Authors: J. Daniels
I haven’t sat down once today.
I can’t.
I’m full of nervous energy. Restless. Buzzing around my room like this is my first rodeo, and it’s not. It’s so not.
I’ve been on plenty of dates. Hundreds. Well, okay, maybe not hundreds, but enough where I shouldn’t be
this
anxious about one freaking dinner. Guys ask me out all the time, and who am I to turn down a free meal before we get down to business? I love to eat. I
really
love to have sex. Putting two of my favorite things together makes for one very happy Brooke. And hey, if the sex is lousy, at least I get an enjoyable meal out of it.
But that’s just it, right there. A meal is guaranteed tonight, but I have no idea if I’m getting laid. Dinner is pretty cut and dry, but after?
What the hell is happening after?
I, for one, feel like Mason and I know each other well enough for sex, based on his guidelines. More than well enough based on mine. We’ve talked, information has been exchanged. He knows more about me than any other guy I’ve been interested in recently. But is that enough for him?
He said he wants more. How much more? How much does he want from me?
I’ve seen Mason practically every day this week, between breakfast, coincidental, but maybe not so coincidental coffee-shop run-ins, to the occasional treats delivery, which I can’t seem to stop myself from doing. Christ, it’s like a damn compulsion. Even when he pops into the shop for a brief hello I’m shoving a bakery box at him like he’s one of those malnourished children you see on the UNICEF commercials.
Here! Eat this! You poor thing, you’re starving!
It’s his reaction that gets me. That’s why I do it. He takes that box and studies my creations like they should be displayed in a museum somewhere. Like they’re some precious gift. Like I’m giving him something amazing.
Call me crazy, but I’m beginning to feel like maybe I am giving him something more than just a pastry or a cupcake. Maybe he looks at my treats as another piece of me? The
more
he’s after?
Yeah . . . crazy. That line of thinking right there is completely fucking crazy.
They’re treats. Damn good ones. And he’s just a man who enjoys his dessert.
Period.
As I’m sliding up the zipper on my black pencil skirt, my bedroom door bursts open.
Joey walks in like he owns the place, which, if we’re being technical, he doesn’t. The condo belongs to Billy. But this is Joey, and I’ve learned since moving in here that the concept of knocking before a grand entrance is not something he is privy to.
I’m fully dressed, but it wouldn’t matter. I couldn’t care less if he sees me naked. But at night, when I’m more than likely to engage in a little
me
time, my door remains locked.
His gaze sweeps over my attire, slow moving and encouraging. He plops down on the bed. “You look hot to trot. What shoes are you wearing with that?”
“Those.” I point to the Steve Madden’s on the floor by the closet.
Okay, okay, so I seriously need to return them to Dylan. And I will.
Next week.
“Earrings?”
I hold up the silver hoops I’ve set out for tonight.
“Lip gloss or lipstick?”
I pull the tube of MAC’s Vegas Volt out of my makeup bag and wiggle it in the air. Joey nods approvingly.
“What’s this?” he asks, plucking the small gift bag off my night table.
Shit.
I move like lightning, snatching it from him before he has a chance to peer inside.
He stares at me, startled. “Jesus. What the hell?”
Clutching the bag against my chest, I hurriedly explain, “It’s nothing. It’s a joke between me and Mason. You wouldn’t get it. Stop snooping around my room and asking me a thousand questions. God.”
I toss the bag on top of the dresser.
My breaths come hurried, air moving in and out of my lungs with desperation. I probably look psychotic.
Maybe he won’t notice? He’s not that perceptive, is he?
“Mm.” Joey lays out on the bed, tucking his hands behind his head and crossing his bare feet at the ankles.
He looks positively delighted.
He noticed.
“Interesting. So you and Mason have inside jokes already? After only knowing each other for five days and one earth-shattering orgasm? Seems a bit fast, don’t you think?”
I roll my eyes, sliding one earring through my ear and moving on to the next.
Earth-shattering? I never said it was earth-shattering.
It was so fucking earth-shattering.
I could ride that man’s long, thick fingers every day and twice on Sundays.
“Do you want to keep him, Brooke?”
My head whips right.
