Abi seemed to realize that I was serious when I said I wanted some time alone with Mason and excused herself to the basement as soon as we walked into the house.

“You hungry?” I asked, uncertain how I wanted tonight to go now that Mason was in my house. Mason had made a comment the other night that he wasn’t necessarily comfortable doing anything more than we already had until he at least had a date for when his divorce would be final, and I wanted to respect that. I also knew myself well enough to know it was going to be harder to stop every time I got my hands on him because I’d waited so long for something I thought would never happen.

“Nah, I had a sandwich while I was waiting for my flight.” I watched as he rounded the breakfast bar to close the distance between us. I turned to face him and he backed me against the counter, standing between my legs. My fingers curled around the edge of the granite as he wrapped his arms around my neck. “I knew there was only one thing I was going to be in the mood for when I saw you, and I’ve already had to wait over an hour.”

His tongue traced over his lower lip, mesmerizing me. As though he knew what I wanted, he leaned in slightly, teasing me with the lightest brush of his lips against mine. “I missed you,” he admitted softly.

I hummed in agreement as I laced my arms around his waist, pulling him closer to me. He ground his cock against mine, which was already painfully hard and I threw my head back in ecstasy. I pushed back the concerns that he still might change his mind about us as he buried his face in my neck. For now, I was going to enjoy every agonizing minute I had with him.

Unlike him, I knew how hard it was to walk around every day, wondering if someone was going to learn your secret and sell it to the highest bidder. Now that Jason knew, it was only a matter of time before others did as well. It wasn’t that I thought he’d be the one to say something, but it was more of an indication that I sucked at hiding the truth now that I had someone who really meant something in my life.

“I want you, Sean,” Mason pleaded. “I don’t want to wait anymore. I want you to take me upstairs and fuck me so hard I can’t think.”

God, I wanted that too. It was the fantasy that kept me up at night, waiting until Kevin went to sleep so I could rub one out, imagining that my fist was Mason’s ass. I’d never felt the connection I felt when we were together, and I craved more of it.

His teeth clamped down on the side of my neck, hard enough that I worried he was going to leave a mark. “Mace, we can’t,” I panted. My dick twitched, as if to tell me to shut up and go with the flow, but I couldn’t. As much as it irritated me that he was still chained to the Ice Queen, I had to admire him for not wanting to stoop to the same level she had repeatedly in the couple of years they were married. He was eager to explore this new side of himself, so it was on me to be the responsible one and put on the brakes.

“We can,” he retorted without taking his lips away from my skin. When he did finally pull away, the hunger in his eyes was laced with something completely new to me: sadness and longing. “Sean, I’m sick of doing what’s best for everyone else. It’s time I start doing what’s right for me. And you’re what’s right. You’re the one thing that makes sense in my world right now.”

I cupped his face in my hands to keep him from turning away, because I knew what I was about to say would sting as much as a bucket full of ice water. “Babe, I know you think this is what you need to do, but you have to trust me. It’s not time. We’ve waited a long time to even admit that we were attracted to one another, so a couple more days won’t kill us.”

“It might,” Mason grumbled. “My balls are so blue I’m starting to think they’re going to fall off if you don’t touch them soon. And then I’ll bleed out and it’ll be all your fault.”

My hands slid into the back of his jeans, cupping his ass. The material fit his body like a glove, making it difficult for me to grab him the way I wanted. “There’s still plenty we can do without that,” I assured him. “I promise, I’m going to make you feel so good you never want to leave my bedroom.”

I pushed away from the counter, lacing Mason’s fingers with my own as I led him upstairs to the bedroom. I instructed him to sit on the edge of the bed while I drew a bath. He’d probably make fun of me, but I used some scented oils to help him relax. It wasn’t the most masculine scent in the world, but my garden tub, some soothing oils and a load of pampering were exactly what Mason needed to relax him enough to get a good night of sleep.

I stood in the doorway between the bedroom and bathroom, watching Mason as he slept. It was tempting to turn around, shut off the water, and crawl into bed next to him, but I’d promised to show him that intimacy and sex were two completely different things. This was something I could give to him that I’d never given anyone else. Something I never thought I wanted to do with anyone.

