Mason looked up at me, ready to argue. I shook my head and pursed my lips. He took the hint and kept quiet. I hoped the drive would give them time to talk, because there was something Abi still wasn’t telling me.
“I suppose I could, but am I supposed to turn around to come back here after dropping him off?” I didn’t like that idea one bit, but she had a valid point.
“Mace, what do you want to do?” I asked, leaving the decision up to him.
“I don’t know what Abi would do while I’m doing my therapy and shit, but if she didn’t mind hanging around down there for the day, it’d be cool to come back up here tonight.”
I hadn’t been willing to ask him to commute back and forth daily, but it sounded perfect to me. I had a full week in town, with a day off between two home series, which would give us plenty of time together.
And as a side bonus, it’d give us a chance to see what it’d be like to spend more time together. Sure, we’d been roommates before, but circumstances were different back then. For all I knew, Mason could be impossible to live with once he got pissy about the fact that he was stuck on the DL, or he could lose his mind when I left my dirty clothes all over the place.
“I’ll probably rent a car when we get back, because you’re right, I shouldn’t be trying to drive stick right now, and my Jeep’s a bitch to shift on a good day,” he continued. “I mean… if you don’t mind me staying up here, at least until you head out again. Then, I’ll probably crash at my place.”
I wanted to throw my arms around his neck and tell me there was nothing I wanted more, but I had to play it cool. For one thing, I didn’t want to seem as if I was pressuring Mason into more than he was ready for, but also because Abi would never let me live it down if I went all soft.
“Yeah, that’d be fine by me.” Abi nearly choked trying to stifle her laughter at my failed attempt to stay calm and indifferent.
“If you want, I’ll be your personal chauffeur,” Abi offered, practically bouncing out of her seat. “I’ve been sitting around the house for almost a month now and I’m going out of my mind. It’d be good to have something meaningful to do.”
“Well, I guess that’s settled, then,” I said. If driving back and forth between Milwaukee and Chicago was going to put a smile on Abi’s face, I’d gladly pay for the gas it was going to require to keep the truck filled.
Abi bounded down the stairs to get ready to leave, giving Mason and me some time alone. I wrapped my arms around his waist from behind and led him into the downstairs spare bedroom. “Are you really okay with staying up here and driving down every day?” I asked, needing that little bit of reassurance.
“If I wasn’t, I wouldn’t have said it,” he responded, rolling his eyes at my absurdity. It seemed my own insecurity was the biggest hurdle we had to overcome. As much as I wanted to let go and believe that all of this was really happening, it wasn’t real to me just yet.
We’d had a hot and heavy night at his place, a tender moment in the men’s bathroom in a diner, and a quick goodbye on the side of the road. That was hardly enough to justify the feelings I was having for him. “The bigger question is areyouready to have me around all the time. I’m not sure if you remember, but I can be a bit of a slob. I drink milk out of the carton and have no issues eating cold pizza that’s been sitting on the stove all night. Can you handle that?”
“You’ll have to be patient with me,” I reminded him. “I’ve spent most of my life trying to avoid getting involved with anyone, so it’s going to take some time for me to get used to the fact that I evenwanta relationship. As for the rest of it, I’m sure I’ll get used to walking around behind you picking up stray clothes and I’ll be sure to put leftovers away. It’ll be worth it to get some extra time with you.”
Mason shoved me down onto the bed, and fell on top of me, being careful to put all of his weight on his left arm. The Velcro of the brace on his right scratched the side of my face as he ran his fingers over my short blond hair.
“It’s a lot for both of us,” he admitted. “Hell, until a few days ago, I couldn’t even admit to anyone that I wanted to be with a man. I thought I’d missed my chance to be with the one person I’ve ever really wanted. Now, I’m wondering why in the hell I didn’t say anything when we were younger. We lost so much time we could have been together.”
“Don’t think about that,” I scolded him, reaching up to brush the hair away from his face. I curled my fingers around the back of his neck, pulling him down until our lips met. The kiss started out slowly, cautiously, but quickly grew in intensity. Mason moaned as my tongue pushed past his lips, his left arm slid beneath my body, as his right hand reached for the hem of my t-shirt. “Mace, we don’t have time. Tonight, I promise.”
“I want you now,” he whimpered before nipping at my earlobe. He seemed to have some sort of oral fixation, and I was all too willing to let him sink his teeth into my skin. But not now. Right now, we were both at risk of being late for work. My brain was already short-circuiting from the way Mason was licking and biting his way down my neck, and I almost gave in to his whispered pleas. Almost.
“Tonight,” I repeated, placing my hands in the middle of his chest to push him off me. “When I get home, we’ll have dinner, talk a bit, and then not talk the rest of the night.”
“I hate you right now,” he groaned, unashamedly adjusting the hard-on in his jeans. Of course, I couldn’t help but watch him, thinking about how easy it’d be to lean forward and release him, sucking him to the root until he screamed. I had it bad.
I stood, tossing my arms around Mason’s neck. “I know, but look on the bright side.”
“I’m failing to see one right now.” I kissed him on the forehead, loving that he thought he could pull out the puppy dog eyes and get me to bend to his whim.
“It gives you a good reason to hurry up and get back here.” I gave him one last kiss before quickly ducking out of the room to keep him from starting anything else we couldn’t finish.
10
Mason
PT was not onlyboring and tedious, it hurt like hell. No matter how many times I told the trainer that I wasn’t up to doing what she asked, she pushed harder and harder. By the time Abi pulled up outside the players’ entrance to pick me up, I was ready for the pain pills I’d been avoiding so far.
If not for the fact that I was pretty sure I was already a goner over her brother, I would have leaned across the truck to kiss her when she greeted me with a bottle of water and my medication.
“I grabbed these out of Sean’s bathroom before we left,” she told me. “I figured you’d be too pig-headed to admit you need them.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” I scoffed.
