Wasted (9 page)

He was just so…male. As if to prove my
point, he stirred in his sleep, and I felt his erection press
against my bottom.

I held my breath, waiting for him to
still.

His even breathing confirmed that he was
asleep. I gingerly attempted to move his arm. Just when I was
making progress, he stirred again and tightened his grip. As I lay
there wondering how I was going to get out of this predicament
without embarrassing myself, I couldn’t help but notice that I
actually liked this feeling. Mason definitely drank too much, but
he had a lot of personable qualities that made him endearing.

Was it crazy that I liked the security I
felt in his arms?

But he’d been drunk last night. I wasn’t
even sure if he would remember what had happened, how I had wound
up in his bed.

I knew Mason didn’t generally have lasting
relationships with women, and as much as I was attracted to him, I
had no intention of getting mixed up with someone who wasn’t
serious about me.

I needed to get out of here before he woke
up. Once again, I tried to maneuver his arm. This time I was more
successful, and once I’d raised it enough, I twisted out of his
grasp, nearly rolling into the floor in my haste.

As soon as I was on my feet, I rushed from
the room, moving silently across the carpet.

Eager to wash off the smell of last night’s
alcohol, I stripped and stepped into a steaming hot shower. After
washing with scented body wash, I took the time to shave. Being
that close to a man had suddenly made smooth legs a top
priority.

Unable to shake the feeling of being in his
arms, I started focusing on it instead. I was fooling myself if I
didn’t admit that I liked it. In fact, knowing how much I liked it
worried me.

I hadn’t come to Spanky’s Bar to get
entangled with a bartender.

And Mason had been right.

I was the kind of girl who deserved romance
and flowers. In fact, I required it. I’d never been involved in
flings, and I certainly didn’t plan on starting now, no matter how
attracted I was to Mason.

I dressed, dried and straightened my hair,
and carefully applied makeup. As I stared at my reflection in the
mirror, I wondered what I should do now. My tightly strung nerves
wouldn’t let me forget that I had woken up in Mason’s arms.

Needing to busy myself, I decided to take a
walk.

I circled the perimeter of the apartment
complex and moseyed over to the pool. Now that it was the middle of
June, a few early-bird sunbathers and swimmers dotted the fenced-in
area. Many of them were teenagers, out of school for the summer.
The sight brought back fond memories of my own teenage years. The
community pool was where I’d met many of my new friends after I’d
moved away from Creekview. It had made starting a new school less
awkward, which had not only relieved me but had relieved my
parents, also.

I found a seat near the diving board.
Shielding my eyes from the rising sun, I watched as a boy
back-flipped off the board and landed with a major belly buster. He
surfaced, unperturbed, hurried up the ladder, and rushed back to
the diving board, trying his best not to break the rules by
running.

His eagerness made me smile as I remembered
how magical summers were in my youth. He dared his friend to do a
back flip, but in the end, his friend decided on a cannonball, and
a few splashes of water actually hit my legs.

I pulled out my cell phone and dialed my
mother. I hadn’t talked to my parents in a few days, and I’d missed
a call from my mother the night before.

“
Hey, Mom.”

“
Lexi, I tried to call you.
Dad wanted to check on you since we hadn’t heard from you lately.
Everything okay?”

“
Yeah. I’ve just been busy
working. Guess who came to see me?”

“
Who?”

“
Seren.”

“
How’s she doing? Her
parents okay?”

“
She didn’t really mention
them, but she’s doing fine. We’re supposed to get together in a few
days and hang out.”

“
So is Creekview everything
you remembered it to be?”

“
Yeah, it is, actually.
It’s easy to see why Papaw wanted to come back here. Everything’s
slower paced than it is in the city. It has a more intimate feel,
you know?”

“
I remember. Maybe after
you get settled, Dad and I will come down for a visit. I think
it’ll help him not to worry so much.”

“
Dad does realize I’m in my
twenties, right?”

“
And what difference do you
think that makes? You’re his only child, and even if you weren’t,
he’d still worry about you—no matter how old you are.”

“
Tell Dad I love him and
not to worry. I’m perfectly fine.”

“
I’ll tell him.”

“
I love you, too,
Mom.”

“
And I love you. Take care
of yourself, and come home for a visit soon.”

I watched the boys take turns jumping off
the diving board a few more minutes before I finally headed back to
the apartment.

Mason lay on the couch, wearing only his
jeans, one hand splayed across his face as his thumb and fingers
clutched his temples.

When he heard the front door close, he raked
his fingers through his damp hair, his muscles rippling below his
skin with the movement. “I’s gonna cook you breakfast, and then I
realized I had one hell of a hangover. Take a rain check?” A
dimpled smile spread across his face.

I had thought this moment, the moment that I
first saw him after waking with his warm body covering me like an
electric blanket, would be awkward. But it wasn’t. One smile from
him made everything so comfortable, so normal.

“
Sure.” I walked to the
kitchen, fixed him a glass of ice water, and brought it to him.
“Here. It will help hydrate you.”

He pulled himself into a seated position and
took the glass. After taking a sip, he said, “Thanks. My friends
usually just let me suffer.”

“
I have a one-time rule.
I’ll help someone with a hangover one time. After that, if you’re
stupid enough to get drunk again, then you have to fend for
yourself.”

He chuckled. “Ouch.”

“
Hey, it’s one more time
than my mother would give you. She warned me during my teenage
years that if I ever came home drunk, she’d make me even more
miserable than my hangover ever could.”

“
Funny how different
mothers are, isn’t it? My mother used to encourage me to drink
beer. Said it would make me a man.”

I gasped. “How old were you?”

“
I think she started when I
was twelve.” He shot me a sad smile. “It was all good until she got
drunk and realized that every beer I drank was one less for
her.”

