by Stella Rhys
“No problem. But like you said, he might just be doing all this to make us look like a real couple, right?” I prodded curiously, realizing shamefully that I was asking in hopes of being told otherwise.
“Well.” Noah squinted. Pausing, he rattled the ice cubes in his empty glass. “Fuck. When did I finish this?” he slurred. And just like that, I lost his drunken attention. “Hey, everyone’s at the pool. Wanna get a drink?” he asked, as if forgetting our prior conversation entirely. A part of me was tempted to grab his shoulders and shake him back to consciousness, but as he swayed in front of me, I had to laugh and just let it go.
“Sure. Lead the way.”
Trailing behind, I followed Noah up two levels. The bass of the music faded into my ears and then blared the second we opened the sliding glass doors to the massive enclosed terrace. Lounging around the white couches and splashing in the glittery water were upwards of a hundred beautiful people. Amid them, I looked around for mine. I was eager to find Mason and I couldn’t deny that anymore. Between Sofia’s encouragement and Noah’s tipsy honesty, I found myself genuinely excited to see him, which was why my heart stopped when I finally found his blue eyes cutting into me from well across the roof.
Whoa.
I swallowed hard, both nervous and flattered by the way he looked at me. Despite everyone sitting down around him, he stood straight, coming to me as if I possessed a magnetic pull. I didn’t expect this reaction, nor did I expect it to freeze me in place. But it did and the second he was close enough to cup my elbow, my heart rate felt like it was double its usual. “Hey,” I managed.
“Hey. Christ, Taylor, you look fucking…” Eyes on my legs, Mason pressed his fist to his mouth. With a groan, he muttered, “Good,” before stepping back and clearing his throat. Tucking my hair behind my ear, I processed how impossibly good he looked himself in a white sweater with the sleeves pushed up his muscled forearms. “That necklace couldn’t look better on you.”
“Shocked, by the way, that you chose a necklace that basically lives in cleavage.”
Mason laughed. “Just had a feeling it’d look good on you. And Christ was I right.” I bit my lip. The words thank you were at the tip of my tongue but for some reason, they wouldn’t come out. Mason didn’t seem to care. Stepping closer, he peered out at the party and then pulled me into him by my waist. “Figured this was a good place to let you show the world how you’ve got me wrapped around your pinky.”
“I’d agree. And the diamond is definitely a good start.”
“I’d hope so. What else can I do to show them you’re not just a fling?”
I bit my lip, glancing around to confirm a few curious eyes before looking back at Mason. “I don’t know. Look at me like you’re smitten.”
Mason smirked but when he spoke, his voice was low and sober. “Easy,” he said, reaching to push a stray blonde lock behind my ear. Circling his arm around my waist, Mason pulled me tighter to him, till I could feel the solid strength of his chest against my bare skin. Despite my breasts pressed up against him, Mason kept his eyes on mine, his fingers lightly entwined in my hair. Catching the masculine scent of his skin, I felt nearly hypnotized so I forced myself to disrupt the moment.
“Not bad. Fairly convincing.”
Mason laughed. “I thought we were well past this game by now.”
“What game?” I blushed.
“The one where you act like I’m faking my physical attraction to you. You got my dick hard as a fucking rock in public yesterday. I think you should know by now that I genuinely enjoy looking at you and that it’s going to be torture for me tonight.”
I struggled to muster up a response. “What… what do you mean?”
“That I’m gonna get to watch you all night tonight – wear you on my arm, look at you, touch you. But I can’t go anywhere beyond that and if we’re being honest here, it’s going to fucking suck.”
My lashes fluttered with surprise for his words. He was always flirtatious but I was sure this was the first time Mason admitted to wanting something more from me beyond what we agreed to in our deal. The thought had my blood rushing to my cheeks, my lips – that annoying pulse between my thighs. “Well, maybe…” I trailed off, desperate to indulge my itch to flirt and provoke and see just how badly Mason wanted me. But I knew it was a bad idea, and I still had too much pride. “Maybe we can arrange for you to relieve your sexual frustrations with one of the more discreet raccoons here tonight.”
