Jocelyn fell forward out of Mason’s hold. Her body was buzzing from the orgasm that charred through her like nothing ever had. Who knew sex could be like that? From her lips on his cock, the cock that surely hit her cervix, and the hair pulling. God. The hair. Goosebumps covered her body again just thinking about the sex. Hot, sticky, rough-ish sex. She smirked to herself. Yes, for her this was an adventure.
She felt the tussling of the blankets on her bed as Mason pulled back the covers on his side and crawled in. Jocelyn followed suit when he opened his arms, gesturing for her.
Laying against him, her back to his front, his arms encompassed her body. Mason nuzzled his face in closer, tickling her neck as his nose ran up and down the base.
“Joss, while I loved the sexy ambush, I think we should talk about the other night.” His voice was soft.
She had no desire to talk about the other night. In all honesty, she’d originally invited Mason over for one last romp before she ended it with him for good. It was too hard to ignore the comments from both sides, and she didn’t want to taint all the great memories of her time with Mason. She did feel like a new woman, especially after the crazy orgasm she’d had. Maybe Taylin was right, that he was her transition man?
“It’s fine,” she lied.
She wasn’t ready for Mason to leave. She wanted to enjoy these moments a bit longer.
“No, it’s not,” Mason said, tucking a strand of her hair back.
“I’m fine,” she reassured halfheartedly.
“Enough with the fine’s, Joss,” he said, sitting up.
Jocelyn turned toward him, watching him run his hands over his head, giving it a shake. His face had fallen from the seductive smile it had held only minutes ago. It was clear that he had been as angered by their friends’ actions just as much as she had.
“It’s not fine with me. The other night sucked, and we should talk about it. I’m not going to let them get to me, but you handle things differently than I do.”
“I’m fine. I don’t want to talk about it, Mason. Can’t we just enjoy the now?” She tried to keep her tone upbeat. “Let’s just enjoy the now. In this happy, little bubble.”
“Are you happy?”
“Well, I was until we started having this conversation.” Jocelyn huffed, sitting up, holding the covers over her breasts.
“If we don’t talk about it now, how are we going to handle shit like this in the future?” he pressed.
The post-coitus haze was shattered as reality set in. It was time to reveal the real reason for inviting Mason over.
“Mason,” she started, taking his hand in hers. “I really like you, but I can’t… I’m not handling this as well as you are. And I’m not sure I will ever be able to. I’ve enjoyed our time together, but I think it’s time to face reality that this isn’t going to work.”
“What are you saying? Of course we can make this work!” Mason’s blue eyes darkened as they locked on hers.
“I’m saying…” Jocelyn looked down at her hands; she couldn’t face him when she continued to speak. “We can’t see each other anymore.”
“What?” he said with a loud, horrified tone.
“Please don’t make this any harder than it needs to be,” Jocelyn begged. A hoarse croak of emotion in her voice was clear.
Her heart pounded in her chest with regret and panic of what would happen with Mason out of her life. She swallowed down a hard lump, holding back the tears pleading to be released.
She was startled when Mason’s hand gently caressed her cheek, before landing on her chin, turning her face up slightly at him. And yet she still couldn’t look at him. If the pain he was feeling was anything like hers, she wouldn’t be able to handle it.
“Look at me please.”
“Mason.”
“Please?”
With a heavy sigh, she looked up, meeting his eyes, surprised by what was there. They weren’t saddened or glossed over like she might expect. They were soft but full, and he had an easy grin on his face.
“I love you, Jocelyn. I’ve completely fallen for you, and if you think I’m going to let you go without a fight, you’re out of your mind.”
Jocelyn felt her mouth go slack as she could only stare at Mason. Of all the things she’d anticipated him saying, this blindsided her. He loved her? How? Maybe he was just in love with the idea of them? But thinking back now, all the signs were there. Had she led him on? Or maybe she loved him too, and this was how people in love acted? Her mind was working in overdrive, nonstop and anxiety ridden.
“Say something please?” Mason asked, and she realized that she’d been sitting in silence for far too long.
“Let’s say I love you too, what then? What about everyone else? What are we going to do?”
“Why do they matter?”
“Because they do. Are we always going to be defending this? How exhausting is this going to be?”
“Fine. We can just pull a Romeo and Juliet and tell them to fuck off and be in love to spite them.”
Jocelyn scoffed at the comment. “You know that’s not a romance, it was a tragedy. They ended up killing themselves because the world didn’t understand.”
“But to them their love was worth it. I’m not saying we make a suicide pact or anything like that.” Mason shook his head and laughed. “How did this get so morbid so fast?”
“I blame you.”
Mason kissed her sweetly on the lips, the first time since he’d told her he loved her, and now she felt it; even in the innocent kiss.
“I’ll take that blame, and I’ll take on the world, for you. Let me do that for us. What do you say?” He paused, giving her an easy grin. “Besides, we haven’t even began to tackle the hard stuff.”
Her eyes went wide with fear. “This isn’t the hard stuff?”
“No way. Deciding what to have for dinner or where to go? What TV show to watch? Do you squeeze the toothpaste from the middle of the tube, or the bottom?”
Jocelyn sighed with a giggle, shaking her head at the adorable man next to her. She smiled as she thought back over the time she’d spent with Mason, everything they’d done, things they’d talked about, the laughs and love they’d made. And now she knew there was really only one thing to say.
“I love you too,” she said, trying to bite back the ridiculous grin on her face.
She squealed when Mason pounced on her, pinning her to the bed.
“I knew it!” he said with a huge smile, before his lips were on hers.
The kiss wasn’t wild, but tender and filling. It was a promise that he would take care of her. Warm, happy tears inched down the side of her face as she reached up, pulling Mason closer to her. If he could do that for her, she surely could make her own promise, to follow his lead and ignore what others thought.