by Meghan Quinn
Mason gently put down his beer and looked up at Piper. There was no anger in his eyes, more like amusement.
“I didn’t pay you to go down there. What’s that say about you?”
“That I will take one for the team when it comes to revenge.”
“By how hard your nipples were that night,” he nodded at her chest, “and the way they’re hard now, makes me think differently.” He took a sip of his beer, while he grinned like a fool. Damn her treacherous body. She couldn’t help the way her damn nipples reacted to him.
Ryker chimed in before she could respond. She almost forgot that Ryker was listening in on their little spat. It was as if Mason trapped her in his own little world; she found it a little bothersome.
“So, did I hear right from your gorgeous friend over there, you are currently off the market?”
Off the market? What was Ryker talking about?
Guilt washed over her when Jax finally popped in her mind. How could she forget about sweet, kindhearted, adorable Jax? She was a terrible person. Earlier, in the kitchen she was day dreaming about Jax and the date they have planned, but then Mason reappeared and all thoughts of the southern gentleman escaped her mind.
“Yes, I’m seeing someone right now.”
“Is he aware that behind that body of yours lives the devil himself?” Mason asked, while chewing on a buffalo wing.
Piper leaned over so her shirt fell open, giving Mason a good shot of her cleavage. “I knew you couldn’t stop thinking about my body.”
Mason stared down her shirt for what seemed like a minute and then looked back up at her. “I won’t lie, you’re fucking hot, but you are Satan’s spawn.”
She got back up and leaned on her hip. “Interesting, you didn’t seem to think that when you were running your hands up my naked body, making out with me and moaning in my mouth.”
Thinking about that night again made Piper’s body heat up. After she ditched him, leaving him naked by the ocean, she regretted her decision while lying in bed…alone. She’d had many sleepless nights thinking about how it would feel to have Mason completely wrapped around her, making her toes curl even farther then he did with just his touch. She even had X-rated images of what he did to her with his cock.
Ugh, the vision of him standing bare for the world to see, cock sprung like a firecracker, made her mouth water. He was most definitely a well-endowed man and she so desperately wanted to see what he could do with it that night. But her stubborn personality kicked in and sought revenge. Even though revenge was nice, she was now regretting it. If she’d had him for one night, she most likely wouldn’t currently have sexual feelings for him.
She kept telling herself to think about Jax and how sweet he is. Jax was the man for her and her new life in Denver.
Ryker held up his hand to stop Mason from answering. He had a mouthful of buffalo chicken, but spoke anyway. “Jesus, can you two please stop bickering or just go fuck in the back room and get it over with? I’m trying to enjoy my beer here. Besides, Piper, you need to get the hell out of here so I can hit on Hannah.”
Piper laughed. “Hannah? She’s not your type.”
Ryker looked sincerely offended. “What does that mean?”
“It means she’s a good girl. She’s not one to jump into bed with a guy and not be bothered that he never calls her back. Face it Ryker, you’re a player and she is the marrying type. Leave her alone.” Piper pointed her finger at Ryker in warning. “Now, unless you Neanderthals need anything else, I’m going to go help the other paying customers.”
Piper walked away without hearing if they needed anything else. She didn’t care if they did. She needed to get away from Mason and his ego. It was suffocating.
Piper saw Hannah nod at her, silently asking if she was okay. Piper nodded back and went to go help the other customers, wiping away all thoughts of Mason.
Many hours, beers served and drunks shoved out the door later, Piper sat next to Hannah counting out their tips and ringing up the last of the customer receipts. Luckily, Piper did not have to deal with Ryker and Mason for the rest of the night. Hannah took one for the team and waited on the two arrogant men. Piper even noticed Hannah smiled and talked to Ryker a little more than she had to. Piper really hoped that Hannah didn’t fall for his playboy moves.
“Oh, I forgot, here is your half of the tip from the boys.”
The boys? Oh no. “Don’t call them that.”