Keep him? Is that what he just said?
“Are you high right now? Do we have weed in this condo I’m not aware of?” I step closer, my voice lowering as my eyes shift around the room. “No, seriously, do we? I could really use some.”
A few hits would surely mellow me out a little.
Of course, if I knew what to expect tonight, I wouldn’t be so wound up and wired. Sex doesn’t make me nervous. I own that shit. I can work it in my sleep if I have to. But dinner and the unknown with a man who would rather talk than fuck?
What am I supposed to do with that? How am I supposed to prepare for
that
?
Joey laughs under his breath. “When was your last actual boyfriend, Brooke? College?”
“High school,” I answer, picking at my thumb nail. “I played the field in college. Literally. I think I was one defender short of bedding the entire lacrosse team.”
Joey punches his fist into the air. “Go Blue Demons.”
“Why?” I stick my hand on my hip. Joey trains his eyes on the ceiling, obviously avoiding.
“Mason isn’t my boyfriend, Joey. I’m not in a relationship with this guy.”
He wiggles his body, settling between two pillows. “Then what are you doing spending time with him?”
“Hello!” I slap my thigh.
What, has he suddenly been living under a rock? He knows exactly why.
“I’m trying to have sex with him! In order to do that, I have to talk to the guy a little. Share some personal shit. Build a friendship. Then, and my God, will this be so worth it, I get to feast on that glorious appendage I’m actually concerned might not fit inside me.”
“Shut up,” Joey spits, grimacing. “How many dicks have you had? There’s no way you aren’t well prepared for a third leg.”
“Joey.”
I hold my hands out, measuring a very,
very
impressive distance between the two.
My mind becomes flooded with flashbacks, images of Mason working that gorgeous piece of flesh behind a curtain of water and steam.
He was so raw in that moment. Stripped down to the point of depravity as he sought his release. As he pursued it with urgency. Beautiful. God, he was beautiful standing there, the muscles of his back and shoulder working simultaneously. His head bowed as he slowly unraveled. The sound of skin moving over skin.
I wanted to watch him come.
I wanted to
feel
him come.
I still do. Now, maybe even more. I’m like a child who has been told they can’t have any candy.
Fuck that. I want that candy.
In my mouth.
Joey slowly sits up, mouth falling open, drool pooling on his tongue. He looks from my hands to my face, back to my hands again.
“You’re exaggerating.”
“I would never.”
“He’s
that
big? How is he walking?”
My phone beeps on the dresser. I shrug, turning around and padding across the room.
“How the hell do I know how you boys manage to tuck and move?” I ask, swiping the phone and staring at the unknown number glowing on my screen.
“Shit. You might want to pop some Ibuprofen before you go down that road, or sit on an icepack. Numb it up a little. I’ve heard about cases where you ladies rip something. That can’t be pretty.”
I chuckle at Joey, storing away his advice because I may seriously need to consider some sort of preparation when that time comes. I’ve been with my fair-share of well-equipped men. I’ve had a few surprise me when that zipper comes down. But Mason . . .
He might take the cake on this one.
Oo, cake. I’ll definitely be ordering dessert tonight.
I move my thumb over the screen, bringing up the text message.
Unknown
: Hello, gorgeous. Do you want me to come up?
I slowly lift my eyes to Joey.
He’s sitting on the edge of the bed, giving me a look that tells me exactly who gave Mason my phone number.
Why am I surprised?
He stands, stretching his arms above him. “He was adorable asking for it,” he mumbles before exiting the room.
Adorable. I’m sure. Lots of ‘yeahs’. Numbahh. Even I would’ve given it to him once he started talking.
I program Mason’s number into my phone and quickly type my response.
Me: Stalker. Do you know my blood type yet?
Mason: Working on it. Give me a few more days.
I chuckle softly.
Mason: What’s your condo number? I’ll come up. I feel like a tosser waiting for you out here.
Me: I bet you look sexy. A sexy tosser is better than a regular one, right?
Mason: Either way I’m an arsehole.
Me: Why?
Mason: This is a date. I should come to your door. Walk you out.
I step into my heels, typing with one hand.
