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One painfully long Uber ride later, followed by one confused mother—who couldn’t understand why I was tearing up the house like a madwoman searching for my keys when they were sitting on the table by the front door the whole time—I finally pulled up in front of Mason’s home.
My keys must have some vendetta against me right now because I can’t get the damn thing out of the ignition. Eventually giving up, I leave them to their potential car thief doom and head for the front door.
“Ava, hi,” Grace greets me when she opens the door.
“Hi, Grace. Is Mason home?”
“No, he’s not.” My stomach drops in disappointment. “He’s at the harbor.”
“Oh, okay.” I go to leave but hesitate for a moment. I haven’t seen her in two weeks, and it seems rude to just dash off without at least making a little small talk.
As if she was reading my mind, she waves me off. “Go to him.” I flash her a grateful smile then dash down the stairs.
“Ava,” she calls out just before I reach my car, and I turn back, “You’re going to need an umbrella when you get to the harbor.”
I glance up at the sky. There is a fair bit of cloud coverage, but I don’t smell that usual dampness in the air when rain is about to follow. I Look back at her with a frown, and she gives me a wink then closes the door.
It’s kind of ironic,really, I think to myself as “Kiss the Rain” by Billie Myers plays on the radio. “Well, the rain can kiss my ass,” I grumble, adjusting the knob on the wipers to increase the speed as the rain beats down on my windshield, reducing the visibility.
The main road that leads to the harbor is dark with very little traffic, so I put my high beams on to avoid missing the turnoff. But I miss it anyway, and I don’t realize this until I’ve driven about ten miles down the road.
After missing it a second time, I’m so flustered by the time I pull up to the house, I abandon my key in the ignition—not willing to get into another fight with them—and make a mad dash to the house.
I burst through the front door, the heat from the fire enveloping me and radiating a warmth across my drenched skin. All the lights are off except for the dim light streaming from the main bedroom.
“Mason!” I call out, walking into the bedroom.
The antique lamp casts a soft, warm glow throughout the room, and I look around, seeing that the room is empty and the bed untouched.
Heading to the stairs, I glance up the stairwell and see that it’s pitch black, so I move on to the kitchen only to discover that he’s not there either. Where the hell is he? He’s not outside, is he? It’s pouring buckets outside.
I walk over to the glass double doors and look out to the dock, spotting a silhouette standing under the light post at the end. I rip the doors open and hold the front of my dress as I carefully make my way down the slippery path.
Mason’s back is to me, his shoulders slumped and his head down as the light from the post illuminates the droplets of rain beating down on his large frame.
“Mason!” I call out once I reach the foot of the dock. His head lifts, but he doesn’t turn around, so I call out louder, “Mason.”
His head turns, and his body follows until he is facing me. We stand at each end, staring at each other for what seems like forever before what feels like a magnetic force pulls us forward until we are standing a few feet apart.
“You didn’t sleep with Hadley,” I say through the droplets of rain running over my lips. He frowns but stays silent, his eyes darting over my face as if he’s not sure I’m real. “You didn’t sleep with her. Logan set it up to look like you did, but they both confirmed nothing happened.”
His hands ball into fists, his parted lips pressing together into a thin line.
He’s angry.
I don’t blame him. I am too, but I have to push it aside for now. The truth has come out, but I have some of my own that need to be revealed. “You were right. I didn’t see you, and I wish that I had. What you did was insane, but I don’t care. I’m glad you did it because if you hadn’t, I never would have got to spend that time with you, and if we could go back in time, I would want you to do it all over again. What we shared meant everything to me, and I don’t regret what it took for us to have it. Maybe that makes us both just as crazy as each other, but I’m ok with that. I’m happy to be crazy as long as I get to do it with you.”
Emotion flickers across his eyes, and his chest starts to heave.
“I love you, Mason Reynolds. I love you so fucking much and I can’t let you go. And… I don’t want you to let me go either.”
He sucks in a sharp breath while mine leaves my lungs entirely, and closing the distance between us, he cups my cheeks and crashes his lips to mine. I kiss him back eagerly, wrapping my arms around him and melting into his touch. The feel of his lips on mine again is bliss, and I open my mouth wider, my tongue seeking out his as I become ravenous to consume more of him.
He breaks the kiss, placing his forehead to mine. “I’ve missed you so fucking much, baby.”
The sound of his deep velvety voice that I feel like I haven’t heard in a lifetime brings tears of joy to my eyes, and I choke out a sob. “I’ve missed you too.”
His lips seal over mine again, and I clutch his shirt, gripping on tighter in a desperate need for more. I need more. I want more of him. The raindrops slide around our joined lips, fighting to break through our sealed connection. The rain picks up its tempo, and we break apart on a gasp for air, tilting our heads up to the sky. Our eyelids flutter as the raindrops beat against them, then our eyes lock, a smile spreading on both our faces as we stand there suspended in time.
