His body slumped over onto me, and he wrapped his arms tightly around my waist. Snuggling his face back into my neck, he whispered into my ear, “That’s your reminder that I love you.
Always and Forever.
You’re my Psyche and I’m your Eros.”
I knew he loved me, just like he knew that I loved him, but we had yet to start saying it to one another. If you would have asked me before if that’s how I wanted him to express his eternal love to me ~ leaned over the kitchen sink with his semi-hard cock still inside me, as the remnants of our reminder fuck began to run down my inner thigh, I would’ve laughed at you. But just like everything else with Ash and I, his saying I love you happened exactly it was supposed to, exactly the way it was supposed to.
“I love you too,
Luv,
but what happens if I forget again? Something like this?” I teased. “Cause if that’s the case I think I may have already forgotten again.”
“You little brat! I’m about to show you what a retribution fuck is…”
“Ooh, that sounds like fun too!” I wiggled my ass against him.
“Stop it, Scarlett,” he said laughing. “We need to get the rest of this stuff ready for tomorrow. Now come on, let’s go clean up real quick.”
The following morning I was woken up with a sweet ‘I love you’ love making session before we rolled out of his bed ready to attack the day. His family all arrived around three in the afternoon and I was so happy to see
Crys
again. We had begun chatting daily via texts just about life, and I considered her one of my good friends. The guys were in the living room watching some football game on TV, his mom was sitting on the floor playing a board game with Oscar and Evan soaking in her grandmother time with the adorable little
blondies
, and
Crys
and I were putting the finishing touches on the meal.
Just before we were going to sit down for dinner, I heard my phone ringing back in Ash’s room so I hurried back there to answer it. Being that it was Christmas day, I assumed that it was my parents or brother calling to wish me a happy holiday, so I didn’t think much about the long distance are code.
“Hello! Merry Christmas!” I answered cheerfully.
“Scarlett? Is that you?” a familiar male voice said on the other side of the line, but I couldn’t place it immediately.
“Yes… who is this?”
“It’s Cruz.” The minute he told me who it was my stomach sank and I began to grind my teeth. I wasn’t sure why he was calling, but it couldn’t have been for a good reason.
“I, uh… I don’t know how to say this…” he danced around whatever it was.
“Just say it. What’s going on Cruz?” I hadn’t seen nor heard from Mason in several weeks when we said goodbye at Mina’s wedding, but I had a bad feeling.
“Rat OD’d last night.”
MASON
I woke up the day after the wedding on the bathroom floor of Cruz and Sebastian’s apartment. I had no idea what I had done or how I had gotten there. I felt like I had been run over by a train ~ my head was pounding, my vision was blurry, my ribs were sore, and I had the worst case of cotton mouth ever. What in the fuck happened? I stumbled out into the living area where Cruz was playing video games and eating some cereal.
“Dude, what the fuck happened to me?” I asked him.
He looked up at me and shook his head. “You lost your damn mind last night, Rat. I don’t know what that girl did to you, but you need to get a hold of yourself before we leave.”
Just the mention of Scarlett brought all of the memories from the prior day to the surface. I still couldn’t believe it what had happened. I needed to talk to Bentley ASAP, I needed to ask about being reassigned to Jag, and I needed to tell that bitch to fuck off for good.
I managed to get myself together as much as possible and made my way to my apartment. After a shower and a cup of coffee, I began to feel about twenty-five percent drag so I decided to make the phone call. Instead of dealing with Bentley’s craziness, I called Jag direct and told him the situation. He agreed and told me that he would take care of his sister and that I didn’t need to worry about it again. I felt much better that issue had been resolved.
Despite feeling like complete dog shit that morning after partying the night before, I decided it was a good idea to party again that night with all the members of Vander Blue and their groupies. I called Sebastian to make sure he was bringing party favors for us to partake in, and then I got ready to go not give a fuck.
