Page 87 of Mason

“I stabbed him in the eye with a nail.”

“You be a badass, huh?”

She turned serious. “Thinking about you, it gave me the strength to fight him, to run.”

“I’ve never been more scared in my entire life,moye dragotsennyy. Don’t do that to me again.”

“I promise.”

“You swear it?”

“I swear.”

“I can’t take it if you die on me, JoJo.”

“Same for you, buster. No dying on me.”

“I promise.”

“So, I hear everyone thinks we’re engaged?” She gave him a half-smile then grimaced.

“Your face.”

“No broken bones. Just sore, which means no making me smile.”

“So, future Mrs. Kincaid, if I can’t make you laugh, and I can’t kiss you, what can I do?”

“You can be here and love me, Mason. That’s all I’ve ever wanted.”

“That, I can do, Josephine.”

That, he could do for the rest of their lives.

Seven Months Later

Mason parked his car at the entrance to the park. Fuck, but he was tired. He’d had to go pick up his and Jo’s books at the campus library, swing by the administration building, and drop off the security equipment for a new client of KSI’s. He’d do the install tomorrow, but for tonight, he was going to relax. Drink a few beers and have some fun with his girl.

If his body didn’t give out on him first. It had taken months for him to learn to walk again. Hence why he was picking up textbooks. He’d had to drop out of school last semester since he spent three months in the hospital and another two gaining strength in his fucking legs.

And even though he was back to walking and moving like a normal person, he still got tired quicker than he used to.

Which was why he’d be grateful to sit before he dragged Jo away for some other extracurricular fun. He grinned thinking about her gasp of indignation his suggestion of doing it like bunnies in the woods would cause. Not that he would out here where any asshole could see them, but that didn’t rule out the woods behind his brothers’ homes.

The one thing college was good for was their epic parties. His frat and Jo’s sorority had come together to put this one on. Jo had helped plan it, and that was fine with Mason. As long as she didn’t drag him into it, he was content to show up and partake. Which is what he was currently doing.

He heard the music before he saw it. Tunes from the seventies blared through the surrounding area. The seventies? What the hell…? He came to a complete and utter stop when the scene before him came into view.

The whole placed looked like a bad seventies movie, right down to the people dressed in flower headbands and bellbottoms. Beer was flowing freely, though, so he could dig it as long as he got a beer and no one asked him to bust out the moves to “Staying Alive.”

He made his way down the hill, his eyes searching for Jo. She wasn’t hard to spot. Her hair, thanks to Delia’s help, was a rainbow of colors from pink to blue to green to blonde. Unicorn hair. She’d talked Jo into it last week, and unlike him, Jo took Delia to the salon with her, and they both got their hair done. Sara hadn’t been overly happy, but the salon had used temporary dye on Delia, whereas Jo went all out.

She didn’t look weird or hippy. She looked beautiful to him in her white t-shirt with the peace symbol on it and her blue jean bellbottoms with tiny flowers sewn all along the bottoms and up the outside seam on one side. Her rainbow hair was piled up in pigtails, extra big hoops in her ears. She looked adorable, and he just stood there watching her as she laughed with Beth and Cara. The three of them were as close as sisters.

It was good to see them laughing after everything the two had been through.

“Hey, man.” Keith came to a stop beside him and handed him a beer. “You good?”

“Yeah.” He took the beer. “What are you doing here? You graduated already.”

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