Chapter 3

Mason

Mondays always came too soon and lasted too damn long. All I wanted to do was sleep in, especially after the amount of alcohol I had drunk the night before. I wanted my comforter, my pillows, and the pool to take a dip in every once in a while. Instead, I was at my dad’s office in the corporate building, hating my life as always. Maybe I should have been thankful I had the kind of money I had because of my father, but still, I hated being here. There was some big meeting that morning, and my father had called me five times already to make sure I would be there. He rarely asked me to do anything with him, so when he said he wanted me at that meeting, I knew it was a demand, not a request. The last thing I needed was for him to get an attitude about me not showing up and kick me out of the penthouse. I guessed it was paying my dues for the rent I didn’t have to pay.

I hated big corporate meetings with all the expensive suits, bad cologne, and men too serious for their own good. They all looked at me like my father did: a disappointment to the future of York Hotels and Resorts. I personally didn’t give two shits how they looked at me. I hated how boring the meetings were. They went over numbers I didn’t get, projections I didn’t care about, and only every once in a while tech stuff, but not usually. The real reason I was there was not for input or to learn anything but to make everyone think I was a stout supporter of my father. I did support my father if it meant I got to keep my lifestyle, but I hated being forced to do anything, much less sit there looking like my father’s clone. I nodded my head repeatedly, smiling when they did, laughing when they did, and crossing my arms in disappointment whenever my father did. I felt like a robot sitting at that huge mahogany table.

“Thanks for coming,” my father grumbled when the meeting was over. “It’s good for the board to know your face, see the family rallying behind me.”

“Right,” I said, shaking his hand. “I’ll see you later.”

“Where are you off to?”

“The mattress store,” I yelled as I walked away.

I was sure his face was twisted into confusion, wondering why I was going there, but I figured it was better than yelling out something vulgar or condescending since all the board members were still standing around. I was on a mission, a mission to find the best mattress for all my bedroom needs. Not thrilling at all, but necessary if I wanted to not have back problems the rest of my life. I should have let the hotel know again, but they didn’t like to deal with me, and I could tell. So there I was speeding through the streets of New York to a new store I saw an ad for over on Fifth. Apparently they had all the new designs and the place was pretty upscale. Hopefully they would have a good selection so I could go home and take a nap. The hotel mattresses all came from the same place, and no matter what edition they got me, it sucked. People could call me spoiled, that was fine, but I wanted something comfortable to sleep on and fuck on when the moment presented itself.

I pulled into the parking lot in the back and walked around the building to the front door. It was like every other mattress store with pictures of sheep and pillows in the windows. I walked inside and let out a deep breath, scanning the room. There were so many damn mattresses, I would be there all day. I was pretty shocked by how many people were in the store. I never imagined a mattress store would be the place to go on a Monday afternoon. It looked like something was going on, but I ignored it and walked over to the counter to wait for an associate. I would have much rather been drinking beer on my balcony or going swimming with some hot number from the bar the other night. Instead, there I was making my Monday office day even more exciting with a riveting day of picking out something to sleep on. Hopefully my Tuesday would be a little more exciting.

When I realized that no one was coming over to help me, I started to wander around, bouncing up and down on the different displays set out. They were all super springy, and I was looking for something that would swallow me whole when I collapsed into it at the end of the day. I approached the crowd and looked over, realizing there were models posing on different mattresses. The sign next to me said it was their “Ads Day,” and they were using it as a promotional tool for the store. I guessed having beautiful women lounging on mattresses would do the trick. I watched the girls pose for pictures and chuckled while turning to the other side of the store. I stopped in my tracks, staring over at another model, only this one was drawing me in like nothing I had experienced before. Slowly, I made my way to the center of the store and sat down on a bed, watching as she posed in different positions. I could totally see myself in that bed with her, but there definitely wouldn’t be any clothes left on her body. She was intriguing, and I couldn’t shake the feeling.

I got up, walked closer, and sat on the bed next to where they were shooting, acting as if I were checking out the mattress. I lay down on my back, looking to the side and watching her. She was absolutely gorgeous, probably one of the most beautiful women I had ever seen. She had a tight body with perfect curves, toned legs and arms, and lips that were the perfect amount of pouty. I felt like I needed to touch her, like my hands would never forgive me if I didn’t feel that perfect skin on my fingertips.

I sat there twiddling my thumbs, trying to control my urges, but we were two magnets being pulled together. She looked over at me and smiled before turning back toward the photographer. I couldn’t take it any longer and figured, fuck it, you only live once. I got up from the bed and walked over to her, climbing across the mattress and taking her face in my hands. I leaned forward, closed my eyes, and pressed my mouth against hers, feeling her body lean into me. She smelled amazing but familiar, like cherries and vanilla. She leaned into the kiss and ran her hand up my arm, kissing me back passionately. I didn’t give a shit that the photographer was calling to me or that there were tons of people in the place watching, I was lost in her lips. It had to be the best kiss I had ever had.

Her skin was so soft under my hand, and her long, beautiful hair cascaded all around her. She squeezed my bicep with force as she kissed me like she didn’t care about everyone else watching either. I was kind of surprised she was going with it, but I wasn’t about to pull away from a kiss like that. I had kissed my fair share of women. Probably almost every night, my lips were pressed against someone’s mouth, even if nothing else came out of it. Between the girls at the bars and clubs, I had a lot of experience in that department, but this was completely different. There was a connection behind this kiss—even if I didn’t want to admit that to myself—a familiarity I couldn’t quite put my finger on. I felt like I had kissed her before, but how could I have?

“Excuse me,” the photographer shouted, getting our attention.

She pulled back and looked at him with confusion and then turned to me, realizing what had just happened. She pulled back and slapped me right across the face before turning to get off the bed. I grabbed her arm and swung her around, looking into her familiar face. I knew I knew her, but until that moment, I didn’t know how. My mouth dropped open.

“Ava?” I stuttered.

She closed her mouth and fire flew across her face. She jumped up off the bed and ran away into the back. I couldn’t believe that of all the girls in the world, I had just found Ava in a mattress store on Fifth.