Page 99 of Rival for Rent

“I guess we will.” He smiled, then nudged me out of the way so he could pin Myers down with a knee. The man was still thrashing and whining in pain.

“That’s alright, girl,” Mason said, rubbing Bella’s back. “You did a good job. You can let go now.”

Bella looked up at him suspiciously, but finally let go and backed away. I gave her a hug. She might not be the sharpest tool in the shed, but she’d come through when it had counted.

“Good girl,” I said, holding her tight. “Good, good girl.”

Mason pressed his phone into my hands. “Can you call 911?”

I nodded, took a shaky breath, and dialed.

It was a long night.

It took the cops forever to get there, but thank god, Mason really had recorded everything. Amir had been on the other end, and he’d uploaded the whole thing to social media. Totally insane move—but it meant there was no way to suppress the evidence.

Even luckier, Officer Branscombe had been reviewing the same security footage Myers had ‘checked’ earlier, and she’d noticed there were big gaps, like something had been erased. Right around the time of Mason’s attack.

She hadn’t been able to reach Myers, but she figured he’d have said something if the footage was already like that. Which meant it had probably been tampered with. Either after he viewed it—or during. Between the gaps in the footage and the livestream, it was enough to arrest Myers on the spot.

Then came the endless parade of people. Crime scene techs dusted for fingerprints on everything—the gun, the rope, the doorknobs. Mason and I gave our statements. We would still have to go to the station the next day. We were checked by EMTs. Dana even sent over a lawyer.

It wasn’t until three a.m. that we finally had the house to ourselves again. The moment the door closed behind Detective Branscombe, Mason turned and swept me into his arms—he’d taken the sling off when he’d taken control of Myers, and never put it back on.

“Thank god you’re okay,” he murmured, nuzzling the top of my head.

I pressed my face into the crook of his neck and held him so tightly he actually grunted. I eased up, remembering his ribs, but didn’t let go.

“I thought I wasn’t going to see you again,” I whispered. “I thought he was going to kill me and I’d never have the chance to say—”

“Hey. Don’t think like that.” Mason cut me off gently, kissing my temple. “It didn’t happen. You’re okay. We’re both okay.”

“I know,” I said fiercely. “Iknowthat, but Mason, it made me realize there are things I never—”

“We’ve got all the time in the world,” he said softly. “I promise. We can do whatever you want. I’m not going anywhere.”

“No, you’re not listening.” I pulled back to look him in the eye. “I don’t want todoanything. But there’s something I need to tell you.”

His face shifted from concerned to cautious in an instant. I reached up to smooth the tension from his brow.

“A good thing,” I added quickly. “Or—I think it’s good. God, I guess it’spossibleit’s not, and then I’ll never see you again because you’ll run so far away—”

“Kai, please just tell me and put me out of my misery,” Mason said. “Are you…are you ending things between us?”

“No, dummy. I’m trying to tell you I love you.”

His mouth dropped open. It was extremely satisfying.

“You love me?”

“Yes.” I held his gaze. “And I’ve wanted to say it for a while, but I was afraid I’d scare you off or trigger another round of self-loathing, but I don’t care anymore. I almost died, and all I could think was that I’d never told you. That you’d come home and find me and blame yourself andnever knowhow much I love you. Because it’ssomuch. I love you so much. And I never want you to leave. I want to spend the rest of my life arguing with you about dumb things and making up in bed. Or in the kitchen. Or in the backyard under that waterfall you’re going to build me. Or honestly anywhere. I just wantyou.”

I finally ran out of air, my heart pounding.Please don’t freak out. Please don’t freak out. Please don’t—

“You’re sure?” Mason said, like we were talking about directions to the post office. “You’re absolutely positive?”

“That I love you? Yes.”

“Me. You love…me?”

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