Page 78 of Game Plan

“No, I swear. Ohmygod. I-I-I can’t anymore.”

Mason abandoned his torture and hovered over me, holding my gaze. He pushed my hair away with a soft touch, his fingertips lingering on the side of my head. The air around us was charged with electricity as we faced each other, and our humor died down. “I know I’m the nurse in our story, but this time I wanna be your patient. Please, save my life…and my heart, Mel. You once said that if someday I were dying a slow death, you’d be the one patching me up and kissing it better. Well, I am dying a slow death right now. What we once had is still there. More potent than ever. You can’t tell me you don’t feel it. When we reconnected, we said no more lies.”

“Mase, it’s not that I don’t feel it, it’s that I don’t think it would be right. We’re not couple material. We are friends material.” Or I like to let myself believe that’s all we are to each other.

“How would you know? We’ve never even kissed.” He lowered his face toward mine, and my breath caught in my lungs when his nose brushed against mine. My heart kicked in my chest. My thoughts evaporated. Would Mason Pierce kiss me? If he did, was I ready for everything it would mean? For everything that would change between us? For him to prove me wrong?

I felt his warm breath tingling my upper lip. My back arched of its own volition, desperate for some physical contact. Every single inch of my flesh was burning, and liquid heat filled my lower abdomen.

“Mase…” Why was my voice so low? It barely sounded like mine.

“Mel…”

He parted his lips with a soft intake of breath, and before our lips could connect, I closed my eyes and turned my head. His mouth connected with my cheek instead. I kept my eyes closed, dreading the look of disappointment I knew would shadow his face.

With two fingers, he tipped my chin toward him. “Mel, look at me.”

I shook my head and worried my bottom lip with my teeth. “No. I can’t.” I squeezed my eyes shut. “You’ll think I’m unhinged or something.”

“Unhinged? No. Never. I can tell you are scared, but it’s me, Mel. Why wouldn’t you trust me?”

I sighed. “It’s not that. It…it’s my heart I don’t trust.”

“Because…”

I opened my eyes. “I don’t know, okay?” Anger rolled in my stomach. I pushed him to the side and sat with my arms wrapped around my knees. “I don’t understand how you can fall for me. It still doesn’t compute in my head. You could have anyone.”

Mason kneeled on the floor before me, closing his hands around my ankles. “I thought we went over this already. You even went as far as making yourself sick and dating my nemesis, for God’s sake. All that didn’t change anything between us. I’m still sure we’re it, Shepard. The fire between us is burning hot, but I won’t do anything you’re not ready for.”

“I…I would prefer you to fall out of love with me.”

He flinched. “You don’t mean that.”

I released my legs and straightened my back, folding my arms to create a barrier between us. “Maybe I do.”

Mason stood up and paced his bedroom, his fingers locked in his hair. “What should I do now? Forget you exist? Because you know what? I don’t believe you. I don’t believe you don’t love me back. I feel like you just think pushing me away is the solution to whatever is going on inside that pretty head of yours.”

“It would be much simpler if you didn’t love me.”

“Simpler for whom? You know me, Mel. I won’t go down without a fight. Not this time around. Last year, I stayed out of the way when you brought Clarke into the equation, but this time, I won’t let your fears stand between us. I’m done playing and staying on the sidelines.”

“Why can’t you stop loving me? You should move on.” Please, don’t. Yes, do. Gosh, I don’t know.

“Because I see you, Melinda Shepard. All of you. And I feel you too. I think we should kiss and see where it goes from there.”

“Well, I think we shouldn’t kiss, and we should put a stop to this….whatever this is.” Or not. “It’s unhealthy.”

“I don’t agree. We belong together. I’m just waiting for you to stop denying the truth.”

“I can’t wait for you to prove me wrong, then.”

A spark lit up his eyes. “Is this a challenge?”

“Why not?” I rose from the bed. I wanted to fall for him—because the truth was that I had already fallen head over heels in love with him a long time ago—but for some reason, I just couldn’t let my guard down. There was definitely something wrong with me. Mason was perfect—perfect for me—and I kept pushing him away like he wasn’t, and I hated myself for doing so. I wasn’t ready to be vulnerable and let him see the truth. Nope. I had to protect myself, no matter the cost.

“Where are you going?”

“Home. I’ll ask Craig to drive me. I should have left earlier. It was a mistake to stay. We clearly need some space from each other.”