Once we'd finally gotten rid of Beau and Peyton-who'd shown up with nothing to do, looking for entertainment-Masyn and I spent the evening and the better part of the night wrapped up in each other. There were so many things we'd never experienced, and I loved having the pleasuring of being her first. And as much as I'd already fallen in love with being inside her, having my face between her legs came in a close second-tied with having her go down on me. Masyn was as much fun in bed as she was playing pool, arguing about music, or hanging out on the lake. And when she said we had a lot of years to make up for, she committed to righting that wrong and gave it her undivided attention.I struggled when the alarm clock went off at five thirty. Neither one of us had had much sleep to speak of this week, yet where I was groggy and the fog lingered in my mind, Masyn was bright-eyed and bushy-tailed. "You know we have to go over to your house before we go in?" I muttered with my arm draped
The agitation for the cellphone violation quickly vanished when he realized what I was telling him. He and his pops were close. If anything happened to Old Man Farley, we wouldn't see Farley in here for days."Get the hell outta here. Once you get there and know more about what's going on, give me a call and let me know if you'll be in on Monday, but don't worry about this place, we've got it covered."I was about to turn around and race to my truck when I remembered Masyn. "Hey, Farley, can you do me a favor?""Of course.""Can you tell Masyn what happened and that I'll call her when I know more?""Definitely. Now, go."I slapped the metal door casing and gave him a curt nod. It was as close as I could get to saying thank you when I was on the verge of losing my shit. My dad and I hadn't been super close since he'd moved to Atlanta, but he was the only family I had-at least by name and blood-and I loved him just the same. And he'd done his best to be a good father after my
"What do you mean there've been complications?" No one could tell me anything other than to have a seat and wait. "It's been almost five hours since he went into surgery." I estimated based on when I'd gotten the call and when the woman told me he was being prepped to go under."Open-heart surgery is complicated, Mr. Carter. As soon as there's an update on your father's condition, someone will come out to speak with you." Simply averting her stare, she dismissed me as though the conversation were over.The hospital needed to consider classes for their staff in patient-family management. This place currently sucked at compassion.Beau stepped between me and the nurse on the other side of the desk. "Come on, Lee. Let's take a seat. Eating her for dinner won't get you any answers."I turned and let him push me toward the waiting room. "This is insane. He's been here for hours. They have to know something.""I don't think they're withholding information just to get to spend more
True to her word, the nurse returned a short time later to tell me I couldn't stay. It was torture to leave him helpless and alone in that room, but if sitting in the waiting area kept him alive, I'd suffer in silence."You can come back every two hours." The rest of the people in this place could stand to take a lesson in kindness from this nurse. It wasn't what she said so much as the sympathetic way she said it. "I promise, if anything changes, I'll come find you."Rounding the corner to the waiting room that was going to be my home for the next few days, I was thrilled to see Beau sitting in the spot where he'd left me last night. He'd showered and shaved, and he looked like he felt a hell of a lot better than I did.I sat down next to him."How's he doing?"I shrugged with one shoulder and continued toward him. "Okay, I guess. He looks dead. It's eerie.""I brought your bag so you could change clothes and freshen up.""Thanks." I reached out to take it from him. "Hav
Beau picked up the check after we had another beer, which I appreciated but didn't need. And then he took me back to the hospital. I assumed he'd drop me off at the front door, so when he pulled into the parking garage, I was a little confused. He'd been here all day, and he had shit to take care of at his house. He was starting a new job on Monday morning, and all of his crap had been moved while he was in Harden in anticipation of his returning from Paris tomorrow with his wife. He'd dodged that bullet. I chuckled, thinking of him in the Matrix because that's how it seemed. He'd defied fate in that twist of events, and I still wasn't sure how he'd managed to get out unscathed. "You know you don't have to come in, right?" I asked as the glass doors slid open and the medicinal smell of the hospital came barreling out. Nothing like the scent of cleanser and death to welcome you to a building.He leaned over and pressed the up button on the elevator. "How are you going to get to my
The color in his cheeks began to wash away when he no longer felt pressured. "Dude, she loved Harden. And I know things were rocky with Masyn, but Peyton seemed like she genuinely wanted to get to know her. She was willing to try anything we wanted to do-I couldn't have paid Felicity to go off the rope swing. But more than anything, my mom loved her. They hit it off the way I thought Felicity should."It was no secret in Harden that Beverly Chastain approved of the marriage between the two families; she just had no intention of adopting Felicity as her new daughter. Daughter-in-law was the only title she would have ever held in the Chastain household, and that didn't come with affection."Your mom has a sixth sense about things, Beau. She's been pushing Masyn and me together since I learned to ride a bike. If she embraced Peyton, you might want to consider it. You just need to go into it with your eyes wide open, and make damn sure that Peyton knows what she stands to lose on her e
Beau acted like he had an assigned seat in the waiting room. He sat in the same chair each time we walked in. I glanced over my shoulder to see him staring at the screen on his phone, and for once, I wasn't irritated that it was in his face; I was grateful he had something to occupy him so, in turn, he would be here to occupy me. The nurse buzzed the doors open to allow me back into the ward, and I made the trip to my dad's room that seemed all too familiar. For the first time since I'd gotten here on Friday, when I'd held my dad's hand and sat next to his bed, I started talking. I had prayed, I had watched him breathe, I had paced the room, but what I'd yet to do was let him know I was here. I probably should have told him about Beau's wedding catastrophe, or that I'd had a new liner put in the pool, or hell, even told him that I cut my hand. I didn't do any of those things. He would have given Beau shit for getting wrapped up with a girl like Felicity in the first place, scolded m
I skimmed through the part he told me about.Masyn: You lied to me, Beau. I'm not sure who I'm more mad at right now. You, Lee, or myself.Beau: What'd I lie about?Masyn: You told me he'd be careful with my heart. Beau: You really need to call him.Masyn: You're kidding, right? He's in New York. After he promised me he wasn't going.Beau: As I recall, you told him he should go.I reached out and slapped my friend on the chest. "You couldn't just tell her I wasn't in New York?""Keep reading."Beau: Have you listened to your messages?Masyn: I deleted them. I wasn't interested in his excuses.Beau: Masyn, you're going to regret this.Masyn: And for the record, I didn't TELL him to go. In fact, one of the last things he said to me before we left the house Friday was that he'd be home after I got off work. Masyn: Guess who wasn't there?Masyn: Guess what moron sat on his porch for an hour?Beau: Why didn't you just use the spare key?Masyn: Lee wasn't th