by Apryl Baker
“Say hello to your grandmother, Mateo.” Conner’s firm tone pushed the boy to do as he was told.
“Hola, abuela.”
“Move out of the way and let me see my grandson.” Ronin pushed past his boys and wasted no time in plucking the boy out of Conner’s arms. They all saw the panic flare on the little boy’s face, but Ronin paid it no mind. “Your papa teaching you Russian?”
“Sí,” Mateo whispered.
“Da,” Ronin corrected him. “‘Yes’ in Russian is da.”
“Da,” Mateo said, his eyes going blank.
Kade retrieved his son, worried at the blank stare. Mason was too. This all had to be too much for Mateo. “Hey, kid. I’m taking Delia for some ice cream later. You wanna come?”
Mateo looked over at him, his eyes so expressionless, it hurt Mason’s heart. “Strawberry?”
Mason smiled. “Yeah, kid. If you want strawberry, you can have strawberry.”
“Can I, Papa?”
“As long as you mind your uncle.” Kade shot Mason a grateful look. They all did what they could to help Mateo.
“Then da, Tío Mason. I want to go.”
After that, they all gathered up the luggage and headed back to Viktor’s house, where the grandparents spent the rest of the day gushing over the grandkids, and the brothers spent the day worrying about their father.
Mason dropped the kids off after their ice cream run then went back to his frat. He was exhausted. His father looked awful. He locked his door and collapsed on the bed, letting the tears he’d been holding back all day finally flow. He’d been raised that men didn’t cry. His father’s doing, but right now he didn’t feel like a man. He felt like a lost little boy who didn’t know which way to turn.
So he called Jo.
“Hey, Mase!” He sighed at the sound of her voice. “Did your family get in okay?”
“Yeah. Ray get home?”
“He got in a few hours ago. He’s helping his dad put up shelves in the basement right now. You don’t sound so good, Mason.”
“He looks awful.” Mason sat up, wiping his eyes. “He’s lost so much weight, and when he coughs, it sounds like he’s hacking up a lung. I don’t know if he’s going to come back from this.”
“Don’t give up on him.” Jo’s soothing voice helped to calm him more than anything else had today. “Have a little faith.”
“That’s what Mama said. Told me to have faith and trust in the Lord.” He laughed. “That is not comforting right now. So many good people die from cancer, JoJo. I’m not sure God has anything to do with it.”
The sigh that came across the phone line was heavy. “I know you don’t want to hear it right now, but your mom’s right. Prayer and faith aren’t always about a good outcome. It’s about knowing you’re not alone while you face the worst moment of your life. God may not be able to work a miracle and save your father, but He will be there to hold you and give you comfort. Trust in that.”
Mason shook his head. His mother would love this girl. He wasn’t in a very Christian mood at the moment, though. He and God wouldn’t be on good terms for a while if his papa died. Wasn’t going to say that to either Jo or his mother. They’d lecture him.
“Did you get the rest of your space set up?” He changed the subject, and Jo let it drop. The girl knew him too well.
“Yeah. I was gonna do some recording tonight. Ray said he was tired and was going to bed after he finished up in the basement.”
“Want some company?” The thought of staring at the walls all night alone with his thoughts was not something he really wanted to do.
“Sure. You can sleep on the couch tonight too, if you want.”
“I’d like that, moye dragotsennyy.”
He said his goodbyes, changed his clothes, grabbed a pair of pajama bottoms and a white t-shirt, and then drove over to Jo’s. He could give a rat’s ass if Ray liked it or not. He didn’t want to be alone.
Ray met him at the door. “Hey, man. Jo told me about your dad. I’m sorry.”
“Thanks.” Mason was surprised at the sincerity. He didn’t think the guy had it in him.
“I don’t know what I’d do if my dad got sick. Let me know if I can do anything to help.”
“Letting me come over and sleep on your couch is help enough. My head’s all messed up right now, and I don’t want to have time to think.”
“I get it. You want a beer?”
