“Things could get tight and hot,” he agreed in a tone that was both amused and suggestive. “But that’s not necessarily a bad thing.”
She shook her head. “You’re such a—”
“I know, I know,” he said, cutting her off before she could finish. “I’m a manwhore.”
He was a male slut, and he didn’t even bother to deny it.
“But just for the record, you know I have way more fun than you.” He settled back into his seat as the plane started moving away from the gate, his features suddenly turning serious as he studied her.
“What have you done for fun lately?” he asked, as if he believed she wasn’t capable of having a good time. “And for that matter, when was the last time you got laid?”
Her mouth dropped open at the unexpected question, and she snapped it shut again and glared. Screw him for being an asshole and going there.
He smirked. “Yeah, that’s what I thought.”
Her fingers itched to smack that smug look right off his face. “What the hell is that supposed to mean?”
“You’ve just been really uptight lately,” he said with a shrug. “On edge and a little short and snappy with me.”
Oh, yeah, the idiot was so damned obtuse. Her being uptight had everything to do with his womanizing and inability to see what was right in front of his face.
She was his best friend, and knew everything about his shitty past, his less-than-ideal childhood, and his abandonment issues. And though she’d proven over and over again that she wasn’t going anywhere and would always be there for him, no matter her own personal demons and pain, he took her for granted, never seeing her as anything more than good old Kitty-Kat.
Then again, was it really his fault that she loved him with more than just friendship or sister-like affection? That he wasn’t capable of returning those feelings for a variety of reasons—the main one being that he was emotionally damaged and didn’t know how to let someone intimately close? No, she couldn’t blame him. At least he was honest about who he was and what he was capable of.
It wasn’t his fault she wanted more. It was hers, for holding out hope.
Maybe that was part of the problem, she thought as she searched on her phone for an audio book to listen to during the flight. It was so easy for Mason to take advantage of her always being around and at his beck and call. Hell, who was she kidding? She’d made it easy for him, and maybe it was time that she reevaluated her feelings for her best friend, and the fact that they weren’t reciprocated.
Because there was one thing she knew for certain—unrequited love sucked big hairy balls.
He placed his hand on her bare arm, and her traitorous pulse sped up a few notches as she glanced at his strong forearm and the dark brown braided leather bracelet that was wrapped twice around his solid wrist. She’d given it to him for his most recent birthday, and it looked sexy as hell on him with all his tribal tattoos.
Ignoring the way her body warmed in all those neglected places, she lifted her gaze to his, and he gave her a playful smile.
“You know, maybe you ought to take advantage of Sin City, find some random guy who does it for you, and work out some of that tension you’re carrying so you can loosen up and relax.”
Katrina wasn’t sure if he was joking or serious, but she bit back an irritable retort that would give way too much credence to his uptight opinion of her and instead dished it right back to him. “Yeah, maybe I’ll do that,” she replied enthusiastically.
Screwing a random stranger so wasn’t her style, but he didn’t need to know that.
He blinked at her in surprise. Clearly, he hadn’t expected her to so readily agree to his indecent suggestion. That shock was quickly followed by a slight frown, as if he wasn’t sure how he felt about her having a one-night stand, despite the fact that he’d brought it up.
Whatever, she thought as she tamped down her frustration.
Done talking, she glanced away from Mason, put her earbuds in, and closed her eyes as the plane raced down the runway and lifted off the ground. Her stomach dipped at the initial ascent, and she breathed slowly and deeply while coming to a very difficult decision. One she’d been struggling with for the past few months but that was suddenly becoming much too clear.
After the happy couple was married and they all returned from Vegas, Katrina needed to make life-altering changes. It was becoming increasingly hard and painful to be around Mason day in and day out and watch him go from one woman to another. It was time to reevaluate her life, as well as her job as manager of Mason’s tattoo shop, Inked.
And that meant moving on from the one man she wanted but would never have beyond the friendship and the secrets that they shared.
* * *
What the hell? With a perplexed frown, Mason watched and felt Katrina’s silent withdrawal from their conversation, and him, as she pushed in her earbuds, closed her eyes, and blocked him out in the process. One minute he’d been teasing her, and then the next, bam, he was being silently dismissed—this after she’d much too eagerly agreed to have a fling in Vegas.
Females, he thought with a shake of his head. God, he’d never understand them.
Okay, that statement wasn’t entirely true. He had no problem relating to women when they were on their knees sucking his cock, or begging him to fuck them harder, faster. Hot, mindless sex and mutual pleasure—yeah, those things he had no problems comprehending. Hell, he understood that language without speaking a word.