Chapter 15

LILY

“Why are you so bouncy?” Sophia asks me, her eyes narrowed.

“No reason,” I reply, checking my phone for the sixth time in the same minute.

“You’re being suspicious,” she hums, a smirk on her face. “I’m very smart, you know, Lily,” she adds before walking over to our small window and peering out.

“I think I might need to pull an all-nighter studying.” She sighs a little too dramatically, causing my head to snap toward her. “You know, college life is so busy,” she says, coming to sit next to me on my bed.

“And you know I do my best work in silence, meaning I won’t be wearing headphones,” Sophia says before bursting out into laughter.

“Oh my god, your face!” she exclaims, pointing at me. “You’re like…” She laughs before making an overdramatic, shocked face.

“Just say you’re going to be sneaking Mason in tonight.” She laughs.

“How did you know?” I ask. Her laugh is so contagious I can’t help but join in.

“Because I’m an evil genius.” She giggles.

“Evil?” I question through my laughter.

“Sounds better than genius.” She shrugs, her laughter calming down.

“And deep down, I’m a bitch,” she adds with a wink as she gets up and goes back to her side of the room.

“I’ll go sleep in Ellie’s room tonight,” Sophia says as she puts her slippers on. “But only because if I ever bring a hot piece of ass over, you need to make yourself disappear.” She winks again, making both of us laugh.

Sophia has said that her standards are too high for “these college boys” and plans to marry a rich CEO.

“Thank you. I owe you,” I tell her, really appreciating her right now.

“You can take me out for lunch.” She smiles.

“Deal,” I say as I give her a hug.

We hold the hug for a long beat, and she whispers in my ear, “Be safe.”

I nod as we pull apart, and she gives me a cute little wave as she leaves me alone in my room.

Not even a minute after she leaves, Mason has texted to say he’s downstairs. I rush down, forgetting my shoes and probably ruining my socks. I open the door, scanning the area, making sure the RAs or their friends aren’t around.

The guard who watches the door has his back turned, failing to hide the fact that he is on his cell phone. He is seriously bad at his job, but right now, I’m thankful it’s him and not the hawk-eyed guard who misses nothing.

I walk to the door, glancing back at the guard who hasn’t moved. “Quick!” I hiss to Mason, who obliges and comes through the door.

“Pull your head up,” I demand. He simply chuckles at that but does as I say. Once his hood is up, the guard slips his phone into his pocket and turns around.

I push Mason toward the vending machine and unthinkingly make eye contact with the guard.

“What are you doing?” he grunts, jutting his chin toward me.

“I’m…um… I’m waiting for my boyfriend to pick me up,” I blurt out, inwardly cringing at my excuse.

“But I’ve been waiting for like twenty minutes. I think he’s forgotten about me. Do you think he doesn’t love me anymore? Am I unlovable?” I gasp, clutching my chest, really wishing I could fake cry.

“Ah, um…” The guard stammers over his words. “I think you should go back to your room,” he suggests as his cheeks turn bright red.

“Okay.” I nod before turning and walking away.

I walk past the vending machine and to the corridor where Mason is waiting for me, holding back a laugh.

“Shut up,” I mumble, feeling my cheeks heat up. “I’m not good at improvising!” I say as we begin walking side by side.

“Sophia is staying in Ellie’s room,” I tell him.

“Who’s Ellie?” he asks casually, giving some random guy a bro nod as we walk past him.

“Cheerleader. Who was that?” I reply, looking up at him. He simply shrugs in reply.

Once we are successfully in my room without getting caught, I let out a breath I didn’t even know I was holding. “Oh my God, I was so paranoid.” I giggle, making Mason laugh too.

“Another thing ticked off our list,” I say, wrapping my arms around his waist.

He smiles down at me, returning the embrace. “Actually, we’re going to tick two things off,” he says, leaning down to kiss the tip of my nose.

“Are we?” I raise my eyebrows at him.

“Mhm,” he hums, struggling to suppress a smile. “Tonight, we are going to have sex under the stars,” he whispers, letting the smile take over his face.

“And how are we going to do that in my dorm room?” I ask, pulling back slightly.

Mason releases me and pulls something out of his back pocket, holding it up between us.

I frown slightly as I look at the sheet of paper he’s holding between his fingers before I burst out laughing.

He brought glow-in-the-dark star stickers.

“Seriously?” I ask, falling onto my bed.

“I’m a romantic,” he says as he grabs my chair and climbs on.

I watch as he reaches up and places sticker after sticker onto the ceiling right above me. As he reaches, his shirt rides up, and my eyes are glued to the cute little trail of hair from his belly button down into his underwear.

Mason catches me and laughs. “Stop perving on me.”

“I can’t help it.”

He climbs off the chair, turns the lights off, and slips into bed with me.

I blink a few times, letting my eyes adjust, and slowly start seeing the stars glow. “You know you are so good at making all my dreams come true?” I whisper as I snuggle into his side, drawing circles on his chest with my finger.

“And I will, for my whole life. I promise,” he whispers back as he leans toward me.

