoulder and letting it drop.
“I fucking love you,” I breathe against her lips, my hand sliding across her jaw to grip the back of her neck as I pull her in for a kiss.
It’s grounding, her lips on mine, the feel of her bringing me back to where I need to be, where I’m not just some runaway train on the tracks.
“I love you more.”
“Impossible,” I tease and she grins.
“Mase?”
“Yeah?”
