Away (33 page)

He lifted his lips off my skin and took in a deep breath. “Time’s up, Sweetheart,” he said, batting his eyelids over his sultry green eyes.

“Damn it,” I said breathlessly.

Jason reached over to the nightstand and handed me my phone. I looked at the screen. There were two text messages, both from Melanie.

4:45am On my way, can’t wait to see you

8:21am In town. Be there in a few

Holy shit! I knew she was as eager to see me as was I to see her, but I didn’t expect her to leave that early in the morning. Either way, my best friend would be here in mere minutes. I set my phone down to the side.

“Maybe you should tell her to just come tomorrow instead,” he said as he placed several kisses on my swollen lips.

“I would. I
so
would, but she’ll be here any minute. She’s right down the street,” I said as he looked down at me like I was joking. “She’s really excited to be here,” I said, trying hard to contain myself, but the look on his face was hysterical.

“Apparently. She doesn’t waste any time.” He slowly got off the bed. “Well then, I’d say it’s definitely time to get ready. You might want this back.” He tossed me the cami he pulled off earlier.

“Probably a good idea,” I said. “Hey, is your mom home today?”

He glanced up like he was trying to remember. “No, she should be home around seven tonight. Why?”

“I just wanted her to meet Melanie. I guess we’ll have to do meet and greet at seven then.”

“Sounds perfect. I’m going to take a quick, cold shower. I’ll come upstairs when I’m done.” He curled his lips up to the side before walking out and closing the door behind him.

I couldn’t help but laugh at the thought of him taking a cold shower. I needed one too, but I didn’t have much time. I quickly grabbed a hair tie, threw my hair in a bun, and put on a bra, a tee shirt, and a pair of cotton shorts before heading upstairs. My heart was racing like I was about to start some sort of championship game. It was like the nerves had settled in, realizing that she would be here any second. I peeked through the front curtain; she still wasn’t here. These were officially the longest few minutes of my life. I stopped myself as soon as I noticed I was pacing in front of the window. Not even five minutes later, she was pulling up to the house. The minute I saw her car park, all my nerves disappeared and pure excitement set in. I screamed like the excited girl I was and flew through the front door. I ran to Melanie who was running to me, meeting halfway as we threw our arms around each other. One would have thought this was a reunion of two people that hadn’t seen one another in years; truth was, it had only been a couple of months, but it didn’t matter. It could have been only a week and the enthusiasm would still be the same.

After what felt like the longest, tight-gripped hug we could have had, we pulled away and the relief I had when I saw her face produced instant tears. Or, it could have been the hormones. Either way, the tears trickled down. “I missed you so much,” I said as I wiped the tears off my cheeks.

She wiped the tears that trickled from under her aviator sunglasses and smiled back at me. “I missed you more.”

We hugged one last time before retrieving her small overnight bag and heading inside.

“It’s okay that I stay here, right? Or should I take my bag to the motel you made sound all too appealing?” she asked with a smirk.

I was getting ready to answer her when I saw Jason walking down the hall toward us. I looked over at Mel whose face went from excited to stunned and awe. It seemed she couldn’t fully grasp how attractive Jason really was. He wore a striped, short-sleeved, button-up shirt tucked into his delicious, ass-shaping jeans that sat perfectly on his hips. His biceps looked mouthwatering in that shirt, not to mention the cowboy boots and cowboy hat that completed the look. I couldn’t help but stare at him too. I saw him a lot, dressed just as good as this, but something about just stopping to admire how gorgeous he really was made me appreciate him even more. I honestly could keep my eyes on him all day, every day, and never get bored.

“Melanie, I presume. It’s nice to finally meet you. I’m Jason. And yes, it’s more than okay that you stay here,” he said, interrupting our apparent gawking as he put his hand out in front of Mel.

Both Mel and I snapped out of our trances. She gave a look that said more than words could ever say. She had just been caught and was clearly mortified. I tried to contain myself as she tried to recover for herself.

She cleared her throat and shook his hand. “I really appreciate you inviting me to stay, Jason. It’s good to meet you and to finally put a face to the voice,” she said.

“You too,” he replied.

“Uh, I need to use the restroom, Cass. It was a long trip,” she said, looking over at me.

“At least you didn’t get lost,” I told her which only made Jason smirk. “Down the hall, first door on your right.”

“Thanks. I’ll be right back.” She scurried off quickly down the hall.

I sauntered over to Jason, wrapping my arms around his waist as I looked up at his still amused face. “What?” I asked coyly.

“Not what I was expecting.”

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“She has some harsh words for a girl that looks like that.”

I knew exactly what he meant now. She wasn’t what you’d expect from only hearing her voice. Her appearance was very polished. Her face was like porcelain. She had big brown eyes. Her hair was a perfect shade of chocolate brown. Her petite stature would never give away her bossy, say what she wants, no fear personality. At first glance, you saw a princess; after she opened her mouth, you witnessed her transform to a sailor. I never understood it. I really didn’t care; she won me over the day we met in elementary school. She didn’t tolerate bullies, so I always assumed that was why she was the way she was. Or it could have been her parents, the reason she wanted to go to college so damn far away. They weren’t like mine. Instead, they didn’t care enough about their daughter.

“Harsh words?” I asked, unhooking my hands from his waist and moving to the side of him.

“Uh, yeah. Let’s just leave it at that.” He chuckled.

“I heard the whole damn conversation, kids. Your walls are paper thin, Jason. Yes, Cass, I used harsh words. I threatened his head, and I’m not talking about the one with a brain. I’m going to protect my friend no matter how cute she says the guy is.” Melanie raised a brow with a smirk on her face.

“What? She only called me cute?” Jason looked over at me, slightly blushing, but not nearly as much as I was.