Mason choked with laughter. “Christ. Guessing you picked that up from Noah?”
“Yes,” I grinned, staring ahead at my hands pressed flat on Mason’s chest. I couldn’t resist smoothing them up his sweater, watching his eyes cloud over with what looked like desire as my fingers lightly stroked. “First and last time I’ll ever use that term. Promise.”
“Not a problem. And I have no interest in going near any of those girls tonight,” he said, smiling down at me. “My promise to you. Now let’s go get a drink.”
Predictably, I overanalyzed what Mason said as he brought me over to the couches he’d been sitting on with some of this friends I’d met yesterday at Noah’s restaurant. I said my hellos and chatted, gushing genuinely with the wives and girlfriends about the diamond.
“Holy hell, that thing is bigger than my engagement ring,” one of the women marveled before lowering her voice and huddling closer to me with her friends. “For God’s sake, Taylor, you gotta tell us how on Earth you tamed Mason Leo because Lord knows we all tried our hand at it before settling for our husbands.”
“Quinn!” one of the others gasped, smacking Quinn playfully. But then she turned to me with grave intensity. “Seriously though, what did you do? ‘Cause I’ll replicate it to a tee if it means I can get Stephen to buy me something half as fucking stunning as that.”
I laughed nervously, briefly catching Mason’s eye as he spoke with his friends. Goddamnit, he was sexy. One crooked grin in my direction and he had me genuinely giggling with the women. “Honestly, I’m not sure. I give him shit all the time and call him out for being an asshole. Maybe it’s the honesty he likes,” I joked.
“That and the fact that you look like walking sex tonight, girl,” Quinn winked, giving me that last boost of confidence before Mason whisked me off to get a drink at the bar.
“Hitting it off with the WAGs, I see,” he grinned, hand on my lower back as he asked the woman working the bar for a bourbon neat. “Not the easiest feat, so good job on that.”
I smirked. “It’s easy when they see you as the mystical fairy who finally put a lockdown on Mason Leo’s famous dick.”
Mason grinned. “For your own sake, I’m going to need you to not talk about my dick right now,” he said, leaning against the bar to gaze down at my legs wrapped in suede. “Christ,” he groaned under his breath before gathering himself and asking, “What would you like to drink?”
“I might need a second before I drink. I had a glass at home with Sofia.”
Mason laughed. “Is your tolerance really that low?”
I parted my lips to answer but across the roof, I suddenly spotted a familiar brunette in a pink bikini, a giant smile on her lips as she hoisted her wet body out of the pool. “Fucking hell,” I breathed out.
“What?” Mason turned just in time to see Whitney Decker giving a sultry toss of her wet hair behind her back. “Oh.” He returned his unfazed attention to me. “Say the word and Noah will tell her to leave.”
“No,” I tore my stare off of her. “I’d rather not give her the satisfaction of thinking I’m threatened. But now I think I do need to have a drink.”
“Good. Tequila?”
“Absolutely not,” I breathed out, ordering a Sauvignon Blanc instead. Off Mason’s unimpressed look, I said, “I have to. I stopped drinking for awhile, so I don’t have much of a tolerance anymore. Funny enough, it’s thanks to a night that has to do with Whitney.” I’d drunk myself halfway to death that awful night, certain that my relationship with Aaron was ov
er thanks to Whitney Frickin’ Decker.
I found myself wanting Mason to ask about the night, but looking up at him, I found him returning a wave from some friends across the roof. My heart sagged a bit. I genuinely hated talking about Whitney, that night or any of the thing that tended to spiral me into the bad memories but for some reason, I was itching to talk about it with Mason right now. I couldn’t explain it, and I kind of hated myself for it because it was clear as Mason guided me back to the couches that he had no interest in hearing about whatever drama happened to me two years ago. He cared enough to defend my honor from sexist assholes like Aaron’s colleagues, but he didn’t care enough to take on any of my emotional burdens and that was perfectly fucking normal. I tried to remind myself of that as we sat down with his friends.
