I was so damn excited about going on a ride with Mason that there was no chance in hell that I was going to be able to hide it.

Nothing else mattered today.

It didn’t matter that I woke up in his bed, fully dressed under his blankets.

It didn’t matter that he had breakfast cooked when I walked into the kitchen, and it didn’t matter that I couldn’t keep my eyes off of him while he held out a piece of bacon for me.

It definitely didn’t affect me when he took that thumb that had just touched my lip and slipped it into his own mouth before sucking off the traces of bacon.

Nope. Definitely not.

He had grinned when I left his house to go get ready. He had instructed me to make sure I wore jeans and sensible shoes, and I rolled my eyes as I saluted him.

But God, I was excited.

The rumble of his motorcycle echoed through my apartment, and I ran out to the parking lot with my small black backpack strapped across my back.

“It’s not really fair.” I pulled up to a stop next to him and ran my fingers underneath my backpack straps.

“What isn’t?” He had a pair of aviators covering his eyes, and even though he looked insanely hot in them, I didn’t like that I couldn’t see his eyes.

“How hot you look on a motorcycle.”

“Oh yeah?” His smirk was so deep that I swore I could see a dimple popping out under the beard he hadn’t shaved in several days.

“Yeah. Is it your ploy to pick up ladies?” I cocked my hip as I slid my sunglasses over my eyes.

“Is it working?” He wagged his eyebrows, and I couldn’t help but laugh.

“Totally.” I swung my leg over his bike and settled in behind him. He curled his hand around the back of my knee and jerked my body forward, pulling me closer to him. The heat of his body radiated through my clothing, and I took a deep breath to steady my thundering heart.

His motorcycle rumbled to a start, the rumble drowning out every other sound, and I smiled as he hit the throttle and pulled out onto the road.

My long braid whipped around me, the stray hairs sticking to my face and neck, and I leaned my head back and let the wind envelop me.

I had been on the back of a bike over a hundred times with my father, and I missed this feeling. The wind. The freedom.

But this was different.

Being on the back of Mason’s was different in so many ways.

I felt safe with him, completely safe, but I also felt wild. Like anything could happen at any moment. But I typically felt that way with Mason regardless if I was on the back of his bike. There was just something about him that was unpredictable even though he was so sure.

I’d be lying if I said riding on the back of his bike didn’t feed into every motorcycle club romance novel fantasy I had ever had. Because it did.

Every scene I had ever read was running through my head. The club, the motorcycle rides, the sex.

God, the sex.

But I was not supposed to be thinking about sex when it came to Mason.

Friends, friends, friends.

I chanted it in my head, but then the vibrations of the motorcycle and hardness of his body that fit perfectly between my legs cut through and all I could think about was sex, sex, sex.

I pressed my forehead against his back. He just needed to do something that would throw me off my game. Something that would seal him into the friend-zone. It really shouldn’t be that hard. Parker and Brandon hit the friend-zone before I even thought about it. No effort.

Mason’s hand settled on my thigh and his fingers pressed into me through my jeans, and all thoughts of friendship blew past me carried off by the rough wind.

We rode for over an hour, my body pressed against his for a full damn hour, and when we finally pulled to a stop outside an old bar-b-que restaurant, I could barely feel my legs.

Mason swung off the bike before gripping my hips in his hands and helping do the same.

“You been riding a lot before?” He unhooked my helmet and pulled it from my head. I was sure my hair was a wild ass mess, but at the moment, I didn’t care. “You’re a natural back there.”

“Yeah.” I took the helmet from his hands and strapped it to the back of his bike. “My dad had one practically my whole life.”

He nodded his head and I could see a trace of relief in his eyes as if he knew I was going to say I used to ride with an ex.

I had been on the back of other bikes, but not with anyone who mattered.

“I hope you’re hungry. This place has the best bar-b-que around.”

“I’m starving.” I followed him toward the restaurant, and he put his arm around my shoulders as we walked side-by-side.

We were sat as soon as we walked into the tiny restaurant, and I looked around at the red and white checkered tablecloths. The servers wore cowgirl boots and red plaid shirts, and I rolled my eyes when the server who came to our table accompanied her outfit with a pair of daisy dukes that were far too short to be serving food.

“Hi. I’m Brandi. I’m going to be your server today. Can I get you started with something to drink?” She had her eyes directly on Mason, not even acknowledging that I was there, and I could feel my claws coming out.

“I’ll take sweet tea.” Mason finally looked up at the server, but he only shot her a small glance before he turned to me.

“Sweet tea for me as well.”

“I’ll have them right out to you.” Brandi stuck her pad of paper back into her apron that hung lower than her shorts and walked away after sparing another longing glance in Mason’s direction.

I couldn’t blame her.

He looked incredibly hot in a black t-shirt and jeans. His skin was tan, his aviators were resting on the top of his head, and his slight beard was begging me to grip it in my hands as I devoured his lips.

But I still didn’t like her.

And I sure as hell didn’t like her eye fucking my… my friend.

I unwrapped my silverware and put my napkin in my lap.

