Total pages in book: 76
Estimated words: 73094 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 365(@200wpm)___ 292(@250wpm)___ 244(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 73094 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 365(@200wpm)___ 292(@250wpm)___ 244(@300wpm)
>>Jesse: I think I’d have to learn what it’s like to take care of a dog before I went for a goat.
>>Mason: We used to have a dog named Sniffy. He loved roaming around the ranch.
>>Jesse: You could definitely build up your own little menagerie.
>>Mason: That’s the dream.
It was the best part of my night, just sitting there texting Mason about anything and nothing.
Throughout the next ten days, we had plenty of little exchanges that always left me wanting more. Even classes and hockey practices felt more boring, knowing Mason wasn’t in the state right now. I couldn’t explain that, but I felt it.
I was getting a little frustrated with how much I was feeling, lately.
A day before he got back, I got bored and desperate. I was in my room, sitting at my desk chair and trying to study.
I leaned back in my chair and snapped a photo, then sent him the picture of my bulge underneath my pair of grey sweatpants.
>>Jesse: Want it?
Instead of a text reply, I was surprised when I got a phone call from him a minute later.
“So mad at you,” he said.
“Actually mad, or like, hard in your pants mad?”
I heard the wind blowing on his end of the call. “Like I just stepped out of the hotel to call you because… yes, I got a little hard and Mary doesn’t need to see that in the hotel room.”
I hummed, shifting the phone to my other ear. “Hell yes.”
“I’m ready to be home.”
“Well, I’m ready to see you again.”
I heard the wind blow again. “That’s part of what I wanted to talk about,” Mason said.
“Oh no,” I groaned, swiveling in my desk chair. “Why does that sound so ominous?”
He sighed. “Jesse, I still don’t have any answers for what we should… do.”
I hummed. “I say we start with a kiss. Then maybe I’ll grab your wrists, pin you up against a wall, and drop down to blow you—”
“Jesse, for God’s sake, quit making me hard. That’s not what I meant.”
I pulled in a breath, palming my own cock. “Fine. What’s up?”
“I don’t know what to do about…us. And all the reasons we shouldn’t be doing any of what we’re doing.”
I chewed on the inside of my cheek. “Well, I don’t really have any answers, either. Other than saying screw it, and taking whatever wrath my brother might give us.”
“Yeah. And potentially ruining the relationship you just re-forged with your brother?”
“Nah. That doesn’t sound very good to me, either.”
“So we don’t have answers,” Mason said. “But… I really did want to sleep over at your place that night.”
“I really wanted it, too.”
“And I would have done it, if—”
“I know, Mason. Really.”
Something felt uneasy in my stomach. I didn’t like this conversation, even if I knew it was practical.
When Mason got back, all I really wanted to do was spend about ten more days in bed with him, naked and uninterrupted.
I didn’t want to be responsible. Didn’t want to worry about what others might think. But I knew I wasn’t just a man on an island, and I sure as fuck didn’t want to risk Mason losing one of his deepest friendships, either.
I hated it all.
So instead, I steered the rest of our conversation to easy things.
More chats about animals. Silly questions about Mason’s favorite color, favorite foods, and his happiest memories.
We ended up talking for another hour, and with each passing minute I only felt myself falling for him even more, being pulled deeper into a question I didn’t have answers for.
15
MASON
Maisie rode like the wind. It was a cliche, but it had always been true. My dad had said it, I’d said it, and many of our riding clients over the years had told us the same thing.
It was true now. The afternoon sunlight brought out the rich red undertones in her mane as she pounded her way through the tree-lined path on the ranch. I felt each step, but Maisie still galloped like she was gliding over the terrain. Sunlight dappled through the gently shaking leaves shading the dirt path.
It was the time of day that’s best for napping—unless you’re restless as hell, and the next best thing is going outside. I’d gotten back home from Atlanta a couple of hours ago and I’d planned on taking a nap, but I couldn’t sleep.
Instead I sauntered outside around two o’clock, not planning to ride, but I’d wound up taking Maisie out around the long, looping path.
The air smelled like wildgrass and oak. Maisie’s steady clop-clop and the background cicadas were my soundtrack.
I’d been running, too.
Running from just about everything in my life, a whole lot less gracefully than Maisie.
“There, girl,” I said softly, barely guiding her on the path she knew so well. The sound of her even exhales and hooves was soothing, rocking, and I could tell she was as glad for the excursion as I was.