“Sure, thanks.” Mason regarded him, frowning. This was a side to Ray he had never seen before. This had to be the side Jo fell in love with, and he had to admit, this version of Ray was someone he could like. Maybe even be friends with.
Ray came back in the living room and sat down after handing Mason the beer. “I wanted to say thanks too.”
“For what?” Mason took a seat on the couch as well.
“For looking out for Jo, for putting a security system in to keep her safe. She needs more friends, and I get that you’re her friend. I was an ass to you. I was afraid you were trying to move in on her or were going to judge me like the rest of her family does. She told me what you said, that you weren’t her brother and you’d judge me based on your own experiences. Not that those have been too good, but I’m hoping we can be friends. Jo wants us to get along, and all I want is for her to be happy.”
Wow. Mason honestly didn’t know what to say to that. He took a sip of his now opened beer instead.
“Can we start over?” Ray held out his hand and Mason stared at it for a heartbeat before begrudgingly shaking it.
“We can, but I will be honest with you. I don’t like how you treat her. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying you’re abusive or anything, but the way I was raised, you don’t let your woman ride a bus or a cab in a city known for crime. You don’t make her pay for half the bill, you don’t go a week without calling or texting and making her feel like shit. I was raised to treat a woman like the most precious thing in the world.”
Ray let out a long sigh. “I know. I guess we were raised differently. In my house, women are taken care of, but we treat them as equals. My mom grew up with a self-reliant single mother, and she taught me to treat women like they are as good as a man, and if they want to be equal, then they should be treated equal in every respect, and that means sharing everything. Even the bill at a restaurant.”
“I get that, man, I do, but that doesn’t explain walking away mad and not calling Jo for the whole week.”
“It was a douche move. I was pissed, and she was pissed, and I was afraid I’d say something I couldn’t take back. It seemed easier to not say anything.”
“For the whole week?”
Ray had the good sense to look guilty. “That was me being petty. I’m not proud of it, and I apologized as soon as I got home.”
“You start treating her better, and me and you will be good.” Mason forced the words out. Ray was trying, and he knew it was more than the guy had ever done with Jo’s family. Mason would try too, even though he hated the thought.
“I’ll do my best. We cool?”
“Yeah.”
“Jo’s upstairs in her studio. You go on up. I need to go to get some sleep. Hotel rooms, especially cheap ones, are not conducive to sleep.”
“God’s truth.”
He picked up his beer and went upstairs. Jo was sitting at her desk, headphones on, intent on whatever she was doing. Walking over, he saw her designing her Twitch page. She had some really cool graphics made a while back she wanted to incorporate on her new Twitch profile.
He smiled thinking about how shocked she’d been when her YouTube subscribers flooded to Twitch. Jo didn’t really do a whole lot of live streams on YouTube, but with the revenue she was getting, it made it worth her while to do at least one stream a week on Twitch.
He tapped her shoulder to get her attention, and it startled her so badly, she reared back, toppling the chair and herself onto the floor. He shook his head and stared down at her. “How did you make it to your twentieth birthday?�
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“By the skin of my teeth.” She blushed and scrambled up off the floor, only to catch her foot on the chair and fall forward. Mason caught her before she face-planted, but it brought her right up against him. It wasn’t like when he hugged her either. She was pressed against his chest so close, he could feel her nipples harden. His nose flared at the sudden rush of lust.
She made a noise he had no words for, and it drove his lust even higher.
His gaze landed on her lips—her wet, pink lips he’d wanted to kiss for as long as he could remember. His lowered his head, his lips brushing against her jawline.
“Mason…” The breathy tone drove him crazy. It had been weeks since he’d been laid. Every fucking girl he looked at turned into Jo, and he couldn’t find relief with them when he realized they weren’t her.
He groaned, trying to fight the urge to kiss her. He’d just been downstairs with Ray promising to try to be friends. Kissing his girl would derail that like nothing else could. Fuck, fuck, fuck.
