Neither of us said anything for several minutes. I wasn’t sure if I had pissed her off by raising my voice a bit, but shit, she needed to understand where I was coming from. Finally, after what seemed like forever, she spoke softly, “I wasn’t trying to play games, Mason. I was upset and thought it would be best if I calmed down before I ended up saying something I would regret later. I didn’t mean to piss you off. I just had a long day and I was tired.” She lowered her eyes to her hands in her lap, and I had a bad feeling that she wanted to say something else... something I wasn’t going to like.

“What is it, Angel?” I asked apprehensively.

“I saw Ash today,” she replied, refusing to look at me in the face.

So much for my fucking blood pressure. I tensed up as my pulse skyrocketed and I began boiling from the inside.

“He stopped by the shop. He had just come in for guitar strings; he didn’t know I was there. He told me that he was sorry again and he told me that I didn’t realize how much I hurt him,” she rambled nervously. “It really got me thinking about how much hurt everyone felt back during that time, and I decided that I’m tired of hating him. I needed to forgive him because that’s the only way I can move on from the whole ordeal. So, I did. I forgave him, and I’m ready to try and put all of that behind me.” She looked up at me and I could see the struggle in her eyes. I knew that without her hate for him, all she was left with was love.

Not really sure what to say in response, I asked, “So now what?” I studied her beautiful brown eyes, scared it would be the last time I would see them. I had this overwhelming fear she was about to tell me that we couldn’t be together.

“So now we figure out how we are going to make us work. Mason, this doesn’t change the fact I want to be with you. Just because I forgive him doesn’t mean that I will ever forget what happened. It doesn’t mean I even like him; I just don’t need to waste any more energy hating him. The entire situation was awful for everyone involved, you included, and it’s time to just let it be. It’s the only way I can move on.”

Her words were what my ears begged to hear, and I did feel some sense of relief at them, but I couldn’t help but be worried. Actually, worried wasn’t the right word; scared shitless was a more accurate description. I honestly wasn’t sure if our relationship could survive me in Austin with Bentley and her in Houston with Ash; something or someone was bound to try and tear us apart, but I wasn’t giving her up easily. Things in my life were finally heading in the right direction ~ my music career had never looked more promising and I had a girl that was just as beautiful inside as she was on the outside. I could never be half the person she was, but she made me want to be the best I could for her. And I wasn’t about to let anyone take her from me without a fight. I needed to get her to move in with me in Austin, I just didn’t know how to ask.

CHAPTER TEN

ROOM MATES AND SOUL MATES

Better Together ~ Jack Johnson

Mirrors ~ Justin Timberlake

Crazy ~ Dave Matthews Band

SCARLETT

Mason and I didn’t finish talking until after five in the morning, and I had to wake up at eight for class. I thought he handled the Ash conversation pretty well, but what he could he really say after what had happened with Bentley? We had some issues we needed to work through, but I had faith that we could.

Completely exhausted, we laid down in my bed, holding one another, for the few hours I had left to sleep, which seemed to pass in ten minutes. After hitting the snooze button twice on the alarm, I finally rolled myself out of bed and into the shower. Mason was sitting up on the edge of my bed, dressed and ready to go, when I came out of the bathroom. Worrying his lip ring between his teeth and staring off into space, there was obviously something on his mind.

I padded across the bedroom with just a towel around me to my dresser to grab a clean bra and panties. My near naked body must’ve snapped him out of his deep thoughts because as I leaned forward to grab my underclothes, he magically appeared behind me. Pressing me against the furniture with his muscular body, he bent down to kiss the back of my neck and a moan escaped my lips.

“You like that, Angel?” His voice was smooth and sultry.

“Mmm hmm.” I closed my eyes and leaned my head back onto his chest.

“Come back to my place today and I’ll spend all day making sure that you feel good; you can miss one day of classes,” he proposed. My eyes shot open at his comment about making sure I felt good and images of the previous night’s dream flashed in my mind.

“I can’t miss, Mase. You know that…” He continued kissing and nibbling on my neck and shoulders, and het slowly began sliding the towel down my body until I was standing naked in front of him.

“Please, Angel, we only have two weeks before I leave and I want to spend every possible moment together.” His hands reached around to the front of me, each cupping a breast and stroking my nipples with his thumbs. Unable to resist the pleasure he was offering, I whimpered and arched my back, pressing my chest further into his grasp and lifting my ass up against his evident erection.

“Move in with me,” he whispered, in between his tantalizing kisses.

At first I wasn’t sure if I heard him correctly, I twisted my body around so that I could look him in the face. “What did you say?” I asked.

Wrapping his arms around my waist, he leaned into me and rested his forehead on mine, his grey eyes cloudy with hunger, “Move into my apartment here. We can be together for the next couple of weeks, and then once I move, I’ll still stay in Houston once or twice a week, and you’ll be there. Plus you won’t need to pay for this place anymore; I’m keeping my place no matter what. It just makes sense.”

