Chapter 8
“Think he has all his teeth?” Mom asked around a mouthful of popcorn.
I nearly spit out my water. Why was this woman always trying to make me choke? I sputtered as I considered her answer. Mase had smiled maybe twice in the couple of weeks I’d known him. Both times, he’d seemed to have all his teeth, but who knew?
“I’m not sure,” I mumbled, desperately trying not to think about what it would feel like to kiss a guy missing teeth.
Mase’s parting shot had haunted me all day, and the image of him sucking pie off his thumb while watching me burned with every iteration. I needed relief something fierce, but I couldn’t excuse myself for a little playtime under Mom’s watchful eyes.
She’d know—somehow, she’d know—and she’d never stop pushing me toward him. The camera focused on Mase once again as he reached out to deflect a puck moving so fast I could barely track it.
Reece—at least, I thought it was Reece—zoomed in to scoop it up, doing a circle around the back of the net before passing to another player who was probably also living next door. My eyes stayed on Mase.
The way he followed the action, the intense focus, the lethal grace in his movements. I shivered. The camera panned away to follow the play, but Mom gave me a sidelong glance.
“Cold?”
“Yep,” I answered cheerfully, pulling the throw off the back of the couch.
“Have you ever played a hockey video game?” she asked, shifting her attention back to the screen.
The question made me pause. Mom didn’t often ask me about my job. She teased me mercilessly, but when I started talking about frame rates and kill ratios, her eyes glazed over. I took a break from ogling my neighbors to study her face.
She sent me a smile and pointed at the screen. “It seems like the kind of thing you might enjoy. I’ll bet he’s played them. Could be a good challenge for you to try something new. Maybe let someone else be the expert for once.”
I scoffed. “There are a lot of facets of my life where I’m not the expert. Sports games, other than Mario Kart obviously, haven’t been popular with my viewers.”
Mom dropped the line of questioning, but the twist of her mouth told me she was only regrouping. I’d evidently inherited my stubbornness from her.
Before she could try a new tack, I circumvented her by addressing her intent directly. “Why are you pushing me toward him so hard?”
Mom put her hand on my cheek. “Because I don’t want to see you waste your life stuck in a house with me and the dog.”
Hudson yipped like he took offense, but he was staring at the screen.
I covered her hand with mine. “I like being in this house. It’s a huge improvement over the last one.”
She didn’t laugh.
“Why him?” I added, pulling away slightly.
Mom shrugged and settled back into her spot. “He’s the first one you’ve shown any interest in since the guy you met at the gaming convention. What was his name? Maverick? Rebel? Something unironic.”
I snorted out a laugh. “His real name was Jared, but he went by Fang. I was never interested in him. We went on one date for a PR thing. He spent the entire time talking about his sword collection.”
“Cringe,” Mom muttered. “Talk about a red flag.”
“You need to spend less time on the internet.”
“And you need to spend more time with real people. Like that one.” She nodded at the screen just in time for a slowed down replay of Mase catching a puck while facing the other direction.
Damn, he looked so intense. And flexible.
In seconds, the puck was flying toward the other end of the rink again. Two of the players raced for the little door in the wall, and two new ones jumped out. Mase stayed where he was until the buzzer went off indicating the end of the third period. He had, indeed, been in the game the entire time.
“Well, that was thrilling.” Mom tossed her throw blanket over the back of the couch. “I’m going to my room to scroll through social media until I fall asleep. Can you take Hudson out one more time?”
“Sure. Don’t rot your brain too much,” I called as she went up the stairs.
After her door closed, I realized she’d never really answered my question. Yes, Mase interested me, but she couldn’t possibly know how much. Mom was my best friend, but I drew the line at discussing my sex life with her. Even if it was purely fantasy at this point.
On the screen, the hockey teams skated smoothly past each other then headed for their respective exits. I turned the TV off and pulled my throw blanket up to my shoulders in the dark. Despite the close proximity, I’d never watched a college hockey game.
