Ambrosia (Book Boyfriend Series 2)

by Erin Noelle

Your Winter—Sister Hazel

  Scarlett

  The next morning, I woke up to the smell of bacon and coffee and the sound of pans banging around in the kitchen. I could hear Mason singing along with whatever music he had playing. Either he was purposely trying to wake me up to join him or he really sucked at quietly preparing me breakfast in bed. I was going with option number one.

  Groaning, I rolled over and hopped down from the ginormous bed. I was still naked and not really sure where my clothes had been thrown. I didn’t see any of them around on the floor, but I noticed his black T-shirt he had on the night before draped across the dresser, so I just threw that on and went to find him.

  The sight of Mason working in the kitchen stopped me midroute; it truly was a sight to behold. His back was facing me, so it allowed me a few moments to gawk at this gorgeous male specimen I was… well, I wasn’t sure what we were. Dating? Lovers? Boyfriend/girlfriend? Whatever he was, this guy claimed to love me, and I spent the previous night in his arms, so I was happy with that. Anyone could tell by his broad, muscular frame that he spent quite a bit of time in the gym, and the ink that covered at least half of his exposed skin indicated he spent the rest of it in a tattoo parlor. He was standing at the stovetop, flipping what appeared to be pancakes, wearing only a pair of thin cotton pajama pants. His back was Adonis-like, and the pants sat just perfectly on the top of his ass, framing his entire flawless physique. Holy hell.

  Mason was engrossed in his cooking and singing, never even noticing my presence. I was quite enjoying the show I was receiving. What could be better than a sexy ass, half-naked man cooking me breakfast while singing a song about never letting his true love fall and standing up with her forever in the sultriest voice ever?

  Ummm… nothing, that’s what.

  My body liquefied and I needed to touch him immediately.

  I quietly tiptoed up behind him just as the song picked up tempo. He was really getting into it and began moving his hips and dancing in place. Right after he finished begging for her to stay, I slid my arms around his waist and kissed his back, directly between his shoulder blades.

  “I’ll stay with you, Mase,” I whispered in his ear. Despite my aversion of nicknames, this seems to roll off my tongue naturally.

  Dropping the spatula, he spun around with a huge smile on his face and pulled me against him.

  “Good morning, angel.” He kissed the top of my head and grabbed my ass at the same time. I squealed and leaned farther into him. He looked down at me and brushed the pad of his thumb over my cheek. “I hope you’re hungry, ‘cause I’ve cooked up all kinds of good stuff for you.” He leaned down and gave me a swift peck but quickly turned back toward the food.

  “Shit, I burned that one! It’s all your fault for distracting me,” he teased, looking at me over his shoulder as he disposed of the black flapjack. I moved over to the side of the range and hopped up onto the countertop so my legs were dangling in front of me, and I could see his face while he was cooking. Mason looked over at my bare legs and raised his eyebrows as a devilish smirk crept onto his face.

  “What?” I asked, looking down at my lap and noticed his T-shirt was just barely covering my crotch. “I couldn’t find my clothes, so I put this on. Is it okay that I’m wearing your shirt?” I half-whined.

  “Of course it’s okay. I like you in my clothes.” He turned off the stovetop and removed the skillet from the heat before walking over in front of me. My breath caught as he placed both his hands on my legs and pulled me toward him so I was just barely perched on the edge of the counter. His hands pushed open my knees far enough that he could position himself in between my thighs. The cool air that tickled my naked folds reminded me that I didn’t have any panties on, and then the feel of Mason’s bare stomach pressed against my clit made me shudder and my eyelids get heavy. He looked down and pulled the hem of the shirt up, confirming he felt my naked sex rubbing against his abs.

  “Oh shit, Scarlett. What are you trying to do to me?” He growled the words as his hands slowly began moving from the inside of my knees up to my core. All the liquid in my body rushed to the apex of my legs when his fingers found their ultimate destination.

  “Mason, oh God…” I threw my head back at his first caress and moaned loudly. He leaned into my neck and kissed me under my ear at the same time he slipped one finger into me.

