The Sweet Addiction Series Collection: Sweet Addiction, Sweet Possession & Sweet Obsession (100 page)

I stare at him as something warm bursts open in my chest, spreading from my neck to my navel. My shoulders sag. I chew nervously on the inside of my cheek.

He keeps them because he’s proud of me?

How can someone be so straight-up filthy one minute and this sweet the next? He’s like this beautiful balance of dark and light, dirty and decent, and he seems to know
exactly
when to be one and when to give me the other.

Keeping one cupcake because I make it is surprising enough. He keeps them all.

Every single one.

Mason watches my reaction, and what does he do? He waits. He waits while I absorb what he’s just disclosed. This completely insane, yet incredibly affectionate gesture. He doesn’t say anything else. He doesn’t move closer and kiss my cheek, or tell me I look pretty while I struggle to comprehend this.

He just simply waits, and it’s so him, and so what I need him to do right now.

I lower my gaze to his arms, the same arms that just had me pinned roughly to that hard body without giving me much of a choice about it.

Funny. Now I’m tempted to willingly throw myself into them.

I don’t fight it.

“God, Mason.” I reach for his shirt and pull us together. My head hits his chest. I barely move but my heart is pounding. “What are you doing?” I whisper, allowing my eyes to close.

He wraps his strong arms around my body, squeezing me. “I don’t know. I couldn’t throw them out.”

I smile against the soft cotton.

We stand there for several minutes. My head never moves. His arms never leave me. It’s soothing, the constant pressure of his hold, and somehow it feels strangely familiar. Like he’s held me like this for years. Like I’ve known him my entire life, and in the moments when I’ve needed someone to be with me like this, it’s always been him.

No one else.

Sighing, I snuggle the tiniest bit closer, clutching my water bottle between us. “You’re crazy.”

“Yeah.”

“Promise me you’ll toss them when they start to grow mold.”

“All right.”

I crane my neck and kiss his jaw. “Now, take me camping before I realize I’m just as crazy as you are.”

He smiles, kissing my temple. Tipping up my chin to steal my mouth.

Or maybe I just give it to him.


This
is where we’re camping? Really?” I unbuckle my seat belt and lean forward, looking out the window at our surroundings.

Dirt covered parking lot. One single lamp post lighting the area.

I turn to Mason, smiling. “You fingered me here.”

With a sly grin, he winks at me before exiting the car.

Mm. Ready to build on that stellar experience, Mr. King?

I take a sip of my water and meet him around the back to help unload.

Mason insists on carrying the bulk of our stuff as he leads the way down a small narrow path toward the campsites. I follow behind, clutching the sleeping bag against my chest. Tall trees surround us. I can barely see the darkening sky through the branches.

I move closer until I’m practically climbing onto his back.

He talks the entire time, as if he can sense my apprehension behind him. He talks about camping with his dad back in Australia. How his sisters never had any interest in going until his friends started tagging along. He tells me he came by here the other day to stake out the grounds for our weekend. There’s a lake, and a few hiking trails he thinks I’ll enjoy checking out. He smiles over his shoulder when I let out a doubtful chuckle, which I play up. I like lakes. I might like hiking.

It’s as if the fresh air is drugging me.

When we reach a large clearing in the woods, I watch Mason set everything down by two logs. Tent. Cooler. My bag and his. He kicks some rocks and branches out of the way and immediately goes about setting up the tent.

I drop the sleeping bag and look around.

It’s a wide-open space, room enough for at least a handful of other tents, but we’re alone. There’s a fire pit contained by an ill-defined rock formation. It resembles somewhat of a circle. The wood in the center looks recently burned. A metal grill that seems to be a courtesy for campers to use is located next to a large rectangular picnic table.

Nice. At least we won’t have to eat with our asses in the dirt.

Stepping to the edge of the clearing, I stand on my toes and peer through a break in the trees.

“Hey. We’re right by the lake,” I tell Mason, looking over my shoulder. “Did you know that?”

Literally, right by it. It can’t be more than fifty feet away.

