Page 11 of Hot Ice, Tennessee (Hard Spot Saloon #2)

11

MASON

“Mason, the caviar ,” Finn whispered to me, taking me aside in my kitchen. “Wow. How much did that cost?”

The low buzz of jazz music and conversation filled the air. There were so many people in my house that I could barely see from one side of the room to another, and the lights were down low, only adding to the loungey vibe.

“Don’t worry about the cost of anything,” I told him. “I inherited the money, and I already have everything I could want. I like to treat my friends.”

“It’s incredible,” Ori said, coming up beside Finn and giving him a kiss. “When you said we could use your house, I didn’t know it would be like this .”

“This is what Mason does,” Finn said, smiling at me. “He can somehow pull a party out of his ass at a moment’s notice.”

“My parties aren’t ever this classy though,” I said. “I bumped into a woman in a gown earlier and I was worried I would spill on it. She said it once belonged to Elizabeth Taylor.”

“No shot in hell that’s true,” Finn said.

Ori and Finn had stopped by my house a couple of days ago and casually mentioned that they needed a place to host a fancy art event. Ori’s line of work involved art museums and galleries, and he was hosting a charity auction for some of Tennessee’s wealthiest art collectors.

To be honest, I hadn’t even known that anyone in Tennessee collected fancy art. But if my friends needed a place to host a party, my house was always the first thing I’d offer. I’d ordered in a bunch of fancy foods, set up the music and lighting, and opened my doors to the crowd.

What I didn’t expect, though, was that I’d end up feeling completely fucking blueballed by all of the happy couples around me.

“It’s like everyone in here has an engagement ring fatter and shinier than the last,” I said, glimpsing a woman with a sparkly one on her finger. “That rock is basically the size of a tennis ball. Kill me.”

Ori laughed. “She was talking about it earlier. It’s lab-grown, you know.”

“Lab-grown or not, I know that shit is expensive. And I know I’ve got to get the hell out of here.”

“You sure?” Finn asked.

I nodded. I’d always planned on leaving the house to them for tonight, and I trusted Ori and Finn with my life. I’d dressed up nicely, wearing the only nice black button-up shirt I owned and making sure my hair was neat, in hopes of maybe catching the eye of any gay, rich art investors that might have been attending the party.

But the party had only been going for about an hour, and already, I felt like I was suffocating.

Truthfully, some of the men in here may have been gay and eligible, but the idea of trying to strike up a conversation right now made me want to hop in my truck and gun it across state lines at 80.

I didn’t want any of them.

I felt like I was broken, or something.

“Going to walk downtown,” I told them. “It’s a nice night. Maybe this time I won’t almost get struck by lightning.”

“Did that happen?”

“Last time I tried to walk home from there, let’s just say I was a few hundred feet away from being a piece of roadkill.”

Finn patted my back. “You’ll be good tonight.”

I made my way past a sea of gowns and tuxedos before I reached my front door. I swung it open, making my way out and onto my front driveway.

I breathed deep.

That’s better .

The air smelled sweet, like hay and far-off barbecue. The moment I was out and onto the road, I was glad I’d left. The night was perfect for a walk, finally cooling off after today had been another warm one.

The stars were out now. Better than any of the glittering diamonds that were currently populating my house. I walked along the edge of the sloping hill, sucking in air.

Swearing off sex one minute and then wound up like a spring the next. Couldn’t say it wasn’t my own fault.

Even last night at the Hard Spot, I’d tried to find someone I liked—and instead found myself wishing everyone was just a little bit… different.

Wishing a guy had tattoos.

Or that he was younger.

Or that he was… more like Jesse.

But apparently nobody could fucking scratch that itch.

Jesse was the only person my cock seemed to be interested in anymore, which was a real fucking pain in my ass.

When I made it to Laurel Ave about half an hour later, the night was bustling. People walked up and down the road like summer itself had invited everybody out tonight. I wanted to capture this feeling and put it in a bottle, like a firefly.

I needed something.

Like in my dreams, where I kept going and going, searching for something I didn’t know how to find.

I turned the corner on Second Street and saw the front lot of the Hard Spot, full of cars. A group had just walked in the front door and there was another figure there, someone leaning on the front brick exterior, his body cast in a low glow of light.

My heart did something funny as I saw the guy there.

Jesse .

I’d been doing that every day—thinking people around town were him for a split second, then realizing they weren’t.

