He smiled down at me then reached over to turn the spray off before walking out of the shower. I watched him as he made his way to the closet on the far wall and opened it to retrieve a towel, then turned back toward me.
I stepped out and he immediately wrapped me in a towel and started to dry the drops from my body. I was going to protest and tell him I could do it myself, but I kept my mouth closed. He obviously knew I could; there was no reason to point that out. If he wanted to dry me, then I'd let him.
"Are you hungry?" he asked.
"I could always eat," I answered with a smile.
He chuckled and finished drying me off, then moved on to himself. Once he was dry, he grabbed my hand and led me into his room toward a white dresser. Pulling it open, he retrieved a white t-shirt and handed it to me.
"Put this on and slide into the bed. I'll get some snacks and bring them up." He kissed my forehead and sauntered out of the room, completely naked.
I watched him walk away, staring at his tight, cute butt and bit my lip. I was swooning.
Swooning.
I took a deep breath as I pulled the t-shirt on and pulled the covers back on the bed before sliding in. I needed to take a step back and really guard my heart. I couldn't let myself get so attached already. I needed to take my time with this, get to know him. Make sure his feelings were mutual before I went diving head-first into a pit of heartbreak. I couldn't do that again.
Nineteen
Mason
I woke up the next morning inhaling the scent of vanilla as I ran my hand up Emma’s stomach, under the t-shirt, to grab a breast. She poked her ass out and wiggled closer to me as she chuckled.
“Good morning.”
I kissed the small space of skin exposed at her neck. “Good morning,” I replied in a raspy voice.
Sex with her was amazing, but the previous night, something changed. I wasn't sure why I'd done it, but fucking Emma in the shower was unlike anything I'd ever done. It was intense and personal. Too intimate, but I did it anyway. It was like I'd become someone else, someone who felt worthy to be with her. It was ludicrous to feel like I was having an out-of-body experience, but that's exactly what it felt like. It was like I was watching myself with her, instructing the movements. I'd been loving and gentle. I was possessing her body, making it mine, making sure she felt every part of me, letting her feel how much I worshipped her body.
I smiled into her neck as I spread her legs, possessing her body once again.
Nothing would be able to compare to the euphoria that consumed me completely, but ended too quickly.
I would have liked to spend the morning with her, but she’d informed me that she’d made plans with some friends to have coffee and would have to leave.
She seemed reluctant, but it was for the best. I had many things I had to prepare for the day.
*
When Emma left, I’d taken my time to shower and get dressed. I tried not to examine my feelings for her, but everything was so new to me, so foreign that I didn’t know how to process it all. That’s when I decided to do something I hadn’t done in a long time.
Take a drive out to Ferncliff Cemetery to see Mom.
After what happened that night when I was seven, I rarely went out to see her. I still blamed myself. I was the reason she was dead. How could I go to her grave and pretend I wasn’t the reason she was there? That pain I’d tried to bury so long ago always found its way to ache when I was there. It was a feeling I didn’t like to have, but it was a void I’d tried to fill.
Parking on the side of the road, I looked up to the right, out in the sea of headstones. I knew exactly where it was. I still remembered the day of the funeral. I’d felt guilty for not wanting to attend, but I knew she’d be mad at me for not paying my respects. The reasons I didn’t want to attend had nothing to do with her and all to do with John.
I didn’t only blame myself for her death. I also blamed him. If it wasn’t for him doing what he was doing, she would have never wanted to leave and I would have never chased after her. That thought alone had always built fury in my gut.
Grabbing the dozen roses I’d purchased on the way, I stepped out of the car and made my way to her grave, looking around as I went.
So much death in one place. It makes you realize your time on Earth is so short. It was thoughts like this that made me worry about my own life. What have I done to make a difference in the world?
Nothing.
I’d spent my life trying to rid myself of my demons and not doing a very good job.
Coming to a stop at her grave, I knelt down and placed the flowers in the vase attached to her stone.
“Hey, Ma.”
I wiped the grass away from her stone and stared at the wording engraved in it.
Loving wife and mother.