ROMANCE: Mason (Bad Boy Alpha Male Stepbrother Romance Boxset) (New Adult Contemporary Stepbrother Romance Collection) (88 page)

“Two.”

“Three,” they said in unison, Ethan bringing the fork up to his mouth and taking a bite. He swallowed, cocking his head inquisitively when he realized that Jessica hadn’t tried any yet.

“Sorry,” Jessica laughed, “Just wanted to make sure that it wasn’t utterly horrible or poisonous before I tried it.”

“Oh, so you’re okay with me being poisoned.”

Jessica chuckled, shaking her head as she took a bite, eyes sparkling with mirth. “No, but someone has to be well enough to call an ambulance, so I thought that it should be me.”

“Oh, well how very kind of you,” Ethan said, taking another bite. “So, what do you think?”

“Well, it’s definitely not poison.” She smiled. “In fact, I think that it’s quite good.”

“Well Jethro thanks you.” Ethan smirked. “And I guess I shouldn’t be too surprised, must be Cassandra’s battle instincts coming out.”

“Hmm, must be.” Jessica laughed, taking a sip of her wine. “So,” she said after another sip, relishing just how good it was, “tell me about yourself.”

Ethan smirked. “What do you want to know?”

“What’s your biggest fear?”

“Alpha’s don’t have fears; what are you talking about?”

“Oh, how silly of me,” Jessica said. “Oh wait, you’re full of it.” She smirked, making Ethan burst out into laughter, happy that he hadn’t been drinking or the wine would have surely come out of his nose.

“Well, what’s your biggest fear?” Ethan challenged.

“Uh-huh.” Jessica smirked, shaking her head. “I asked you first.”

“I asked you second.”

“And yet, you’re still going to tell me first.” Jessica grinned mischievously.

“Oh really?” Ethan snorted, taking a sip from his glass. “You sound awfully sure about that; how are you going to manage that?”

“I have my ways,” Jessica said, waving her fingers in a fake show of mystery as she took another bite of her food. “And I’m relatively patient when I’m not behind the wheel of a car, so I’ll definitely beat you out in the waiting game. So, tell me.”

Ethan sighed. “Do you really want to know?”

“Mhmm,” Jessica murmured, not wanting to speak around her mouthful of food.

“Fine, fine; I’m afraid of needles.”

“Really?” Jessica said once she had swallowed, sitting back. “I did not expect that.”

“Is it really that surprising?”

Jessica shrugged. “I mean, maybe not, I guess I just expected you to have a tattoo or something.”

“I look like a tattoo guy?”

“Kind of, yeah.” She laughed. “But I guess it’s good to know that you’re not a heroin addict.”

“Yeah, I prefer cocaine,” Ethan joked.

“Oh, I’m so sure.” Jessica laughed.

“Well, do you have any tattoos?” Ethan asked, eyes scanning her briefly as if he had somehow missed noticing a visible tattoo in his last two encounters with her.

Jessica looked at him through narrowed eyes as if to determine whether or not he could be trusted with the information before she nodded. “One.”

“Really, where?”

“It’s surprising that you ask me where it is before you even know what it is.”

“Well, I could probably see what it is if I knew where it is.”

“And yet you won’t get to see where it is for quite a while, and only if you behave.”

Ethan raised an eyebrow, clearly intrigued. “So, where is it then?”

Jessica laughed, shaking her head. “It was a drunken night in college, and at the time I was in a sorority, and my sisters didn’t exactly inspire common sense in me when I needed it. In fact, I remember them egging me on.”

“So it was a mistake.”

She shrugged. “A mistake, perhaps, but a regret,” she shook her head, “not anymore.”

“You know you still haven’t told me where it is yet.”

Jessica flushed briefly before shaking it off. “My lower back.”

“You have a tramp stamp?” Ethan asked, perhaps a bit louder than he meant, causing Jessica to give him an exasperated look.

“Yes, as you so eloquently put it, I have a tramp stamp.”

“Of what?”

“Oh, it’s entirely original,” Jessica smirked, “so well thought out in fact that I’m sure no one has it.”