Our lips brush together, but he’s not actually kissing me yet. Instead of waiting for him to kiss me, I lean in and kiss him, barely giving him a chance to kiss me back before I slip my tongue past his lips.

Mason moves his body so he’s hovering over me, deepening the kiss as he does. His hands start exploring my body over the top of my clothes, but just as his hand slips underneath my top, there is a banging on the door, instantly pulling us apart.

“Shit,” I hiss as I push Mason off of me, him landing on the floor with an ~oof~. I jump off the bed and rush toward the door. I look over my shoulder to see Mason scooting into the small space underneath my bed.

Before I can open the door, the RA bangs on the door again. I take a deep breath, hoping that Mason is completely hidden as I slowly open the door.

My shoulders instantly relax before annoyance passes over me when I realize that it’s Brittany and Sophia. Both of them smirk, clearly trying to hold back their laughter.

“You both suck.”

They finally let it out, laughing their heads off. I roll my eyes, trying to hold back my own laugh before I close the door on them.

Their laughter gets louder as I lean against the door.

Mason’s head pops out from underneath my bed, looking ridiculous.

“It was just Britt and Sophia fucking with us.” I sigh before I burst out laughing too.

***

Waking up on Thanksgiving morning, I feel sad. I feel anxious. I feel like I’m going to throw up.

Mason convinced me to stay in the apartment over the break instead of by myself in the dorms, saying it would be better for all of us to be together. But right now, I just want to be left alone so I can cry.

I gently slip out of Mason’s bed and head for the bathroom. No one will know if I cry in the shower.

I turn the water on as hot as it can go before stripping down and slipping in. The second my body hits the burning water, I let myself cry.

What type of mother just abandons her child after they nearly die?

She’s the reason I ended up crashing my car. She was the one who yelled at me for not doing what ~she~ wanted. She is the one who, while I was just waking up from a fucking coma, dropped the biggest bomb about my dad.

She is a fucking shitty person. I don’t even know why I’m crying over the bitch.

She doesn’t deserve my tears, but they don’t stop coming.

When there is a knock on the door, I try to pull myself together the best I can. I clear my throat before calling out, “Yes.”

No one replies. Instead, the door opens, and Mason slips inside the bathroom.

He doesn’t utter a word as he removes his sweatpants and T-shirt, then climbs into the shower with me. His arms envelop my body, pulling me into his.

His lips kiss the top of my head for a moment before he rests his chin there.

This gesture triggers my tears again, but not from sadness this time. This time, I’m crying because I feel loved and safe.

I’ve never experienced this type of love before. He doesn’t mind that I’m bawling like a baby, and snot is pouring out of my nose as fast as the tears are.

He has never left when I needed him. After my accident, he left one of his biggest football games. He never left the hospital.

He helped me get dressed. He’s seen every single ugly part of me and has never left. He’s only loved me.

As my sobs begin to subside, Mason’s grip on me loosens, but he doesn’t let go. I turn in his arms and look up at him.

“Thank you,” I murmur before resting my head on his chest.

“Do you want to talk about it?” he whispers, swaying our bodies slightly.

“No,” I whisper back, holding onto his waist, noticing the water is getting cold. “But I want to get out. It’s freezing.”

He agrees, turning the water off. He holds my hand as we get out of the shower. He wraps a towel around my shoulders before he grabs a towel and wraps it around his waist.

“You don’t have to come tonight if you don’t feel up to it,” he tells me, making me frown.

“Don’t be ridiculous,” I say, adjusting the towel to settle under my armpits. “I’m not missing a game,” I tell him sternly.

“Princess.” He sighs sadly.

“I don’t care, Mason. I’ve had a cry. I feel better,” I cut him off, telling him the truth. “Besides, have you seen your ass in those pants?” I smirk, repeating the words he said to me at my volleyball game.

I watch his mouth twitch as if he’s trying to hide his smile, but he can’t help himself and laughs.

“You check out my ass?” He laughs while opening the bathroom door.

“Oh yeah! I mean, have you seen yourself in uniform? So hot.” I waggle my eyebrows at him as we go back into his room.

“Blue is your color,” I add, reaching for one of his zip-up sweaters and slipping it on.

“Is it?” he asks, screwing his face up slightly.

“Definitely, much better than that ugly Greendale green.” I fake gag, making him throw his towel at my face.

“Shut up.” He laughs, dropping back onto the bed and patting the spot next to him.

I snuggle into his side. Neither of us says anything for a while. We just hold each other until it’s time for Mason, Liam, and Brittany to leave.

Once they leave, I lie in bed for a while, staring at the ceiling. Maybe I should take Mason up on his offer and move in with him. He’s never let me down—not once.

But there is still that lingering doubt in the back of my mind that he will decide he’s had enough of me. I mean, my mom had enough of me as soon as I became a sophomore. My biological dad didn’t even want to hang around long enough for me to be born.

“Stop it, Lily,” I say out loud as I sit up.

“You are a boss-ass bitch, and Mason loves you,” I tell myself, finally getting out of bed.

“He won’t leave you,” I say, pulling on my jeans.

“You are an incredible, funny, and talented woman.” I grab Mason’s letterman jacket and pull it on.