His smiling face appears from around the back of the tent. “Yeah. That’s one of the reasons why I picked this campsite. The other two are pretty secluded and nowhere near the toilets. Figured you’d do better out here if I kept us in walking distance of those.”

“Good thinking. I’d hate you for life if you told me I had to go pee in a bucket or something.”

His chuckle is broken up by the sound of my ringtone. I pull my phone out of my back pocket and look at the screen.

“Hey, Juls,” I answer, watching Mason disappear again behind the tent.

“Hey, stranger. I feel like I haven’t talked to you in forever. Where are you?”

“Camping.”

My nephew Jacob yells something in the background. I hear Ian’s voice, then the sound of a door closing. “Say that again? It sounded like you said camping.” She laughs. “Jesus. Can you imagine? You? Camping? I think there’s a better chance of Ian carrying our next child.”

I roll my eyes. “I did say camping. And Ian probably
could
carry a baby if he wanted to. He’s hormonal as shit.”

“What?”

“I said he’s hormonal . . .”

“Not that,” she brusquely cuts me off. “You’re camping right now? With who?”

Mason moves on to the next post, securing it down with a spike. I spin around and face the trees.

“Mason,” I murmur, playing with the hem of my shirt.

Juls inhales a sharp breath. “Oh, really? The hot Australian from the bar,” she states, her voice lifting with her obvious approval of this development. “Mm. He was really nice. Are you still seeing him? I figured that would be done by now.”

I move as far away from the tent as I can get without stepping into the woods. I lower my voice to a stern whisper. “I’m not seeing him like
that
. We’re just hanging out, okay? It’s not a big deal.”

“Just hanging out doing what, Brooke? Dating? Being in a relationship?”

“Shut up,” I snap. “And stop grinning like an idiot. I can totally hear it in your voice.”

“Look at you,” she laughs. “First sign of being in love is denial. Welcome to the club, sis.”

“Oh, my God,” I groan, rubbing my forehead. “I’m hanging up.”

“Wait! Are we still on for dinner next week?”

“Yes.”

“Okay, good. Jake and Izzy miss their favorite aunt. You need to come over more.”

“Fine. I gotta go.”

My shoulders ache with tension. Why did I even answer this call? Juls is always giving me grief.

“All right. But Brooke? Just remember . . .”

There is a long pause. I drum my fingers on my jeans and sigh exhaustively. Her breathy laugh pushes through the line.

“You’re my sister. I love you, and I will totally give you a discount when it’s time to plan the wedding. Don’t think . . .”

I disconnect the call and power off my phone.

God, she is completely insane. How are we even related?

Stepping over a log, I drop the phone onto my bag. I begin to pace in front of our gear, kicking up dirt and cracking my knuckles. I try and sit down on the cooler, but my ass barely touches it before I’m springing to my feet again.

I should’ve let that call go to voicemail. Now I’m restless and ready to chew my nails off.

I risk a glance at Mason. He’s staring at me like I’m in the middle of a psychotic break.

Talking. Talking might settle me. I can talk. I’m fucking awesome at talking.

“So, possible showers tomorrow night. Did you see? Like a ten percent chance. Not much, but still.”

He positions a stake in the ground. “I think it’ll hold off.”

“It was fifteen percent earlier, then they dropped it to ten.”

“Yeah.”

“If I got naked right now and jumped into the lake, what would you do?”

I look over to where Mason is crouched down beside the tent. His hammer is suspended in the air.

He looks startled. Confused maybe? I can elaborate.

“I mean, obviously, you’d look. Who wouldn’t? But would you take off your clothes and follow after me? Or would you continue pitching that tent
and
the one in your shorts?”

“Are you planning on getting naked and jumping into the lake?” he asks, lowering the hammer and resting his elbow on his knee.

I shrug, kicking a rock out of the way. “Maybe. I don’t know. I’ve never been skinny dipping before. Shocking, right? You would think
I’ve
done that, but no.” A nervous laugh bubbles in my throat. “I’m just wondering what you would do if I did it.”

“Probably follow you.”

“Would you get in?”

