MASON AND SAGE

Chapter 1 ~ Mason

"Haven't seen much of you these last couple of weeks," my friend Nate observed as he slouched in a chair across from where I sat on my couch. He lifted a beer to his lips and watched me as he slugged it down. Neither one of us paid attention to the basketball game playing on the TV. It had been an excuse for him to come over and we both knew it. 

I shrugged, not answering. He understood what was going on, what my stupidity had cost me. He'd been the one to track down Sage after she'd pulled a runner, and the twelve hours where I didn't know where she was had been agonizing. A genius at finding people, Nate had located my girl, provided me with her new cell phone number, the address of the hospital she'd be working at, and her new apartment address in half a day. Today, he'd been sent to babysit me to make sure I was OK.

He, and our other friends, knew that had I not been colossally stupid, I'd be getting married in one hour. Right this minute, had things gone according to plan, I'd be pulling on my dress blues and making my claim on the woman I loved official. Instead, the day after she left, I'd had to cancel our wedding, knowing that she wouldn't be back. 

Watching me carefully, he tipped his beer bottle at me. "Any progress?"

"Nope. She still won't respond to my texts or calls. I did get a thank you note from Safe Harbor, thanking me for my generous donation to the women's shelter."

Nate cringed. "She sell the ring?"

"Yep."

"Sorry, man. Maybe that's a sign to...let go, you know? It's been two weeks of nothing from her. I mean, she traveled across the country to get away from you. That's a pretty big statement that she's done."

Leaning forward, I pinned him with my stare. "She needs time. I'm not giving up." Ever. I couldn't bear to think of never having her in my life again. I still couldn't believe I'd made the rookie mistake of leaving her alone while she was in such a volatile state.

It's not often you regret something as innocuous as taking a shower, but regret it I did. It was actually just one of many regrets from that day where I'd screwed up our lives.  I'd allowed Sage to slip away from me when I ran upstairs to shower off the stench of an evening of bad choices. Foolishly, I'd expected that after my shower, Sage and I could talk about what she'd seen and what I'd stupidly, stupidly done. I'd thrown off my clothes and jumped into the icy cold water, letting the freezing spray sting me like a punishment. Then I'd twisted the handle to hot, wanting the water to scald the feel and smell of another woman off of me.

Hurry hurry hurry.

I rushed through the soaping and shampooing, trying to erase the feel of Eva's hands in my hair and on my chest, her lips on my mouth, on my neck, whispering in my ear. 

The minute she'd walked into the bar where my friends and I were talking about Drake, sharing our memories, I should have left or asked her to leave. But the guys had their girls with them -- and they'd all known Drake -- and Eva had been with me when Drake and I had been the tightest, Drake and his wife going out with Eva and me all the time. It was almost as if all of us being together could conjure up Drake and he'd walk through the door any minute, and I clung to that feeling of nostalgia. 

In the three weeks since Cassie had called to tell me of Drake's death during what should have been a routine training mission, I'd been trying to come to terms with never seeing or speaking with him again. Regret weighed heavily on my heart that we'd not talked as often as we had when we'd been stationed at the same base. My mood had been heavy and I didn't want comfort as I grieved my friend. Sage would have joined me tonight, but she'd never really known him and I didn't want to force her to sit through us reminiscing about him. Selfishly, I just wanted to mourn with those of us who had known him well. I hadn't anticipated one of the guys telling Eva about the gathering or her deciding to join us. She'd sat next to me, her perfume heavy, her hand repeatedly straying to my leg as she joined in the retelling of old memories as we tossed back shots in Drake's memory. I'd pushed her hand off four times, and when she touched me again, I'd asked her to step outside and talk to me.