Going to the shop had been an utter waste of a day, except that I still got to collect hours on my paycheck. I couldn't do shit without my right hand, and it was still too tender to use it to pick things up. I wasn't worried about tearing the stitches out, it just hurt like hell. Farley put me back in receiving so I could check trucks in and deal with shipments going out. An inbred monkey could do this job. There was nothing worse than boredom and idle time at work. If I had to be here, I wanted something to occupy my mind, and this wasn't cutting it. I'd spent the better part of the day thinking about what Masyn and Beau's wedding would be like. When she'd move to Atlanta. How many kids they'd have. It was torture, and I was inflicting it upon myself-they hadn't even gone on a date, and I already had their life planned. The longer I spent thinking about it, the more outlandish my thoughts became. By the end of the day, I had them married with two-point-five kids and a white picket
"Masyn, it's okay to want to get married and have kids. I want to settle down at some point, too." The light in her eyes dimmed a bit, yet not being able to focus on her expression and drive, I couldn't evaluate it. "Anyway, it dawned on me that Beau's not really a part of our lives anymore. I mean, he is, but not daily. The two of us aren't anywhere near as close to him as we were in high school. And let's be honest, his life isn't going to lead him back to Harden...ever."She had a point. One that I'd rolled over in my mind about a thousand times today, thinking I'd lose them both when Masyn joined him in Atlanta. "And what's the likelihood Peyton will ever come back to Georgia?" She chuckled at the thought.I guess that all depended on how foolish the two of them decided to be. She hadn't really engaged in any of his advances, although he'd been shameless in making them. "Probably not great.""Right! So at the end of the week, it's me and you again...the way it always
When I rejoined the conversation, Lani delivered a tray of wings and fries and another bucket of beers. "What have you two done all day?" I asked, once the waitress left.Peyton and Beau glanced at each other like teenagers caught skipping school. Then Peyton answered, "I went over to the Chastains' house, and Beverly helped me go through the contracts from the wedding to see what was owed and what needed to be taken care of. And the two of us made some phone calls."I nearly choked on my beer. "Beverly?" I'd known the woman my whole life and only once dared to call her Bev-right before I smacked her on the backside. Needless to say, it didn't go over well, and I never tried again."Yeah, what do you call her?" Peyton asked with humor in her voice.Masyn and I answered at the same time, "Mrs. Chastain." "I don't think Ryland even calls her Beverly," I joked. "We used to laugh about Beau's parents calling each other mister and missus while they were having sex, and how formal
Masyn and I stayed at Sadler's for a while longer and ended up playing pool while Peyton and Beau danced, played darts, and talked to people Beau knew and hadn't seen in ages. They were far more comfortable together than I'd ever seen him act with Felicity. Yet once we were able to separate from the two for a bit, Masyn and I had a good time doing what we always did. Some random guy tried to hit on her, and I made sure he knew she wasn't interested-I didn't care if she was or not. Masyn wasn't my property, but she was my friend, and everyone in town needed to respect her. Then she beat me at four out of five games of pool. I refused to admit it had anything to do with the stitches in my right hand. Personally, I think her accidentally pressing her ass against my crotch and grabbing my sides from behind at critical moments in the game was cheating, but either way, I now owed her omelets and a foot massage. And every time the jukebox stopped playing the two of us raced to drop quarter
Masyn finally managed to escape to the stairs and sat there facing the pool. Her eyes shimmered with happiness, and her chest heaved as she tried to catch her breath. I could do this all night if that was the reward I got at the end of it. I loved Beau like a brother, but he'd never appreciate the little things about her: the way her nose scrunched when she thought something was gross, or the fact that she preferred jeans to dresses or barbeque to fine dining. He'd want her to change to fit into his circle-the one his family expected him to grow into. There would be no job in a machine shop, no tiny house on a mill hill, and certainly no clunker car he wouldn't know how to fix if he had to. All the quirks that made Masyn who she was-the things I loved-would be altered. And I couldn't let that happen without at least trying to fight for her. I'd never managed to tell her what I went to her house to say on Monday-not all of it, anyway. She'd been so hell-bent on telling me what she
I loosened my grip and allowed her to curl her side into my chest with her back against my bicep. My heart raced, and I stared into her eyes, trying to be certain I'd just heard her right. I couldn't take in enough air. My lungs wouldn't fill, and I worried I'd faint before I told her what I needed to say. If I didn't get out the words I'd been dying to say for six years, it felt like my insides might combust, and I'd miss my chance. There'd been too many wasted opportunities and too many days that had passed without her knowing my heart belonged to her, and it always had.Rather than a drawn-out explanation, or tiptoeing into the actual confession, I just spit it out. "I love you, Masyn. Since that day in the lunchroom, there hasn't been a piece of me that didn't belong to you."It would have been too much to hope that Masyn simply returned the sentiment. Nope, she had to analyze it. "Then why all the other girls?"I laughed. At some point, all of this was going to come
Waking up with Masyn covering my left side-her thigh between my legs and her breasts pressed to my ribs-was like experiencing sunshine for the first time. The entire world looked different when the alarm went off. Her sleepy eyes recognized where she was, and a lazy grin lifted her lips. "Mornin', sweetheart." I kissed her forehead and tried to adjust my body so my erection wasn't firmly pressed against her thigh."Hmm." She wiggled to stay as close as she had been when we woke up. "Good morning." Her lips were like heaven when she teased my chest with peppered affection. As much as I didn't want to get up, we both had to be at work in an hour. "If you hurry, we can still do omelets before work."She moved her hand down my side and trailed her thumb over my abdomen. "We should call in." If she thought she could entice me to stay in bed, it wouldn't take much, but I knew she'd regret it."You and I both know that neither one of us is going to call in, and certainly not at th
If I'd thought being injured and having to work the docks made for the slowest day possible, being injured and having to work the docks while dreaming about spending an afternoon alone with Masyn curled up in my bed was far worse. I was impressed with her ability to keep things about us quiet while we were at the shop. She hadn't gotten all bent out of shape when I didn't kiss her goodbye. She didn't try to hold my hand at lunch where we'd be forced to answer questions. And she hadn't acted any differently than she had since the day we'd started at Farley's. Outside of my house, Masyn was the same girl she'd always been-and I loved it, except, where she'd only entered my thoughts occasionally before, she plagued them now. I swear, I counted every second that ticked by on my watch, making the day infinitely longer.I had to stop myself from sprinting to the time clock at the end of the shift. But not even the group of men gathered near the breakroom could stop the grin that took ov