“And what’s it of?”

She laughed, the sparkling laugh that Ethan couldn’t help being drawn to. “A butterfly. I, in my ever-infinite drunken wisdom elected to get a butterfly on my lower back. That’s not to say that butterfly tattoos are bad by any means, but they’re very common, and, as lovely as butterflies are, they don’t really have much of a meaningful significance to me, so, it would definitely have not been my first choice for things to get.”

“But you don’t regret it?”

“No” Jessica said, mulling it over just a bit, “I try to live with no regrets to the best of my ability. I did at first, but now I’ve kind of come to like it.”

“Can I see it?”

Jessica snorted. “Nice try, but no. Unless we go to the beach or something.”

“Can I plan the third date then?”

“Yep, but I’ll buy a one piece bathing suit if I have to.”

“Damn,” Ethan muttered, taking another bite of his food that he had entirely forgotten about in his focus on picturing just what the butterfly, and the rest of Jessica’s unclothed body would look like.

“Stop undressing me with your eyes and eat.” Jessica said good-naturedly, still making an interesting shade of pink darken Ethan’s cheeks.

“So,” Jessica asked once they had finished their meal and there came a small lull in their conversation, “would you like to make some dessert or do something else?”

Ethan glanced over at the kitchenettes and seemed to ponder the question for a moment before speaking. “As much fun as cooking with you is, I know this small little ice cream shop nearby, in walking distance, that serves the best ice cream that you’ll ever have.”

“Really?” Jessica asked, intrigued.

“Yeah, it’s called Belle’s Place; it’s great, I think you’ll like it.”

“You’re sure about that, are you? I may just be lactose intolerant,” Jessica said, making Ethan balk for a second.

“Wait, are you?”

Jessica chuckled, laughter filling the now quiet area before she said, “No, no I’m not, but I wish you could have seen the look on your face; it really is excellent.”

“You’re evil,” Ethan said, laughing, oddly impressed. He smirked. “I like that.”

It was Jessica’s turn to flush. “Well, it’s not like a typical restaurant so we don’t have to worry about paying; are you ready to go?”

“I don’t know if I’ll ever be ready for you but, yes, I think I’m ready for ice cream.”

“Well then,” Jessica said, standing up with a small smile on her face, “let’s go then; lead the way.”

The ride down the elevator was just as rickety as the ride up had been, and Ethan unconsciously held his breath in anticipation of a sudden freefall that never came.

Jessica chuckled. “honestly, you worry too much, I hardly think this will crash today, I think it has at least another year of use in it before Rosa buckles down and gets it fixed,” Jessica smirked, eyes roving over him once more, “but, I wouldn’t exactly hold your breath.”

The breath that Ethan had indeed been holding let out in a little puff as he laughed at her comment.

“So, how did you hear about this supposedly life-changing ice cream shop?” Jessica asked as they walked into the cool night air.

“A friend introduced me to it.”

“A lady friend?”

Ethan chuckled at her utter lack of discretion. “No, not a lady friend, an old college acquaintance; we were catching up.”

“Oh, well, I’m happy to hear that.”

“Mhmm,” Ethan said, watching Jessica out of the corner of his eye. He felt a strange buzzing going through his limbs as he continued to look at her, eyes instantly looking elsewhere whenever Jessica caught on and would glance at him in an attempt to meet his gaze.

She smiled, and finally, after another block of silence and shifty looks out of the corner of his eye, Ethan finally mustered up the courage to place a tentative arm around her waist.

Jessica hummed, grinning up at him to offer a small sign of reassurance as she settled back into his comforting arm.

Finally, they reached the ice cream shop, a quaint little parlor with a painted brick exterior and windows in the shape of ice cream cones.

The ice cream shop was mainly empty, save for two employees chatting behind the counter. Jessica checked the shop’s hours, noting that it closed in thirty minutes.

“So,” she mused, eyes roving over the menu, “what here is good?”

“It’d be easier telling you what here is bad, in which case the answer would be nothing.” Ethan smirked. “Honestly, I’ve come here a lot more often than I’d like to admit and I’ve had the fortune of trying just about everything on the menu. And I have to say, there’s not a flavor that I don’t like.”

