Page 45 of Chief's Addiction

My own eyes welled up with tears, and I reached over and took his hand, giving it a gentle squeeze.

“You don’t have to figure it all out today, Beck,” I said, sniffling as I batted at the moisture on my cheek with the back of my free hand. “The main thing is that you’re safe now.”

Mason looked at me, something warm flickering in his eyes before he returned his focus to Beckett. “You want to stay here?”

Beckett glanced around, clearly overwhelmed by the offer. “I… guess,” he answered skeptically.

“Good,” Mason said with a decisive nod. “Then it’s settled. Now let’s fucking eat. I’m starving.”

And just like that, my man was moving on.

It was crazy how he just rolled with the punches life threw like taking in a teenager and offering him sanctuary without so much as breaking stride.

Beckett looked over at me, his expression clearly asking, “Did that just happen?”

I shrugged with a smile that said, “I guess it did.”

And Mason?

He was already heading toward the kitchen, talking about eggs and bacon.

Watching him, I felt another layer of the wall around my heart crumble away.

Whatever his faults, and I knew for a fact there were plenty I hadn’t discovered yet, Mason Sosa had just revealed himself to be someone who wouldn’t hesitate to protect those who needed protecting.

And God help me, I was officially head over heels in love with him.

Chapter 11

Chief

I rummaged through the stainless-steel refrigerator, spotting the bacon and eggs tucked away on the bottom shelf. My stomach growled at the thought of fluffy scrambled eggs covered in shredded cheddar cheese.

After getting up at the crack of dawn for Cora’s surf class, kicking in Gerald’s door and fucking him up before stopping back by Cora’s place to get her truck, and then finally making it back to my house; I was fucking starving.

“Is it okay if I take a shower?” Beckett’s voice was hesitant behind me, like he was worried about overstepping.

I stepped back from the fridge and turned to face the kid. His bruised eye was getting darker and it made me want to pay another visit to his foster dad. My luck, I’d end up behind bars. Pretty sure ol’ Gerald wouldn’t take me putting a whoopin’ on him again, as quietly as he had the first time.

Cora cleared her throat, and when I looked over, her eyes were big and she was jerking her head towards the boy.

Right. He was asking about a shower. “This is your home now, kid. Make yourself comfortable.”

He nodded, some of the tension leaving his shoulders as he disappeared down the hallway.

I sucked in a deep calming breath through my nose. I’d seen some shit in my time; done some shit I wasn’t proud of. But there was something about an adult raising their hand to a kid that made me homicidal.

Stealing my jaw, I turned back to the fridge and grabbed the eggs and bacon, then moved to the stove. I was just starting to arrange the bacon strips in the cast iron skillet when slender arms slid around my waist from behind and a warm body pressed against my back. Cora’s peaches and cream scent wrapped around me, soothing some of the rage that had been brewing.

“You’re something else, Mason Sosa,” she murmured against my shoulder blade.

I lifted my arm, and she slipped around in front of me, those ocean blue eyes gazing up at mine. Christ, she was beautiful.

“Glad you think so, baby. But I was just doing what any man worth his salt would do,” I said, dropping a kiss on her perfect lips.

Her smile told me she thought differently, but she didn’t argue. I nodded toward the hallway that led to the opposite side of the house from where Beckett’s room was. “You can shower in my bathroom if you want.”

Her eyes lit up. “That actually sounds amazing.”

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