I blinked a few times to make sure I was still awake. “Are you offering to get me ice cream?” I asked.
“That’s the natural conclusion to someone asking if you want ice cream.”
He didn’t even look annoyed. And the way he said it wasn’t sarcastic. Not even a little bit.
“That would be great?” I said, making it sound like a question.
One side of his mouth went up and his eyes got a little crinkle at the ends. Glad my confusion amused him.
Loki was curled up on the couch in between Mason and me. His head was on my lap and I patted his soft fur with my hand. When Mason got up, Loki lifted his head but dropped it again with a groan when he didn’t see anything exciting happening.
“You are the laziest dog I’ve ever met,” I told him, smiling. I had never been allowed a pet. My mother found them too loud, messy, and smelly, and once she made her decision, there was no changing her mind. And I had more important things to fight for, like being allowed to go to school, instead of her hiring someone to homeschool me.
Mason came back with a bowl filled with half a gallon of ice cream. He smiled at me—I repeat, he smiled at me—and handed the bowl over.
I mumbled a thanks and dug in. Ice cream was on my mother’s list of banned foods, so I hadn’t had much of it growing up. She controlled my diet, my friends—which I wasn’t allowed to have anyway, only beneficial connections—and my schedule.
She decided when I got up, which activities I was to partake in, and what I would eat. When I first moved out, I ate junk food for a month straight and didn’t exercise other than walking to and from my car. It was one of the best months of my life.
If only she could see me now. She would probably have a heart attack and call me a disappointment again.
“I’ll take it,” Mason said, holding out his hand. I looked at it and frowned.
He wiggled his fingers. “The bowl. I’ll take it.”
I looked down and noticed I had eaten every last drop of the chocolate ice cream.
“That’s okay, I can take it to the kitchen,” I said, standing up. Or rather, attempting to stand up. Before I knew what was happening, I was without the bowl, and sitting back on my butt. Mason had managed to lift me up and sit me back down while simultaneously taking the bowl out of my hand. I had to admit I was a little bit impressed.
He walked off, leaving me in stunned silence. What the hell was happening here?
When he came back and handed me a bottle of water, I stared at him but took it. “What are you doing?” I couldn’t help but ask.
“What do you mean, what am I doing? Right now I’m watching a show. But since you’re sitting right next to me, you would know that’s what I’m doing because you’re doing the same thing.”
“I mean why are you being so nice to me?”
He turned to me. “Before Willa left, she made me promise to keep an eye on you. I didn’t take her seriously. I mean what could there possibly be that I needed to protect you from? You are a pampered rich girl, who grew up in a mansion, and has people to do everything for her.”
He put up his hand when I opened my mouth to tell him where to stick his opinions.
“I was wrong. And I’m trying to make up for it.”
Well that shut me up fast.
He continued speaking once he noticed I wasn’t going to say anything. “I saw you jump out of that car. Nobody jumps out of a car for fun. And you might not want to talk about what happened tonight, but I hope that eventually you’ll trust me enough to let me help you.”
I didn’t have anything to respond. Nothing. He didn’t seem to need an answer and turned back around to the TV. We spent the rest of the night in silence. It wasn’t awkward. It was comfortable and I felt so relaxed that I nodded off, which is when he decreed that it was time to go to bed and walked me to his guest room. He even offered to help me up the stairs, something I declined. A girl had to keep some of her dignity.
“I’ll get you something to sleep in,” he said and left me in the bedroom. I watched him walk to the staircase at the end of the hall that led to the third floor before I turned to look at the room. The first thing I noticed was the size. It was huge and the ceilings were high, making it look even grander.
A big bed was pushed up against the far wall, a blanket and pillow thrown on top. The floors were polished hardwood and the walls were freshly painted in soft beige. Two large windows faced the back of the property and overlooked the lavender fields, something I was going to confirm tomorrow when it was light again.
There was no other furniture in the room, making it look even bigger.
Mason came back, his heavy footsteps loud in the quiet house. He held out a pile of clothes. “I got you a T-shirt, sweats, and a sweater. There is no heating in the house yet, so you might need to layer up.”
I took them and hugged them to my chest with my good arm. “That’s more than enough. Thanks.”
Mason stood in the doorway, brushing his hand over his hair and looked around the room. “I’m sorry, it’s not much, but I haven’t had guests over yet.”
When I didn’t answer, he turned to leave, and my heart started pounding. Just say something. Anything.
“Mason,” I called. Thank the lord and baby Jesus, there were words