“I don’t know, Mase. Are you sure?” I was torn between excitement and disappointment. At first I thought he was asking me to move to Austin with him, which I would’ve done in a heartbeat, but he obviously wasn’t ready for that level of commitment. Still, the idea that he wanted me to live in his place locally thrilled me.

“Yes, I’m sure. I would sleep better at night knowing that you were here in my bed… in our bed.”

He slid his hands up my back and grabbed the back of my neck, threading his fingers in my hair. Not breaking our stare, he possessively placed his lips on mine, claiming me as his. My head was spinning with “what ifs” and “what abouts,” but between the look in his eye and the passion in his kiss, the decision was made for me.

“Okay,” I whispered into his mouth.

He pulled away from my mouth and looked at me disbelievingly. “Really?”

Pulling my bottom lip in between my teeth, I nodded timidly, concerned that maybe he hadn’t been serious about the offer. However, my fears were erased quickly when he returned his mouth to mine with fervor and his hands began roaming my up and down my back.

“Do you have any idea how fucking hot you are like this, Angel?” He asked as our mouths broke apart.

I looked down, realizing that I was standing there naked, clinging to his fully clothed body. Slightly embarrassed, I moved back to my dresser for another attempt to grab my clothes.

“No, I’m not, and I need to get ready for class. I’m going to be so late because of you,” I playfully scolded him.

Somehow, between his pawing at me and kissing all over my body, I managed to get dressed in my usual school attire ~ an old concert t-shirt, jeans, and flip flops. I grabbed a granola bar and an energy drink for each of us from the kitchen as we made our way to the front door. I walked Mason over to his motorcycle before heading off to campus. I wasn’t sure if I was supposed to bring up the me living at his place thing or wait for him to mention it, so I just hugged and kissed him bye like I normally did.

“I’ll see you tonight at the bar after I meet Max,” I said, confirming the day’s plans before walking away.

“Yeah, I’m gonna get some sleep, work out, and then I’ll head up there around six. When do you want to get your stuff?” He grabbed my belt loops and yanked me back to him, kissing my forehead. “This weekend, we can hire movers to move your furniture and whatever else you don’t want to a storage unit. If you want to start bringing some of your clothes tonight, we can get the rest over the next couple of days.” The way he said we made my stomach somersault, and the reality that I was actually moving into his apartment began setting in.

“That sounds good,” I said, trying not to sound overly excited, as I turned to walk away. “I’ll see you tonight then. Love you.”

“I love you too, babe.” He called after me, and I stopped dead in my tracks. I could hear him laughing. “Am I ever going to get to call you ‘babe?’” I smiled to myself, shook my head, and kept walking.

After my classes I headed to the library to do research for an upcoming paper I needed to work on. Just as I was walking through the large glass doors, Mina was walking out and we nearly collided with one another.

“Scarlett, I’m so glad that I saw you,” she said, giving me a big hug. “I was just about to call you with the rehearsal dinner info, in case I forgot tonight.”

Confused, I asked, “The rehearsal dinner? I thought the rehearsal dinner was just for people in the wedding?”

“Well, it is, but… you haven’t talked to Max, have you?”

“No, I’m actually meeting him tonight for our weekly chocolate indulgence before heading up to Empty’s,” I explained. “Why? What’s up?”

“I think he’s going to ask you to be his guest at the dinner. He didn’t know if Rat would be in town for the wedding, and he figured that Rat wouldn’t care if ya’ll came together. Ya know, because he hasn’t as much as talked to another female since…” Her voice faded, unsure of the right words to say, as she looked at the ground. I wondered if talking about Evie’s death would ever get easier for any of us.

Breaking the awkward silence, I said, “I’ll see if he says something tonight. If not, I won’t say anything, but I’ll definitely come with him if he asks. Mase won’t mind at all. He knows that I’ll do anything for Max and for you.” I grabbed her hand and squeezed tightly. She smiled at me and hugged me quickly once more.

“You’re awesome, Scarlett. I’ll see you later.”

“Sounds good. See you tonight.”

An hour later, my head was spinning with an overload of information on the string theory. There were particle spectrums and theories of quantum gravity and super-symmetry partners and a bunch of other shit that didn’t make any sense to me. I wondered who in the world I could get to tutor me for this, and immediately I thought of Ash. He loved theoretical physics, and used to make me watch an endless number of coma-inducing shows on the Science channel, claiming how incredibly interesting they were. I didn’t get it then, and time hadn’t helped any, because it still read like a foreign language to me. However, calling Ash wasn’t a viable option. Forgiven or not, we weren’t going to be study partners or anything else for that matter. He was now just a part of my past.