  “Mm-hmm… I like the sound of that,” he said, not moving his mouth from my skin. He quickly added another finger to the first and began moving them in and out of me. Abruptly, he withdrew his hand from me and dropped to his knees. The T-shirt was now bunched around my waist so that my lower half was completely exposed, and his eyes were fixed on my wet, pulsating sex. Without wasting another second, he leaned in and made a teasing swipe at my swollen nub with his tongue. He tried to torment me by pulling away, but I was too quick. Somehow, I managed to stay perched on the edge of the countertop and grab the back of his head with my hands, guiding his mouth back toward my ache. He chuckled at my shamelessness but happily obliged my silent request. After quickly bringing me to an orgasm with his talented mouth and hands, he slid me off the granite surface and turned me around so that my back was to him.

  “Hold on here,” he instructed me as he put my hands on the counter where my legs had just been. I was bent over, my back arched and ass sticking up in the air as if I was presenting myself to him. I didn’t hear him pull his pants down or grab a condom, but moments later, I heard the ripping of the package followed by the tip of his erection nudging me. His strong hands grabbed my hipbones like they were handles and, in one swift motion, he impaled himself inside me.

  “Oh, God!” I cried out. I was extremely sore from the night before, and my body still wasn’t used to Mason filling me up.

  “Are you okay? Do you want me to stop?” he asked, leaning down and kissing my shoulder gently. I looked over it at him, and his hungry, hooded eyes stared back at me. I loved how much he wanted me; it turned me on incredibly.

  “No, don’t stop. Please don’t stop,” I answered and wiggled my ass against him.

  He said something under his breath that sounded like “Oh fuck me,” but I wasn’t sure. I didn’t have time to think about it again, because he, still grasping tightly onto my hips, began his relentless pounding. It didn’t take me long to come again, and I felt his hands grab me even tighter, if that was possible, as he followed me into ecstasy.

  He wrapped his arms around my waist and laid himself down on my back. I was still using the countertop as a brace, and his additional, unexpected weight caused me to lose my grip as we both fell to the floor. Sprawled out, half-dressed, on the kitchen floor, our gazes caught and we both began to laugh hysterically. Mason managed to discard the condom and pull his pants up from around his ankles. Sitting up with his back leaning against the cabinets, he pulled me onto his lap and snuggled into the side of my face.

  “I was going to bring you breakfast in bed, but it appears you brought the bed to breakfast,” he joked while kissing my cheek. “Now come on, let’s eat before all the food gets cold.”

  Mason and I cleaned up in the bathroom, washing our hands and brushing our teeth, before grabbing our plates and settling down at the table. I couldn’t believe I hadn’t even been back in town for twenty-four hours and had already had sex with him twice and spent my first night in his bed instead of mine. We enjoyed a pleasant breakfast, talking about recent movies and music; both of us avoided “the conversation” at all costs.

  It was like we were just going to pretend nothing happened since the day he left to go to the music festival in Dallas last December. Evie didn’t die, Ash didn’t completely destroy and trample on my heart and soul, and I didn’t leave Mason in the middle of the night after giving him my virginity and telling him I loved him. I glanced down at the outside of my left calf and saw the butterfly that was permanently tattooed on my skin. It was my daily reminder that it all did in fact happen. My daily reminder of Ash Walker.

  I qu
ickly pulled my eyes away from my tattoo and back to my plate, hopeful Mason didn’t catch me looking at it. I knew he must know it was somehow related to Ash, since Ash had the same design on his forearm and had apparently become a regular at the warehouse. I didn’t want Mason to worry about any lingering feelings I had for Ash, even though I couldn’t honestly say I was completely over him. I wasn’t sure if I ever would be—the magical connection I felt with him was something I believed only existed in fictional stories. I couldn’t allow myself to ever be with him. He had nearly destroyed my already broken self once before, and I’d be damned if I let him do it again.

  “Are you going to the warehouse with me tonight, angel? Jobu’s Rum is playing,” his voice pulled me from my depressing thoughts. “I’ve got to go up there early, but I figured you could hang out and watch TV in the studio apartment there until it got busy.”

