“But that’s changed now…?”
“Irrevocably. Which I’ve told her. And now she’s hearing it again, since she’s probably listening in.”
Shit!
My eyes flashed open, and just as William chuckled and said I wasn’t the eavesdropping type of person, Mason opened the door, and…heh.
William did a double take at the sight of me.
Oh, I had no doubt I looked like Aurora would look when I asked her if she’d borrowed condoms from her brother.
“Hi.” I straightened and smoothed down my hair.
Mason smirked. “Hi, darlin’. Can I help you?”
Think quick!
“I, uh…” My phone! I held up my phone. “I just wanted to very quickly, very briefly, while I was simply passing by, let you know that Tristan and Katie will be here soon.”
William snorted. “And I thought I was a bad liar…”
“You are,” I told him.
“You’re both shitty liars,” Mason stated. “And all this talk has made me hungry. Can we get back to our breakfast now?”
“We definitely can,” William answered, meeting me in the doorway. “One last thing. I’m very happy for you both.”
“Thank you, hon.” I hopped up and kissed his cheek before he went back to the kitchen.
Then there were two.
I beamed at Mason and threw my arms around his shoulders, and it was perfect when he still had both his feet in the garage. It made me taller, and I could reach him better.
“I love you.” I peppered his face with kisses and made him grin. “That went well, didn’t it?”
“It did.” He squeezed my ass and bit my nose. “My beautiful little dork.”
“My nose!” I rubbed the spot.
He chuckled and kissed my forehead instead. “You know what I’m gonna do next week?”
I shook my head, curious.
“I’m gonna build you a coffee table.”
Fucking finally! I rested my forehead against his and did my best not to PMS-cry all over him. “So, you think I can handle a Mason Calvert Original now?”
He smirked and gave me one of those tongue-teasing kisses that drove me mad. “I’m pretty confident you can, yes.”
So was I.
Epilogue
Four years later
“Oh God. Home. At last. I feel like we’ve been flying for two days straight.” I blinked sleepily and followed Mason and the herd off the plane.
He chuckled through a yawn and draped an arm around me. “We kinda have, darlin’.”
True. Two weeks in the Greek islands, then a weekend in London to wrap up an amazing anniversary before making our way home.
Layovers and delays sucked; although this time, it had created a small opportunity too. We made our way over to the Starbucks before the exit to baggage claim where Mason and William had decided we could meet up for a quick coffee. Or a shot of espresso straight into my veins, whichever.
Mason checked his phone as soon as we’d found seats, and he set our carry-on down on the table. “They’re going through security now. I’ll order.” He threaded his fingers through my hair and smiled at the obvious exhaustion on my face. “What can I get you, baby?”
“Double shot of something strong right here.” I held out the underside of my arm.
He chuckled and said he had me covered.
I envied him so much. I was pretty sure he’d fallen asleep before we’d even left the ground in New York, and he’d slept the whole way. And though I felt that was a waste of business class—I mean, it was meant to be enjoyed and used properly—a nap wouldn’t hurt. Alas, I’d been wide awake the entire time.
Mason came back with beverages and snacks for all of us, and I could’ve kissed his feet for adding a shot of espresso to my chai latte.
“God, I love you.” I took a slow sip and felt the hot sweetness and the kick of the coffee slither into my system.
“Was that to me or the beverage?” He smirked faintly.
“Both.” I folded one leg over the other and took another sip. “What do you want for dinner tomorrow? I’m making a mental grocery list.”
Tristan and Katie were finally moving home before Halloween this week. They’d spent a fair share of their free time at the house across the street from us, but it wasn’t until now that they were giving up Vancouver entirely. Tristan would commute, and Katie would work from home until she went on maternity leave again. Anyway, they’d need their kitchen restocked, so I’d shop for them too.
“I’ve gone without your cooking for over two weeks,” he said. “Whatever you make, I’ll inhale. Greek food in all its glory, but there’s only so much souvlaki I can handle before I start fantasizing about pork chops and mashed potatoes in the shower.”
I laughed softly and patted his thigh. “Then that’s what I’ll make tomorrow.”
He grinned and ducked down for a kiss to my neck.
“Look alive, lovebirds!” we heard Kelly holler.
There weren’t many departures left in the day, so it was easy to pick out William and Kelly from the bypassing travelers.
“Hey, you two.” I smiled tiredly.
Mason got comfortable with his arm around my shoulders and grabbed his coffee.
“Evening. Nice tans.” William smiled back and sat down across from us. “I don’t need to have seen the pictures online to know you’ve had a pleasant vacation.”
“It was wonderful.” I sent Mason a quick grin, and he winked at me.
So many dirty memories.
“And now it’s your turn!” I returned my attention to the guys, and I was happy they were finally venturing outside of the country together. After years of extremely hard work, Kelly’s business had taken off, and he could slow down a little. “You’ll have to send us pictures every day. Ireland is high up on our list too.”
“Definitely,” Mason agreed. “Next spring, I wanna take the missus around every distillery I can find.”
I laughed into my cup.
“We’re doing a whiskey tour,” William said, facing Kelly. “How many did we look into?”
“Dozens, but we settled for seven,”