Once we left to go on tour, I thought that I would be able to straighten my act up a bit. I kept telling myself that my going out in Austin every night before we left was just my mini-farewell tour of sorts. However, the exact opposite happened. The women, alcohol, and drugs multiplied tenfold. Every day and night it was thrown in our fucking faces and I after losing my Angel, I just wasn’t stable enough mentally or emotionally and I got lost in the easy, temporary fixes.
Christmas Eve night was particularly crazy. We had played a show in Miami the night before, and we were off on both Christmas Eve and Christmas Day to relax a bit before the European tour started. The boys and I decided to go see what all the fuss over Miami Beach’s party life was all about. Making sure that I had a nice feeling running through me before we got started, I grabbed a mirror and a straight edge to cut up a few lines of coke that Sebastian had gotten me the night before. Snorting a line in each nostril, I took a deep breath and waited for the tingling feeling to creep up my nose, and then begin the slow drip in the back of my throat. Once I recognized the undeniable taste in my mouth, I wet my finger with my tongue, ran it across the mirror to pick up any leftover granules and then rubbed it on my gums.
Within minutes, I was alert and ready to go, hoping that I was headed out for a Christmas Eve night that I would never forget.
SCARLETT
“What did you just say?” I asked Cruz, hoping I didn’t hear what I thought I did.
“It’s Mason, Scarlett,” his voice cracked. “He’s in ICU in critical condition here at the University of Miami hospital. They aren’t sure if he’s
gonna
make it. They said the next twenty four hours are crucial. I know its Christmas and all; I’m really sorry to have to make this call, I just thought you would want to know.”
“Of course I want to know. I’m on my way. What hotel are you staying in?” My mind begin racing on what all I needed to do to get there as soon as possible.
“We are at the Bentley Hotel South Beach.”
“Are you fucking serious?” Really? Of all the hotels, that’s where they were staying? “Let me guess,
she
booked that one…” I knew I shouldn’t be acting bitchy with the seriousness of what was going on, but damn if I didn’t despise that bitch.
“No, Scarlett. Rat fired her before we came on tour. Jag’s here with us.”
“Oh, okay” I didn’t have time to think about the implications of what that meant; I needed to get to Miami quickly. “Well, I’ll be there as soon as I can.”
“You don’t have to do that. I know it’s Christmas,” he said. “I just wanted you to know.”
“No, I have to be there. I’ll call the airline as soon as I hang up with you. I’ll let you know when I get there.”
I hung up the phone and did just as I said I would, I called the airlines and booked a seat on the next flight out which was in an hour and a half. I didn’t even bother to stop and think about Ash and his family in the other room. Luckily, I kept some clothes over his house so that I wouldn’t have to always bring a bag back and forth. I began frantically throwing enough for a few days into a bag and mentally going through what all I needed for the flight. As I was going through my purse checking for my driver’s license and cash, Ash walked into the room with a confused look on his face.
“Is everything okay, Butterfly? Why are you packing a bag? What’s going on?” He was looking around the bed trying to figure out what was going on.
I knew that he wasn’t going to be happy that I was bailing on him and his family and this meal that we had prepared for Mason, but I had no choice. I had to go to him.
“Please don’t get upset, but Cruz just called.
Jobu’s
Rum is in Miami and Mason overdosed last night. He’s in bad shape at the hospital. They aren’t sure if he’s
gonna
make it Ash.” It wasn’t until I had to say the words out loud that the tears came. “I just booked a flight. I leave in a little over an hour. Please understand that I have to go.”
The disappointment showed all over his face, but instead of giving me any grief, he nodded his head. “Okay, Scarlett, whatever you think you need to do.”
“I’m so, so sorry love. If he doesn’t live, I would never forgive myself for not going. I at least need to see him.”
I walked over to him and wrapped my arms around his neck, pulling him close to me. I knew he was frustrated with the situation, but being the person he was, he tried to hide it for my sake. He slid his arms around my waist and kissed my forehead.
