I sigh and relax deeper into him, allowing my eyes to close and my mind to rest as I soak in the contentment that comes in that moment.
Strong hands lift me, pulling me from sleep. “Bedtime, angel.”
I open my eyes and I see that everyone has gone inside. A blanket is draped around me, and I am cradled in the warmth of strong arms.
“What time is it?” I ask into his neck.
“Late. I didn’t want to wake you,” he says, looking down at me adoringly.
I reach up, moving his hair from his forehead, his skin cool against my warm palm. “Mase, your freezing,” I scold, pulling the blanket from around me and draping it over his shoulders.
“I’m fine.” He shrugs off the material.
He walks us into the penthouse and drops me to my feet. Lance, Charlie, Megan and Scarlet, all sit around the sectional sofa watching a movie. Scarlet gets up when she sees us, rounding the sofa to hug me.
“Night, guys,” she says with a lopsided grin on her face.
“I hope you’ve had a good day, Scar, I know I have.” I yawn long and hard, lifting my hand to stifle it. I have no idea how long I’ve been asleep, but I feel exhausted.
“Thanks to you I have.” She pulls Mason in for a hug. “Big brother, you fuck this up, and I will seriously never forgive you,” she tells him, throwing me a wink over his shoulder. “Is Vinny still with Dad? He’s happy to stay?”
“Yeah, have a night off, Scar,” Mason tells her.
“Thank you,” she says, reaching out to squeeze my hand.
“You seem to make everyone you meet fall in love with you.”
We stand at the sinks in Mason’s en suite brushing our teeth, and I pause momentarily as his comment registers.
I side-eye him in the mirror, noting the panic that’s written across his face. Biting down on my toothbrush, I try to contain my amusement.
I step forward and rinse, then wipe my chin. “I do?”
“Yeah. Like my sister, Vinny and the boys,” he says, slightly muffled.
“Ah, your sister, Vinny and the boys.” I wait a beat before asking. “Have you ever been in love, Mase?”
“Me?” He doesn’t look at me, but I catch his brows raised high in the mirror, his toothbrush going a mile a minute in his hand.
“Yes, you,” I ask.
“Uh, I don’t think so.”
“Me neither.” I shrug, hooking the tips of my fingers into the crevice of my collarbone.
I wait for him to finish his teeth then step up to him, blinking slowly as I draw his lips into a deep kiss. The taste of mint and him is the perfect mix. “Although I think I could. One day. I don’t think I’m completely broken.” I give him a wink.
His face grows serious, not catching on to my playfulness. “You’re not broken. I have every faith that you will love someone someday.”
My eyes search his, my arms wrapping around his neck. “Someone?”
He smiles, looking off to the side and shaking his head.
I bite my lip, knowing he’s done with tiptoeing around the conversation.
He takes me by the waist and lifts me to sit on the counter between the two sinks.
“Me. You will love me one day because I have absolutely no clue how I could ever allow you not to. I don’t know what this is, Nina,” he gestures between us, “but the need to knowyou, protect you, know where you are and that you are safe. That? That, I have never in my life felt before. You consume me in a way that scares me because it’s new. Every decision I’ve made since meeting you has had you at the centre of it.”