  “Are you sure?” I asked meekly. “I mean, I just showed up yesterday after… well, after everything, and I don’t expect you to just forgive me and insert me back into your life.”

  “Isn’t that what you want?” he asked with a confused look on his face.

  “Well, yeah, but what I want and what happens in real life aren’t always the same thing.” I tucked my hair behind my ears and took a deep breath. I looked into his eyes and said, “Mason, we’re going to have to talk about it at some point. It doesn’t have to be right now, but the longer we go pretending nothing happened, the more this fresh start is built on a lie.”

  “I love you and that isn’t a lie,” he interjected. “And you said you love me, and I don’t think that’s a lie either.”

  “You know as well as I do that isn’t enough to make a relationship work, Mase,” I replied softly. He pushed away from the table abruptly and took our plates to the sink.

  “Why not, Scarlett?” he asked, looking over the bar at me. I had tucked my knees up against my body, his shirt stretched over my legs to my ankles. “Look, what happened is what happened. We were seeing each other, getting to know each other pretty well; I was starting to fall for you, and I’m pretty sure you had feelings for me too. Something really shitty happened; you came here for me to comfort and console you, and I did. Sure, I didn’t know the pain you were in, but I did what I did, because I cared about you. You freaked out with everything and ran away. Obviously, you’ve gotten your shit together, figured out whatever you needed to figure out, and you’ve come back to move on with your life. You said you were sorry last night. I’m sorry too. You said you love me; I said I love you. Who knows where this is going to lead, but right here, right now, this is what we both want. So why do we need to make the past any more than it is? Leave it there; focus on right now. End of story.”

  “But aren’t you mad at me? Upset with me? Want to know why I did what I did?”

  “I was mad at first, but once I found out what happened, it all made sense.” He walked back over to the kitchen table and sat in the chair next to mine. He pulled me to him so that we were facing each other and he was holding my hands.

  “I couldn’t make you come back, angel. You needed to do that on your own time. So I gave you space—you know, whatever that damn saying is… ‘If you love something, let it go, and if it’s meant to be, it’ll come back’ or some shit like that.”

  I couldn’t help but smile at his attempt to use a love quote; he never ceased to surprise me.

  “You came back,” he said matter-of-factly. “Any anger or resentment I ever had toward you was erased the minute I saw you last night. I knew then I was still crazy in love with you.” He leaned forward and brushed his lips lightly across mine. The tingle from his touch ran from the top of my head to the tips of my toes. “And I think we’ve done more than enough to prove we still have amazing chemistry.”

  All of his points were valid and made perfect sense. Maybe I did need to try to focus on moving forward a little more, and maybe Mason was the perfect person to help me do that. All I could do was try.

  “You’re right. Let’s enjoy right now.” I smiled at him and his gray eyes lit up. He glanced behind me at the clock on the wall.

  “I’ve got a little more than an hour to enjoy right now before I have to get ready, so get your ass back in my bed,” he said, pulling me out of the chair and crushing his lips against mine. He angled me in the direction of his bedroom and swatted my ass. Giggling, I scurried along, taking off his shirt before burying myself in the sheets.

  Mason

  Before following Scarlett to my room, I grabbed my cell off the bar and tapped out a quick text to my boys instructing them not to mention our upcoming move in front of Scarlett. I wasn’t sure when the right time to tell her would be, but I wasn’t ready yet. I didn’t want her pulling away from me before she had a chance to see how good we could be together. Then maybe, just maybe, she would want to come with me. I wasn’t going to ask her; I couldn’t ask her to make that decision so soon after returning, but if she asked to come with me, I’d be ecstatic.

  I’d still need to handle the Bentley situation, but she could either understand it and accept my angel or take a fucking hike. Our hookups were meaningless fucks; she filled a void that no longer needed to be filled. Her only job now was to manage Jobu’s Rum. God, I was so glad she was back in Austin. How awful would it have been if she’d been at the bar when Scarlett came back? I cringed just thinking about it. I had six weeks to address that situation before she was due to come back in town.

  “Mase? Are you coming?” Scarlett’s sweet voice called out. Mase… I loved hearing that come out of her mouth.