“Go do what you need to do. I’ll explain it to my family and I’ll be here waiting for you when you get back, okay?”
I nodded my head, trying to keep more tears from coming for saying goodbye to him. I leaned up and kissed him hard on the lips. He returned the kiss with just as much force, sliding his tongue into my mouth, rolling it against mine. It almost felt as if he was claiming me with the kiss, or reminding me that I belonged to him, since a reminder fuck wasn’t an option at the moment. We reluctantly pulled away from one another.
“I love you, Ash; I’ll be back as soon as I can.”
“I know, Butterfly. I love you, too. Call me when you get there so that I know you arrived safely and let me know how he is. No matter what history I have with him, I never want anything bad to happen to him.”
On my way to the airport I called Max to let him know what was going on. He was angry that I didn’t call him immediately, saying that he would’ve come with me, but I explained to him that this was something I needed to do on my own. At some point I had to stop relying on other people to be my crutch when dealing with tough times. Having dependable family and friends to support and comfort me was a blessing, but it was time I flew with my own wings. An hour later as the plane ascended into the air, I did just that.
Walking through Miami International Airport at nearly nine o clock on Christmas evening was like walking through a ghost town. All of the restaurants and gift shops were closed and the airport staff was minimal. I think I only passed maybe five or six other travelers in the entire building. Thankfully, I didn’t have to go to baggage claim since I only had my one carry on, so I followed the signs to the taxi pick up. Every minute I got closer to seeing Mason, the anxiety and fear continued to build. I had no idea what to expect, what he would look like, if they would even let me see him.
I first called Cruz to let him know that I had arrived and to see if I should go to the hospital or hotel first. He instructed me to meet him at the hotel because it wasn’t visiting hours again at the hospital until eight in the morning. I had completely forgotten to call and book a room, but he told me not to worry, that I could just stay in
Mase’s
room. I then called Ash and Max to let them know that I had landed safely and was headed to the hotel.
The entire taxi ride to the hotel I beat myself up over being partly to blame for Mason’s condition. I had dropped a huge bomb on him at the wedding that night, not only did I completely reject his plea for a chance to work things out, I also told him I had slept with one of his good friends. I wasn’t sure what to believe exactly about the phone call I had with Bentley that night, but after his reaction to what I had assumed was his choice to be with her, I was pretty sure that nothing had happened.
That made me feel
even more responsible for the downward spiral that had led to this awful outcome.
If I had just demanded to talk to
Mase
that night, or even waited until the following morning when he was coming home to talk to him, and get his side of the story before making unfounded assumptions… If I had not got so drunk that I couldn’t keep myself from making senseless decisions… If I had not been so hurtful and ugly to him when he came to the wedding… If I had checked on him after leaving him in that state, I knew by just looking at him he was probably close to self-destruction.
As the taxi pulled up to the hotel and all I was left with was a bunch of “what-ifs.” I had become a true believer in fate and destiny and everything happening for a reason. Once Ash and I had gotten together, I realized that he truly was the other half of my soul, and the undying, eternal love that we shared was the key to my happiness. But it didn’t make it any easier knowing that a man I loved, a man that played a huge role in making me the person who I had become, was lying in a hospital bed on the other side of the city fighting for his life… and that I was most likely one of the main reasons he was there. With a defeated sigh, I opened the door and climbed out of the car after paying the fare and adding a nice tip.
The outside of the hotel was beautiful, a four-story, white trendy building, located oceanfront and right in the middle of what seemed to be the tourist area of the beach. It was dark outside when I arrived, and the outside lighting rose from the ground, illuminating the two large palm trees outside as well as the name spelled across the top floor: Bentley Hotel. Staying here was actually a blessing in disguise, as it reminded me that I wasn’t the only contributor to this horrible situation. I walked into the luxurious lobby hesitantly, unsure of where I should go exactly. I walked over and sat my bag on a large chair in a lounge area in order to call Cruz when I felt two strong arms wrap around me from behind.