AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“They’re ridiculous and beautiful.” They might be the biggest bunch of flowers I’ve ever seen. “What did Mase do?”
Nina chuckles from beside me. “Not Mase. They arrived whilst you were away.” She stands, shutting down her laptop and reaching for her pre-workout. She stops at the stack of letters on the counter just inside the door, flicking through them.
“You heading downstairs?” Mason asks as he appears in the doorway, not missing the chance to run his hands over his wife’s body.
“Uh-huh,” Nina mutters, still looking through the letters.
“Hmm. Let me grab a glass of my favourite, and I’ll come watch.”
Nina smirks, dipping her head into his kiss when he goes for her neck. She finds what she’s looking for and places it on the island, pushing it toward me. “Come on, you needy man,” she tells Mase, giving me a warm, reassuring smile before leaving.
I reach for the small rectangular card, frowning as I flick it open.
For the nights I couldn’t hold them.
And all the ones you did.
I stare at the card for a long time after Nina and Mase head downstairs, the silence in the house reminding me of another time when I had nothing but the empty walls surrounding me.
So much has changed since those days. I have my family here now—all of them. I can’t help but wonder if I’d have any of those things if it wasn’t for Lance.
He kept the deeds.
He gave me Ave.
I reach for a flower, pulling it from the arrangement and lifting it to my nose.
The man never stops.
I’m not sure he even knows how, and I sure as hell know I don’t deserve his love.
I make my way upstairs, passing Ave’s room with a heavy heart and tears in my eyes.
She’s never spoken to me that way in her life. I know that she was hurt and probably confused and scared seeing Lance leave, but hearing those words come from her, after everything we’ve faced, it was like a hot iron through the chest.
I pause when I get to Lance’s room, my feet dragging the closer I get to my own. There’s a stack of parcels on his bed, snagging my attention. I wipe at my cheeks and step into the room to get a better look.
Sitting on the bed, I pull the closest box to me, the tape already torn open.
Inside there are books. At least twenty. I reach for the next box and find it just as full.
In the third, I find gold lettering.
With no idea what they are or where they came from, I leave them on the bed and make my way to my bedroom.
I go through the motions, showering and changing, before pulling back the covers and slipping between the bedsheets.
Tears fall in rivulets down my cheeks the entire time.
I’m tired—beyond tired from travelling—and I know that sleep is exactly what I need. No matter how badly I want to lie here and make sense of everything in my head tonight, getting sleep and facing it all with a fresh head in the morning is the right thing to do.
But I can’t sleep because nothing is right, and Lance isn’t here.
I think about Ave. I think about her and what she said and how I can fix it.
I think about my mum. I think about my mum for a little while longer than normal.
And I think about him.
