“You never asked.” Mason wiped spaghetti sauce off Finn’s chin.
“That’s not usually a prerequisite question I ask.”
“For your friends?” He smirked.
“Yes. For my friends.” I rolled my eyes. “I can’t believe I didn’t know you had a motorcycle.”
“It’s his only love.”
“Shh.” Mason laughed as he quickly put his hand over Finn’s mouth.
“What?” He looked up at Mason like he was crazy.
“You’re not supposed to tell all of my secrets, buddy. Some things are supposed to stay just between friends.”
I grinned.
“But she said she was your friend.” Finn looked over at me, confused.
“She is.” Mason laughed. “But do you see how pretty she is.”
They both looked up at me, and I tried to hide the fact that I was just shoving garlic bread into my mouth.
“Yeah.” Finn nodded his head.
“When we have friends that pretty, we have to at least have some secrets from them.” Mason winked at me, and I fought the urge to roll my eyes but couldn’t hide my smile.
Finn studied me like he was trying to memorize every bit of advice that Mason gave him.
“Why do you have so many drawings on your skin?”
“I’m a tattoo artist. It’s what I do. I draw on people’s skin.”
“Cool.” He shot up in his chair. “Will you draw a tattoo on me?”
I looked to Mason, and he winked at me. A wink that did nothing to help me keep him in the friend-zone.
“After we eat, I will. Okay?”
“Okay.” He sat back down on his bottom and started shoveling his food into his mouth.
Mason laughed and patted his little hand that laid on the table next to his.
“Now that I know you’re so interested in my motorcycle, do you want to go for a ride tomorrow?”
“Seriously?” God, it had been so long since I had been on the back of a bike.
“Yeah. I don’t have any plans tomorrow. Do you?”
I quickly shook my head no.
“We could go for a ride through the mountains. It’s supposed to be nice tomorrow.”
“For sure.” Excitement filled me just at the thought.
“Then it’s a date.”
As soon as he said the word, another thrill went through me even though it wasn’t supposed to. Even though I didn’t want that from him.
“You can’t date her. She’s your friend.”
We both looked down at Finn and his face now covered in spaghetti sauce.
“Thank you for reminding me. I almost forgot.” Mason glanced up at me, and my stomach flipped.
“You’re welcome.” Finn tugged on my arm. “Can you draw my tattoo now?”
“Yeah.” I could barely move my eyes away from Mason. “What do you want me to draw?”
“A dragon.”
“Nothing simple then.”
Mason chuckled, and I took the last bite of my food.
“Where do you want this dragon?”
Finn pointed to his right bicep and I nodded my head.
“Your mom won’t get mad?” I glanced up at Mason.
“No. My mom is the coolest.”
“She is.” Mason backed him up.
“Okay. Then let’s get my pens out of my car and I’ll give you the most badass dragon tattoo ever.”
Finn’s eyes lit up then he turned to Mason. “She said ass.”
Mason
They had both been asleep on my couch for the past hour.
Finn’s shirt was still off and his dragon tattoo that she had put an insane amount of detail into was on full display. He flipped his shit when he looked in the mirror after she finished.
He made me take pictures on my phone as he flexed his small muscles, and Staci giggled when he told me that his tattoo was way cooler than mine. She full on belly laughed actually, and Finn had helped me tickle her when she refused to tell me that he was wrong.
After the tattoo, we had watched a movie, a movie I had seen a million times with Finn, and the two of them had fallen asleep leaning against one another.
There was a small knock at my door, and I quietly lifted Finn from the couch before I carried him to the door where his mom was waiting.
“How was he?” she whispered before pushing his hair out of his face.
“Good as always.” She went to grab him out of my arms and I moved out of her reach. “I’ll carry him over.”
She patted my arm and I could see the exhaustion in her eyes.
“Is that a dragon tattoo?” She touched his arm before pulling out her keys and leading the way over to her house.
“Yeah. My friend Staci drew it on him tonight. I hope you don’t mind. He was so damn excited.”
“Of course not. It will wash off.” She waved her hand to dismiss my worry. “Is this the friend you were telling me about earlier?”
She stepped onto her porch before unlocking the door. I followed her inside, and Finn didn’t shift an inch in my arms.
“Yeah. She came over for dinner tonight.”
“Mason.” She smacked my arm, barely making a sound. “You should have told me if you had a date tonight. I would have figured something else out.”
“It wasn’t a date. She only wants to be friends, remember?”
“Oh. I remember.” She pulled down Finn’s blanket, and I softly laid him down in his bed. “But I’m sure my son did nothing to help you get out of the friend-zone.”
“What are you talking about?” I pulled the blanket up around Finn’s shoulders. “Finn is the best wingman ever.”
“Don’t you be teaching him bad habits.” She pointed her finger at me, and I chuckled as we walked out of his room.
“Never.” I crossed my heart.
“Yeah. Yeah. Don’t forget he’s still at the age where he tells me everything.”
She walked me to the door and leaned against it as I said, “He said ass tonight.”
“Mason,” she chuckled.
“Yes?” I batted my eyelashes innocently.
“Thank you for watching him.”
“Anytime.” I stepped off the porch.
“Oh, one more thing.”
“Yeah.” I turned back around to face her.
“Good luck getting out of the friend-zone.”
“I don’t need luck,” I smirked. “I have a plan.”
Staci
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.