Half of Something

(Mason)

I knocked on what used to be my office door.

When I opened it, I expected to find Hunter sitting at the desk. After all, he was the one who’d sent me a text to come see him. I had been in the shop working on some stuff alongside the guys. It was where I felt comfortable and relaxed. On the payroll, getting an hourly wage, at least for the moment until my plan went through.

What I didn’t expect to see was Violet sitting across from Hunter.

I had the sudden sinking gut feeling that I was being set up for an intervention or something.

I slowly shut the door. “What’s this?”

“Paperwork came,” Hunter said. “Everything is all squared away with your ex.”

“And Violet…?”

“You didn’t tell me what your plan was,” she said.

“And you thought it was your job to do that?” I asked Hunter. “Are you fucking kidding me, man?”

“No,” Hunter said. He stood up. “I didn’t say a word. I just figured it was time to get all this shit settled for good. You don’t belong on the hourly payroll, Mason. You and I know that. You can’t live life by a set schedule. You live wild and free. Which is why I have more paperwork for you.”

“What the fuck are you talking about?” I asked.

Hunter stepped out from behind the desk. “I’m just making this known now. In front of both of you. Mason is a goddamn asshole. Sometimes he’s not much more than the piece of dog shit that gets stuck in your shoe. But there are times when he’s really something else. If it wasn’t for Mason, I wouldn’t be here right now. I know that. He pulled me into this business and I’ll never be able to say thank you enough.”

“You own the business now,” I said. “Nothing else matters.”

“But it does,” Hunter said. “Your shop is opening as soon as possible, Mason. You take RN Custom Rides back to where it belongs and I do my thing here. And together…” Hunter whistled.

“You own everything, Hunter,” I said. “Remember?”

“I’m confused here,” Violet said. “What is actually happening?”

Hunter handed me a bunch of paperwork. “The top stuff is for the land. It’s yours again. You can pay me back whenever you want. Okay? The bottom stuff…” Hunter patted my shoulder. “Congrats, brother. You are officially divorced. Single and ready to mingle.”

Hunter looked back at Violet and gave a nod.

She stood up, half smiling. “Seriously?”

“I’ll leave you two to talk,” Hunter said. “No more keeping things from each other, okay?”

Hunter left the office.

I held the paperwork and slowly looked down at it. I wasn’t so concerned about the land stuff as I was about the divorce stuff. I walked to a table against the wall and started to flip through the papers.

Holy shit.

She signed everything.

And I even got a restraining order filed and approved.

If Stacey even thought about coming near me - or Violet - she would be arrested and thrown into jail.

I put my hands to the papers and let out a long sigh.

“Mason?”

I looked up. There was a picture of a motorcycle in pieces framed out. In the reflection of that I saw Violet.

“Okay… I have to tell you what I did.”

* * *

I moved away and let her see the paperwork.

“Stacey was always about money,” I said. “From the second I met her. After I woke up and realized I married her, I took off. She took all my shit already, like I told you. I didn’t care. When she would poke her head around, I’ll be upfront with you… we’d get into bed for a weekend and then she’d take my cash and disappear. For me, it was sort of ideal. Nothing like that crazy surprise. I met you and things happened the way they did. I had so much to lose, Violet, I couldn’t figure out how to make it happen. It made me fucking sick to my stomach to think she would get half of something. The shop. My money. Everything I had. I’d have rather stayed married to her than go through a fight in court.”

“But she signed the papers,” Violet said.

“Let me explain what I did,” I said. “I gave Hunter the business. So that was off the table. That’s good. But then one night when I got shit-faced, I gave him some cash and he bought the land next to this building. Well, I bought the land, with the intention of opening another shop. I wanted to commit to you, babe. I didn’t want Stacey in our lives. And the marriage thing… I fucking hate that word right now. But it needed to end. And I knew what she wanted. She wanted cash. See, for Stacey, she doesn’t think long term. She tries to survive hour to hour. Day to day. So I needed to have an amount that would make her jump. She’s a junkie for cash. So that’s what I did…”

“You paid her off?”

“I sold the land back to Hunter for a really cheap price. I made that my only worthwhile asset. And I offered her half of it. Straight up. No courts. No lawyers. No messes. I’d cut her a check for half of the balance in my account and she would sign the papers and go away.”