Before we’d moved, there hadn’t been a college near us with a team. After tonight, I might actually consider going to the arena in town for a game. I was curious what the place felt like when there wasn’t a disconnect through the screen.
I hadn’t forgotten Mase’s words from earlier. Mom had waggled her eyebrows when I told her he might be on the couch in the morning, but she was savvy enough not to ask questions about his motivations.
Considering I’d just seen him playing in the arena at the university, I wasn’t expecting him any time soon. If he showed up at all. So far, Mase was notoriously unreliable.
I didn’t love that about him.
Hudson scrabbled his way onto the couch and curled up in my lap on top of the fuzzy blanket. He clearly didn’t have to pee yet, but I knew he’d need at least one more foray into the yard before he settled in for the night.
I could let him out when Mase showed up. If he showed up.
The whole situation was beyond weird. I hadn’t known him long, and what I had experienced should have been huge red flags. Was I really willing to forgo my better instincts because a hot hockey player had a secret double life as a video game connoisseur?
Maybe—which was a hell of a lot closer to yes than I’d ever thought I’d get with a dude who needed his friends to rescue him from a ditch.
All the logic in the world, though, didn’t change my body’s reaction to him. Mom was right. It had been a long time since I wanted to get naked with someone. A sad state of affairs for a woman in her mid-twenties.
Before I was ready, Hudson leapt off my lap and trotted toward the door. No way had Mase gotten cleaned up and made it over here in—I checked my phone, surprised to see over an hour had passed.
Shit.
I still hadn’t brushed my teeth.
With a resigned sigh, I followed the dog and let him out. Hudson didn’t even bother pretending he had to go. He made a beeline straight for Mase’s truck as it pulled to a stop in front of the lawn between our houses.
Mase climbed out—hair wet, jeans clinging to his thighs as he bent to pick up the little dog—then waved at me. I wiggled my fingers back, uncertain of my next move.
Running back into the house and locking the door seemed dramatic, and honestly, I liked Mase despite the supposed red flags. Everybody had their own demons. I wanted to know more about his.
Besides, Hudson was a great judge of character. He’d peed on Fang’s shoe when he walked me to my door.
“Hey,” I called out. “Mom ordered an extra pizza for you. I hope you like meat because I think she got all of it.”
Mase grunted as he checked his backseat, then locked up his truck. “You don’t have to feed me.”
“Too late. If you’re not coming over here, can you put Hudson down so he can pee?”
He slowed, and his gaze trailed over me, leaving fire in its wake. I told my stupid body to calm the fuck down. Mase was looking for rest, not a booty call.
With careful movements, he set Hudson on the grass, then to my utter surprise, he told the dog in a low voice it was time to potty. My eyebrows shot up to my scalp.
Hudson looked up at him with adoration, then squatted and peed right in front of him.
Damn. I usually had to wait at least ten minutes for the dog to sniff every inch of the yard before he’d go.
Either Hudson was about to burst—unlikely considering four minutes ago he’d been asleep on my lap—or Mase was a dog whisperer.
I wondered if this was how he took care of Sunny so easily.
Mase lifted his eyes from the dog and sent me a half smile. “I was planning to grab something to eat then come over, but if I have a whole pizza waiting for me, I’m happy to skip to the good part.”
His low voice had gone silky at the end, and goosebumps exploded across my skin. The heat in his eyes made it clear he thought I was the good part. A warm little ball grew in my belly.
Hudson gave a sharp little bark, then barreled back toward the door. He stopped at my feet and looked back at Mase, who let out a laugh. I ushered Hudson inside before I could do something ill-advised like throw myself at the big man on the front lawn.
Down, girl.
“What about Sunny?” I asked as I turned toward the kitchen.
Mase closed the door with a soft click. “She’s staying with Cole tonight. No reason to upset her schedule more than necessary.” His voice came from a lot closer behind me than I’d expected. “Where’s your Mom?”