Me: Relax. I’ll be out in a second.
Lord, the manners on this guy. Is he always like this?
The last time I was picked up at my door for a date was prom. Most guys are too busy tuning to their favorite Pandora station to bother getting out of their vehicles. Or, I don’t give them the opportunity and insist on meeting them out somewhere.
The end of the night though, that’s a different story.
Men will almost always walk a woman to their door. They want that invite inside. The open door offer of sex.
“I had a lovely evening. Would you like to see my mattress? It’s a feather-top.”
Sticking my phone into my clutch, I grab the gift bag and exit the bedroom.
Joey is standing in the kitchen, watching Billy cook something on the stove-top, his chin resting on Billy’s shoulder, his arms tightly curled around his waist.
Cute. They’re so domestic.
They both turn their heads at the sound of my entrance.
“You look hot, Brooke. Where are you and Mason going? Do you know?” Billy holds a spatula in one hand. His other arm wraps around Joey’s back.
I keep moving toward the door. I feel like I’m on autopilot.
“No idea. Somewhere with food. Hopefully a place that serves up a little under the tablecloth action.”
God, wouldn’t that be fantastic? A repeat of the other night as an appetizer. Mason’s massive cock for dessert.
It’s a wonder I’m not sprinting out of the building.
I wave a hand over my head. “Don’t wait up!”
The door closes behind me. I take the elevator down to the bottom floor and push through the revolving door.
Mason is parked at the curb, his tall frame leaning against his car. He’s dressed in dark jeans and a black fitted shirt with a collar. His hair is wet, a few curls spilling onto his forehead. The rest is haphazardly combed back.
He straightens when he sees me.
As I move closer, I can see that he’s shaven. His smooth, chiseled jaw is free of stubble.
He looks younger.
He looks edible.
He closes the distance between us with two long strides.
I want him to grab me and kiss me. I want him to throw me down and man-handle me in front of anyone and everyone.
Tear my clothes. Take me with desperation. Press those dirty words he likes to spill against the soft skin of my thighs.
Instead, with what has to be the sweetest smile I have ever seen, he bends and lightly brushes his lips against my cheek.
“You look beautiful, Brooke.”
I inhale a lungful of his cologne before he leans away.
Yum.
With the hand holding my clutch, I motion in front of me. “Thank you. I like this get-up you got going on. You clean up nice.”
His smile gentles. “Shall we?”
We move together across the sidewalk, his hand resting lightly on my lower back. He opens the door for me and I climb inside.
“What’s that?” he asks, poking a finger at the gift bag in my lap after he settles in his seat.
I look down at the top of the bag. A fuzzy ear peeks out between tissue paper.
Oh, my God. What am I doing? What grown man wants something like this?
I quickly stow it on the floor by my feet. “It’s stupid. Sorry. I . . . I was out, and I saw it and I wasn’t thinking and bought the damn thing. But now I’m realizing how dumb it is.”
“Can I have it?”
“What?” I turn my head. His hand is outstretched. Did he not hear me?
“Really, Mason, it’s stupid. You’ll think it’s stupid.”
“Did you buy it for me?”
“Yes.”
“Well . . . give it up then. It’s mine, isn’t it?”
He doesn’t drop his hand. It hangs in the air between us as he moves his attention between my face and the bag he could very easily grab if he wanted. It’s within his reach.
But he waits for me to pick it up and pass it to him.
I look straight ahead at the busy street. No need to watch this humiliation unfold.
Tissue paper rustles as he digs into the bag.
My hands knot together in my lap. “I saw it and it made me laugh. You don’t have to keep it. Really. I think I still have the receipt somewhere in my room.”
A muffled, barely audible chuckle comes from my left.
“My nemesis. We meet again.”
I turn my head and watch Mason study the small stuffed koala with engrossed curiosity. He probably thinks I’m strange for giving him a children’s toy.
I am! He’s not a toddler. Why did I think this was a good idea?
I want to look away. I need to before I end up fleeing the vehicle, but I can’t stop watching him stare at this thing as if he’s actually charmed by it.
He runs his hand over the fur between the ears, chuckles again, then pats it gently on the head.
We lock eyes.