“For how long this time, Mason? How long will it take before you walk away again?” she snaps, then thins her lips to stop from saying anything more.
I could promise her never again. I could spout off how I’m in love with her, have been from the beginning but was too scared to say the words. How I want a second chance. That I will do anything to get that chance. That she’s it for me. My forever. The woman I see my future with. My wife. The mother to our children.
But I don’t say any of those things because she wouldn’t believe me if I tried. Actions speak louder than words.
“Finish eating. I want to take you somewhere.”
“No.”
“Yes.”
“No, Mason.”
Chapter 7
ARIA
I stare out the window as we drive, watching the roadside scenery pass by in a blur. I say no, Mason says yes, and here we are, in his truck, driving to who knows where. I silently curse my stupid, weak, broken heart that is still in love with the jackass sitting in the driver’s seat. I’ve been silently fuming for the past ten minutes, trying valiantly to slap mortar onto the cracks forming in the crumbling brick wall around my heart, but it’s hard to do when he smells so good and looks so good and is so close that I can reach over and touch him and… I’m pathetic.
Eventually, I can’t take the silence any longer.
“Where are you taking me?”
“You talking to me now?” he asks, glancing over in my direction as he slows down at a four-way stop before turning right.
I hold back my sassy retort and turn my head to glare at him. He returns my glare with a disarming, charming smile, just like he did earlier in the kitchen, and I literally melt into a puddle in my seat, which only irritates me more. Because, god help me, all I want to do is relive the kiss from last night. Feel his soft, full lips on mine again. On my skin. My body.
“Baby, you keep looking at me like that and I’m going to—”
I snap out of my lust-filled daydream. “I’m not looking at you like anything,” I lie, and to give my pounding chest a chance to calm down, I attack the radio console, turning it on and hitting buttons until I find a decent song.
I sit back in my seat, the buttery, beige leather cushioning me like a pillow. “Is this new?” I ask.
I’m not used to driving shotgun in a huge crew cab the size of a small house. My car is a POS white Honda I bought used. It already had ninety thousand miles on it. I’m honestly surprised it hasn’t fallen to pieces by now, but my little Accord is a tough old thing.
“How can you tell?”
“New car smell,” I reply.
He nods once and hits the blinker to indicate a left turn. Even though I’ve lived in Dearborne for over a year, I haven’t gone exploring much. Okay, I haven’t gone exploring at all. It’s really a beautiful town. Gorgeous area that packs an abundance of small-town charm. I love how everything is flush with greenery and trees, unmarred by construction and concrete.
“What are you doing these days?” he asks, and seeing as I opened the door for conversation, I reply, “What do you mean?”
“Job wise. Did you ever start your freelance business?”
Again, I’m caught off guard by the fact he remembers that, just like how he remembered I eat chocolate chip pancakes every Sunday or how I take my coffee.
Biting my bottom lip to stop the pride from showing, I nod. I was an English major, my head forever between the pages of a book. During my sophomore year, I helped a friend from class copy edit their novel and kind of fell in love with the process.
“You did? Aria, that’s fantastic. Tell me.”
Those denim blue eyes briefly turn my way, but I don’t miss the happiness that shines in them or the way seeing that happiness makes me happy as well. Mason may have his faults,but when we were together, he was a fantastic boyfriend. Always supportive of my dumb ideas. Always attentive and listened to my silly ramblings with rapt attention, like what I said was the most interesting thing in the world. It’s just the ending of us that sucks. It was so sudden and unexpected. And it hurt.
I look out the passenger side window. At the world flying by. It’s a euphemism for my life this past year and a half. I’ve let it fly by. Time I won’t be able to get back. Things I could have done but didn’t. New experiences I could have had.
And it makes me wonder…
Like Kama said, maybe I’m looking at things the wrong way. Maybe seeing Mason againisn’tsuch a bad thing. Maybe it’s my opportunity to get some closure, find resolve with what happened, so I can finally move on with my life. Maybe we can end things the right way—as friends. It would be good if we could since he’s living right next door to me. It would make things less awkward in the long run.
