* * *
MASON AND LEVI had done BUD/S training together before they’d shipped out to the same unit. That practically made them an old married couple, but right now Mason had divorce on his mind. He tracked Levi down and found the guy doing push-ups on the beach. Levi turned his head as Mason stormed the beach.
“What’s up?”
He tackled Levi and the man collapsed with a satisfying thud on the sand.
“You couldn’t give me a heads-up that Maddie was moving?”
Levi grunted and bucked upward. Mason turned his own head just in time to avoid a fistful of sand aimed at his eyes. Levi fought dirty, which was okay, because Mason was no gentleman, either. No matter what Maddie believed. He rolled, using his weight to pin Levi down.
“We’re having a conversation about this,” he ground out. He was in a pissy mood and he knew it, but he didn’t need Maddie sneaking up on him when he was sleeping. “She was perfectly safe,” Levi said, hooking a leg around his. Mason went briefly airborne before his back met the sand. Jesus. That hurt. Wasn’t sand supposed to be soft? Surging up, he went for Levi, pulling the other man back down.
“How do you know that?”
“Because I followed her up that hill. I even waited while she checked you out, did her thing and you woke up. Some dating advice? Choking the girl is a guaranteed way to lose the girl unless she’s into some really kinky stuff you’d be better off avoiding.”
Okay. So Maddie hadn’t been out alone. He let Levi’s head go, enjoying the satisfying thunk when Levi’s skull connected with the sand.
“Also?” Levi continued. “You do realize that woman is trouble, right? Because the questions you haven’t asked yet are why did she climb that hill and what did she do before she woke you up.”
Huh. From the devilish grin on Levi’s face, Maddie hadn’t been engaging in a little healthy exercise. And he hadn’t thought to ask her that. Come to think of it, she wasn’t much for exercise, period.
“Tell me,” he demanded.
“Nice memo.” Levi pointed to Mason’s forearm. “By midnight, you’re going to get the full effect. H-O-T stood out on the suntanned skin of his forearm in fading neon pink letters. He raised his forearm and sniffed at it. Sunscreen.
“Protection’s important,” Levi said with mock seriousness. “Next time, take a bath in SPF 1,200 and you won’t have this problem.”
Hell. He’d been so off his game, waking up and finding Maddie pinned beneath him where—no matter what she’d said—he could have hurt her badly. He’d been trained in all kinds of martial arts and hand-to-hand-combat techniques, so he’d reacted on instinct and now he didn’t trust himself around her. Not until he could guarantee he wouldn’t hurt her. Even if hurting her was something he’d never do when he was awake, how did he shut down his gut reactions?
Levi slid him a glance. “You like her.”
“What’s not to like?” He rolled over onto his back, shading his eyes with his arm. Maybe he was getting too old for this shit. His back hurt. His neck hurt.
“I mean like like her.” Levi went back to doing push-ups. The man was unstoppable when it came to PT.
“Are we in middle school?”
“If you want to date her for real, date her.”
“Are you offering dating advice now?” he scoffed. Levi gave a shoulder shrug and put his right hand on his back before dropping into another set of perfect push-ups. “I’ve dated recently, which is more than I can say for you.”
He started counting off reps.
Following suit, Mason rolled over and straightened his arms, pushing into his first rep. There was no point in wasting valuable PT time.
The thing was, he’d kissed Maddie and enjoyed the hell out of himself. She was someone special, and he wanted the chance at more kisses. And possibly something else, although the else part kind of scared him, almost as much as it made him want to wrap his arms around her and hold on. “We kissed,” he admitted gruffly. Levi had never struck him as the kind of guy who did relationships, but he was desperate. At this point he’d take any advice that didn’t come from a stupid magazine column.
Levi counted off another ten push-ups, then hit the sand for a breather. Thirty seconds recovery, Mason knew, and he’d do another set. “Where?” he asked.
“Are we girlfriends? Do you really need details?”
Levi gave him a droll look. “I need to know what I’m working with here. Was this a quick-brush-on-the-cheek kind of kiss, or the kind that involves removing clothing?”