Page 51 of Surviving Love

“How… did you almost… die?”

“It was a freak accident.” I swallowed hard. “I was driving to work one morning, and a steel pipe fell off a truck in front of me. It shattered my windshield and rammed through my shoulder. I broke my leg too, when the car behind me slammed into me.”

“Jesus,” Jack growled, sounding horrified.

“I still have nightmares of watching that pipe coming toward me. I had nowhere to go. No way to avoid it. I… I couldn’t believe it was even happening.” I clenched my jaw to control the wave of emotions washing through me.

“That’s… that’s horrible, Mason.”

“Yeah. It was.”

“My god.” He put his hand on my leg. “I don’t know what to say.”

“There isn’t much to say. I was in the wrong place at the wrong time.”

He squeezed my leg but didn’t speak.

“At first, they thought I’d lose my arm.” I blew out a shaky breath. “In the end, they saved it. I have a bunch of metal in me, but they fixed it. It’s taken me two years to get strong again, but I did it.”

“I agree. You are strong. Other than the scar, I’d never have known you were ever injured. You perform at the challenges better than the others.”

“Thanks.”

“So then, you’re playing this game to prove something to yourself?”

“I suppose I’m figuring out who I am when fear isn’t ruling my life. I almost died before I’d ever even lived. That’s pathetic but true.”

“I’m impressed by you.”

I grimaced. “People live their lives every day. I’m not doing anything special.”

“Maybe not, but overcoming all that is impressive. Whether you like that word or not, it’s true.”

My cheeks warmed. “I’m hardly impressive. But I refuse to let fear dictate my path ever again. If that means my mom has to cry her eyes out every time I leave on an adventure, oh well.”

“Do you live with her?”

I recoiled. “God, no.”

He laughed. “Sorry. You didn’t mention any relationship stuff, so I wasn’t sure.”

“You thought I was a mama’s boy?” I grumbled.

“Not necessarily.”

I scowled. “Just when I begin to think maybe you’re not so bad…”

“No. Don’t hate me. I was just asking.”

“You know, you didn’t mention anything about a relationship either.”

“True.”

I was tempted to push for more info but decided against it. His ego was already too big, and he’d no doubt think I wanted to know because I had the hots for him.

He moved and his leg brushed mine. “This has been a very strange day.”

“Very.”