But I found myself falling into a bit of a mood as I sat there amid the jovial conversation, and it only worsened when Whitney pranced over and squeezed her bikini-clad body in a seat across from Mason and me. She didn’t immediately say anything but I could tell from the way she peered at us that she was brainstorming, trying to conjure up some of her best insult material yet. It made my body stiffen and with his arm around me, Mason clearly felt it because despite being in the midst of sports talk with Noah, he turned and cocked his head at me. “What’s up? You alright?” he asked. Just as I tried to answer, Whitney gasped and snatched his attention – along with everyone else’s.
“Mason Leo! Fucking your little brother’s ex,” she clucked scandalously, eyeing me to soak in the discomfort I refused to show. “I have to say, very charitable of you.”
Mason gave her a blank look. “I’m afraid I don’t follow.”
“Just commending the fact that you’re using your sexual talents to boost this poor gal’s confidence. And I mean it’s working, right, Tay?” Whitney asked with a big smile. I didn’t engage in her bait, but she went on. “Fucking Mason to get over the fact that your fiancé left you for a ten?”
Jaws dropped around me but I stared barely a second before responding. “Yes, now that I’ve had Mase, it’s good to know that I almost married into a lifetime of mediocre sex.”
Dead quiet before, the crowd around us erupted into “ooh”s and raucous laughter. Slumped on the couch, drunker than ever, Noah nodded his approval and gave me a drunk thumbs up. I chewed my grin back, a chill rippling up my legs when Mason squeezed my bare knee.
“Easy, tiger.”
I looked up at him. “On what?”
“Complimenting me without warning. I’m not used to it and it’s extremely arousing.”
I laughed and took a drink of my wine. “Don’t get too excited. It’s not exactly a real compliment considering I’ve never actually had sex with you.”
“I think even you know that if you did, no one else in your history would compare,” Mason smirked. “Least of all my brother.”
Thinking about the somewhat routine sex I had with Aaron for years, I tilted my head. “You might have a point,” I said, expecting Mason to pump his fist in triumph but instead, he leaned his head back and groaned.
“Fuck, Taylor.”
“What? Feeling sexually frustrated by all this fake sex talk?” I teased quietly.
“Yes. Right on the money.”
“Would it be horrible then if I used you right now to further piss off Whitney?” I asked, eyeing her across from me. She was engaged in conversation with the guy next to her, but her eyes were us and shamefully so. They didn’t bother to avert even when I caught her stare.
“It would be torture. But I’m not going to stop you.”
I chewed my lip, already feeling the buzz from just half a glass of wine. So lifting my legs, I draped them over Mason’s lap. His heavy lidded eyes shot awake when my skirt rode several inches up my thighs. Sitting up, he pulled it down for me, muttering under his breath as he shook his head. “Yeah, I know you don’t actually belong to me but fuck if I’m going to let any guy here look up your skirt.”
“Sorry,” I grinned, crossing one leg over the other. Mason watched my dress ride up another inch but this time he left it to study me with disbelief.
“You know, you’re fucking evil when you’ve had a little bit of wine,” he said, taking the glass from my hands and setting it aside. I feigned shock for having my drink confiscated.
“Really? You’re going to be the controlling boyfriend right now?”
“No, I’m going to be the guy who tries to prevent the worst case of blue balls he’s ever had in his life.”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean the more you drink, the more you like to torture me apparently and as much I want you to flash me your panties, I’m not exactly sure I can handle seeing that much of you right now.”
I chewed my lip so hard it hurt. “And why not?” I asked, thrilled by the dead seriousness in Mason’s eyes.
“Don’t fucking tease me, little girl. You know exactly why not.”
God. “I do.” I felt a wickedness crawling through me as I chewed my lip. “But for some reason I want you to spell it out for me.”
Mason sneered. “You don’t want that,” he murmured, eyes staring hard ahead at nothing. I hooked my fingers into the neck of his sweater and felt the inaudible groan he let out.
“Why, you don’t think I can handle it?” I challenged. “Tits. Ass. Cock. I know those words, Mason, and I know you think I’m so deeply prissy and vanilla but I’m actually a big girl, so you can go ahead and use them on me,” I said, burning hot and for some reason wanting to feel even hotter. My heart beat faster when Mason turned to me.