But as I walked closer, my shoes crunching on a piece of loose asphalt in the lot, I realized that it was real, this time.

It actually was him.

Leaning on the wall out front with a goddamn lollipop in his mouth. Fuck , he looked so good it was almost unfair. How did I always seem to find him, even when I was trying my best to play it cool?

He caught sight of me as I slowly approached. He glanced up to give me a quick nod like I was just another person heading inside. When he met my eyes, though, he pulled the lollipop out of his mouth with a little pop , his gaze dancing down to my lips then back up again.

“There you are,” he said, his voice low.

I could tell he was a little drunk. His eyes were half-lidded, and his eyes were doing their full-on bedroom thing . He looked me up and down, taking in my whole outfit. I’d forgotten that I was dressed in fancy clothes, and Jesse’s eyes lingered on the top of my shirt where the buttons were undone.

I forced myself to feign normal conversation. “What are you doing out here?”

“Waiting for my cab home.”

I frowned. “You’re leaving already?

“Been here for a while.”

There was something behind his voice, like he was hiding some sort of secret and he had no plans of telling me about it. The way he was looking at me made me feel heated, and the breezy air wasn’t doing jack shit to cool me down anymore.

It was like I was suddenly playing chess against a grandmaster, and I had no clue what he was thinking, or what his next move might be. I felt like my nerves were suddenly plugged into a charged battery.

I nodded. “That’s a shame. I could have used your help tonight.”

He eyed me closely, pausing for a moment. “Thought that was a one-time thing.”

It took me a second to realize what he was referring to. “I don’t mean help with your mouth around my cock. I meant being a wingman for me.”

A wingman.

Because I’m totally trying to be with other people, I promise .

What a fuckin’ lie.

The sound of tires turning on the lot came from behind me and when I turned, I saw what must have been Jesse’s ride. His eyes were still locked on me when I turned back.

“Get in this cab with me instead.”

He was already off the wall, walking around to the other side of the car and getting in the back seat.

I turned and furrowed my brow, opening the other door and leaning over. “You’re drunk,” I told him as I poked my head into the back of the car.

He patted the seat next to him. “Tipsy. But I’d say it anyway. Get in.”

Two thoughts raced through my mind, all at once.

You can’t tell me what to do.

But also…

Yes, sir.

I slid into the back of the car onto the cool leather seat.

“Head over to Minton Ranch,” Jesse said to the driver, and I did a double take.

I held up a hand. “Ah, actually, we can’t,” I said. “Ori and Finn are having a party there. Trust me, you don’t want to be at my house tonight.”

“You’ve got a party at your house right now and you went to the bar?”

“It isn’t a Hot Mess kind of party, let’s just say that.”

I could see the hint of a smile at the corner of Jesse’s mouth. “Fine,” he said. “TNU campus. Frat row.”

My heart did a little twist in my chest.

No fucking shot Jesse was actually about to take me back to his frat house.

The moment the driver turned up his radio and pulled out onto the road, the taxi ride became a blur.

Jesse slid over next to me as the car started moving, the side of his leg pressing up against the side of mine. My heart was already racing. The back of his hand touched mine and then he laced his fingers through mine before I had a chance to overthink it.

Fuck, fuck, fuck .

The driver started talking to him about TNU hockey, and they talked at length about various games and players that I had no clue about.

As they spoke, Jesse’s hand remained in mine. In the moving shadows that the streetlights made from outside, I kept catching glimpses of his tattoos, the vines on his wrist pressed up against me.

I was getting hard, too, which was its own particular kind of torture. I reached down to rearrange my bulge and Jesse spotted it right away.

He reached down to give my cock a slow, tight squeeze with his hand.

When he moved his hand away I swore it took effort not to moan right here in front of the cab driver.

For the last three days I’d wanted nothing but this, and had spent all of my energy on trying to force myself to stop wanting it. But as I looked outside and watched as we pulled into the TNU campus, I knew I was too weak to deny Jesse anything. I couldn’t resist any longer, and every inch of my body felt like it was pulled toward him like he was the current of an ocean way bigger than me.

I was perilously close to having a full-blown crush on him, and there was no shot in hell that it wasn’t going to explode in my face at some point.

Jesse’s phone buzzed in his pocket. He was so close that I could feel the vibration on my own leg, and when he fished it out, I saw Kane’s name on the screen.