As much as he wanted to, he couldn’t kiss her. He shoved her away, albeit gently so she wouldn’t fall. Picking up her chair, he walked over to study the shit she’d put in the bookshelves he’d helped her put together. Lots of girly stuff intertwined with her gaming icons.
“Mason?”
He closed his eyes against the question. He was so totally fucked.
“I’m sorry.” Shoving his hands in his pockets, he turned around to face her. “It’s been a shitty day.”
She nodded, biting her lip. She always bit that fucking lip.
“I understand.” She gave him a tentative smile. “I won’t ask if you’re okay because I know you’re not, but I’m here if you need me.”
“I know, Josephine, and thank you.”
“You’re very welcome.”
“So, what do you need help with?” Anything to distract him from his urgent need to pull her close and kiss her until she forgot Ray ever existed.
“It’s pretty late to do a live stream, but I thought you might want to play Cuphead with me.”
“Isn’t that the one the entire gaming community is lamenting because of how hard it is?” He hadn’t really watched many of the videos on the game. He’d been too immersed in catching up on his classes. Jo wasn’t kidding when she said the professors were trying to kill them this semester.
Jo rolled her eyes. “Idiots. Everything that is slightly hard is another Dark Souls.”
“Hey, that game kicked my ass. It’s fucking hard.”
She came over and patted his shoulder like he was a little kid. “It’s okay if the harder games terrify you. We’ll find something else to play.”
“I never said I was afraid of it.”
“If it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck…” Jo let her voice trail off, and Mason’s eyes narrowed. She knew she’d wounded his pride. All guys thought they were badass gamers, when in truth, most of them sucked. She had no idea if Mason was any good or not. Given his brother was a game designer, she was betting on him being at least decent.
“Woman, shut the hell up with that nonsense and boot up the damn game.”
She laughed and motioned for him to pull up the other office chair while she got everything booted up. The new capture card Mason had given her was the bomb. She’d tested it out last night after he left. Meant she only got a couple hours’ sleep, but it was so worth it.
Jo had played this game on her channel before. Her subscribers loved the series, and she’d wanted to murder the developer. Truth be told, she got so much more satisfaction out of beating a level because it was hard and she’d earned the victory.
“Can I ask a question?”
“Shoot.” Jo pulled the game up, its 1930s look so charming, it had won her over despite her ill will toward its difficulty.
“You told me you were a cheerleader in high school, yeah?”
“I was.” Where was he going with this? “And a damn good one.”
“How did you not kill yourself?” His eyes twinkled with mischief.
“I am not that clumsy.” Well, she was, but that was beside the point.
He just looked at her, and she finally sighed. “I don’t know what it was about cheerleading, but I wasn’t that clumsy when I cheered. Maybe it was because of muscle memory or something, I don’t know, but I didn’t fall or cause anyone else to. Not much, anyway. Shocked the hell out of my family.”
“Me too.”
“Hey!” She smacked him in the arm.
“If it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck…”
He threw her words back at her. Damn him. She laughed; she couldn’t help it. “You are incorrigible.”
“I try.” He preened and batted his eyes.
It was good to see him smile. Mason had walked in here looking like he was ready to curl up in a ball and cry until there was nothing left. He had to be scared out of his mind if his father actually looked sick. Being able to distract him from that could at least start paying back everything he’d done for her.
“You ready to get your ass kicked in front of the camera?” she teased.
“You might get your ass kicked, but I am kicking this game’s ass.”
“Have you played before?”
“No, but I’ve seen the Let’s Plays. I’m confident I can do it since I know what’s coming and how to conquer the bosses.”
“Uh-huh. You keep believing that.” She patted his shoulder again, knowing how much it irritated him.
“Bring it.”
She made her expression as fierce as she could but lost it two seconds later. He was so going down.