“You are a boss-ass bitch,” I repeat, looking at myself in the mirror.

I nod to myself before heading downstairs. Dad will be arriving soon to take me to the game. I don’t know if I want to see him.

He knew I wasn’t his, but he stayed. But then he left. He went traveling for work and wasn’t there. He was there afterward, though.

“Ugh.” I shake my head, feeling a headache coming on.

I’m sick of thinking today. I’m not going to think anymore. I mindlessly scroll on my phone until I hear a car pull up.

I peek out the window and see Dad’s car in the driveway. I quickly lock the apartment, double-checking it’s locked properly before jogging down to Dad.

“Hello,” I chirp, climbing into the front seat.

“Hey, Lily-pad,” Dad’s voice rings out, sounding unusually happy and almost excited.

I squint at him, puzzled. “Why are you so perky?” I ask, giving him a once-over.

There’s something different about him, but I can’t quite put my finger on it.

“Can’t I be happy to see my favorite daughter and watch football?” he retorts, his smile unwavering.

“I’m your only daughter,” I remind him. Technically, I’m not even his daughter. ~Stop thinking about it, Lily! It doesn’t matter!~ I scold myself.

Dad drives us to the stadium, with music playing softly in the background. He makes small talk, mostly asking about my classes and what I’ve decided on for my major. I still don’t know.

I thought he would’ve tutted at me and droned on about how important it is to declare a major, but he just shrugs and says, “You’ve got plenty of time to figure that out.”

Then, of course, he asks about Mason and how football is going. When I tell Dad that Mason is the starter, I swear his eyes nearly pop out of his head.

He then launches into a lengthy tangent about how uncommon it is for a freshman to be a starter. He finally stops talking about it when we sit down on the bleachers.

I bounce my legs up and down, partly to keep warm, partly due to anxiety.

“Everything is going to be fine,” Dad reassures me, grabbing hold of my knee to stop it from bouncing. “You’re okay,” he adds, giving me a kind smile.

My stomach is in knots. I try to distract myself by watching Brittany cheer. As per usual, she is amazing.

“Do you miss it?” Dad asks, bumping his shoulder against mine.

“Nope,” I answer, smiling as Brittany lands a backflip.

“You were really good too. Every single time I saw you cheer, I was always amazed,” Dad says, causing me to scrunch my face up in confusion.

“When did you see me cheer?” I question. I remember him coming to maybe two or three football games in my freshman year, but that’s it.

“When you had competitions, I always made sure I was in town and would watch, but then Mom would drag us straight back to the airport,” he explains, his face falling into a slight frown before he shakes it off.

Ugh. I wish he hadn’t mentioned that witch.

“Watch Brittany do this!” I exclaim, trying to change the subject.

Dad isn’t even watching the cheering, though. He’s looking at the field, where the football players are starting to emerge.

“There’s Mason!” I say, pointing him out the second my eyes land on him.

As usual, he’s standing next to Liam and scanning the crowd, looking as sexy as ever in his uniform. When his hand knocks his helmet twice, I smile widely and blow him a kiss.

I think I’m starting to understand how football is played now because when the other team starts too early, I know it’s called a false start and that right now, we’re playing offense. I can’t wait to tell Mason that I’m learning!

Because when I tell Dad that it was a false start, the shock that covers his face makes me laugh. I can’t wait to see what Mason’s reaction will be.

Mason takes the hike and starts running, then fakes a pass to the left before throwing it sixty yards to the right, straight into the arms of the player that Kayla always cheers for. My dad jumps to his feet and cheers along with the rest of the crowd.

“I still can’t get over how great he is,” he says, sitting back down. “I know you don’t get it, but he really is great,” he adds.

“Even I can see how good he is.” I laugh.

Mason throws another touchdown and runs one in, ending the play with a spin and a leap into the end zone. My dad and I high-five every time he scores, and I’m losing my voice because I’m screaming so much. ~Do I like football now?~

Even though Mason plays incredibly, it’s a close game. The other team is good too. With a minute left, they score on a long bomb to tie the game.

“Oh no,” I say, sinking into my seat.

“There’s still time,” my dad reassures me. “Mason can still win it.”

After the kickoff, Mason trots out to the field. I can’t believe how calm he looks. I, on the other hand, am freaking out.

The play begins. Mason rolls to his right, scanning the field for a teammate to whom he can throw the ball. He fails to notice the largest player on the opposing team charging straight at him.

However, I’m not concerned because there’s a player on our team—a guard, I believe—who should be protecting Mason.

I gasp, leaping to my feet when the other player sidesteps, allowing the defender through. The giant scoops up Mason and slams him to the ground. I’ve never seen him take a hit like this before.

“What happened?” I ask, casting a quick glance at my dad before my eyes are drawn back to the field.

Liam is sprinting to Mason’s side, accompanied by a group of men dressed in khakis. Mason hasn’t moved at all.

I can’t make out what’s happening, but when I see Liam spin around and charge at the large guy from the other team, I instinctively know something isn’t right.

“Dad, what’s happening?” I ask again, feeling tears welling up in my eyes. I need him to reassure me that everything is okay.