Chapter Nineteen
Payton
It was Friday evening and I’d just pulled up to the ranch. I’d been counting down the hours, the seconds, until I could see Mason and Katie again. He’d been texting me nonstop since we had dinner the other night. And he’d called me more than once. He was making the effort. And it was causing me to lower my walls.
I opened the front door, already smiling. “Hey, guys?” The living room was empty and so was the dining room. I walked into the kitchen to find it the same. So I headed off down the long hallway leading to the rest of the house.
Mason and his baby sister were on the glider in her nursery, looking at photo albums. “Oh, hey. Sorry, I didn’t hear you come in.” He smiled at me and butterflies took flight. It didn’t matter what he was wearing or if his hair was fixed. He always looked like he’d just walked off a photo shoot for a magazine cover.
I crossed the room, then sat on the ottoman in front of them and happily took Katie from his arms when he handed her to me. “Hello, sweet girl.” I kissed her cheeks and her soft little head. “I swear she gets bigger every time I see her.” My eyes filled with tears and I quickly blinked them away. She wasn’t my daughter. I had no rights to her, but not seeing her every day was killing me.
“Where is my kiss?”
I glanced up, meeting Mason’s gaze. He was smiling playfully, but his eyes were different. He looked nervous. I leaned forward and kissed the corner of his mouth.
“Getting closer and closer to where I want you to be. I’ll take it.” He winked and I smiled like a schoolgirl. I wanted to kiss his lips. I wanted him to push me up against the nearest wall and have his way with me. I wanted him to make me scream his name so loud that he’d have to cover my mouth so the security guys outside wouldn’t hear.
“I agree.” He was getting there, but now still wasn’t the time. I refused to jump into anything until he was ready. “What are you two looking at?”
He turned the album around so that I could see. “M Kat and my dad had some maternity pictures taken, and I guess she was getting a scrapbook together about her pregnancy.”
His voice sounded sad, but not broken. I met his eyes and he smiled. “She was so beautiful. I bet Katie is going to look just like her.” I patted her back when she started to fuss at little.
“Yeah, I hope so.”
***
We’d finished dinner and were currently lounging on the couch. Katie was in her bassinet in Mason’s room and he had the baby monitor sitting between us. Every time the screen would go to sleep, one of us would reach over and bring her picture back up.
“You want to watch a movie?” Mason pointed at the TV with the small remote in his hand and brought up Netflix.
“If we put on a movie, I’d probably fall asleep ten minutes in. I feel like I’ve been at the hospital nonstop.” I settled down farther into the cushion and leaned my head back.
“Would it be totally lame if I yawned and tried to slip my arm around you right now?”
I snorted. “Yeah. Super lame.”
“Don’t care, doing it anyway.” He yawned loudly and then sat up, stretching his arm all the way out and then awkwardly put it around me. “See that wasn’t so terrible.”
I smiled and snuggled down farther into his side. “Not terrible at all.”
“Okay, so a movie is out. How about we just make out instead?”
I pulled back to look at him. “Is that really what you want to do?”
“Pretty much. I mean I tried the lame yawn move. I got you buzzed on cheap wine. I suggested some Netflix and chill…besides you already agreed to a sleepover.”
I wagged a finger in his face. “You said girls in one room and boys in the other.”
“I lied.”
I couldn’t help but laugh at the sheepish expression on his handsome face. “You’re a mess.”
“And you’re the last thing on my mind before I fall asleep at night.”
His words took my breath away, they really did. Mason was gorgeous and kind and funny. I loved being around him. I loved talking to him. His whole world had been ripped apart a few weeks ago, and he never lost his ability to smile or to be sweet to me, or Katie. Tragedy hadn’t hardened him, and I was so grateful for that. “Mason…”
“I’m not asking anything of you, Payton, I’m not expecting anything from tonight. I just wanted you to know that you mean something to me. You have from the first moment I saw you.” His eyes fell to my lips for a brief second. “I wouldn’t have made it these past few weeks without you. And I’ve hated every second that you’ve been gone.”
“I’ve missed you too.”
He rested his forehead against mine. “You’re my best friend.”
I smiled, my eyes closing. “You’re my best friend too, friend.”
“Kiss me.”
His words were a whisper that my body took as a command. I couldn’t hold back, not anymore. I pressed my lips to his and his hands went into my hair. I fisted his shirt to make him come closer.
I wanted him. I’d wanted him from the minute I’d walked out of his bedroom all those months ago. Things had felt different between us the last time I’d come for dinner. Like we were moving in the right direction, like he wanted this to happen for real. And tonight was no exception. Like our friendship was suddenly on fire.
Mason may not know exactly what to do with his life, or how to be the world’s best boyfriend, but right now, I just didn’t care.
I let him guide me into his lap. I helped him take off my shirt and then helped him take off his pants. We were both panting, both a frenzy of hands and mouths. Trying our best to never break our kiss as we got our clothes out of the way. I was moaning before he even slipped inside me. There was no foreplay. We didn’t need it. We’d been building up to this for weeks. I held onto his shoulders and slid all the way down his shaft. He filled me up completely, almost more than I could take. My head was thrown back and his lips were on my neck, my breasts. His hands wrapped around my back, making me ride him harder.
“Fuck, Payton.” His forehead was on my chest, he was panting out his words. “You feel so fucking good baby.” He nipped at my shoulder. “Even better than I remember. You’re so damn perfect. Your body was made for mine.”
I was so close to the edge. It’d been so long since I’d been touched. Now I knew the truth, knew for sure that no one had ever made me feel half of what Mason had. And no one ever would. He’d ruined me.
“Mason, don’t stop.” I whimpered when he wrapped his fist around my hair. “Yes, just like that.”
His teeth grazed the column of my neck, sucking for a moment on my rapid pulse. “Ride me, Payton. Harder, baby, give me everything you’ve got.”
His words, his mouth, his body. He was perfect and I wanted to please him. I wanted to make him feel everything that I was feeling. I wanted to ruin him too.
“That’s it, fuck, Payton, you’re so fucking perfect.” His teeth clamped down on my nipple. “Let me hear you scream, baby.”
And I did. I called his name over and over as I came.