“What’s wrong?” Mason smirked.

“Nothing’s wrong.” I pushed my hair out of my face and suddenly I felt self-conscious. I never felt self-conscious. Not over my looks. Not for a man.

It was something that I had promised myself a long time ago. I wouldn’t change myself for a man, and I wouldn’t let myself worry about it if he didn’t love something about me.

But here I sat comparing myself to our server, and I fucking hated it.

“I’m going to run to the bathroom really quick.” I stood from the table and headed toward the bathroom.

As I passed Mason, he touched his fingers to mine, bringing me to a stop, and he looked up at me with a big smile on his face.

“Have I told you today how beautiful you look?”

I took a deep breath and let it out slowly.

“Thanks, Mason.” I let my fingers slip from his and pulled my braid over my shoulder, and just like that, the insecurities that were flooding me melted away.

I studied my reflection when I looked in the mirror then splashed water on my face.

I hadn’t slept with anyone since that first night with Mason. I hadn’t even thought about another man. I hadn’t even realized it until that moment, realized the impact he was having on me, and I had absolutely no clue what I was doing.

But I knew for sure that I was getting in over my head.

I walked back to our table, and Mason smiled up at me as I sat down.

“Did you know that for every non-porn webpage, there are five porn pages?”

“Is that so?” I raised my eyebrows before taking a sip of my tea.

“Yup. It’s a fact. I read it somewhere.”

“Are you sure that you haven’t been doing your own research?” I quirked an eyebrow.

“Do I look like the kind of guy who needs porn?” His grin was devilish and so damn handsome, and I knew that he wasn’t. But I didn’t want to think about that.

“So humble, Mr. Connor. Are there any other super-attractive characteristics I should learn about you?” I rolled my eyes, and he chuckled.

“Well, I wasn’t going to tell you until it came out, but I also ordered your food for you.”

My mouth fell open, and he held up his hands.

“You took so long in the bathroom, and I was wasting away to nothing out here. Plus, I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised by what I chose.”

“You think you know me well enough to pick my food?” I rested my chin in my hand.

“I think so.” He nodded his head but looked unsure.

“How about a bet?”

His eyes flew to mine. “What kind of bet?”

“If it’s not what I would have ordered off the menu, then you have to do whatever I say. If you get it right, I have to do what you say.”

He stuck his hand out toward me. “Deal.”

“We haven’t even told each other the consequences of losing yet.”

“So? Isn’t life more fun that way?”

I went to slide my hand into his, but he pulled away.

“But you have to write your answer down on that napkin. I don’t trust you not to cheat.”

“Fine.” I chuckled then he shook my hand.

When our food finally arrived at our table, I cringed at the bar-b-que pork quesadilla, and Mason’s smile told me that he knew he had won without having to even read the napkin.

“Hand it over.” He wiggled his fingers in front of me, reaching for the napkin.

“This is unfair.” I tossed the napkin across the table before I picked up a piece of my quesadilla and took a bite. A delicious bite.

Mason just smiled as he unraveled the wad of napkin then he tucked it into his pocket.

“What? No gloating?” I took another bite of my food.

“Despite what you think, Staci. I’m actually a decent guy. I would never gloat.”

“That just means my consequence is going to be bad.”

His smile turned practically evil.

“What the hell are you going to make me do, Mason?”

“Patience, little one.” He mocked me. “You’ll see soon enough.”

We finished eating our food with me mostly narrowing my eyes at him and him grinning like he had won the damn lottery. But it wasn’t until Mason paid for our food and led me toward the very back of the restaurant that I became truly worried about what he was going to make me do.

“There is no way in hell.” I slammed to a stop as soon as I saw it.

“Oh, yes. There is. You lost, sweetheart.” He rubbed his hands together, and I looked around at all the people who were eating their food, yet looking up at us with interest.

I stared at the mechanical bull that looked three times my size before blowing out a deep breath.

“What kind of restaurant has a mechanical bull in the middle of the damn dining room?” I looked back at the way we came. If you didn’t walk around the wall that was separating that part of the restaurant from this one, you would never know it was here. “How did you even know this was here?”

He shrugged his shoulders before leaning against the railing that blocked off the bull from the rest of the restaurant. “Servers are chatty when they think you’re cute.”

I rolled my eyes and turned back toward the bull. Out of all the crazy shit I had done in my life, I had never ridden a mechanical bull. Especially not in a restaurant that was full of strangers to watch me.

The bull moved an inch and I cringed. A hand slapped my ass as I took a step toward it, and I looked over my shoulder at Mason.

“Go get ‘em, cowgirl.” He winked at me, and even though I could kill him for making me do this, I also felt desperate to press my mouth against his.

I climbed up onto the bull which was an effort, and I gripped the handle in front of me before I looked at the guy who was about to throw me from the damn thing.

“You can only use one hand, cheater,” Mason yelled across the restaurant, and I mean yelled. Anyone who wasn’t watching me before turned their attention toward me.

But I did what he said and took one hand off the handle and flipped him the bird right before the bull started moving.