As I crossed the room, I tread carefully to make sure I didn’t wake him. Even when I sat on the bed beside Mason, he didn’t stir. I ran my fingers through his hair, considering for a moment how lucky I was to have him in my life. Mason might think it was cowardly to keep this secret from me for so long, but I understood how he felt. Even though I’d known I could trust him, I’d been a nervous wreck the night I told him I was gay. No, Mason wasn’t a coward; he was one of the strongest men I knew for finally opening his mouth to ask for what he wanted.

“Hey, sit up,” I whispered, reaching beneath him to help lift him off the bed. He grumbled and rolled over so his back was to me. I began gently rubbing his back as I leaned forward to kiss his shoulder. “Mace, come on. Let’s go relax, then you can sleep.”

He turned his head and opened one eye. “I was relaxed, in case you couldn’t tell,” he grumbled. “Your bed is way better than a hotel.”

“Don’t be a crab-ass,” I scolded him, tugging the shirt up his chest. “I think you’ll like my idea better.”

He rolled onto his stomach so he could use his left hand to push himself upright. “This better be good.” His protest would have been more effective had he not curled into my side. I took him by the hand and led him into the bathroom. We both stripped and I turned on some soft music as Mason stared at the tub filled with steaming water as if he had no clue what to do next.

I walked up behind him and wrapped my arms around his waist. He rested his head on my shoulder as I tightened my grip. “You do realize I’m a sure thing, right?” he teased, turning his head to kiss my jaw. “I’m not some chick you need to wine and dine to get into your bed.”

“Good thing, since I have no desire to ever seduce a woman,” I pointed out, nudging him toward the edge of the tub. I reached down to take off his brace before guiding him into the water. “Lean forward.”

He did, allowing me room to slide into the water behind him. I draped my legs over his and my arms around his chest, pulling him back to me. “I’ve had sex more times than I can count in my life,” I told him, reaching for the soap and a wash cloth. He sighed as I began running the sudsy cloth over his chest. “But this…this is different. You’ve opened my eyes to the idea of having something more than that.”

The washcloth slid into the water and I continued massaging my way down to his hips, ignoring the way his back arched, causing his thick cock to jut out from beneath the surface of the water. His moans and sighs every time I found a sensitive spot on his body had me squeezing my eyes shut to try to maintain control of the situation. My body screamed in agony, having Mason so close, naked and wet, while my mind refused to let me cave to his earlier request.

We stayed in the water until it cooled to an uncomfortable temperature. I pushed Mason forward and stepped out, reaching for a towel for both of us. I helped him out of the tub and dried him before taking him back to bed. He seemed to have forgotten that he’d wanted to get laid tonight and wound up falling asleep before I could return from making sure the house was locked and the alarm set.

I laid next to him, pulling the sheet over both of our naked bodies and tried to go to sleep. When that didn’t work, I rolled to my side and watched him sleep, promising myself that taking it slow would pay off in the end.

Abi was already awake and sitting at the breakfast island when I walked downstairs in the morning. It was too early on a Sunday morning for a college student to be awake, and I knew there was something more going on than she was saying, but I wasn’t prepared to deal with either issue before coffee.

“I figured you two would have been in bed until noon, given the way you were eye fucking him on the way home from the airport,” Abi said in greeting. It was definitely too early to deal with her blunt sarcasm.

“Abi, you really need to cool it. I probably messed up by telling you what I did, but I needed someone in my corner. Please, do not make me regret that decision.” The fact that she passed me a mug as well as a plate with a slice of cherry kringle went a long way toward dissolving my misgivings. “Thank you.”

“No problem. I figured you weren’t going to be in the mood to cook, and it’s been a while since I had one of these,” she said, holding up the pastry. I looked in the plain white box on the counter and saw that she’d devoured nearly half of it already. Between her recent appetite and Mason’s, it was entirely possibly I’d go bankrupt having both of them in the house for the next two weeks.

He already told you he had to go back today. Don’t get ahead of yourself. I didn’t want him to go back to Chicago. 

“Abi, is everything okay with you?” I asked, settling on the stool next to her. She shook her head as she guzzled her own mug of coffee. “Do you want to talk about it?”