“You want it then?” His mutter was raspy and low and his eyes burned so deep into mine I felt paralyzed before he even spoke. “Fine, Taylor,” he whispered, pressing his hand down hard on my thigh. “You walked in here and the first thing I thought of was how goddamned good you looked and how bad I wanted to rip that dress of those perfect tits of yours. I thought about what you’d look like in those boots and those boots alone and it turned me into a bit of a fucking crazy person for a second because I had some very real thoughts about grabbing you, taking you home and fucking you on my bed till I could hear those pretty lips screaming my name. Does that get the point across or do you want to hear just how hard and deep I imagined my cock inside you?”
Holy fuck.
Just like that, panties ruined.
And suddenly, I was the one who couldn’t look Mason in the eye. I stared ahead, breathing jaggedly and trying to figure out how to calm myself down and come back to Earth. But promptly ruining my process was Sofia, who found us at the couches and forced everyone to scoot down for her, which of course had me quickly smashed up against Mason’s hard chest, arms around his neck and my skirt riding so high up my bent legs that he actually growled as he yanked it back down this time – and so hard that it brought my deep-V several inches lower on my breasts.
“Fucking Christ, Taylor,” he hissed, removing me from his body. “I need to either fuck you now or you need to get far away from me.”
I stared, stunned by his words. When my arms fell from around his neck, he let out a hard breath, flashing me an I didn’t mean it that way look, but it was too late. A disturbed frown pinched my brows as I felt suddenly as cheap and dirty as the diamond on my neck was supposed to make me not feel. What the hell are you doing, Taylor? I demanded myself before swinging my legs off Mason’s lap and getting up. “Restroom?” I asked Noah in a perfectly normal voice so as to thwart attention. When he pointed me in the direction, I turned, avoiding Mason’s eyes as I made a beeline back into the penthouse.
What the fuck?
My heart was beating fast as I walked aimlessly inside. I wasn’t so much trying to find the bathroom as I was trying to figure out what exactly made me feel like shit just now. Oh. I know. Probably the fact that I’d just heard Mason express genuine desire for me for the first time, but it fucking sucked. It essentially translated to, “If you’re not servicing me, you’re of no worth to me,” and it made m
e feel so goddamned stupid for being so openly flirtatious with him tonight. Why, why did you let Sofia hype you up? I scolded myself, remembering that Mason Leo was still Mason Leo. He was a man I’d hated for a reason for years, who thought with his dick before all else, and I might actually be insane if I thought that hanging out with me for a week would somehow alter his way of thinking.
“Bathroom’s the door next to the mirror.”
Jumping, I spun around to find myself facing Whitney. “For God’s sake, what do you want?” I asked, apparently fresh out of fucks to give for the night. She simpered.
“Grabbing a bottle of water. But now I’m just laughing to myself.”
“Well, enjoy.” I turned to go but she stopped me with what she said next.
“I know you haven’t had sex with Mason yet. I could tell even before the weird little exchange you just had on the couch.” She grinned when I stopped to look at her. “See, you can’t even pretend or deny it. You’re obviously with him to get Aaron’s attention, and he obviously gave you that beautiful fucking necklace because he’s hoping to squeeze a lil’ sex out of you before whatever arrangement you have going on is over.” She smiled as she shook the water from her hair, waiting patiently for me to hit back with a retort. But I had nothing. “I mean I can’t blame Mase for being curious about fucking his little brother’s ex. Though honestly, I doubt the taboo of it will make up for your lack of bedroom enthusiasm. Aaron told me all about it,” she said, smirking at the absolute shock frozen on my face.
There was no lack of bedroom enthusiasm – unless Aaron was talking about the few months after the worst time of our lives, which I prayed to God he wasn’t because he knew exactly why I couldn’t bring myself to have sex at that time. I didn’t feel bad about it either, because I was every bit justified and if Aaron had really gone and griped to Whitney about how I was feeling during that time, I was about sure now that I’d murder him once I saw him in St. Lucia.