Then There Was Maverick

Chapter 16

~ Mason ~

I woke up this morning feeling the most well-rested I had felt in a while. I felt as if a huge weight had been lifted from my shoulders and I could finally breathe again. Looking over at the girl beside me, I was lost as to how she could be just as beautiful asleep as she was awake. Before I stepped over into creepy stalker territory, I turned over and got out of bed to get ready for the day ahead of me.

As I walked down the stairs and into the kitchen, I realized how early it was. 7 A.M. Katie surely wouldn't be up for at least a couple of more hours; she had a lot more to drink last night than that first night in the frats. I was sure that she'd wake up praying to the porcelain throne. The only thing that might be able to cure this hangover would be a big, greasy breakfast. I remembered finding a package of gravy mix, a sleeve of biscuits, and some frozen bacon in the refrigerator out in the garage. That would definitely do the trick. I turned the stovetop on and immediately smelled the burnt smell of the gas coursing through the pipes. I placed the skillet down on the heated burner and placed the slices of bacon in the skillet. The smells of bacon filled the air in the kitchen around me as I cracked open the sleeve of biscuits and placed them on a cookie sheet before putting them into the oven.

My mind was running ramped with the memories of last night's events and discussion topics. I finally confessed my feelings to her. I only hoped that she remembered this part of the night and reciprocated the feelings. I should've told her in high school, but I chickened out due to the fear of losing Tommy's friendship. Although he had never directly forbidden me from dating her, he always used to talk about the guy that he envisioned for Katie; and that guy was everything that I'm not. Tommy hoped that Katie would find a guy that was deserving of her time and emotions. A guy that was not a boy, but a man. Someone that could offer her a stable relationship with an unconditional love. Someone that could give her the best of everything that life had to offer her. I knew that I would do everything in the power to be this man for her, but I fucked up the final part of his wish long ago. He wanted Katie to fall in love with a man who had enough integrity and patience to put his own lustful desires aside until he met her. That was the singular thing that I could no longer offer her. I've strayed away from the straight and narrow that Tommy somehow managed to keep me on. I had lowered my standards for myself big time, and I didn't know how to redeem myself from the mistakes that I had made.

No longer wanting to be a part of the turmoil in my head, I put in my earbuds and turned on my Guns 'n' Roses playlist and let Axl Rose's voice transport me to a better place. I continued to remove cooked pieces of bacon from the skillet and replace them with raw ones. When I heard the dull sound of the water running upstairs over the sound of my headphones, I decided that now would be a good time to put the gravy on so it would all be close to ready when Katie got down here. I heard the stairs creak as she made her way downstairs. Glancing up at the door of the microwave, I saw her reflection in the glass. Her ability to look just as good rolling out of bed as she does when she takes the time to put herself together baffled me. I hadn't met another woman who was able to this, especially after a night like the one she had last night. Katie was definitely something. I could feel her eyes burning into my back and I couldn't stop the smirk that quickly made its way onto my face. I knew that I was an attractive guy, and not just because I had been told so before by the handful of girls that I'd been involved with.

Katie made her way to the cabinets beside me and lifted herself onto her tiptoes as she tried to retrieve glasses from the top shelf. I watched her struggle for a few minutes as I admired the body that was on display in front of me. The oversized sweatshirt, that I was sure belonged to Tommy, rode up and revealed the short pair of spandex that barely covered her backside. I took a deep breath to calm my raging hormones, removed my headphones from my ears, and decided to put an end to her struggle. I placed my hands on her tiny waist and gently scooted her over just enough, so I was able to reach the glasses from behind her. I sat the glasses down on the counter as she turned around to face me. My hands returned to her hips as I looked at her with a knowing smile, "You could've just asked, you know? Although it was pretty entertaining watching your cute little attempt." Her eyes never left mine as I stared into her own trying to figure out what my next move was going to be. A strand of hair fell in front her breathtaking bright blue eyes. I was quick to move the stray hair back behind her ear so my view was no longer interrupted. This girl had me wrapped around her finger and she didn't even know it. I brushed my fingers over her soft, angelic face. She didn't even have to try to seem perfect. She had a subtle beauty that most girls strived for their whole lives. As I looked into her eyes though, I could see the toll that the recent years' events had taken on her. She had been just as close with Tommy as I was, and he was taken away from us so quickly. It was that moment that I vowed to myself that I would do everything in power to make her happy. Whether it meant being in her life in a romantic way or just being a downgraded fill-in for the older brother that she lost that night. I wanted her to have the life that she deserved, and I would do all that I could to give that to her.