Lee reached over and smacked me along the back of my head. I winced and rubbed the spot.
“Too soon?” I asked.
“Smartass…” he whispered.
Mama D and Mama K came back a few minutes later, their eyes still red. It was obvious they had both been crying again.
Lee wrapped them both in his arms, and the contrast threw me for a minute. Lee was tall and broad, blond, but with short hair that was long on top, like a grown out military cut. Which it was. He’d never gotten out of the habit of keeping it short, even after he was discharged. Mama D was almost as tall as he was, and just as blonde, but Mama K was much shorter. She was wiry, and wicked fast on the mats. I hated when she decided she wanted to spar with me, because even now she could knock me on my ass.
After a few minutes they stepped back, sniffling and making use of the tissue boxes scattered around the waiting area before taking a seat in one of the chairs. Lee sat next to them, with Mason next to him.
“Lee, why don’t you go in and see him?” Mama D said, her arm wrapped around Mama K. “The… the doctor said his CAT scan showed more bleeding in his brain. He said they have to wait a few days to do an MRI, but right now they are going to keep a very close eye on him. You’re the only one of us with any real medical experience. Can you go take a look at him, then tell us what you think?”
Lee nodded. It didn’t escape anyone’s attention that he and Mason went back to the ICU together.
I looked at my parents.
“So, Lee and Mason, huh?” I said, smiling.
“Shush! Don’t jinx it,mijo!” Mama K said, a smile peeking through her tears.
“He seems like a nice guy,” Nicki said. “Really down to earth. Not at all what I expected.”
“What were you expecting?” I asked.
“I don’t know. Someone more aloof maybe? Or stuck up, or something?” Nicki said. “I mean, okay, this is weird, but… I know he’s this famous writer and artist, right? But he’s just a normal guy. A little shy, maybe. Not at all what I expected of Mason Cameron, famous artist. Here, he’s just…Mason.”
I nodded.
“I know what you mean. He has this reputation for being reclusive, like Hemingway, or something. Never giving interviews or press conferences, or whatever. Now he’s here, being this normal guy. Holding my brother’s hand for God’s sake…” My family laughed at that. Lee wasn’t exactly the kind of guy who did a lot of public displays of affection. To be holding Mason’s hand, he might as well have put a ring on it.
“Maybe it was love at first sight,” Nicki said, shrugging.
“You trying to say Mason is like Bacon?” Bishop teased. “Because that’s the only thing I love at first sight.”
Bishop and the moms started talking. Nicki leaned against me, his head resting on my shoulder.
“I still need to get his autograph,” Nicki sighed.
“I don’t think I like way you’re looking at him,” I said abruptly, narrowing my eyes and looking at him seriously.
Nicki looked up at me, his eyes wide.
“What? Why?” he asked, a slight wobble to his voice.
“You’ve practically got little hearts coming out of your eyes,” I teased.
“Shut up!” He said, shoving my shoulder as he realized I was hassling him. “Like you’re any better! You’re telling me if that was Nathan Fillion in there, you wouldn’t be the same way.”
“I wouldn’t!” I declared, totally lying. “But if it was Tom Hiddleston, we’d totally be fighting to the death over him.”
“I’m glad it’s not Tom Hiddleston, then,” Nicki said. My breath caught in my chest as I looked at him. Our eyes locked, and the room seemed to fade away into the distance. Then I was leaning forward and brushing my lips across his. My tongue swiped gently over the seam of his lips, then he was opening his mouth to me.
I groaned as the taste of him exploded on my tongue. I’d missed this so fucking much. Missedhim. I leaned into him, bringing one hand up to grip the back of his head and tipping my head to perfectly align our mouths.
His tongue met mine, dueling me for control of the kiss. That… was new. In the past, Nicki always let me be the one to lead, and put on the brakes when necessary. Now… now he met me, stroke for stroke, his tongue exploring my mouth with equal intensity.
I didn’t know how long we were like that, but I heard a coughed, “Get a room,” from Bishop, and we jerked apart just as the doors swung open and Lee and Mason walked out.
