“Oh. Well then, what’s the plan?”
Mason gestured toward a stack of boxes behind us. “Are any of those empty?”
After looking around a little, we did find a stack of large, empty boxes. Mason approached the opossum carefully, slowly. Lightning fast, Mason dropped the open box onto the opossum upside down, to trap the animal. There was a scuffling sound as it tried to escape.
I let out a relieved breath. “Well, step one complete.”
“Get me another box. Flatten it out and we’ll slide it under this one.”
I followed his instructions. It didn’t take long, but soon we had the opossum trapped in a cardboard prison. It hissed, but otherwise didn’t move much, pulling the whole “playing possum” act.
We let a minute or two pass, hoping the opossum would keep still, and then got to work turning the box over very carefully, so we didn’t hurt the animal. Mason climbed down the ladder first, and I passed the box down to him. He hurried away with it and soon enough, the opossum was released into the woods.
Margaret stood next to me while he released it. “Whatwasit?”
“An opossum, believe it or not.”
She frowned. “Well, I’m thankful to have you boys around. Thank you for taking care of it.”
“Anytime.”
After a few minutes of pleasantries and catching up, we were back in the car and headed toward our cabin. Mason took a deep breath and looked at me. “Now what?”
“I guess we need to finish painting.”
He nodded. “Yeah. We could do that.”
“Or…”
Mason’s eyebrows shot up. “Or?”
“It’s hot out. We could go for a swim.” I paused for a moment. “Naked.”
Chapter Thirteen
Emery
"Naked?"Masonasked,hisvoice cracking a little.
I shrugged, trying to project a calm confidence I didn’t feel at all. "If you want to, I mean. We don’t—”
He replied quickly. "I do. I want to."
As soon as we got back, we made our way down to the dock and stripped off our shirts, tossing them onto the planks. Feeling way less collected than I hoped I looked, I stepped out of my shorts and without another moment of hesitation, tugged my boxers down and launched myself into the water. A second later, I was rocked by a wave as Mason dove in.
I stood there laughing and watching the space where he’d disappeared under the water, waiting for him to surface. It only took a moment before he popped up, just a few feet away,grinning widely. Water ran down his body, dripping onto his face from his dark, shaggy hair, the sheen catching the glowing orange light, making him look like some type of god. My mouth went dry and my heart raced as I watched him. With a smirk, Mason stepped closer and shook his head like a dog, splattering my face with lake water.
I swallowed, watching him carefully. It had been my idea to do this, but I wasn’t feeling as confident as I’d been trying to appear. Instead, nerves thrummed through me, my stomach turning anxiously, worries running through my head. I took a deep breath to strengthen my resolve and stepped in, narrowing the gap between us. Reaching my hand out to touch him, I let my fingers dip under the water and trace down to his hip before pulling him to me. His breath hitched and his Adam’s apple bobbed as he swallowed, following my lead and stepping in until our chests were touching.
"Is this okay?" I whispered.
Mason nodded and swallowed again. "Yes." With that, he leaned in and kissed me. The kiss was slow and sensual, deepening as we both parted our lips, letting our tongues slide together. His hands glided down my body, one settling on my back, the other on my hip. As we kissed, my cock hardened between us, Mason’s doing the same. Tentatively, I rocked my groin against his, dragging our cocks along each other. His breath hitched again and he let out a little groan before breaking the kiss.
"Fuck, Em."
"Yeah?"
He pressed his forehead to mine and nodded. "Yeah." A second passed before he slid his hand lower, hiking my thigh up. I groaned softly, following his lead and wrapped both legs around him before placing my hands on the nape of his neck. I wanted his mouth on mine again, desperately, and I pulled him in with a sense of urgency. His stubble scraped along my chin, sending a thrill through me, and I thrust my hips up again, aching for more.
