Page 27 of Hypnotized By Love

The outside was beautiful, though. Just beyond the parking lot, there was a long wooden bridge built over the alligator and crocodile enclosures, which were surrounded by big, leafy tropical trees.

Standing on the bridge was a bit like being inside a giant jungle, the artificial stream bubbling beneath my feet as it coursed through the enclosures.

Given that it was nighttime, the animals were all very active, and I heard the sounds of them sliding into the water or their tails dragging along the ground as they moved through the enclosure. This was when they hunted in the wild, and even though I didn’t share in Mason’s irrational fear, as a native Floridian I had learned to always keep my distance.

“Waiting for someone?”

I turned to see Mason somehow looking even hotter than he had earlier that day. He was again dressed in loose and casual clothingand looked far more comfortable than the ninety-two-degree weather with one hundred percent humidity should have allowed for.

“You look nice,” he said.

Not pretty?I wanted to sarcastically ask, but I didn’t.

Even if he sucked as a human being, my mom would have been furious with me if I didn’t observe the social niceties with the son of her best friend. “And you ... have clothes on.”

It was the best I could manage.

He flashed me a grin. “I usually have clothes on.”

That’s a shame,that voice inside me said, and I sighed because it was very frustrating to have a part of myself that was immune to logic and the fact that I hated him and only cared that he was hot. “Yes, managing to wear clothes in public is one of your best qualities.”

“You wouldn’t say that if you’d ever seen me without them.”

My temperature spiked at his words, and I felt even sweatier and hotter than I had just a few moments ago.

No doubt about it, that was most definitely flirting. I might have been a bit clueless when it came to men, but even I couldn’t miss that extremely obvious overture.

I cleared my throat, uncomfortable. It made me think of our session and how I had assumed that he was flirting then to mess with me. Was he still doing that?

If so, why?

But I didn’t ask my question. Instead I remembered why I was here. I felt like I should warn him about tonight before he did something that he might regret. “I knew you’d be early.”

“I knew you’d be early,” he countered.

Again it bothered me that he knew me so well. Or was it how well I still knew him? Either way, I was annoyed. “I got here when I did because I needed to talk to you.”

He looked hopeful at my words, and I clarified. “Not about our situation. More about what happened earlier today.”

A couple on a date approached us, and Mason had to move closer to me to allow them to pass by us on the bridge.

My pulse went into overdrive when his chest brushed against my arm, and I peered up at him. The blood in my veins seemed to thicken just because of his nearness, and an undeniable electricity sparked between us. I shivered despite the heat as a wave of desire speared my stomach. Goose bumps broke out on my skin where he was touching me, and I hysterically wondered if he could feel it.

I saw his Adam’s apple bob up and down and the hungry look in his eyes.

Like he wanted me.

Even though he hated me.

A moment passed, then another, and despite the fact that the couple had already entered the restaurant, we stayed put.

What was that cologne? I was going to buy a bottle and pour it all over my pillow.

“Sinclair,” he murmured, and the sound of him saying his pet name for me made molten heat swirl in my abdomen. When he’d called me Sinclair in high school, it had always made me feel like he saw me as one of the guys—just his buddy, nothing more.

But him saying it now made me feel the exact opposite, like it was an endearment he used only for me, and there were all kinds of emotions and sensations that thought caused inside me. I had to end this. I put a hand against his very broad and strong chest, immediately regretting the impulse because I wanted to keep exploring.

I forced my hand to push against him slightly, making it so that I could move away. I turned, hoping he couldn’t see my reaction.

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