by Holly Renee
I had watched many men pine over her over the years that I had known her, and I had watched each one of them fall flat on their face. Staci didn’t date. At least, I never saw her with anyone.
I had never even seen a flicker of interest.
She and my sister hopped on stools at our table, and Staci sat down right next to me. She flicked her hair over her shoulder and her scent hit me. It wasn’t the normal flowery perfumes that I was used to. I didn’t know how to explain it. She somehow smelled like a hit of fresh air with a bite of something more. Something intoxicating.
Her emerald eyes met mine, and for the first time since I had known her, I saw momentary panic flash before me.
And I ate that shit up.
“Hey, Staci.” I smiled around my beer.
“Hey, Mason.” Her words were rushed, and she quickly looked away from me to grab the attention of the waitress.
“Two shots of tequila, please, and keep them coming.”
“Stressful week?”
Her eyes snapped up to mine and narrowed slightly.
“Something like that.”
She spent most of her time ignoring me. Talking to my sister, talking shit to Parker, and downing her tequila shots. But every few minutes, I would catch her eyes on me if only for a moment.
I watched her red lips as they opened to down the shot of liquor, and I stalked her tongue as it caught the moisture on her lips.
“Mason, how’s work going?” My sister’s voice pulled my attention away from Staci for what seemed like the first time that night.
“Busy. We have a bunch of projects coming up.” I took another sip of my beer.
“I drove by that house you’ve been building on Martin Street. It’s insane.”
I smiled at my sister. She was right. The house was insane. It was probably one of my favorite projects we had ever done, and it made me proud as hell to have a Connor Construction sign standing firm in the front yard.
“It’s pretty cool, huh? You should see the inside.”
“Can I?” She looked up at me with her puppy dog eyes that managed to get anything she ever wanted from me her entire life.
“Yeah. Call me one day next week, and I’ll show you.”
“Awesomesauce.” She grinned.
“Did you really just say awesomesauce?” I shook my head at her.
“Yes. What’s wrong with awesomesauce? Staci and I say it all the time.” She looked to Staci for support.
“I’m not too sure that helps your case.”
Staci’s eyes quickly turned to mine and a chill ran through me at the spark I saw there. “And why not?”
“Because you’re her best friend. You’re like two crazy peas in a pod,” Parker spoke up beside me.
“Don’t you two forget it either.” My sister pointed her finger at me and Parker. “We’ll fuck you both up if you mess with us.”
“Even me?” Parker pointed to his chest.
“Especially you.” She grinned.
Parker grabbed her hand and pulled her off her stool and into him. She pretended to put up a fight, but anyone with eyes could see she had no real interest in resisting.
Parker leaned down, whispering something in my sister’s ear causing her to blush and me to almost vomit.
“We’re going to get out of here.” Livy tried to be nonchalant but was anything but.
“What?” Staci shrieked. “It’s not even midnight yet.”
“I know, but it’s been a long week. We’re both tired.” Livy tucked her hair behind her ear.
“I know you just want to go home and have sex with your man. I don’t blame you. Have an orgasm or two for me.”
Livy smiled and pulled Staci into her while they both laughed at something Staci was saying in Livy’s ear.
“All right man. We’re out of here.” Parker and I slapped hands. “Wrap it twice.” Parker looked around the bar. “It looks like slim pickings tonight.”
I chuckled, but I didn’t glance to where he was looking. I hadn’t paid attention to any other woman in the bar. I couldn’t see past her.
“Goodnight.” I waved to my sister as her and my best friend walked toward the door.
Staci immediately looked down at her cell phone when we were alone, and it was odd to see this normally one hundred percent confident woman seem a little awkward around me.
“Looks like it’s just you and me now, huh?” I rested my chin on my fist and watched her.
“I was actually just leaving.” She glanced up at me before tucking her phone into her back pocket.
“Staci leaving before midnight?” I put my hand over my chest in shock. “When did you become such a fuddy dud?”
“I’m not a fuddy dud. I’m just tired.” She stared into me, daring me to challenge her.
“Just because I’ve seen your amazing fucking tits doesn’t mean that we can’t still be friends.”
“Really, Mason?” Her cheeks turned red, and I noted that it was the first time since I knew this fiery girl that I had ever seen her blush. There was something about knowing I was the one to cause it that made me refuse to let her just walk out that door.
“How about a game?”
“A game?” She narrowed her eyes.
I nodded my head.
“What kind of game?” She was twirling a ring around one of her fingers mindlessly.
I put my hands in the air to calm the look on her face. “How about a round of twenty questions?”
“I’m not playing strip twenty questions.” She raised an eyebrow, and I chuckled.
“I didn’t ask you to. Get your mind out of the gutter.”
She started to open her mouth to say something, but I continued.
“But we could make it interesting.”
“How so?” She seemed intrigued, and I loved that spark of mischief I saw in her eyes. Daring me to play with her.
“If either of us refuses to answer a question, we have to take a shot.”
She thought about it for a split second before she reached her hand out to shake mine. Her inked skin a stark contrast to mine. “Deal.”
Staci
Who gets to go first?” I asked as I watched him sip his beer.
