Chapter 131: Would You Be My Boyfriend Again?

Chapter 131: Chapter 131: Would You Be My Boyfriend Again?

The city air was freezing.

Audrey stood alone on the sidewalk outside the apartment building she had just walked out of. She was holding the strap of her small overnight bag so tightly her fingers were numb.

She didn’t want to go to her parents’ house yet. She didn’t want to answer their worried questions or explain why her eyes were entirely red. But she also desperately didn’t want to be alone.

After staring at her phone screen for several long minutes, she opened her messages. She clicked on Mason’s name.

Audrey: Are you still awake?

She held her breath. A few seconds later, the typing bubble appeared.

Mason: Yes.

She hesitated. Her thumb hovered over the keyboard.

Audrey: Can you pick me up?

There was a heavy pause. The screen stayed blank for a moment before his reply came through.

Mason: Are you okay?

Audrey looked back at the tall brick apartment building behind her. She thought about the life she had just walked away from.

Audrey: I just need somewhere to stay tonight.

Mason didn’t ask any unnecessary questions. He didn’t demand an explanation over text. He didn’t interrogate her.

Mason: I’ll come.

That sheer, absolute simplicity hit her right in the chest. No excitement. No pushing. He just came for her.

Twenty minutes later, a sleek black car pulled up to the curb.

Audrey opened the passenger door and slid inside with her small bag. Mason was in the driver’s seat, wearing a soft, dark sweater instead of his usual sharp business suit.

He looked at the overnight bag resting on her lap. Then, he looked at her pale, tired face.

He didn’t ask. He already knew something massive had happened. But he didn’t immediately assume it was because of him. He kept his boundaries firmly in place.

He gently put the car into drive. The drive through the city was quiet.

Eventually, Mason glanced over at her.

"Are you hungry?" Mason asked softly.

Audrey shook her head, staring out the window. "No."

"Are you tired?"

"A little," Audrey admitted.

Mason nodded slowly, keeping his eyes on the road.

"Then we’ll go home," Mason said quietly.

Home.

The simple word caught her slightly. It made her heart skip a heavy beat. Because for the very first time since she stepped foot back in this city, going to his penthouse didn’t feel like a place she was just visiting.

Mason’s penthouse was warm and entirely quiet.

He led her inside and showed her exactly where she could put her bag in the hallway. Audrey looked around the massive living space. She noticed how different the place felt from the very first time she had seen him again.

It was no longer intimidating. The glass walls and expensive furniture didn’t feel cold anymore. It was simply Mason’s home.

She watched him move toward the kitchen. He was walking a little slower than usual, still slightly stiff from his time in the hospital.

Her eyes immediately darted down to his leg.

"How does your knee feel?" Audrey asked.

Mason reached into the fridge and pulled out two bottles of water. "It’s fine."

Audrey gave him a flat unimpressed look.

"You really haven’t changed," Audrey sighed.

Mason walked over and handed her a bottle. He almost smiled.

"You already knew that," Mason replied softly.

Audrey sat down on one of the plush barstools at the kitchen island. She took a slow sip of water. She watched him lean against the opposite counter.

She set her bottle down. "What did the doctor actually say, Mason?"

Mason looked at her. He didn’t try to hide behind his corporate armor this time.

"They said I need rest," Mason explained quietly. "They said I have been severely overworking myself, and I need to stop pretending my body can just keep up with the schedule I’ve been forcing on it."

Audrey frowned deeply. "You need to listen to them."

"I know," Mason nodded.

"You said that very convincingly," Audrey noted drily.

"I’ve been practicing," Mason replied.

Audrey actually almost laughed. A tiny, genuine breath of amusement escaped her lips. It was the first genuinely easy, comfortable moment they had shared in seven years.

Eventually, they moved to the living room. Mason sat on the sofa across from her.

A heavy, incredibly fragile silence settled over the room.

He watched her carefully. He knew she was going to say something important. He could see the absolute exhaustion in her posture, but he also saw a new, clear resolve in her eyes.

Audrey took a deep breath. She finally looked directly at him.

"I broke up with Alexander," Audrey said.

Mason went still.

He didn’t look happy. He didn’t look triumphant or smug. He just looked profoundly surprised.

"Why?" Mason asked quietly.

Audrey looked down at her hands resting in her lap.

"Because I couldn’t keep lying to him," Audrey answered honestly.

Mason didn’t say a single word. He just listened.

"I love him," Audrey admitted, her voice trembling just a fraction. "But I still love you."

The heavy words landed differently than they had in the hospital. This time, she wasn’t terrified. She wasn’t watching him collapse on a field. She wasn’t crying because she thought she was going to lose him.

She was sitting safely in his home, after bravely ending another relationship, and telling him exactly what she had chosen.

Mason looked at her closely. His dark eyes searched her face.

"Are you sure?" Mason asked softly.

Audrey met his gaze. "Yes."

Audrey needed to make her boundaries absolutely clear. She didn’t want him to misunderstand her intentions.