“No…”

“Yes.”

“You could have proven she’s fucking crazy, Mason. You could have proven that the marriage was a joke. You were both drunk. You were in Vegas on a one-night trip. You…”

I smiled. I stepped toward Violet and took her by the waist. “That’s my point, babe. I don’t care about anything without you. I don’t need to go through weeks and months of arguing with Stacey. That would have been time wasted. We’ve wasted enough time already together. I can’t do it anymore. So, I offered her the money and she took it. The rest of the money I gave back to Hunter and he gave me the land back. Yeah, I took a hit, but she’s gone now.”

“You did that for us?”

“I did it for you,” Mason said. “To show you how I feel. It’s been a fucked-up mess, Violet. My whole life has been a fucked-up mess. Okay? The only woman I ever loved never loved me back the way I wanted. And I’d never blame Kate for that. Things were just too weird, and then I lost her. I never got to figure out the closure in that. Then you moved in next door. This beautiful, innocent woman, dripping with desire that she didn’t know she had. You found a way to crack the steel shell around my heart. So I want it to be us, Violet. Just you and me. No outside noise.”

She touched my face. “That’s the most romantic thing I’ve ever heard, Mason. But we can’t forget the past. You can’t let Kate go. You can still write to her. You can keep the letters. I’ll never read them. She’s an important part of your life and always will be.”

“I’m more focused on the present.”

“And the future…?”

“You’re my future, babe. That’s all I care about. I can’t believe these fucking words are dripping from my mouth.”

Violet touched my lip. “I can’t believe it, either.”

“But it’s all done now, Violet. I’m divorced. I’m sort of broke. But I’m happy with you. Fuck… how about that? I’m happy.”

“Does that mean you’ll never make me hate you again?” Violet asked.

I lifted her up and turned her around. I sat her right on all the papers.

“Babe, you’re going to hate me every day. I promise you that. Some guys bring flowers and bullshit. Some guys want to make everything special, right? Not me. I’m going to find a way every single day to make you hate me. And you’re going to hate me with a smile on your face and your panties soaking wet. Got that?”

“Got it,” Violet said.

“And now…” I pressed my lips to her neck. “I’m going to fuck your brains out on these divorce papers…”

I nibbled at Violet’s neck.

Then Violet surprised me by saying, “Good… I want them to be a sticky mess of us.”

* * *

I grabbed her panties off the floor and hooked them on my finger. She was on the table, legs slightly parted, her hand grabbing the sides, panting. Her sweet cunt was still dripping with honey, and some of my cum. The sight was fucking amazing.

“These I’m going to keep,” I whispered.

I stuffed her panties into my pocket and helped her get dressed.

I lifted her off the table and peeled away a piece of paper that was stuck to her ass. We both burst into laughter as her pants were still at her knees. She threw her arms around me and we just stood there, looking at each other.

The moment was pretty fucking intense.

There was nothing in our way now.

It was up to us to make everything make sense.

Which was fine by me.

I gathered up the paperwork and caught my own breath as I stared at it. Everything was complete and moving forward. I was going to regain ownership of RN Custom Rides. I was going to have a new building. And I was going to have my best friend right next door running his own business.

Violet touched my back. “You okay?”

And I was going to have my woman right there with me.

“I’m fucking great,” I whispered.

I left the folders and walked to the door.

I opened it and Hunter stood there, a pissed-off look on his face.

“My office?” he asked.

“It was my office first,” I said.

He looked at Violet. I put an arm around her and pulled her close.

“I figured you two would fight.”

“That’s how we fight,” Violet said.

“Jesus,” Hunter said. “You really corrupted her.”

“To the core,” I said. “Thank you, Hunter. For keeping things straight for me while I figured my shit out.”

“That’s what brothers are for,” he said. “Now you’re truly a free man, Mason. Nothing is in your way but yourself. That’s pretty fucking terrifying.”

“Yes, it is,” I said. “Yes, it is.”

We left the office and the shop.

I was going to take Violet to the empty lot and show her where the new shop was going to be built. But then she looked at me with those pretty, wild eyes of hers and I decided on something different.

I wanted her home.

I wanted her in bed.

I wanted her forever.