Free Entice by Ella Frank

twice. Still, there was no answer. She moved closer and pressed her ear up to the door.
    That was when she heard Lena giggle and say emphatically, “Mason, stop.”
    Shelly moved back just as the handle twisted, and the big door was pulled opened by a flush-faced Lena.
    “Getting in some early morning cardio?” Shelly asked with a raised brow.
    Mason strolled forward in a white T-shirt and some low-riding sweats, placing a hand on Lena’s shoulder. “I was trying, but she’s conserving all her strength for you,” he told Shelly with a smirk.
    Poking her tongue out at him, Shelly strolled into the loft. “Lucky me.”
    Stopping at the kitchen, the usual OJ was sitting on the counter. She picked it up, taking a sip. “Oh, Mason! Forget Lena. Come live with me and squeeze my oranges.”
    Mason let out a loud laugh as Lena punched her lightly on the arm.
    “That did not sound right,” Lena muttered. “He better not squeeze anything of anybody’s, except mine.”
    Smiling, Shelly took another sip and shrugged at her friend. “Hey, it was worth a shot.”
    “Yeah, well, you can forget it. This chef, playboy, and charmer is all mine.”
    “Ahh, ladies? I’m still in the room. Although I have to tell you, being fought over is kind of hot. Can you maybe start pulling hair? Ripping clothes?” Mason pretended to look around, and then opened the fridge. “I’m sure I can find some Jello for you to both roll in.”
    They all started laughing.
    “Perv,” Shelly told him as she finished the glass of OJ.
    She watched Mason move around the kitchen, cooking them breakfast. This had become a ritual for them. She would come over to pick up Lena, and Mason would cook them a healthy and scrumptious breakfast, and then send them on their way. The man was a genius in the kitchen, so it certainly wasn’t a hardship to eat his food. He also wasn’t hard to watch.
    Shelly bet he and Josh had broken hearts all through school. Two good-looking guys—one a complete charmer, all polished and smooth around the edges, and the other a little wild with sharp, jagged edges—who were the perfect good boy and bad boy. And they just happened to be best friends.
    Hell, if her friend wasn’t engaged to the pretty boy, Shelly may have found herself entertaining a hot ménage à trois scenario. However, her friend was in love with him, so that was an automatic no-go fantasy. So, she settled for being friends with the sizzling hot chef, who was currently wrapped around Lena, kissing the hell out of her.
    Clearing her throat, Shelly watched with amusement as the two lovebirds pulled apart. They were so happy with one another; it was hard not to envy what they had. Shelly was woman enough to admit to feeling a small stab of jealousy.
    “Hello? I’m still here. Wait until I leave to get naked, please,” Shelly teased with a grin.
    Lena moved away from Mason and came over to the counter, leaning up against it.
    “So?” she asked, and then paused. “Where’d you disappear to last night?”
    Busted, Shelly thought with a wince. “Nowhere. What do you mean?”
    Lena’s mouth pulled up in a smug I-got-you smirk. “It means that while we were dancing—”
    “And making out,” Mason injected into the sentence.
    “Yes. Thanks, babe. While we were dancing and making out, we noticed you had disappeared. Did you have a fight with Paul?”
    Shelly thought about it for all of two seconds before she latched onto that excuse. “Yeah, he was annoying me. Not even having one drink. And then, did you see the way he danced?”
    “Yep,” Mason said, looking over his shoulder at her with a grin. “Boy cannot move.”
    Shelly nodded, feeling bad for throwing Paul under the bus. When he’d dropped her off last night, they’d decided that theirs was a relationship better left in the past. Way in the past.
    “Yes. So, anyway, I went to the little girls’ room for a breather.”
    Lena picked up a slice of apple from a fruit platter in front of them