“She already retired for the night.” I grabbed the extra pizza out of the fridge, turned, and almost smashed my face into Mase’s broad chest.
He took the box from me and set it on the table next to us. “So it’s just you and me.”
“And Hudson.” I pointed down at the dog who was hoping to score some crumbs.
“And Hudson,” he repeated without taking his eyes off me.
With slow, precision movements, Mase leaned forward until my lower back hit the edge of the counter. My breath caught, and my heart pounded wildly. His lips tilted up and then he was gone—retreating from my space with a paper towel in his hand.
Air left my lungs in a rush, and I swore I heard a quiet chuckle. Mase sat at the table and dug into the pizza without heating it up. Was he playing games or was I desperate for him to touch me?
Both? It was probably both.
I scooped my hair away from my face and collapsed into the chair across from him. “Meals at your place must be really tight with all you guys fighting for space.”
His eyes flicked up at me. “Not really. My roommates are aggressive. There’s been more than one piece of flying bread just this week. How was your afternoon?”
And just like that, the tension dissipated.
We talked about the game I was planning to review and his roommate’s insistence on having a ‘duck off’—whatever that meant.
I agreed to referee, but I’d need a lot more information first. He didn’t tease me when he found out we’d watched the game, as I expected.
Instead, he glossed over his impressive play and turned the subject back to me.
The conversation was… nice. Warm. Sweet. Simply two people sharing parts of their day. I talked to Mom regularly, but it wasn’t the same. She had a sharp sense of humor and a lack of understanding about many parts of my life.
Mase got it. He understood the ups and downs without me having to spell it out. Each time we got together like this, Mase opened up a little more—and I liked watching his walls slowly come down. Enough to let him into mine.
I yawned as he finished off his fourth piece. “There’s a blanket that won’t be nearly big enough for you next to the side table, and Mom grabbed an extra pillow from her stash. She rotates them regularly so they stay fresh. Don’t ask—I don’t understand it either.”
He wiped his mouth with his stolen paper towel. “Thanks for dinner… and for letting me do this. I know it’s a crazy ask.”
I nodded. “It’s weird, but I’m used to weird.
I have an early yoga class tomorrow, so I’m heading to bed.
Let me know if you need anything else.” I snatched up Hudson, happily snoozing on Mase’s foot.
“I’ll drop Hudson off with Mom so he doesn’t bother you.
My room is the one on the right, by the way.
Trust me, you don’t want to get the doors wrong in the middle of the night. ”
Mase nodded, suddenly solemn. “That almost sounds like an invitation.”
I raised a brow. “I’m not propositioning you, but I know what it’s like to need help—and how hard it is to ask in the first place. My door is open if you need me. Metaphorically. It’s a fire hazard to actually sleep with your door open. Okay, goodnight.”
With some effort, I forced myself to stop word vomiting and turn away. I blinked a couple of times, shaking my head slightly. What the fuck was wrong with me?
“Goodnight, Taryn.” Mase’s quiet response followed me up the stairs.
I shoved Hudson into Mom’s room and made quick work of my bedtime ritual in my private bathroom. Teeth, face, pajamas, shut down the computer for the night.
In the pale glow of my LEDs, I frowned at my prickly thighs under my sleep shorts. No. I wasn’t showering on the off chance Mase saw my bare legs while I was supposed to be sleeping. If he cared, I could scratch him off my list of potential boy toys.
The thought made me laugh out loud. My list only had one name on it, and I didn’t do boy toys anyway. Sex for sex’s sake always led to regret. Only occasionally did it lead to orgasms.
As I climbed under my covers, I couldn’t stop picturing Mase squatting to grab Hudson. With his flexibility, he’d kick ass at my yoga class—and something told me he wouldn’t skimp on the orgasms either.
Too bad I didn’t trust myself enough to offer him a real invitation.