Liability (Suncoast Society #33)(12)

The texts weren’t as snippy in tone as they had been yesterday, but Mason could tell they might head in that direction.

Rather than calling Freddie, because Mason didn’t want to reinforce that kind of behavior in the guy, he opted to send him a tersely worded text.

Had dinner with friends. Heading home. Good night.

He was going to slide his phone into his shirt pocket when he saw a reply come in from Freddie.

Can we tlk few min 1st?

Mason opted to ignore the barely readable text and returned his phone to his pocket. He had spent the entirety of his “relationship” with Freddie holding back, trying not to be a dick once he knew Freddie wasn’t really submissive or kinky, despite the man’s assurances when they’d first met that he was. And Mason had openly revealed all of that to Freddie at the start.

Maybe if I hadn’t been so lonely, I wouldn’t have missed the warning signs.

Mason was done with that. He’d told the guy to move on, that they were finished, just friends. He was under no obligation to be anything but his honest self with the guy now.

And in retrospect, Mason realized he had tolerated a lot of behavior from Freddie over the past several months that he never would have tolerated from a submissive or a slave.

I wanted a relationship. I was tired of being alone.

He’d settled, tried to rein himself in, and it had come back to bite him in the ass in a massive way.

Never again.

Settling sucked for more than one reason.

As he drove home, Mason replayed the evening’s conversation with Cole and Kim in his mind. There was something interesting there with the couple, and not just Cole’s drop-dead gorgeous blue eyes, either.

Too bad the boy’s straight and taken.

He’d caught sight of the guy’s ass in his khakis and yeah. Yeah, he’d gladly tap that. Or spank it. Or cane it.

Or—

Dammit, I need a submissive.

Hell, not even a submissive. At this point, he’d settle for a masochist of either gender just to let loose on for an evening. He could take care of the sexual tension with his own hand, that wasn’t a problem.

He hadn’t been able to beat someone’s ass in too damn long. Draw a moan or a whimper from someone, raise welts and bruise flesh.

He’d missed being able to play. To be himself.

Maybe I shouldn’t have dismissed Landry’s offer to borrow Cris quite so quickly.

Being in Nebraska, Mason had to keep the fact that he was gay not quite on the down-low while at work, but down low enough that it didn’t raise any eyebrows or cause any ripples. There were actually lots of gay men in his urban corner of Nebraska just outside of Omaha. But the few eligible gay men he’d met, who he’d been attracted to, were…

Taken. Or, well, Freddie. Early on after he’d started dating Freddie, when Mason had mentioned the possibility of trying to also find a male submissive to play with, Freddie had pretty much freaked out.

Mason had never mentioned it again. Especially considering he hadn’t really found anyone else besides Freddie, so it wasn’t worth the hassle of mentioning it.

When Mason had gotten the lead on the job here in Florida, he’d already been considering backing away from Freddie for a number of reasons. Flying down here to interview for the job had been a burden off his mind, to do it before Freddie had found out about him doing it.

Okay, answers that question. Who the f*ck was the adult in that relationship, again?

Damn sure hadn’t been him if he couldn’t stand up to the guy, when Mason considered himself to be a Dominant.

I guess I deserve to deal with this bullshit now since I let it drag on for so long.

He parked in his spot at the condo complex and got out to head to the front door. When he pulled his phone out of his pocket at the front door, he found another text awaiting him from Freddie.

PLS talk 2 me. I miss U.

Unlocking the door, Mason headed inside and fought the urge to slam it behind him. He didn’t appreciate Freddie making him feel like a heel, and he didn’t appreciate being guilt-tripped.

Although he’d stuck his own head in the sand and ignored Freddie’s flaws during their short-lived relationship.

Thank god I didn’t get a land-line put in. I’d never get rid of him.

Mason headed for the bedroom to try to get some sleep.





Chapter Six


Cole couldn’t help but notice how quiet Kim was after dinner as he drove them back toward her apartment.

“You all right?” he finally asked ten minutes after leaving the restaurant.

“Yeah. Just a lot to think about.” He was focused on the road but out of the corner of his eye noticed that she turned to look at him. “What did you think?” she asked.

“I think we have a lot to talk about, huh?”

“Yeah. Are you really okay having dinner with Mason on Wednesday? And going to the club Saturday?”

“Of course. I wouldn’t have agreed to it if I wasn’t.”

He’d exchanged cell numbers with the guy before leaving the restaurant. Even better, Mason had invited him to feel free to text him if he had questions or wanted to talk about all of this before Wednesday. There was also a site called FetLife that Mason told them about and gave them his username to look up. He’d welcomed them to friend him there. Cole planned on signing up tonight.