“What can I get for you?” one of the employees whose nametag read ‘Charlotte’ asked them.

“I don’t know,” Jessica groaned, looking at all the delicious-looking choices on the menu and feeling just a bit overwhelmed. “It’s my first time coming here, is there anything that you would recommend?”

The server smirked. “Well, if you’re feeling extra daring tonight and not particularly full, I would recommend that you and your friend take on our Mega Sundae Extravaganza Challenge.”

“Mega Sundae Extravaganza Challenge?” Jessica repeated, finding the name just a bit comical. “What is it?”

“Well,” the second server named ‘Mellissa’ chimed in, leaning against the counter, “it was the winning creation from a contest a while ago. It has two giant cookies with a brownie sandwiched between, and the cookie sandwich is sandwiched between eight giant scoops of our most famous flavors: Razzle Dazzle, Banana Split, Rocky Road, Strawberry Cheesecake, Chocolate Mudslide, Peanut Butter Cup, Wedding Cake and Chocolate Boom Boom Pow.”

“Boom Boom Pow?” Jessica asked.

“Boom Boom Pow,” Melissa confirmed.

“And, it’s all topped with hot caramel, hot fudge, heated marshmallow topping, roasted almonds, chocolate chips, sprinkles, loads of whipped cream and a cherry.”

“Wow,” Ethan said, “that’s-”

“Magnificent, yes,” Charlotte chimed in. “And, believe it or not you get all of that for the very reasonable price of $5.47.”

“Well, I’m sold, what about you Ethan?” Jessica asked, looking up at him with a wide smile, eyes sparkling with excitement. “You want to take on this beauty?”

Ethan sighed, shaking his head as he chuckled, clearly amused. “We’re going to get sick.”

“Yeah, well, what are the kids saying these days, YOLO?”

“YOLO?”

“It means you only live once,” Melissa said matter-of-factly.

Ethan snorted. “Yes, thank you, I’m aware of its meaning.” Ethan groaned, looking once more into Jessica’s ever widening eyes as she blinked innocently up at him, imploring him to say yes.

He sighed, knowing in the back of his head that it was likely going to prove to be a very bad idea, but knowing that he’d ultimately do it anyways, partly out of the allure of the challenge but mainly because he wanted to make Jessica happy.

After another moment of inner chastisement, he finally nodded. “Alright, alright, let’s take on this Sundae Extravaganza thing.”

“Mega Sundae Extravaganza Challenge,” Jessica corrected him with a small tut, before she suddenly squealed, making Ethan jump just a bit. “I’m so excited!” She grinned, leaning up on her toes to peck him once on the cheek. “Thank you!”

“Terrific,” Melissa said, grinning widely.

With a salute, Melissa and Charlotte both grabbed a pair of ice cream scoopers and turned to begin their very important work, Ethan putting the exact amount of payment on the counter before he led Jessica over to a pair of bar stools at the counter, each taking a seat.

After five minutes, what had to be the largest plate that either of the wolves had ever seen was set on the counter in front of them.

“Oh. My. God,” Jessica said, eyes comically wide as she took in the dish piled high with ice cream and loads of sweets that made Ethan wonder about the exact point that his insanity had gone out the window.

“As a tradition, we have to take a picture of everyone that attempts this massive challenge, so, if you would, scooch close together and smile, and pretend like you like each other!”

Jessica grinned, leaning her head on Ethan’s shoulder as he wrapped an arm around her waist, smiling up at the retro-looking camera that Charlotte held. Both blinked at the bright flash the camera let off, chuckling as Charlotte showed them the picture that managed to capture them right in mid-blink.

“Oh that’s excellent.” Jessica laughed, Ethan shaking his head at the picture that Melissa was now tacking onto the wall behind the counter next to the menu.

“Now you will forever live in infamy on the walls of our lovely little ice cream shop.”

“Aww, how romantic,” Jessica cooed, batting her eyelashes in an over-exaggerated manner at Ethan, who chuckled.