I didn’t think I had ever noticed how amazing his mouth was before, but now I couldn’t seem to focus on anything other than the curve of his lips as he traced the beer off with his tongue.
“Well me obviously. It’s my game.” He grinned, and I ignored the small flip in my stomach. Instead, I waved my hand for him to continue.
“Okay. Question number one.” He rubbed his hand over the scruff on his chin as if he was deep in thought. “Did you really send me that photo by accident?”
If I was the kind of girl who blushed, it might have happened in that moment, but I wasn’t.
“Yes. It was an accident. I meant to send it to someone else.”
“Are you happy…” He started, but I interrupted.
“You had your turn. Now it’s mine.”
He grinned again, and I rolled my eyes.
He was enjoying this. Far too much.
“Did you delete the photo like I asked you to?” I rested my elbows on the table and leaned toward him.
Instead of answering, he picked up a shot off the table, and I watched the tan skin of his throat bob as he swallowed the liquor.
I narrowed my eyes at him as he wiped his mouth with the back of his hand.
“Are you happy you sent that photo to me and not to whoever it was intended for?” He smirked, a cocky fucking smirk, and I wanted nothing more than to make it drop from his face.
“No,” I lied.
“No?” he asked incredulously.
“That’s what I said.” I leaned back in my chair and crossed my arms. His eyes immediately dropped to my chest, but I didn’t dare cover myself. He had already seen it all anyway.
“Why the hell not?”
He shifted in his chair.
“That’s more than one question. My tur
n.” I tapped my chin pretending to really concentrate when he interrupted me.
“New rule.”
“You can’t make up rules as we go along,” I huffed. I had a feeling he was used to always getting his way.
“It’s my game. I’ll do what I want.” He rolled the empty shot glass between his fingers. Fingers that were covered in thick calluses from the constant work he did with his hands. “If you lie, you have to kiss me.”
“What?” I pulled my attention away from those hands and imagining how they would feel against my skin. “What kind of rule is that? You have no way of knowing if I’m lying or not.”
“Yes. I do.” He nodded his head.
“How?” I asked, irritated, and I realized that getting under my skin might be one of his specialties.
“A man can’t reveal all his secrets.”
“And if you lie?”
“I won’t, but I’ll give you whatever it is you want, Staci.”
His eyes were on me, and I tried my hardest to not let him see the shiver that ran through me. Because there was only one thing that was on my mind when it came to him.
What the hell was happening?
I was not into Mason Connor.
“What are we doing here, Mason? Is this about getting revenge on your sister since she’s fucking your best friend?”
His eyes sparked with mischief. “If my memory is correct, you are the one who sent me a photo that I haven’t stopped thinking about since it flashed across my screen. It’s not my fault her best friend is fucking gorgeous.”
“So, this is just a game?” I narrowed my eyes.
“Just a game.” He smirked, and I knew that look was dangerous. “My turn.”
“What’s your biggest sexual fantasy?”
At that exact moment, it was getting my hands on him, but I wasn’t about to tell him that. Instead, I lied.
“I’ve already done it.”
He watched me for a few seconds before I watched a dimple pop out on his cheek.
“You’re lying.”
I shook my head at him. “I am not.”
“Yes. You are.” He leaned back in his chair and lifted his arms behind his head. I watched as his biceps bunched and strained under his t-shirt. “You do this thing with your nose when you lie.”
“What thing?” I ran my finger down the bridge of my nose.
“I can’t tell you. I’m too busy.”
“Busy with what?” He was out of his mind.
“Waiting for you to kiss me.” He smirked again, and I decided that it wasn’t just dangerous, it was lethal.
And if I wasn’t careful, I would fall right into his trap.
I stared at him, thinking about how I should handle him, about how he had somehow managed to make me want to do just that. My legs tightened with just the thought of jumping off my chair and wrapping my arms around him.
But reality came to knock some sense back into me when a petite brunette walked up to his side and wrapped her arm around his shoulders. Shoulders that I was stupidly just thinking about. Shoulders I had no business thinking about, but jealousy still struck me regardless if I had a right to feel it or not.
“Hey, Mason. I didn’t know you’d be here tonight.”
He looked up at her with a kind smile, and I told myself that I didn’t care. Because I didn’t. Not really. But there was something about him smiling at her like that that I absolutely hated.
“Yeah. I’m just hanging out with my girl Staci.” He nodded toward me, and I rolled my eyes even though some of the jealousy seemed to slip away.
“Oh.” She pulled her tan arm off his shoulders and assessed me. Her eyes flicked over me, and I could feel the judgment in her eyes as if she was touching me. She took in my face, she glanced over my hair, and then her eyes dropped down my body to my ratty jeans. The look on her face told me that she had seen everything she needed to, and I wasn’t up to par. I couldn’t blame her though. I was silently assessing her too. Assessing the kind of girl Mason typically dated. The kind of girl that was the complete opposite of me.
“Yeah. Oh.” He laid his hand over his heart dramatically, and I pulled my attention away from her to see him staring at me. “Right before you came over here, we were about to have our first kiss.”