  “Yeah, just a second. I was putting some of the food away,” I answered. I opened and closed the refrigerator door to make it sound like I had been doing what I said and then went to join her in my bed. I needed to remind her as many times as possible why we needed to be together.

  Three

  Old Friends, New Beginnings

  Hero/Heroine—Boys Like Girls

  All At Once—The Fray

  Scarlett

  After Mason showered and changed, he took me to my place to grab some clothes and toiletries. I needed to check in with my new roommate Tessa anyway. I hadn’t said much to her the day before when I arrived late in the evening. I basically put my stuff up in my room, showered, gotten dressed, and left for the night. I wasn’t sure how this whole stranger roommate thing worked. Were we supposed to tell each other when we were going to be there or not? Evie and I had known each other’s whereabouts every moment of every day, but that was different.

  Tessa came out of her room when she heard us enter the apartment. The sight of Mason scared her a bit at first; she jumped back a foot when she saw him. I couldn’t help but laugh out loud. I don’t think she was expecting a six-foot-something, tattooed and pierced hottie to be standing in the living room.

  “Hey, Tessa,” I greeted her warmly.

  “Hiya, Scarlett,” she said to me, but her eyes were locked on Mason. I couldn’t blame her. His presence demanded the attention of any female who shared a space with him. Once you got past his massive size and the ink that covered his arms and neck, you saw just how gorgeous his face, was and God help anyone who got lost in those eyes

  “This is Mason. He’s my uh…” I looked up at him, wondering what I was supposed to refer to him as. Thankfully, he saved the pending awkward silence.

  “I’m Mason, Scarlett’s boyfriend. It’s nice to meet you, Tessa,” he said as he reached his hand out to shake hers. Her pale face turned a bright shade of pink as she shook his hand.

  “Likewise,” she squeaked. Then, turning to me, she said, “Hey, I’m going to stay with a friend tonight, so don’t wait up, okay?”

  Before I had a chance to respond, Mason answered her, “Yeah, no problem. Actually, Scarlett is gonna stay at my apartment until Monday. Classes start Tuesday, right?” He looked over at me for confirmation. I nodded to answer the question but was still in shock over his announcement. It wasn’t that I minded staying with him, but he h
adn’t even asked me if I was okay with it.

  Sensing my mild irritation with him, he walked up behind me and slipped his arms around my waist. He leaned down to kiss my neck. “We’ve got lost time to make up for. Don’t we, angel?” It was my turn to blush, and instead of embarrassing myself by trying to talk, I just nodded again. Feeling his body up against mine, even fully clothed, caused me to tingle all over and lose my train of thought.

  “Come on; let’s get your bag together. Marcus is going to kick my ass if I’m much later, especially after I bailed on him last night.” His voice pulled me back to reality, and I looked up at Tessa, who was still just standing and staring at us.

  “Okay, I’ll be fast,” I said as I spun around and gave him a quick kiss on the lips. I turned to Tessa. “I guess I’ll be back on Monday. We can go over our schedules then and go grocery shopping if you want.”

  “Sounds good. See you both later,” she replied before disappearing back into her room.

  I decided to take a nap when we got to the warehouse while Mason did whatever it was he did to help Marcus. He woke me up a little after eight when he brought in a pizza and set it on the table.

  “Hey there, sleepyhead. I brought you something to eat,” he said as he sat down on the bed next to me, kissing my forehead.

  “Mmmm… it smells good. But I’m too comfortable. I don’t want to get out of bed,” I murmured.

  “No problem.” He got up, grabbed the pizza box, and brought it back to the bed, where he sat it down next to me. “Now, eat up and get dressed. I’ll be waiting for you out there.” One last kiss and he was out the door.

  An hour later, I was fed, showered, and changed into a pink sundress and flip-flops, always my shoe of choice. As I made my way down the back hallway from the mini apartment to the bar, I recognized the voice coming from the other side of the door as Noah’s. Noah meant Mina and Max! I couldn’t wait to see all my old friends. I stopped to say hello to Marcus as I walked by the office. I was beginning to think he lived in that chair. He gave me a friendly smile and waved hello as he continued his phone conversation. He was starting to warm up a bit.