40. Mason #2
I tilt my head to meet her lips, taking in the warmth of them and the way they taste like the coconut lip balm she always wears. I can feel the way she melts into me, and I keep kissing her because I don’t want the high to end, because I could easily overdose in her touch if she’d let me.
When she pulls back a little, I see the lust-filled haze in her eyes that probably matches mine. “I’m…I’m doing a dry semester,” she tells me. “For Lydia.”
She leans to sit back on the bed again, and I’m still stuck staring at her, trying to clear my head enough to register what she said.
“Oh, shit. So no drinking at all?”
She nods.
“No parties either?”
“I don’t think that would be possible. I’m a Gamma girl and in college. I’m just gonna have to have fun without the alcohol.”
A small smile spreads across my lips, admiring this girl. “That’s pretty cool of you.”
“Yeah. I mean, I just wanna be there for her, you know? It’s gotta be hard coming back to all of this temptation after what she’s dealt with.”
I stand up, walking over to grab my phone from my dresser. “Well, I’ll just have to drink double the amount…you know, for you.”
She glares at me, but a smirk still pulls at her lips. “I think you drink enough for the entire student body some nights.”
“Don’t judge my extracurricular activities.”
She puts her hands up playfully. “I would never.”
* * *
Normally, parties make the cravings louder. There’s no better place to hide than in a place like this. It should drive me crazy; I should want a lot more drinks in me than I already have.
But it doesn’t.
Because Simone is next to me, laughing at something Lani just said, and it’s all the distraction I need from my own head.
She grabs my arm mid-laugh, and I can’t help but love how comfortable she is around me. She doesn’t need alcohol to be electric. She’s just…like this. She’s bright and outgoing, and she’s just a light that pulls you to her whether you want to or not. And I definitely want to be anywhere she is.
I’ve got a cup in my hand, but I keep forgetting to want to drink it. I keep forgetting I even have it…and that feels pretty big. The fact that I don’t want it. The fact that when she’s around, the noise in my head finally shuts the hell up.
I’ve stayed beside her since we got here like a puppy dog, and now we’re outside by the pool, soaking up the last bit of summer heat we’ll get this year.
Sure, call me whipped or pathetic, but I don’t see a better place to be right now.
“You’re being suspiciously well-behaved,” she says, narrowing her eyes at me.
I shrug. “Trying to set a new personal record.”
“For what?”
“Not embarrassing myself in front of sober you, who will remember every dumb thing I do.”
She laughs as she bumps shoulders with me. “You’re no fun.”
I lean in next to her ear so Lani can’t hear. “That’s not what your lips were saying this morning in my room.”
I enjoy watching her try to hide the shiver that runs through her. She turns her head to glare at me, and we’re less than an inch apart. I lick my bottom lip and smile at her until she puts the space back between us, playing it off.
Tank walks up and slings an arm around Lani, making some of his drink splash onto her top.
“Tank!” she half-squeals, half-scolds.
“Shit, sorry, babe.”
She shoulders him off of her. “I am not your babe.”
He smiles at her and winks. “You’re just a babe in general.”
Her eyes roll, and she throws off her soaked shirt, leaving her in just a bikini top and jean shorts. I watch Tank check her out and can’t help but laugh. I nudge Simone, and she laughs too, watching the barbaric man be his classic caveman self.
“Let’s have some fun,” Tank says, pointing at the pool.
He looks at me, shooting me a look that tells me he wants to stir up some trouble together.
“We just got here,” Simone tells him in a pout. “I’m not trying to sit around soaked for the rest of the night.”
I can’t help myself when I scoot behind her, pretending to try to get by and whisper, “That sounds like the perfect night to me.”
Her eyes widen, and she whips her head toward me. I can’t help but smirk a little, loving how easy she is to rile up, loving whatever wall has been let down between us, taking my filters away.
I grab her hand and pull her to come with me.
“Come on, Tank,” I yell behind us.
All four of us make it up to the second-story balcony, and Tank and I start stripping off our clothes as the girls stand behind us, confused.
I see it the second it clicks in Simone’s head.
“No,” she says in disbelief. “Absolutely not! You’re not jumping from up here. Are you crazy?”
I grin because I can’t help it. She acts like she doesn’t know who she’s dealing with here. It’s cute.
Tank kicks off his shoes. “Relax, Mom.”
“I am not your mom,” Simone says, deadpanning at him.
“Could’ve fooled me.”
She steps forward, pointing between us. “You’re going to break something. Or die. Or both.”