She shook her head again. Rather than continue shoving kringle into her face as fast as humanly possible, she started picking apart the layers of flaky pastry. I watched this go on until her breakfast was nearly unrecognizable and grabbed her hand.

“What’s going on?” I pressed, turning her stool so she was facing me. “Whatever it is, you know I won’t say anything to anyone, but you’re a horrible liar and I’m worried about you.”

“It’s everything,” she said, her voice barely a whisper. “I keep thinking about dropping out of school, but I know that’d be stupid. But, I just…I can’t do it, Sean. I have no clue if I want to be a social worker, and I have no clue how I’m going to get into grad school, much less stick with it until I’m done. I’m tired. I’m thinking about taking a break, but I know what Mom and Dad are going to say about that.”

She finally looked up at me and I nodded in understanding. Our parents always made it abundantly clear that they would help us pay for school on the condition that we kept our grades up and didn’t stop until we reached the finish line. That wasn’t an issue for me, thanks to scholarships and the draft, but Abi was struggling between what she wanted and keeping them happy.

“What can I do to help?” I asked, hating to see her in pain. She started crying and I pulled her into my arms, cradling her head as she sobbed into my shoulder.

“I don’t know. I know I keep saying that, but it’s how I feel about everything right now. It’s like everything I thought made sense doesn’t now, and I’m not sure if it ever will.” My coffee was lukewarm by the time she settled down enough for me to let her go.

“My door’s always open for you, got it? You’re too close to graduation to quit.” God, I sounded so much like my dad when I said that, it was scary. But it was also the truth. She was two semesters away from having a degree. Even if she decided she didn’t want to go for anything beyond a Bachelor’s degree, she’d regret not sticking through the next year.

I noticed movement out of the corner of my eye and saw Mason sitting quietly in the living room. I’d been so engrossed in Abi’s drama, I hadn’t even heard him come downstairs. He noticed me watching him and gave me a soft smile before turning his attention back to the television, which was muted.

I was surrounded by two of the most important people in my life, and it seemed both of them were fighting demons. It was unsettling for me to admit that I had no answers to help either of them.

Mason disappeared up the stairs and returned a short time later, dressed, and ready to leave. It hadn’t dawned on me last night, but we needed to figure out how he was going to get back to the city. I had to be at the ballpark in less than two hours, and with traffic, there was no way I could make the round trip.

“Hey, Abi, you up for another road trip?” I asked. Mason filled a travel mug with coffee, oblivious to what was going on around him. I got distracted watching him, thinking that he looked good in my space. Even though I bitched about how it sucked coming home to an empty house, I’d never wanted to share my home with anyone, but it’d be easy to have him here all the time.

“Possibly, why?” she responded, shoving yet another slice of pastry into her mouth. The girl was going to wind up three hundred pounds if she didn’t watch it.

“Well, Mason has to get back to Chicago for therapy today. I’d let him use my truck, but it’s a stick and he needs to take it easy on his hand.”

Mason looked up at me, ready to argue. I shook my head and pursed my lips. He took the hint and kept quiet. I hoped the drive would give them time to talk, because there was something Abi still wasn’t telling me.

“I suppose I could, but am I supposed to turn around to come back here after dropping him off?” I didn’t like that idea one bit, but she had a valid point.

“Mace, what do you want to do?” I asked, leaving the decision up to him.

“I don’t know what Abi would do while I’m doing my therapy and shit, but if she didn’t mind hanging around down there for the day, it’d be cool to come back up here tonight.”

I hadn’t been willing to ask him to commute back and forth daily, but it sounded perfect to me. I had a full week in town, with a day off between two home series, which would give us plenty of time together. And as a side bonus, it’d give us a chance to see what it’d be like to spend more time together. Sure, we’d been roommates before, but circumstances were different back then. For all I knew, Mason could be impossible to live with once he got pissy about the fact that he was stuck on the DL, or he could lose his mind when I left my dirty clothes all over the place.

