A Cup of Sugar

(Violet)

My life was suddenly a swirling temptation of hell. I couldn’t leave my new apartment without looking to see if he was there. I had only run into Mason a couple more times after the whole pizza-beer-pink thong situation. Both times he simply grinned, flashing those dimples, knowing damn well how good he looked when he did that.

I fought off the deepest urges, telling myself that I was not saving myself for a man like that. Especially considering I lost the only boyfriend I really loved because I wouldn’t sleep with him. Without that though I wouldn’t have picked a different college, met Victoria, and ended up where I was.

Which was…

Opening my door slowly and poking my head out. Searching the hallway left to right for Mason. Stepping out into the hall with a fresh basket of dirty clothes. Because of Mason I purposely put all my bras and panties on the bottom. That meant dumping my basket onto the bed and sorting through the laundry.

I moved to the right, decided to take the back steps down to the laundry room. That meant walking right by his door. I was stupid for pausing, knowing I was tempting the viper to poise for another strike. But he was interesting to me. A quick online search brought up more than enough on him. He owned his own motorcycle business. He built custom rides and took other people’s motorcycles and fixed them up. His work was flawless and the pictures of him online made him look like a celebrity. The comments left online about him were split down the middle. Half the women thought he was hotter than Death Valley in the middle of summer. The other half wrote about how much they hated him because of bad things he’d done.

It was almost like the world hated him.

And a part of me felt bad for that.

That part that always got myself into trouble. Desperate to find the good in everyone, always wanting to care. I blamed my mother for that. She was a retired schoolteacher, but when she worked, she always took to the so-called bad kids. She would give everything to those kids and most of them just weren’t having it. She’d end up hurt, crying, and wondering why.

I was still standing at Mason’s door, passing the seconds by. I leaned in a little, wondering if he was home. Wondering if I should be the bigger person and try to establish some kind of relationship with him. After all, he was my neighbor. I wasn’t going to move because of him.

Then again, I hadn’t seen him…

I heard a noise.

A groan.

A woman’s groan.

I put my ear closer to the door.

I was officially eavesdropping on him. I was committing some kind of crime for sure. My mind and body all confused because of some super hot guy with a nasty attitude.

I heard the groaning again.

It was definitely a woman.

Mason had a woman in his apartment.

Having sex with her.

I moved from the door and held my head high.

Which was stupid because I had no reason to be bothered.

Yet I was.

Damn me… I was sort of jealous…

* * *

The laundry room was a little scary, but I stopped believing in monsters a long time ago. I carried my clothes back to my apartment, skipping Mason’s door, and went back to my own business. I put the basket of folded clothes on the bed and left it there. It was a Friday night and I had just done laundry. The moment that sunk in, I left the bedroom for the kitchen. Time for a glass of wine and an attempt to distract myself that I wasn’t out doing something.

Yeah, I could have called Victoria, but she would have pestered me all night about finding a guy and getting it over with. I loved her sober, but drunk she was a pain in the ass. I sat on the couch and picked something random from the on-demand section of the TV. I scrolled through my phone for a bit, knowing nothing new or interesting would be popping up soon.

Glancing at my laptop, I knew I was miles ahead of things with the app.

That didn’t mean I couldn’t work on something new, but my mind just wasn't looking for work. My mind was looking for something else. Or someone else.

I bit my lip and started to type a name into my phone.

That’s when the knocking started.

Well, to be fair, it was more like pounding.

I jumped off the couch and had flashbacks to the night Mason purposely slammed against my door while taking some woman to his apartment.

I stood for a few seconds, until the knocking began again.

I hurried to the door and unlocked it. Then I looked through the peephole and saw Mason.

Holyshit.

I opened the door a few inches.

“Mason?”

“I need your help.”

“Unless you’re here for a cup of sugar, no,” I said.

“It’s borderline emergency.”

“Emergency? Why should I believe you?”

“There’s a woman in my apartment.”

“Yeah, I heard,” I said.

“You couldn’t have… unless… the one earlier…”

“Earlier?”

“She was an old friend. Sort of. After she left, I went out for a drink. Picked up… uh…this new one…”

“You’re disgusting, Mason. Go home.”

I stepped back and Mason put his hand to the door. There was no stopping his insane strength. In other words, I was screwed.

I reluctantly opened the door.

“Tell me you were spying on me,” he said.

“What? No.”

“Then how did you hear someone? There was no way. We weren’t in the bedroom. I had her on the couch.”

“I did laundry,” I said. “I walked by and heard a noise.”

“Bullshit,” Mason said. “You little sneak. You were listening. I knew you were dirty. Fuck, babe, I’m getting hard right now just thinking about this.”

“If you don’t move your hand I’ll call the cops.”

“Cops, right, shit. Okay.” He shook his head. “This chick is drunk. Wicked drunk, Violet. She’s got herself locked in my bathroom and won’t come out. She wants a woman.”

“She… what?”

“You heard me,” he said. “I just need you to go over there and coax her out. Then I can call for a ride and get her out.”

“You got a woman that drunk? You fucked her? She locked herself in your bathroom? And now you just want to kick her out?”

Mason took his hand off my door. I didn’t close it. I was stupid around him. He grinned and put up a hand.

“Let’s get the facts straight here, babe. She was drunk when I met her. She insisted on coming home with me. If I get a chance at an easy freebie, I take it. But this one is too far gone. She’s beyond drunk. And, no, I did not fuck her. Which is exactly why she’s out. You want to sleep over at my place? You earn that.”

I felt my heart almost stop.

Mason was borderline evil. Sexy evil.

“You owe me one,” he said. “And while I was thinking about you climbing on my face and getting a taste of that innocent honey of yours, I guess I could cash in on this.”

“And what do you expect me to do? I’m not… an expert in this stuff.”

He grinned. Those dimples.

I was giving myself away.

That I wasn’t some party animal. That I was some good girl. Why not just blurt out that I was a virgin? He’d probably start drooling.

“I can see that, babe,” Mason said. “I just need you to get her to unlock the door. If she pukes and passes out or chokes…”

“Okay, okay, okay,” I said. “I don’t need details.”

“We’re wasting time. She could be dead by now.”

“Shit, Mason,” I said.

“What? It’s the truth.”

“And what if I say no to you?”

Mason’s face became serious. “Nobody can say no to me. But if you decide to be the first that does… I’ll make so much noise, Violet, you’ll be begging for two things. One - a new place. And two - to experience it. I’ll make women scream in the middle of the night. I’ll make them scream your name, but you'll know it’s coming from me. I have ways of ruining lives, Violet. Scary ways. Sexy ways. And I bet right now if I slipped my fingers between your legs you’d be wet. You’d leave a little cream on my fingertips. A midnight snack for me.”

He stepped toward me, into my apartment.

I threw my hand forward, touching his chest.

It was like touching an electrical circuit. My hand spread over his heart. I looked into his eyes and wondered if there was even a pulse there. This guy was a monster.

I blinked fast as he slowly put his hand to mine.

“So what’s your answer,” he said in almost a whisper.

“Fine,” I said. “I’ll go.”

“I’ll stay here,” Mason said.

“What?”

“Babe, if this chick sees or hears me, she’s not coming out. I just need that door opened. And then I go from there.”

I sighed. “Fine. You stay here. Don’t touch anything, Mason. I’ll let you know when she’s out of the bathroom.”

Mason took out his phone. I grabbed my phone.

And that was how I got Mason’s number… and he got mine… another big mistake…