I shrug, peeling my shirt off. “If I die, tell my brothers I love them, and I went out doing something pretty epic.”
I hear Tank laugh from the corner of the balcony where he’s taking his socks off at, leaning against the wall.
“Mason!”
Lani pinches the bridge of her nose. “I swear, if either of you ends up in the hospital—”
Tank hops up onto the railing, holding on to the wall and ignoring her. “YO, everybody watch this!”
“Get down!” Simone yells, pulling at my arm. “Mason, I’m serious. This is a terrible idea.”
I look at her. Her arms are crossed, and she looks both worried and annoyed at me. And for half a second, I almost listen and back down. Almost. But what fun would that be?
I just look back at her and grin. “You’re gonna be a little mad, pretty girl.”
“Try furious.”
Tank bends his knees. “On three?”
I hop up beside him.
“One,” I say.
“Two—”
“Wait!” Simone says.
Too late.
“Three!”
We jump at the same time as everyone outside starts yelling and cheering.
The air rushes past my ears, my stomach lifts into my throat, and the thrill of jumping from a second-story balcony, not caring if I actually land in the pool or on the concrete, is more euphoric than the taste of any top-shelf liquor.
Cold water slams into me, knocking the breath out of my lungs.
We come up laughing like idiots, hair slicked back, water dripping down our faces.
Tank throws his hands in the air as everyone around is still cheering.
I wipe water from my eyes and look up to the balcony, to Simone, who’s shaking her head, arms still crossed, and now fighting back a smile.
That smile hits me harder than the cold water ever could.
I wink at her before swimming to the edge of the pool to get out.
Reaching up, I plant my hands on the concrete, pulling myself out, and pain explodes in my palm.
“Fuck!” I jerk my hand back instinctively.
Tank catches up to me. “You good?”
I look down and see blood running down my arm. There’s a jagged piece of glass wedged near the edge where someone definitely smashed a bottle earlier and didn’t clean it up.
“Just stabbed myself with some glass,” I tell him like it’s no big deal.
I hold pressure to it, and I wade over to where the steps are to get out.
Simone is down and at my side by the time I make it to the sliding doors of the house.
“Let me see,” she insists.
I chuckle, enjoying seeing her care. “It’s okay. Just a little cut.”
She snatches my arm, making me wince at the pain.
“Just a little cut?” she asks, looking at the gash that probably needs stitches. “You need stitches.”
Told ya.
I shake my head as I smile at her. “I’m fine, Simone. I promise.”
She lets out a huff, knowing she won’t win here. “You’re such a stubborn ass.”
I look around, not seeing Lani or Tank anywhere nearby, then turn back and kiss Simone on the cheek. “You know me so well.”
She tries to show no affect as she pulls me into the house, and it makes me feral.
She finds an empty bedroom and a first aid kit in the cabinet of the en suite bathroom that barely has anything in it, then turns back, her focus narrowing completely on me. She steps close and lifts my arm.
It shouldn’t feel like this. I shouldn’t feel electricity every time she touches me. But I do.
She cleans the cut, brows pinched, tongue caught between her teeth in concentration as I just watch her.
She wraps it neatly, then presses the tape down with her thumb. “There,” she says softly. “Now try not to kill yourself tonight, please.”
I laugh. “No promises.”
She looks up at me, shaking her head. Then her eyes soften a bit.
It feels like something shifts the moment she’s out of her caretaking mode.
My breath stalls for a second, just taking her in.
She’s close enough that I can smell her—clean, warm, girly, and enticing in a way that makes every part of me light up.
“Thank you,” I whisper before pulling her onto my lap.
Her arms instantly find the back of my neck, but she quickly looks around, worried anyone will see, before realizing the bedroom door is closed. When she looks back at me, the heat in her eyes makes me hungrier for her than I’ve ever been before. I’ve never felt this intensely for anyone before.
Trust me, I’ve tried. I thought I was broken when it came to women, to pleasure, to…I can’t even say or think the word…but it’s there. Simone has single-handedly proven to me that I’m not actually broken; I just needed the right one to light my fire.
Neither of us moves at first. And I don’t know who leans in first. Maybe we both do.
Her lips meet mine, and the kiss feels consuming.
I kiss her without holding back. My hand slides to her waist, pulling her closer, and she makes this soft sound that goes straight through my core.
Her fingers curl into my shirt, making me feel like I’m drowning and being resuscitated all at the same time.
It’s not like any of the other kisses I’ve stolen from her. This one says more…please, more.
I’m actually glad I’m not wasted tonight. I want to remember the way this felt in the morning.