Chapter 23

“Oh, good.” She grabbed his bags. “I’ll get these in the car.”

Mason was about to protest that he could do it when he noticed John was making his way toward them.

Following his stare, Ashley said, “That must be your friend John. He’s very cute in a rugged kind of way.”

“Yes. Can I have a moment?”

“Sure, I’ll wait by the car. You got everything right?”

Not everything

“Yes. Thanks.”

Mason met John halfway. “Hi.”

John’s hands were shoved in the pocket of his jeans and he was wearing a beat up leather jacket. “Hi.” His glance strayed to Ashley and her car, before landing back on Mason. “I want to say something before you go.”

Mason nodded, not trusting himself to speak. His throat was already raw with the effort to hold back the tears threatening to choke him.

“I know we’ve only known each other three months and I know when we first met, I pushed you into sex—”

He opened his mouth to protest but John shook his head.