"I’m not moving in here," Audrey told him directly. "I’m only staying tonight."

Mason nodded slowly. "Okay."

"Tomorrow, I’m going to my parents’ house," Audrey explained.

"Okay."

"And then I’ll start looking for an apartment," Audrey finished.

He looked at her tired, beautiful face.

"You don’t have to rush, Audrey," Mason said gently.

"I know," Audrey replied. She offered a small, appreciative smile. "I just need somewhere that’s mine. I need my own space to figure out my new normal."

Mason didn’t push her.

He knew she had just ended a serious relationship. Asking her to move in with him tonight would be wrong.

"You can stay here as long as you need," he said quietly.

Audrey shook her head gently. "Just tonight."

"Okay," Mason agreed.

Mason looked at her for a long, quiet moment. He saw the faint redness around her eyes. He knew exactly the kind of emotional toll the day had taken on her.

"It must have been hard," Mason said softly.

Audrey’s strict posture softened. Her shoulders dropped.

"It was," Audrey admitted, her voice dropping to a whisper.

She paused. She looked directly at him, letting all of her walls completely fall away.

"But things are much clearer now," Audrey said.

Mason didn’t immediately respond. He didn’t have to. Because he understood exactly what she was really saying. She wasn’t asking him to convince her she made the right choice. She wasn’t asking for validation.

She had already made her decision.

Audrey had spent seven entire years completely denying herself any real, physical closeness to Mason. She had kept an ocean between them, and then a strict professional desk, and then an entire relationship.

Now, she was sitting exactly three feet away from him.

And suddenly, three feet felt like an absolutely absurd amount of distance.

Audrey slowly shifted on the sofa. She moved closer to him.

Mason noticed immediately. He didn’t pull away, but he didn’t reach out and grab her either. He simply stayed perfectly still and gave her the complete freedom to choose.

Audrey looked at his face.

It was the exact same face she had remembered for seven years. Except, it was older now. It was more tired. It was infinitely more mature.

The reckless, arrogant college boy she had completely fallen in love with had slowly become this quiet, deeply responsible man.

And she loved him too.

Audrey reached out and gently rested her hand on the sofa cushion, mere inches from his fingers.

"I missed you," Audrey whispered into the quiet room.

Mason’s dark eyes instantly softened.

"I know," Mason replied.

"No," Audrey shook her head slightly.

She looked deeply into his eyes.

"I don’t think you do," Audrey corrected softly. "I missed you more than I ever admitted to myself."

For perhaps the very first time since she had walked into his office weeks ago, Audrey actually looked nervous.

It wasn’t because she didn’t know what she wanted. It was because she finally did.

She took a slow, deep breath to steady her racing heart.

"Would you like to be my boyfriend again?" Audrey asked.

Mason just stared at her.

After absolutely everything they had been through, the question sounded almost ridiculously simple. Seven years of silence. A massive breakup. A terrifying hospital visit. A literal lifetime of heavy things neither of them had ever said out loud.

And she was just sitting there, wearing an oversized sweater, asking him to be her boyfriend. Again.

Mason finally broke the silence.

"Are you asking because you love me?" Mason asked quietly.

"Yes," Audrey answered without hesitation.

"Not because you feel guilty?"

"No."

"Not because you were scared?" Mason pressed.

"No," Audrey promised.

He studied her face, looking for any trace of a lie.

"And because you actually want me?" Mason asked.

Audrey’s lips finally curved into a beautiful, genuine smile.

"Very much," Audrey breathed.

That finally made Mason smile. It was a bright, completely unguarded smile that made him look exactly like the boy she used to know.

But Mason didn’t rush it. He didn’t grab her and kiss her immediately.

He leaned back slightly against the cushions, showing just how much he had completely grown.

"Then I’ll give you an answer tomorrow," Mason said smoothly.

Audrey blinked in total surprise. "Tomorrow?"

"You just ended a long relationship today, Audrey," Mason pointed out gently. "I don’t want to become the man you run to just because you don’t know where else to go tonight."

Her expression completely softened. A wave of pure affection washed over her.

"And if tomorrow I still want you?" Audrey asked, tilting her head.

"Then ask me again," Mason replied.

Audrey smiled. "That’s cruel."

"I’ve waited seven years," Mason said quietly, his eyes locked on hers. "I can survive one night."

Later that night, Mason showed Audrey to the beautiful, quiet guest room down the hall.

She changed into comfortable clothes and lay down in the massive bed. But she couldn’t sleep at all.

She just stared up at the dark ceiling. For the very first time in years, her chest didn’t feel tight. There wasn’t another man standing between her and the truth anymore.

Across the penthouse, Mason was lying awake in his own room, looking at the city lights.

Neither of them knew exactly what tomorrow was going to look like. They had a massive amount of messy reality to figure out.

But for once, they weren’t pretending anymore.

Tomorrow, Audrey would ask him again.

And this time, she already knew exactly what his answer would mean.