“So, this is fun,” I said, trying to break up the embarrassment.

“Don’t worry Jason. She used plenty more words to describe you, but no need to embarrass her any more than I already have.” She looked over at me and winked. “Not to mention the fact that she never talks about the guys she likes, so consider yourself special.” The look on Melanie’s face was that of pure enjoyment. She would get hers; one of these days, I was going to be sure to put her through the same thing. For now, all I could do was be glad that my friend was here. No matter the embarrassment, I loved her more than words could say.

We walked into the kitchen and sat down at the table.

“What’s the plan?” she asked, her eyes switching from Jason’s to mine.

I looked at Jason. “The look on your face says you have a plan, but I know you well enough now to know you don’t make plans,” I said with an arched brow.

“Well, Sweetheart, I did make plans for today. I’m going to help Moose out with a few things at the shop so you ladies can catch up. I’ll be back this afternoon, and then I was thinking we’d go to dinner later.” He gave us both a questioning glance as he awaited our responses.

I looked over at Mel as she shrugged. “Doesn’t matter to me. I’m just along for the ride,” she said.

“This is certainly new for you,” I said, teasing him. “But it sounds perfect.”

He put his hands on the table, stood up, and looked over at Mel. “Nice to meet you again.”

“You too, Jason,” she said, eyeing him once again.

“And you,” he said, as he walked over to me, placing a kiss on my forehead. “I’ll see you later. Have fun ladies.”

I noticed we both watched his backside as he walked down the hall and out the door.

Melanie turned back to me. “Moose?” she questioned.

“The friend who kept interrupting our moments.” I reminded her.

“Ah, yes, Moose. The cockblocker. Damn friend,” she said, making us both chuckle.

“God, I’ve missed you.”

“Me too,” she replied. “I mean that I missed you, not myself.”

I laughed at her. “You need some coffee?”

“Like you wouldn’t believe.”

“Alright, I’ll start the pot for you and then I’m going to take a quick shower, glam myself up a bit. You can settle in and have your coffee. The room you are sleeping in is the last one on the right.”

She nodded as we got up from the table. “Why aren’t we just sharing a room? Or are we?”

I bit down on my lower lip. “Um, no, we’re not.” I quickly scurried away from her as I got the coffee started.

“How many rooms are there?”

“Three,” I mumble, watching her calculate in her head, and seeing her figure out that I was most definitely sharing a room, just not with her.

“You little vixen you,” she gasped. “Well, I can’t say that I blame you. I’m gonna need a damn fan every time he’s around. Normally, cowboys don’t do it for me, but he’s hot.”

I turned around and couldn’t help but smile as I thought of him. It wasn’t just that he was sexy and looked great in clothes and without for that matter. It was how he treated me; he was pure sweetness. It was like every candy shop in the world bottled up all their sweets and poured it into him. I didn’t think he had a bad bone in his body. I’d also never felt a connection like this with anyone before, one where my body turned into a puddle of mush every time he was around. I couldn’t wait to see where this relationship would take us in the future. My heart fluttered as I thought of the possibilities. And then my heart sank as I thought of his struggles and the secret he’d kept from me. I needed to fill Mel in on it. I’d tell her later today. I put a coffee mug on the counter and quietly shuffled out of the kitchen.

“I’ll be right back,” I mumbled to her.

She pushed her brows together a bit before she said okay and poured herself a cup of coffee.

I wrapped the towel around my body and walked out of the bathroom.

“What’s wrong?” Melanie asked as she sat on the floor opposite the bathroom door, sipping her coffee.

I looked down at her, trying to decide if right here, right now was the time to tell her what I knew. Standing naked under a towel didn’t seem to be the appropriate time.

“I know something’s wrong. I know because you look like someone just ran over your cat.”

“I don’t have a cat,” I reminded her, trying to keep my voice from cracking.

She tilted her head to the side. “Fine, your
dog
then.”

“I don’t have a dog, either, Mel.”

She stood, her angry eyes meeting mine. “Oh my God. You look like someone just ran over your fucking fake pet, and you’re going to burst into tears at any moment. What is going on?” Her voice was softer as she walked closer to me.

“It’s not an animal or something fake that’s hurt, Mel. It’s…” I swallowed, trying to get the lump in my throat to go away, but it was no use. It balled up tighter. “It’s Jason.”

“What?” Her eyes stunned.

“I need to tell you what’s going on with him. I don’t want to, but I do. I need my friend to tell me everything is going to be okay.” Crying, I fell against her, and she wrapped her arms tightly around me.

“Sweets, what is going on?”

“Jason has kidney failure,” I managed between sobs as my tears soaked her shirt.

The quiet whisper of the words ‘Oh my God’ and the feel of her arms tightening was all the response I got from her.

After taking a moment to re-group, I took Melanie downstairs to his room. I dressed in a pair of white jean capris and a black tank top before sitting down on his bed. I knew it would be a struggle as I told Mel the slightly abridged version of how I found out and the story Jason told me last night.

“Holy shit. This just can’t be real,” she said, shaking her head in disbelief. “I didn’t see this coming.” She wiped a few tears that had trickled down her cheeks.

“You?” I gawked at her. “I’ve been living with him. I could tell something was up, but I honestly thought it was family issues, not this.”

“Yeah, I would have never guessed, and then to find out that way. God, I’m so sorry, Cass.”

“That’s why I moved my stuff down here. It’s not because I’m some code red clinger. It’s because my heart needs him. It needs to be close to him. If something happens to Jason, I need to know for my own sanity that I did everything I could to support him and spent as much time as possible with him. It sounds crazy, I know.”

“No. I don’t think it sounds crazy at all. I think it sounds hopelessly romantic. I wish I had a Jase in my life. Speaking of that, we need to discuss that brother of his.”