MASON AND SAGE

Chapter 5 ~ Mason

"Hello?"

Sage's sweet voice came through the line and I was so surprised she'd taken my call, I almost couldn't answer her.

"Hey, kitten," I tried, but my voice came out in a croak, so I cleared my throat and tried again. "Thank you for answering, Sage."

"What do you want, Mason?"

I want you back. I want to be married to you. I want to beat the shit out of myself for hurting you. I want to have never kissed Eva. I want to hear your voice. I want to have you beside me.

"I have a whole list of things I want, kitten. But the most important one is to know if you're doing OK."

It's amazing how loud silence can be. I had to check my phone to make sure we were still connected.

"I don't even know how to answer that," she said quietly. "My heart is broken, the man I loved betrayed me, my wedding was canceled and I'm sitting here on a beach, alone, instead of walking down the aisle to you because you fucking kissed your ex girlfriend!"

And then came a torrent of words and feelings that she'd been holding in for the two weeks we'd been apart. If anyone was sitting near her on the beach, they were hearing everything because my woman was yelling at me like I'd never heard her before.

"How could you, Mason? How could you destroy everything between us for a woman that supposedly means nothing to you? I'll tell you how! She does mean something to you! You've probably been lying the whole time we were together, maybe even secretly meeting up with her, maybe texting her or calling her even when you said you weren't. I sit here every day and think you've been playing me the whole time, giving me sweet words but your heart was somewhere else the entire time we were together and the first chance you had, the first chance you had, you were shoving your tongue down her throat and her hands were where no woman's hands should be but mine. Or maybe it wasn't the first time and you were unfaithful to me the entire time we were together. I just don't know what to think any more, but I do know I don't trust you. And I also know you're a lying, cheating asshole!"

"Sage, I want you to know, I only texted her back when she said she was going to be in town and could we get together. And every time I texted her back it was a simple no and nothing else. Nothing else. I know you don't believe me, but it's the truth. I was not playing you the whole time, I never once was playing you. When I told you that you owned my heart, you did and you do. Every sweet word I gave you was true. I love you, Sage. I've never said that to a woman until you. I never even considered proposing to a woman until you. You are the only woman I've ever wanted a future with, the only one I wanted to have my babies and start a family with. I never once thought about her like that. She does not mean something to me. I swear to you, she means less than nothing to me."

"How can I believe that after what I saw in that alley? What I saw was a man into a kiss with his ex."

"What you saw was a colossal mistake that I wish to fuck had never happened. I took her out there to tell her to back the fuck off --"

"Well, Mason, if that's the way you tell people to back off, no wonder they don't get the message."

"I get it, Sage, I do. I understand your anger. I took her out there to tell her to back off, I was drunk, she was drunker, I was grieving Drake, we'd been surrounded by old friends talking about old times all night, and she grabbed me and kissed me. And I kissed her back for a few seconds because I'm a stupid fucking asshole, but also because for one brief moment it was like the time when Drake was alive again. Swear to fuck that's all it was. No latent desire for her, no wish we were still together, and then I came to my motherfucking senses and pushed her away and I left her in the alley. I walked around the city for hours, sick and pissed as hell at myself, and I was digging deep to make absolutely certain there was nothing still there for her. And there wasn't. Not one thing, Sage, not one speck of feeling for her. I don't want Eva, I didn't want her that night, and I do not want her in the future. What I do want is you. All I want is you."