“How?”
“Why do you have so many damn questions?”
“Because …” He paused for a moment and stared at me with the most confident expression I had ever seen. “I care about you.” He didn’t stumble on his words. He didn’t act like he didn’t give a single fuck. He said the words and meant them, and I could feel it.
The air sat, thick with tension, and I stared back at him, not knowing howIfelt about hearing him say it. Something about it felt so freeing, like I didn’t have to do anything alone, like he would always be there for me …
“How are you going to deal with it?” he asked again, placing his glass of wine on the coffee table and turning in my direction.
I took a deep breath and glanced down at my thighs. I was going to have to continue using Mason for money, so I could survive. It was the only way. I didn’t want to be a damn charity case to anyone else. So, I shrugged my shoulders. “I can’t do anything now. When she gets out of intensive care and can leave the hospital …” My voice got quiet, and I gulped.Where will she go?
I had researched some places when I had time, but they were way too expensive.
“When she gets out, I’m going to get an apartment and take care of her.”
Mason wouldn’t want that trouble all the time. He didn’t have the patience, and I didn’t trust anyone else.
“What about your studies? Your job?”
I shrugged again. “I don’t know. I’ll have to take time off.”
He sighed deeply through his nose. “When she gets out of the hospital … I know this place about an hour north of the city. My father stays there. The nurses take good care of the patients.”
“What’s the name?” I asked.
“St. Barbars.”
“That’s way out of my price range.” Hell, everything was. “I can’t afford that.”
“I can,” he said, staring me straight in the eye. I parted my lips, about to refuse any type of monetary help from him, when he shook his head. “Don’t start. I would’ve done this years ago, if you had told me then. It’s not because I’m trying to win you over, and I’m not going to make you pay me back or even feel like you have to.”
“But—”
“I didn’t bring this up to argue about it. It isn’t a question that I need your answer to.” He looked me dead in the eyes. “I’m going to help you whether you accept my money or not.”
I was going to open my mouth again to say something, but then I pressed my lips back together. It hurt me so damn much to not say anything. It hurt me to be silent about this because I didn’t want his money. But that look in his eyes told me that he wasn’t going to give up. He would continue to push and push until I caved.
And by that time … I’d be drowning in debt from hospital bills.
“Promise me two things,” I said, grabbing his hands. “Don’t treat me any differently than you have been. I don’t want to be a charity case. I just want to be … be with you like this. And … don’t do anything finances-wise with my mom behind my back.”
He smiled. “I would never treat you differently, Mia.”
My heart felt warm and fuzzy, and I smiled. It felt so weird to have someone show me that they cared and actually meant it. I’d never thought it’d happen—ever—in this lifetime. I sank into the couch next to him and stared at the TV show he’d turned on while I had been getting ready. But instead of watching it, I grinned to myself. As weird and messed up as this whole situation was … I was falling for my best friend’s dad.
We must’ve sat there for hours, and I found myself curled up into him, his arm around me, my head resting on his shoulder, his scent drifting through my nose. It was the most peace I’d had in … probably ever.
Mason and I never did this. Maybe we had when we first started dating, but even then, he always tried to get into my pants mid-movie.
My eyes closed. This was what I wanted. This was what I’d dreamed of for so damn long. Being happy with someone, even when the world was dragging me down. Feeling free. Loving—loving?My heart skipped a beat, and I gulped.
Did … did I just think loving?
I sat back up, the word replaying through my mind. I glanced over at Michael, who looked down at me, his hand drifting from my shoulder to my knee.
“This is how it could be every night with me,” Michael said, resting his hand on my thigh and squeezing.
Something about the way he touched me so tenderly made me feelthings.
