I needed her to get better because I was in the midst of saving up enough money to get an apartment of my own so that I could care for her.
I grabbed her wheelchair from the corner of the room and brought it to her bed. “How about some time outside?”
“After you’re done with your hair,” Mason said, cutting in before Mom had a chance to even speak.
He narrowed his eyes at me from behind Mom’s back, and I waitedpatientlyfor him to finish brushing her hair even though he had already gotten out all the knots.
When he finished, I grabbed it from him and watched him lift Mom and place her into the chair. We walked outside in the sun, talking about the garden and all the memories of when I had been younger. It was what we talked about every day. That was, until Mom brought up my girls’ weekend.
I stared at the concrete sidewalks, avoiding all eye contact with Mason.Don’t think of Mr. Bryne. Don’t mention Mr. Bryne. Act like Mr. Bryne doesn’t exist, Mia.
“I went into the pool.” I fiddled with the ends of my sleeves. Mom and Mason didn’t say anything for a long time, and I felt likeIneeded to fill the silence with something. “Mr. Bryne was there too.”
When the words left my mouth, I nearly slapped a hand over my forehead. Mom smiled in the sun and sat back in her seat, closing her eyes.
“How is he?” she asked. “I hope he’s doing well. I haven’t seen him since you went off to college.”
“He’s doing … well.” Really goddamn well.
“Good,” she said.
We walked around for a few more minutes until a nurse called for Mom to come back inside because she had another rehabilitation session.
“I have a speech session in a few minutes.”
Mason wheeled her back into the building, and a nurse grabbed the handles of her wheelchair from him.
I pulled Mom into a tight hug and smiled. “Hopefully, I’ll be able to stop by tomorrow.”
“Please do,” she said. “But if you’re busy, don’t worry about it.”
She pulled Mason into a hug next, and then she disappeared down the hall with a nurse. I frowned at her departing figure, wishing that I could still live with her, wishing that Dad hadn’t left her without any money, that she and I were back in the old house, creating a new life together. But like Dad … that house and our old life were gone.
CHAPTER8
MIA
When we got home, Mason was buzzed.
He pushed me into our bedroom, his hands all over my body. “Come on, baby. Let’s have some fun.”
He pulled up the back of my dress, pressing his cock into my backside, his nose grazing against my soft spot. I sighed to myself and let him bend me over the bed.
Within a few moments, he had hiked my dress all the way up, taken out his cock, and thrust it into me, pounding away, not caring that my fingers were digging into his thighs because he hadn’t even tried foreplay and my pussy was dry yet again.
“Your pussy’s always so tight for me, baby.”
“Mason,” I whispered, squeezing my eyes closed and trying to get wet. When I closed my eyes, all I could see was Mr. Bryne, all I could feel was Mr. Bryne, and I clenched.
“You like that, don’t you?”
I took a deep breath. “Mason, it stings.”
He grabbed a fistful of my hair and leaned over me, placing his lips on my neck. “Hmm?” he asked, voice terrifyingly low.
I didn’t know if he’d heard me or if he was playing games with me.
“Harder,” I whispered, not wanting to piss off a drunk Mason. “Please.”