“I’ll probably rent a car when we get back, because you’re right, I shouldn’t be trying to drive stick right now, and my Jeep’s a bitch to shift on a good day,” he continued. “I mean… if you don’t mind me staying up here, at least until you head out again. Then, I’ll probably crash at my place.”

I wanted to throw my arms around his neck and tell me there was nothing I wanted more, but I had to play it cool. For one thing, I didn’t want to seem as if I were pressuring Mason into more than he was ready for, but also because Abi would never let me live it down if I went all girly. “Yeah, that’d be fine by me.” Abi nearly choked trying to stifle her laughter at my failed attempt to stay calm and indifferent.

“If you want, I’ll be your personal chauffeur,” Abi offered, practically bouncing out of her seat. “I’ve been sitting around the house for almost a month now and I’m going out of my mind. It’d be good to have something meaningful to do.”

“Well, I guess that’s settled, then,” I said. If driving back and forth between Milwaukee and Chicago was going to put a smile on Abi’s face, I’d gladly pay for the gas it was going to require to keep the truck filled.

Abi bounded down the stairs to get ready to leave, giving Mason and me some time alone. I wrapped my arms around his waist from behind and led him into the downstairs spare bedroom. “Are you really okay with staying up here and driving down every day?” I asked, needing that little bit of reassurance.

“If I wasn’t, I wouldn’t have said it,” he grumbled. It seemed my own insecurity was the biggest hurdle we had to overcome. As much as I wanted to let go and believe that all of this was really happening, it wasn’t real to me just yet. We’d had a hot and heavy night at his place, a tender moment in the men’s bathroom in a diner, and a quick goodbye on the side of the road. That was hardly enough to justify the feelings I was having for him. “The bigger question is are you ready to have me around all the time. I’m not sure if you remember, but I can be a bit of a slob. I drink milk out of the carton and have no issues eating cold pizza that’s been sitting on the stove all night. Can you handle that?”

“You’ll have to be patient with me,” I reminded him. “I’ve spent most of my life trying to avoid getting involved with anyone, so it’s going to take some time for me to get used to the fact that I even want a relationship. As for the rest of it, I’m sure I’ll get used to walking around behind you picking up stray clothes and I’ll be sure to put leftovers away. It’ll be worth it to get some extra time with you.”

Mason shoved me down onto the bed, and fell on top of me, being careful to put all of his weight on his left arm. The Velcro of the brace on his right scratched the side of my face as he ran his fingers over my short blond hair. “It’s a lot for both of us,” he admitted. “Hell, until a few days ago, I couldn’t even admit to anyone that I wanted to be with a man. I thought I’d missed my chance to be with the one person I’ve ever really wanted. Now, I’m wondering why in the hell I didn’t say anything when we were younger. We lost so much time we could have been together.”

“Don’t think about that,” I scolded him, reaching up to brush the hair away from his face. I curled my fingers around the back of his neck, pulling him down until our lips met. The kiss started out slowly, cautiously, but quickly grew in intensity. Mason moaned as my tongue pushed past his lips, his left arm slid beneath my body, as his right hand reached for the hem of my t-shirt. “Mace, we don’t have time. Tonight, I promise.”

“I want you now,” he whimpered before nipping at my earlobe. He seemed to have some sort of oral fixation, and I was all too willing to let him sink his teeth into my skin. But not now. Right now, we were both at risk of being late for work. My brain was already short-circuiting from the way Mason was licking and biting his way down my neck, and I almost gave in to his whispered pleas. Almost.

“Tonight,” I repeated, placing my hands in the middle of his chest to push him off me. “When I get home, we’ll have dinner, talk a bit, and then not talk the rest of the night.”

“I hate you right now,” he groaned, unashamedly adjusting the hard-on in his jeans. Of course, I couldn’t help but watch him, thinking about how easy it’d be to lean forward and release him, sucking him to the root until he screamed. I had it bad.

I stood, tossing my arms around Mason’s neck. “I know, but look on the bright side.”

“I’m failing to see one right now.” I kissed him on the forehead, loving that he thought he could pull out the puppy dog eyes and get me to bend to his whim.

“It gives you a good reason to hurry up and get back here.” I gave him one last kiss before quickly ducking out of the room to keep him from starting anything else we couldn’t finish.