“What? They were actually really nice and funny. You know, Mason could not stop staring at you.”
Piper snapped her head up from going through receipts. “That’s not true. He despises me.”
Hannah shook her head and smiled. Her light blue eyes shined with amusement. “Oh no, he has it bad for you. He even asked about Jax.”
Piper sat up a little more. “About Jax? Really? What did he say?”
“He casually asked who the ‘poor soul’ was who you dug your fangs into,” Hannah said, while making air quotes. “But when I started describing what a dreamboat Jax is, he got all huffy and started playing with his phone. He’s crushing on you big time.”
Piper snorted. “What is this? Grade school?”
Hannah shrugged. “I highly doubt he would ever admit it, though. He is kind of an ass. There is no way he would show his true feelings about you.”
“Yeah, I know he’s an ass. That’s not news to me. It’s one of the reasons I stay far away from him. I don’t need another alpha male in my life. He is a control freak and you can tell. I don’t need to get wrapped up in that.”
“I agree.” Hannah pushed a bill toward Piper. “Here, he left us each a hundred as a tip.”
Piper thought her eyebrows shot off her forehead in shock. “He left us EACH a hundred dollar bill? I mean, I know he can afford it, but why would he do that?”
“I don’t want to say.”
“Hannah…”
“Fine, he said to give this to you so you could get your eyebrows waxed. He said they were looking like two Tom Sellecks were trying to mate in the middle of your forehead.”
“Tom Sellecks?”
Hannah sighed. “Mustaches.”
Piper ground her teeth together. She wanted to wring his neck. “What a cocky, arrogant dick-eater. God, I don’t know what I did to him, but I can’t fucking stand that man. He gets on my last nerve.”
Hannah warned Piper about her language, but Piper didn’t care. There was no way she could talk about Mason without swearing. Just to reassure herself that she made the right decision in men, she sent a text to Jax.
Piper: Just ended my shift. I know it’s late, but I wanted to tell you how excited I am for our date.
She was packed up and ready to start making the walk home when she got a text message back.
Jax: Me too, beautiful. Sweet dreams tonight.
Piper let out a long breath she didn’t know she was holding in. Jax was just what she needed. Instead of focusing on how much she despised Mason Dashel, she thought about what a great new beginning she was starting with Jax as she walked down the street toward her little loft apartment.
***
Hannah was incredibly tired from her shift at the bar. Mason and Ryker had her coming to their table any time they got her attention and, since Piper refused to serve them, Hannah had to deal with them. At least they tipped her well. They never really wanted anything, they only had three beers each, but they always called her over to settle a dispute or to ask questions about the bar…or Piper.
Mason was infatuated with Piper, Hannah could tell. She couldn’t blame the man, Piper was beautiful. Hannah had always felt inferior to her. It was hard not to when your best friend was tall, with long legs, vibrant hair and soul-piercing eyes. Any guy who saw her instantly wanted her number, but the greatest thing about Piper was she didn’t flaunt her beauty. She was very subtle about how she presented herself and had the sweetest personality, but was sassy at the same time. That was why Hannah and Piper got along so well. Piper was the y
ing to Hannah’s yang. They made a great duo.
Hannah dug through her purse for her keys to open her apartment when she felt the napkin Ryker wrote his number on. Even though he knew Hannah was taken, he didn’t stop flirting with her. It was flattering, but she knew Ryker wanted one thing and one thing only and she wasn’t the girl to give him that. Good Lord, was he attractive, though. Mason was bulkier than Ryker, but Ryker was toned; she could tell by the way his button-up shirt spanned across his muscular chest. He wore a very tailored shirt, so it left nothing to her imagination.