Having no idea how to respond, I stood and
looked at him dumbfounded.

He put his glass of water on the end table
and patted the seat beside him. “Can I talk to you for a
minute?”

“
Okay.” I sank into the
cushion, my mind diving into a thousand different
scenarios.

“
About last
night.”

I scooted sideways on the sofa, so I could
watch him as he spoke.

“
I was wasted.”

“
I know.”

“
I said more than I should
have.”

I reached over and laid my hand on top of
his. He smelled clean, and as always, his skin was warm to the
touch. “Mason, when I told you that I would listen to your story, I
meant it.”

“
It’s not a nice story,
Lex. There are no happy endings.”

“
Your story’s not over yet.
You can make it end any way you want.”

He glanced at our hands, and he rhythmically
rubbed his fingertips across my knuckles. “I want to believe
that.”

“
Then believe
it.”

An amused grunt escaped his lips. “Life’s
not quite that simple. Not mine, anyway.”

“
So tell me about
it.”

He reached up and trailed his fingertips
along my cheek, his touch sending my heart into a frantic pace. His
fingers traced along my jaw until they spanned my neck, cupping my
nape and pulling me toward him.

He tilted his head, his lips hovering near
mine. I could smell his fresh breath, see his amber eyes studying
me. I wanted him to do it. I wanted him to kiss me. The thought
both terrified me and thrilled me at the same time. He moved
closer, and my breath froze in my lungs.

His touch was innocent enough, but it burned
through me, releasing tingles of excitement. I remained motionless
for what seemed like an eternity until his lips finally made
contact. They were soft and tender, teasing me with a gentleness
that left me wanting something more.

As I closed my eyes and leaned into him, he
deepened the kiss, his mouth tasting of mint as his tongue sought
mine. Grasping his face in my hands, his whiskers rough against my
palms, I clung to him as he consumed me. He was sweet and sexy and
raw, and the hunger that ripped through my body shocked me.

I knew I should push him away. I should let
this moment end in one beautiful kiss. But I didn’t pull back. I
didn’t stop him. And I wasn’t sure why.

Something about Mason Cambridge excited me,
made me want to ignore the plethora of cautions that popped up in
my brain. Maybe it was his easy smile, his light-hearted demeanor.
Maybe it was his magnetism, some unexplained draw that propelled me
towards him. Whatever it was, I could feel it increasing its hold
on me. I knew enough now to know that there was more to him than I
originally thought, and I wanted to know his story.

He pulled away, leaving me gasping for
breath. His lips teased my neck, skimming their way to the hollow
just above my collarbone. He made a gentle sucking motion, his
tongue warm against my skin. Pulling back, he gently kissed my lips
again.

“
You don’t know how much I
want to tell you my story.” Releasing me, he exhaled. “But I
won’t.”

“
Why?”

“
The only thing worse than
a drowning man is a drowning man who pulls someone else under with
him.”

“
I can swim.”

A half-cocked smile reached his lips. “Not
with a rock tied to your ankle.”

He stood and scooped up his glass of water.
“I think I’ll go back to bed in hopes that I’ll wake up later minus
the hangover.”

I stood up, too, and motioned toward the
kitchen. “You want me to fix you some toast or get you some
crackers?”

“
No, but do you have plans
tonight?”

“
No. I have a meeting this
afternoon, but nothing tonight.”

“
Good. Let me make you
dinner. You know, a roommate appreciation dinner for putting up
with my drunk ass last night.”

“
Don’t worry about last
night.”

“
I insist.”

I shrugged my shoulders. “Okay.”

“
My cooking skills are
limited, so do you mind having breakfast for dinner?”

A grin broke across my face. “I actually
love having breakfast for dinner.”

He pointed at me. “Seven o’clock.”

“
Should I bring Hawk? You
know, in case of a fire?”

“
Hell, no. I don’t want his
ugly mug at our dinner party.”

I nodded. “Seven o’clock then.”

***

My meeting lasted longer than I anticipated.
It was nearly six-thirty by the time I made it back to our
apartment. I quickly showered and pulled on a red sundress. After
applying makeup, I looked at my reflection in the mirror and
pressed my lips together to smooth my ruby lipstick.

Once I opened the bedroom door, the smell of
bacon teased my nostrils.

As I came to the end of the hallway, I saw
him in the kitchen, shirtless. His jeans rode low on his hips.

“
Shit!” He grabbed the
handle of the skillet, and using a spatula, dumped a pile of
scrambled eggs on each of two plates waiting on the bar.

When he glanced up, he noticed me and
beamed. “Okay, so the eggs might be a little overdone, but I did
manage to cook without setting the kitchen on fire.”

“
I’m impressed.”

He barked out a laugh. “Well, don’t be. You
haven’t tasted them yet.”

He put a couple of slices of bacon on each
plate and pushed them across the bar in front of the stools.

His long legs strode to the opposite side of
the bar, and he pulled my chair out for me. “Have a seat. What
would you like to drink? Milk? Juice?”

“
Juice.”

“
Oh, shit. I forgot the
toast. Do you want toast?”

“
No, this is fine.” I
watched him as he went back to the kitchen to pour juice. “Are you
over your hangover?”

“
Yeah, pretty much.” He
loaded two slices of bread in the toaster. “Toast’ll be done in a
sec.” He set a glass of juice down in front of me. When the toast
popped up, he slathered butter and jelly on them and put one on
each of our plates.

“
Thank you.”

He walked back around the bar and sat down
beside me.

I tasted the eggs. “This is good.”

“
It won’t do much more than
chase away the hunger pains, but…I wanted to do something to let
you know that I appreciate what you did last night. You’re a good
roommate, Lexi. I’m going to miss you when you get your own
place.”

“
We’ll still see each other
at work.”

“
I know, but it won’t be
the same.”