He hits the spike once, then looks back up at me. When he tries to answer, I cut him off.

“Have you ever done that before? Gone skinny dipping?”

“No.”

“Yeah, me either.” I step over the log and continue my pacing. “Mm. We’re both virgin skinny dippers. That’s cute.”

He hits the spike a few more times. The branches under my feet snap.

“How old were you when you lost your virginity?” I ask, chewing on my thumb nail.

“Brooke.” Mason catches my gaze and studies it. He slowly rises to his feet. “Are you okay?”

I stop behind the log.

Am I? Fuck. He’s looking at me like I’m definitely
not
okay. Like I’m some wild animal he’s just encountered out here and he’s trying his hardest not to startle me.

I exhale a quick breath. My hand falls away. “I’m fine,” I tell him, stepping over the log again. “Just killing time while you . . .” I pause, looking up at the large red and gray
house
Mason has pitched. “Oh, you’re finished. Nice.”

Holy fuck. This thing is enormous! Not at all what I pictured in my head when he suggested we do this.

Two-man tent. Close quarters. Little room for space between our sweaty naked bodies.

Mm. Maybe I can unpack and spread my clothes out on one side. That should help force the two of us together. This portable condominium is large enough to contain Joey
and
his personality. Not many things are.

Mason drops the small hammer by our bags and comes to stand next to me. His hand circles my back. “Are you cold?” he asks when a shiver chases up my spine. “I can build a fire.”

I look from the tent to our surroundings again, my arms hugging my body. Mysterious noises rustle the branches of the trees. Crickets sing into the night. It’ll be fully dark soon.

A knot forms in my stomach.

From being out here? From my conversation with Juls? I can’t seem to tell.

“Maybe we can just stay in tonight?” I softly suggest, turning back to Mason.

He cocks his head, trying to understand. I’m sure he thinks I mean stay in tonight, in the car.

I might. Give me an hour.

“We have all day tomorrow to be out in this . . . stuff. You know?” I gesture around us, then at the tent. “Honestly, I’m feeling a little anxious, if you didn’t notice. This is a lot for me, Mason. Being out here. Roughing it. Could we just stay in the tent the rest of the night? Would that be horrible?”

A gentle smile lifts the corner of his mouth. “You, all to myself in a tent? Nothing horrible about that.” He tugs on my pony. “You want a fire or no?”

I shake my head, spinning around to open my bag. “No. I’m really not that cold. Can we walk to the bathrooms though? I want to brush my teeth and stuff.”

“Yeah, sure.”

He grabs his toothbrush and a flashlight, leading me down another path after he stores our things inside the tent.

I’m one extremely happy girl when it takes us no more than a minute to get to the bath houses. I can easily find this on my own.

We separate and wash up. I scrub my face clean and fix my hair into a sleeker pony.

When we get back to the campsite, it’s nearly dark. Mason unzips the flap on the tent and holds it open for me to climb inside.

I toe my shoes off and step in.

“Wow. Swanky,” I say, admiring the large dome ceiling and mesh windows. He’s left them partially unzipped, allowing for a cool breeze and the moonlight to cut through.

Mason smiles as he ducks to enter and closes us inside. He sets the flashlight down and turns on a lantern, sitting it on top of the cooler. Soft light fills the tent. He kneels and unrolls the sleeping bag in the center of the space.

“Room for two,” he murmurs, shooting me a heated look.

Yes, please.

Leaving it zipped up, he stretches out on his back and pats the spot next to him.

I wet my lips and lower to my knees, crawling closer. I let my head fall beside his. “So, I’ve been meaning to ask you something.”

“What’s that?”

“What made you leave Australia three years ago? Was it like a yoga thing? Were you wanting to study it here?”

Other books

Ortona by Mark Zuehlke
Iron House by Hart, John
Lust by Elfriede Jelinek
Red Ink by Julie Mayhew
Forty Acres: A Thriller by Dwayne Alexander Smith
Sink or Swim by Sarah Mlynowski


readsbookonline.com Copyright 2016 - 2024