If she wasn’t in love with Todd and, hopefully, months away from getting engaged, then she would have possibly given Ryker a chance, but it would have been a date, not some late night booty call. That was not how she did things. It took her a few weeks before she slept with Todd and now she wished she hadn’t waited that long because, if she knew he was going to be gone as much as he was, then she would have soaked up as much sex as possible. Todd was the only guy she’d ever had sex with and he was good, or at least what she knew was good. He always liked how he was the only one who had been inside of her; she was proud of the fact too, especially since she knew she was going to marry him one day. Maybe when they had children, one day, he would slow down and spend more time with her and their family, rather than traveling for his job.
Hannah let herself in her apartment and let out an exhausted breath. Kicking off her shoes in the hallway, she deposited her purse and made her way toward the kitchen for a little late night snack. She was just about to grab a banana from her fruit basket when she saw a shadow move across her wall. She turned around quickly, holding her banana out in defense when she saw Todd approaching her.
Her hands flew to her chest as her heart beat wildly. “Oh my God! Todd you scared me half to death.”
A slight smile tugged at his lips as he came toward her. “I’m sorry sweetheart. I didn’t mean to scare you. I was just leaving the bathroom when you came in, so I didn’t hear you come through the door or else I would have said hi.”
Hannah was still catching her breath when Todd came toward her. He pulled her into his warm embrace, where she took in the rich smell of his cologne. She kept a bottle of his cologne on her dresser and would occasionally spray it when he was gone. It was the little things that helped her through the lonely nights of him being gone.
She looked up at him and was finally able to smile. “I missed you.” She kissed his chin.
“I missed you, too.” He pulled her to the couch where he sat down and pulled her on top of his lap. “Why do you have to work such long hours? I told you, you don’t have to work at all. I’ll support you.”
He was always trying to convince her to quit her job. He gave her a credit card to use, but she just felt weird charging things to his name, especially since they weren’t married, let alone engaged. Maybe once he popped the question, she’d think about quitting her job, but right now she was happy, even though she was exhausted when she got home.
“I like my job and I have a lot of fun with Piper.”
“Piper, she’s the redhead right?”
“Yeah, the gorgeous redhead with long legs and beautiful eyes.”
Todd tilted her head so she was looking him in the eyes. “Not as beautiful as you.” Hannah melted into him from the sincerity in his voice. He really thought she was more beautiful than Piper, which was surprising.
“Why didn’t you tell me you were coming home?”
“I wanted to surprise you,” he said with a smile and then got up. Hannah watched as he went over to his briefcase and grabbed a small box from it. Hannah’s heart stopped beating and she felt her throat constrict. She could not believe he was finally going to propose. Hannah sat up straight and tried to fluff her hair a little bit, just so she could look semi-presentable on her engagement night. The first person she would call was going to be Piper. She would never believe Todd proposed.
Todd sat back down on the couch and held out a small velvet box. “Here, open it.”
Hannah took the box in shaky hands and held her breath as she opened the tiny box. Diamonds beamed up at her from the black velvet background, but it wasn’t the diamonds she was expecting. Instead of them being on a single solitaire, they were separated into two stud earrings. Hannah quickly masked her disappointment and put on a happy face, even though she was crushed inside.
“Todd, they’re beautiful. You shouldn’t have.”
Todd grabbed the box and took them out. He pushed her hair behind her ear and placed each earring into place.
“Yes, I should have. We’ve been dating for almost two years now and you’ve put up with a lot of my traveling. I wanted to get you something special.”
Hannah touched her ears and held back the tears of being disappointed once more. She shouldn’t be such a brat; the man just gave her huge diamond earring studs, but she would give them up if that meant she got to spend the rest of her life with Todd. All she wanted to be was his wife and start a family with him, but that dream would just have to wait a little bit longer.
She placed a very soft kiss on his lips, while cupping his face. “They are lovely. Thank you.”
She started to pull away, when he grabbed her face with his hands and looked deep into her eyes. “Sweetheart, what’s wrong? Why are you going to cry?”