“Oh.” She took a step back from him and her eyes flitted around the bar. I almost felt sorry for her. Almost.
“It’s going to be the most epic first kiss ever.”
He winked at me, and I bit the inside of my lip to keep from laughing. His eyes were glued to that lip.
“I’m just going to…” Her voice trailed off as she started walking away from us and the awkward situation he just put her in.
“Why don’t we get out of here?” Mason didn’t spare her a glance as he spoke to me.
“And go where?” My stomach tensed at the thought, but I wasn’t sure if it was from hesitation or excitement.
“Let’s grab a bottle of Jack and head down to the lake.”
“And our kiss?” I didn’t even know why I brought it up.
“No worries, darlin’. You’ll get your fucking kiss.”
Mason
I watched her as she sat down on the dock and dipped her toes in the water. The lake was only about a five-minute drive from the bar, but we didn’t talk the whole ride. Instead, she put her feet on my dash and moved them to the music as the wind whipped around her.
I didn’t know what I was expecting with Staci, but all I knew was that I wanted to know more.
She kicked her foot causing the dark water to ripple in the moonlight as I sat down beside her. She had rolled her pant legs up her calf, but she didn’t seem to care that the water was splashing against the fabric.
“Whose turn is it?” She looked over at me, and for a second, I just stared at how beautiful she was.
“It’s mine. I think.”
She nodded her head before she turned toward me and crossed her legs Indian style.
“When did you decide you wanted to be a tattoo artist?”
She blinked up at me and furrowed her brow. “A serious question?”
“All my questions are serious.” I chuckled.
“I don’t know.” She shrugged her shoulders. “Forever. I at least knew I wanted to be an artist forever. The tattooing didn’t really come along until I figured out…” she hesitated. “Well, until I figured out that your first love isn’t always true love.”
She said it so matter of factly, like she had put so much thought into what true love was, and I desperately wanted to ask her why. Why wasn’t it true love? What happened? But those weren’t questions I asked. Those weren’t questions I cared about.
“My turn.” She grinned, and it was a fake ass grin that didn’t do shit to hide the ghosts that were still clouding her eyes. “Where’s the craziest place you’ve ever had sex?”
“Damn. That’s a hard question.” I rubbed my hand over the back of my neck. “Probably in a movie theater.”
“Really?” Staci’s laugh rang through the night.
“Yes, really. It wasn’t easy, but it can be done. You are looking at a bit of a rebel.”
She shook her head and tucked a piece of hair behind her ear.
“Do you want to dance?”
“What?” She laughed again. “No.”
“Why not?” I stood from the dock and reached my hand out for her.
“One, we’re on a dock in the middle of nowhere. Two, we’re probably about to be murdered on said dock in the middle of nowhere.” She looked behind her into the pitch-black night. “And three, there is no music.”
“I told you I was a rebel.” I reached my hand closer for her to take. “Plus, I have this thing called a cell phone that plays music.”
She slid her hand into mine as I started the music on my phone.
I pulled her into me as the music broke the calm silence that surrounded us, and her body fit against mine like a glove. She put a hand on my chest, and I was sure it was to
keep distance between us.
“Is this how you woo the ladies, Mason Connor? Are you trying to woo me?”
“If I was?” I smiled down at her, and I loved that she barely reached my shoulders.
“Then you would be barking up the wrong tree. I am not so easily won over.”
“Oh yeah?” I cocked an eyebrow. “What would it take to win over the elusive Staci Johnson?”
“What was it that you said earlier? I can’t reveal all my secrets.” She smirked, and my gaze stayed glued to those lips as I fought off the urge to lean down and kiss her.
Instead, I twirled her around in a circle, and she laughed before I pulled her back against my body. We slowly swayed to the beat of the music, and she looked anywhere but at me.
“I have a feeling you don’t reveal any of your secrets.” I pushed a piece of hair off her face, and she quickly ducked her head away from my touch.
“Have you ever been skinny dipping?”
I wasn’t sure if it was the moonlight or my question that lit up her eyes, but either way, I couldn’t stop staring at them.
“Actually, I haven’t.” She looked out over the water, and I followed her stare trying to see what she saw.
“Do you want to?”
The small laugh she let out was infectious, and I found myself pulling my shirt over my head before she could change her mind.
She popped the button on her jeans, and regardless how many times I told myself that Staci and I were nothing more than friends, my dick still went instantly hard.
“Are you going to just stand there and stare at me or are you going to get those pants off?” She shimmied her jeans down her legs, and I picked up the bottle of liquor from the dock and took a swig of the brown liquid to help steady my rapid heartbeat.
The dock rocked under my weight as I kicked off my shoes into the pile of clothes she had started. My pants slid down my legs, and she pulled her top over her head. The smile hadn’t left her face since I mentioned the idea, and there was something about it that made me want to dive in head first. Into the water. Into her.
She faced the water and unhooked her bra, and I barely breathed as I watched the delicate fabric slide down her arms. It ran over the intricate ink that covered her body. I had never really paid attention before. Never really thought much about it, but it seemed her skin told a story. A story I was dying to know. A story that begged me to taste every chapter with my tongue.