“Mind if I answer just for a moment? It’s my brother.”

“I don’t mind,” I said, and the cab driver didn’t give a damn.

“Hey,” he answered. “No. I went home. Of course I didn’t drive, I called for a ride. Mason’s with me. Yeah. Don’t know yet.”

I smacked his leg with the back of my hand when I heard him mention my name. He turned to me and I gave him a death glare, but he didn’t seem to give a damn. I could faintly hear Kane’s voice coming from the other end of the phone, but I had no idea what he was saying.

“I know,” Jesse said. “Yep. See you soon.”

He hung up and slid his phone away. I clenched my jaw, knowing that Kane was now well aware that I was with Jesse tonight.

“What was that about?”

“Kane’s fine. Don’t worry,” Jesse said before turning forward to the driver. “Just up here, on the left. You can pull into the curve.”

A few seconds later we pulled up to a big brick building that must have been his fraternity. We got out of the cab and before the car even pulled away, Jesse walked over toward me.

“Am I going to regret this?” I asked him.

“No.”

“Doubt that.”

He pushed his hair back, looking at me like he could see through my soul. “Have you regretted a single moment you’ve spent with me, so far?”

I swallowed. “No.”

He wrapped his arms around me, and his lips were on mine a moment later. He tasted like whiskey mixed with a strawberry lollipop, and I wanted to taste more of it.

The bump of bass came out from inside the frat house, and a faint peal of laughter came from one of the open upstairs windows.

Jesse’s tongue slid out against mine a moment later and I opened to him, surprised by how hungry his kiss was.

“Heard you were at the Hard Spot last night,” he said near my lips as he broke off from the kiss. One of his hands found its way to my hair, and he stroked the back of it as he looked down at me.

“I was,” I said. “I went there trying to find someone to fuck.”

I wasn’t going to hold back the truth.

His eyes flared for just a moment and I couldn’t help but enjoy seeing that reaction out of him.

“And how did that go?”

“Badly.”

“No one wanted to fuck?”

I shook my head. “Actually, it seemed like one guy did want to. But I didn’t want him.”

Jesse bit his lower lip. “Why not?”

“Because he wasn’t you ,” I growled, the truth finally slipping out of me. “If you’re trying to ruin me for other men this summer, congratulations.”

He hummed, apparently satisfied with that answer. “I don’t want to ruin you. I just like being with you. Is that wrong?”

“Yes.”

He puffed out a laugh. “Don’t be cute right now. I’m too drunk to resist it.”

“What are you even trying to resist? You’re the one who made me come home with you—”

“Didn’t make you. You could have told me to fuck off and waltzed inside the bar, but you didn’t, cowboy.”

My cock throbbed. “Maybe you’re right.”

“Can’t handle you when you’re cute,” Jesse continued, his forehead coming down to rest on mine. “Only known you for a little while and you make me… want things.”

I let out a breath. “I don’t think it’s a secret that you want to fuck, Jesse.”

He sucked his lower lip into his mouth, then let it go. “Well, maybe you make me want other things, too.”

His voice was uncharacteristically gentle when he said it. Almost sweet .

He was usually all hunger and heat and passion, but I swore I was almost getting the Jesse Sanocki version of romance, right now.

And that did something to my heart that I really, really couldn’t resist.

I sucked in air, tucking my fingers under the hem of his shirt and gripping against his waist, feeling the warmth of his skin.

“Why did you tell Kane you were with me?” I asked.

“Because it’s the truth.”

“You realize he would knock my teeth out if he thought I was hooking up with you?”

He let out a frustrated groan. “Who cares?”

I puffed out a nervous laugh, shifting on the gravel driveway. “Listen, I know you don’t care what your brother thinks. But I do. Kane thinks I’m a fuckboy, and I doubt he likes the idea of me ruining his younger brother.”

He smiled, his eyes glittering. “Little does he know I’m the one ruining you. ”

I moaned as he leaned in to catch my lips in another quick kiss. He let his fingertips trail down the open front of my shirt.

I broke off for a breath, gripping his waist again. “God, I cannot fucking resist you.”

“From what I’ve heard, you kind of are a fuckboy, by the way,” Jesse said. “Maybe he’s right. Maybe you have the power to break my heart.”

I glared at him, but his eyes were giving me that gentler, more vulnerable look again.

People say that alcohol shows you who a person really is.

