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Chapter Seven

Kady

Noah fucking LeBlanc.

God.

I could kill that son of a bitch right now. Maybe that would finally wipe that smug ass smirk off his stupid face. Actually, no it wouldn’t. He loves me angry so it would only egg him on. Which just pisses me off even more.

Screw him.

Ever since he showed back up in my life - I keep asking myself the same thing: who the hell does he think he is? And just when I think we’ve reached the limit of how crazy he’ll get, he develops a new layer of insane and surprises me. Clenching my fists in my lap, I grit my teeth and try to take a deep breath as I stare out the window of Mason’s car, imagining several different ways I could kill him. I mean, showing up at my house is one thing but to follow me to dinner with my boyfriend and then crash it… the man has lost his ever-lovin’ mind! Not to mention that no matter how much I tell him to leave me alone, he just keeps showing up and ruining everything I’ve built in the void he left in my life. Allowing him back into my world is playing with fire and I’m not the only one that could get burned this time.

Mason has been silent since we left the restaurant and I glance over at him, wincing at his white knuckled grip on the steering wheel. God, what is he thinking right now? I wouldn’t have blamed him if he stood up and decked Noah but he surprised me by simply standing up to him and he looked so damn confident doing it. But I know him well enough to know it’s eating away at him.

“Mason?”

He spares a glance in my direction before turning back to the road in front of him. “Is he why you won’t move in with me?”

“No,” I whisper, shaking my head as I drop my gaze to my lap. Over the past few months, Mason has been trying to convince me to take our relationship to the next level but I’ve refused. It’s not because of Noah or because I don’t want to live with Mason but there’s so much about my life that he doesn’t know, things that could put him in danger, and I’m not ready to tell him all of that yet. Hell, he and I have never even had sex because of how screwed up I am.

“Sure seems like it. From where I’m sitting, Kady, it’s all starting to make sense now.”

I meet his gaze before he turns back to the road. “It’s not that simple, Mason. There are things about me that I’ve never talked about and it would be unfair and unkind of me to move in with you before you know them.”

“So tell me,” he demands as we pull into the driveway of the cabin. I shake my head.

“I don’t know if I’m ready.”

“It’s like that, then?” He puts the car in park and turns to look at me.

“Like what?”

Sighing, he looks away for a second, gripping the steering wheel tighter. “Our one year anniversary is in two weeks and I’ve done everything I can to show you what you mean to me but you still don’t feel secure enough in us to tell me about your past.”

“I told you it’s not that simple.”

“Then simplify it for me, Kady!” he yells and I suck in a breath as tears burn my eyes. He glances over at me and whispers a curse before opening his door and jogging around the front of the car. When he gets my door open, he pulls me out of the car and wraps his arms around me as he buries his head in my neck. “I’m sorry.”

I shake my head. “No. I’m sorry. You didn’t ask for this mess and maybe I never should have agreed to that first date. Mason, you’re one of the best men I’ve ever met and you deserve so much more than me.”

“Hey,” he whispers, pulling back and brushing the back of his fingers on my cheek. “Don’t talk about the woman I love like that.”

“You love me?”

He sighs. “I probably should have told you before now but I’ve been doing my best to show you how I feel and I didn’t want to scare you off, especially after how long it took to even convince you to one date. And I realize that now it probably looks like I’m only saying this because your ex showed up but I’m really hoping you can see past that.”

I nod. “I can. I just…”

“Please don’t say anything right now, babe. You need time to process, I get that. Just tell me again that I have nothing to worry about.”

I press my hand to his cheek and smile. “Ancient history, I promise.”

“Do you want to go to the police?”

Oh, that is a bad idea.

For so many reasons.