He knew her too well. She shook her head as if nothing was wrong, but he wasn’t buying it, which only caused her to let the tears fall that had built up. If she felt like she was going to cry and everyone around her was normal, then she was able to push back the tears, but the instant someone asked her what was wrong, she lost all ability to cork up the waterworks.
“It’s so stupid.”
He stroked her face with his hand and pulled her into his chest. “Nothing is stupid when it comes to you. Please tell me what I did to upset you.”
Hannah didn’t want to have this conversation, especially since Todd just got back from a work trip, but he was not going to let her tears go, so she might as well get it over with.
She blew out a long breath and gathered her courage. “I thought you were going to propose.”
Hannah felt Todd stiffen and she knew she should have kept her foolish thoughts to herself, but she had never lied to Todd and she didn’t want to start tonight. Instead of waiting for him to say something, she chimed in, “Never mind. Forget I said anything. I had a long night.” She started to get up when he stopped her.
She didn’t move as Todd ran his hand over his face. “Hannah, we’ve talked about this,” he said in an irritated voice.
“I know,” she interjected.
“Then why does this keep coming up?”
“Because I love you and want to spend the rest of my life with you and start a family with you,” Hannah said on a choked sob.
Todd brought her into his chest again and she cried while he rubbed her back. “Sweetheart, I love you too. You know that, right?” Hannah nodded into his chest while sniffing. “I’m just not ready yet. I want to be more financially stable when we get married.”
Hannah could understand that, but Todd was five years older than she was; he had a great job and had more than enough money in the bank. She saw his bank statement once and almost choked on the cookie she was shoving down her face at what he had saved up.
“You know money doesn’t matter to me.”
“It matters to me,” Todd said in a clipped tone, but then eased the tension in his body while kissing the top of her head. “I just want to be able to fully provide for you and be there for you and I can’t do that while I’m still traveling. Alright? Once I become more stable with my job, then we can talk about it. How does that sound?”
Hannah nodded, but still felt disappointed. She didn’t want to “talk” about getting married. She wanted Todd to want to throw caution to the wind, sweep her off her feet and whisk her to The Little White Wedding Chapel in Las Vegas to have a very Elvis wedding. She wanted him to be a little spontaneous and reckless for once, but
she could want all she wanted, it wasn’t going to change anything. Todd was always going to be cautious and methodical. Whisking her away somewhere to start their lives would never be in the picture for her.
***
Mason was drying off from his shower when his cell phone started ringing. Mason knew exactly who it was; he didn’t even have to look at the caller ID. Jake called once a week, same time, same day. Jake always said he wanted to catch up and see how the season was going, but Mason really knew what was going on. Jake was making sure Mason was doing alright. Jake had started calling once he found out Brooke tore his heart out and stomped on it.
Mason answered his phone. “Hey, man.”
“Mason, how’s the most hung man I know doing?”
Mason laughed. “Uh oh, you’re trying to butter me up. What bad news do you have to deliver to me? Don’t tell me you’re taking Ryker back.”
“Ha, I wish,” Jake said, with a little bit of remorse in his voice. “How’s he doing out there? Adjusting to the altitude?”
Mason thought about how well Ryker meshed with the team. The guy was outgoing, that was for sure. He didn’t really care about what people thought about him and he did his own thing. He was practically best friends with every guy on the team and had women crawling toward him, except for one, which made Mason laugh. Hannah was a smart girl for staying away from Ryker.
“He’s adjusting, just as you’d think he would.”
“Ah, so he’s banging every chick in sight and has the men feeding off his every word?”
“Pretty much, except for the chick part.”
“What? Ryker doesn’t have girls flocking around him? That’s hard to believe.”
Mason chuckled. “Well, they’re flocking alright, except for one specific girl that has his panties in a bunch. You should have seen him, man. We were at a bar the other night and Ryker takes one look at the waitress and loses his mind. Starts saying how he is going to marry her one day. He was practically begging her to go out with him by the end of the night.”