Was drunk Jesse secretly a total sweetheart?

Beneath all the confidence and command, was he just as crushy as me?

“Well, that’s why he’d strangle me,” I said simply.

Jesse slid his hands off of me and turned, walking toward the front of the frat house. “He’s not going to. Your throat is mine. Now come here.”

I followed Jesse up the short brick steps into the frat house. I said a few silent prayers as we entered, knowing that I was playing with pure fucking fire showing my face here with him. I had no clue if any of his friends knew Kane, but that was up to fate, now.

I would have thought Jesse would try to sneak me in, but instead, he brought me right through the front door, taking my hand in his. The music got even louder as we entered, filling the whole house.

“Hey, Justin. Nate,” he said, giving two guys nods as we walked past a big front room where they were sitting watching TV. He led me further into the classic frat house, with plenty of dark wood, tall ceilings, and the strong scent of beer.

It wouldn’t matter if I was 93, 50, or a 31-year-old cowboy who still chugged liquor upside down sometimes—nothing made me realize how old I really was like walking into a frat house. There were backpacks in random corners of each room, red plastic cups on almost every surface, and more green and gold TNU memorabilia than I’d ever seen in one place.

The house was stately and kind of nice, though, and we passed another, much larger room, full of more couches, tables, and frat bros. Either they were having a small party or… maybe every single night was like this in here.

It was hard to even picture Jesse living here.

He was so… in his own zone, most of the time, and it seemed like he thrived on being alone. But you could barely look anywhere in this house without seeing more people.

One guy in particular eyed me and Jesse as we walked past, holding hands, before Jesse led me up the stairs. From the landing up top, I glimpsed a big kitchen downstairs where more guys were grouped around a center island with liquor bottles all across it.

We were still on the landing when Jesse turned to pin me up against the wall.

I let out a small gasp.

“You’re drunk,” I told him again.

“And?”

I hummed as he leaned in and kissed my neck, slow and hot. “And I don’t think you’d be doing this , right here , if you weren’t,” I whispered.

From here no one could see us, but anyone could come up the stairs at any moment and easily look up at us. Jesse slid his hand down to my bulge again, gripping my half-chubbed cock through the fabric and making me throb.

“Those guys probably all thought we were coming up here to fuck,” I said in a low tone.

“Then we better not disappoint them,” Jesse murmured.

I wanted to laugh and scream all at once. “Just hoping you won’t regret it.”

He hummed and dragged his lips across my jaw. “I spent the last two years keeping a secret for another guy. I’m never going to be ashamed of what I want. Not like he was. If the guys think I brought you up here to fuck you, then good .”

A slow heat rippled through my body.

Maybe just a little bit of pride.

Jesse’s hands reached around to my ass and he squeezed it hard as he kissed my neck.

“How do you feel so good?” I uttered, leaning my head back.

“I know you’re trying to break your no-sex summer,” he said, moving up close to my ear. “But I still think you should keep doing it.”

“What?” I protested, my voice almost coming out in a whine.

He leaned back, looking at me with the hint of a smile. “You have a problem with that?”

“Yes.”

“I know you better now,” Jesse said. “And I know you deserve better than just any guy at the Hard Spot. Like I told you before—you’ll enjoy breaking your streak more if you really make yourself want it.”

“Trust me,” I said, “I want it.”

He leaned in and took my lower lip between his teeth. I felt his hand come up and land around my neck, and he didn’t put any pressure on it, instead just cradling my throat in the warmth of his palm.

I was harder than a diamond now and I bucked my hips forward, rutting up against his leg.

“You sure you won’t regret it?”

His lips were close to my ear, and his voice had dipped into that commanding growl again.

“You know the reasons why we shouldn’t,” I said. “I think you’ve just forgotten that you could have anyone you wanted.”

His expression went serious for a moment. The green of his eyes seemed to darken, and he held my gaze.

“If I can have anyone, then I want you, naked, under me in my bed with my cock deep inside you as you beg me to let you come.”

He pulled off of me in an instant. He let his words hang there like a challenge, and he walked away, leaving me in the hallway, hard and desperate and waiting. He disappeared through a doorway and I stayed there with my back against the wall, breathing deep.

I told myself how easy it would be to just walk down the stairs and leave, to resist the tug , to ignore all the stupid things my heart wanted me to do.

But I knew I wasn’t going to.