It takes Graham a whole day to recover, while Mason and I spend it curled up on the chaise watching Graham suffer, while he voices out his misery rather loudly.
" How come you're not hangover?" Graham whines from the opposite chaise, nursing something that looks pulled out straight out of my nightmares. It has a sickly orange colour, and judging by the faces Graham pulls each time he takes a sip, it doesn't taste very nice either.
" It's called practice," Mason chuckles, mindlessly running a hand through my hair, snuggled into his side.
Shay settled at our feet after Graham complained that he couldn't stand to have anyone close by at that moment.
" And I'm a professional when comes to drinking," Graham lets out a long-suffering groan, and Mason chuckles.
" Also, I had Hugh water down my drinks. After my third, it was mostly water," He kisses my temple when I look up at him with a frown. Why did I expect him to play fair?
" I knew you're a bastard," Graham jumps off the chaise, clamps down a hand over his mouth, a shade of sickly green creeps on his face and legs it to the bathroom. Mason chuckles when the door slams shut, and I look up at him with raised brows.
" How could you let him do this to himself? You could've stopped him," Mason gives me a slanted smirk and pinches my chin.
" I needed you alone, and if Graham was sober it would have been rather difficult to get past your guard dog. He seems very protective of you. I don't blame him, though, " He shrugs," He did what I couldn't bring myself to do, be there when you needed someone. I'm not proud of it, but he has nothing to worry about as far as I'm concerned. I made you a promise, and I intend to keep it, Petal," He kisses my forehead, and my eyes flutter closed at the gentleness behind that gesture.
" This is awful," Graham chimes in as he plops himself back on the chaise, and throws a hand over his eyes.
" It will serve as a lesson," I say lay my head back on Mason's chest, and watch Graham glance at me from beneath his hand.
" That too, but that's not what I meant," He sighs, and takes another sip from that God-awful drink he had been nursing.
" What did you mean?" Mason is the one to ask, pushing himself a little higher on the chaise and dragging me with him. We've been joined at the hip since he emerged from the bedroom. He doesn't let me out of sight, and wherever I go he follows.
" You two," Graham waves a hand in our general direction," Are absolutely disgusting being all lovey-dovey. I think I preferred it when you argued. Much more entertaining," Mason and I laugh, and after all the winging and groaning we had to listen to all morning he finally laughs as well.
" But seriously, what are you going to do about your other problem?" All the joy gets sucked out of the room at that question. A question that doesn't require clarification.
" Sometimes, it's best to let them think they have won," Mason says gravely, " This way they won't see it coming. I might be here because I want to spend as much time with Lily as I can, but the cogs never stop spinning," I look up at him, and find him deadly serious. Mason is not the type to dish out threats lightly. He must've not taken it very well when the mayor cornered him and forced Ava down his throat.
I still have reservations when it comes to speaking her name in his presence, but then again I already have my hands full as it is, and I don't have time to stroke his sensitive ego on that front.
" You better, Mason. Or I'll dump you in Kush District and leave you there," Kush District, one of the least populated Districts in the new world. Also, known for its dense population of critters and creepy crawlies that tend to be the size of my fist, due to a higher concentration of nitrogen in the ground. It is famous for its hot springs, invasive species of plants that tend to grow at incredible speed, and very temperamental hot geysers. Not an ideal place to live if you ask me. It is on the smaller side, compared to other Districts.
" I don't doubt it even for a second," Mason chuckles, sliding a hand over my cheek. He doesn't waste any opportunity to touch, caress, or give me kisses. I can't help but wonder what will happen once we leave Meza and go back home.
" Good," Graham says calmly, and takes another sip of his drink, grimacing in disgust at the taste. Honestly, I feel for him, but he kind of did it to himself, so I don't pity him all that much.
" This is fucking awful, but I feel much better. We are going to Takka first thing tomorrow," He announces, " I want to show Lilly what a thriving city looks like. With any luck she will dump your ass and move here," Graham smirks, and Mason grabs the pillow from behind his head and throws it at Graham.
" I told you to stop with that nonsensical talk. It is done now. You made your point," Graham chuckles, grabs the pillow off the floor and slides it behind his head.
" You say nonsensical. I say I was pretty persuasive, considering you are holding the woman you love in your arms right now. If I'd left it as it was, you two would have probably killed each other a long time ago. So, I believe you owe me a thank you, to say the least," The man has a point. We actually did. Well, Mason did, but Graham has the luxury of being the non-involved third party who can see things through a different lens.
" It wouldn't have come to that," Mason frowns, and Graham laughs.
" I can't believe you actually said that when three days ago, you showed up in the middle of the night with her in your arms after you nearly killed her," That strikes a sensitive nerve. Mason tenses in my arms, his teeth audibly grinding, heart pounding in his chest, either at the memory or the fact that Graham just said it so casually.
" Well aware, Graham," Mason bristles, " It wasn't on purpose. We are still working on what we can do together," I grab his hand and give him a reassuring squeeze. Indeed, we are still navigating these uncertain waters, and bad things are bound to happen.
Mason gives me an apologetic smile, and his grip on my waist tightens in a wordless thank you for understanding.
At least that's what I'd like to think.