Jo checked the camera one more time to make sure both she and Mason could be seen before starting her intro and introducing Mason by his YouTube name, CutiePie. To her it sounded girly, but his female subscribers loved it, from what she’d read on the comments. Hopefully, this would help him gain some subscribers too. His content was hilarious, and he deserved to be more noticed.
Then they sat down and started playing. Cuphead, despite its adorable artwork, was hard as hell. They were both shouting and growling at the game before too long, but she had more fun than she’d had in a long time. Mason was naturally funny. It was a perfect counter to her more serious tone. This was going to be gold on her channel.
Four hours later, they finally shut the computer down. Jo found Mason some sheets, a pillow, and a blanket for the couch while he changed into his pajamas. She’d changed into hers before she went digging for bedding.
She went downstairs and made up the couch. He was loud when he came into the room, probably so as not to startle her. She’d fall and injured herself. Some days she hated how awkward she was. It was her cross to bear, she supposed.
“Thanks for tonight, Josephine. It helped a lot.”
Her entire demeanor softened, and she hugged him. “I’m always here for you, Mase. I’ll be right here for as long as you need me.”
“I’m your FIBB, remember. Being there is my job, not yours.”
“I…” She cleared her throat, getting a little choked up at the look in Mason’s eyes. She had no words to define it, but it was important. And she chose to ignore it for obvious reasons. “You need to meet up with your parents early?”
He shook his head.
“Then get some sleep, Mase. You need it. We can talk some more when you wake up.”
He leaned down and kissed her forehead. “Night, moye dragotsennyy.”
“Good night, Mason.”
She disentangled herself and went to her own bedroom, slipping in beside a now snoring Ray. She lay there for the longest time, sleep eluding her as she fought the feeling of wanting someone else beside her instead of the man she’d loved for three years.
She was in some serious emotional trouble here.
And she had no idea how to fix it.
Chapter Twelve
Mason woke up to the sound of screaming. He jumped up, bleary-eyed, and looked around. It was coming from outside, and it was de
finitely Jo. He ran, and a fear so deep it ached settled in his chest. Ripping the door open, he bounded down the steps, and he would never forget what he saw.
Jo lay on the ground, her leg under the lawnmower. It was still running, and she was trying to get away from it, but the more she moved, the more she screamed. Ray’s mother stood on the front porch of her house, staring. She looked frozen.
Mason, however, was not. He ran and shut the thing off before trying to move it away from Jo. Her leg was a bloody mess. The blades had ripped all through her lower calf. His hands shook as he tried to assess the damage.
“Is she okay?” Mrs. Daniels asked, finally coming over.
“No, she’s fucking not okay,” Mason snarled. “Call 9-1-1 and then bring me some towels. We have to stop the bleeding.”
The woman didn’t say a word, just disappeared into the house.
Fuck. Mason ran his hands through his hair. She was still crying, but at least she’d stopped screaming.
“What the fuck were you thinking, woman?” Mason tried to straighten out her leg to see where the worst of the bleeding was coming from.
“Here.” Mrs. Daniels shoved a bunch of towels at him.
“The grass needed to be cut.” Jo whimpered when he lifted her leg up to slide the now open towels under it. He wrapped each one as tightly as he could. There were too many cuts.
“Mrs. Daniels, you’re going to have to help me. Press down along the top half, and I’ll do the lower half. Put as much pressure as you can on it. We have to try to stop the bleeding.”
He waited until she did as he asked before taking several deep breaths. He needed to calm the fuck down or he’d yell at Jo.
“Moye dragotsennyy, why were you out here cutting the damn lawn when you know how accident-prone you are?”
“I asked Ray if he could cut the grass this weekend, and he said he wasn’t going to have time. He was going fishing with his dad, and he had to leave early tomorrow for work. No one else was going to do it, so I did.”
“Motherfucker!” Mason seethed with anger. “It’s his fucking job to fucking cut the grass. Not yours. You should never have been out here doing this. If your bastard boyfriend can’t find the time to cut his own damn grass, then I’ll fucking do it from now on to keep you safe from yourself!”