Liability (Suncoast Society #33)(2)

Mason knew what would happen. Freddie would come to “visit” and never leave.

No. Fucking. Way.

Freddie had never lived anywhere else other than Nebraska. Mason felt sure that the chance to get out of Nebraska was also playing a part in Freddie’s thought processes.

Not that he could blame the guy. Freddie’s family was a bunch of *s.

And not because they were from Nebraska. They were originally from New York City, even more surprising. Surprising that they would turn out to be homophobic *s, that was.

From outside, Mason heard the faint sound of a motorcycle pulling into the parking lot and shutting off. Within seconds, Leah burst through the door from the office lobby, spotted Mason, and let out an ecstatic squee that made everyone laugh as she rushed across the space and practically threw herself into Mason’s arms for a hug.

“Well, hello to you, too, sweetie,” he said.

Tony playfully cleared his throat. “Can I keep going, Leah?”

Leah’s face turned an adorable shade of pink. “Sorry.” She settled into a chair at the table on Mason’s left side, hooking an arm through his and laying her head on his shoulder.

On Mason’s right side, Shayla leaned around him. “Hey, what am I? Chopped liver?” Her smile and tone belied her words.

Leah’s face deepened in color. “Ohmigosh, sorry!” She draped herself over Mason to hug Shayla.

Mindful of not wanting to interrupt Tony further, Mason whispered, “Where’s Seth?”

“He’s—” The lobby door opened and Seth poked his head in, glancing around and homing in on his wayward wife and slave.

Question answered.

Mason lifted an arm in greeting and Seth walked in. He carried two motorcycle helmets and had a small bag slung over one shoulder. Quietly he joined them at the table, leaning in to hug Mason and Shayla before sitting on Leah’s other side.

This was the first night Mason had had a chance to get out and meet up with his friends. Between the move, the new job, and settling in, the past eight weeks had passed in a blur. He’d wanted to try to eat dinner with everyone at Sigalo’s earlier that evening, but he’d overslept from a well-needed nap.

Tomorrow night was the monthly Suncoast Society munch. He definitely planned to be there for it, to finally get a chance to reconnect in person with many of his old friends. Some of whom he hadn’t seen in years.

Since Kaden’s funeral.

Mason knew Leah far better than he knew Seth. He’d known Leah and Kaden through the Suncoast Society. He’d met Seth a few times at Leah and Kaden’s for vanilla dinners and gatherings before Seth knew about the other side of his friends’ relationship.

Mason felt shitty that he hadn’t been around for the three of them when Kaden was sick, due to his job and living out of state. But Mason was happy that Kaden had paired his wife and best friend together. A truly perfect match, one Mason wouldn’t deny was also bittersweet.

Mason knew Kaden had talked to Tony about all of this, because Kaden had talked to him as well. Unfortunately, living out of state meant he couldn’t make his friend any promises, although he would have done his damnedest to help out had he lived locally.

Tony’s BDSM101 class took an hour. Normally, it was a class Marcia or Loren taught, but they and their other halves were both taking a well-deserved night off from teaching at the club. They’d be at the munch tomorrow evening, as would a bunch of Mason’s old friends who’d agreed to attend to welcome him home.

When Tony finished answering questions, he ended the class, turned down the house lights, and turned up the music. Club members who’d shown up during the tail end of his class gathered their gear to start playing while Tony joined them at the table.

Mason stood to give the man a long hug.

“God, it’s good to finally have you back,” Tony said after they parted and he took the chair on Shayla’s other side. “What the hell possessed you to move out there in the first place?”

This had been a frequent subject of teasing on the other man’s part for the past eight years. “Well, you know. Temporary insanity, good benefits, excellent pay. Stuff like that.”

Tony grinned. “You could have kept working for me.”

“I know. Part of me wishes I had, too.” Mason shrugged. “Hindsight’s twenty-twenty, and all that bullshit. It’s all good. I’m finally home, where I belong, and I’m not leaving again.”

Mason had worked at Asher Insurance for several years before the itch to try to find a higher-paying job hit him. He’d left to work for a local financial company, which went out of business less than a year later.

Unfortunately, Asher couldn’t hire him back at the time because they had no openings in Tony’s department. Leading Mason to search elsewhere.

Now Mason was running a division of the IT department at the newly expanded headquarters of an online DIY travel arrangement company based out of Sarasota. They’d been in business for over seven years, with a lot of solid growth under their belt, including recently buying up two competitors and folding those operations into theirs. Not much chance of them suddenly shutting down the way his last Florida job had ended.

“So are you settled in?” Tony asked. “At the condo, I mean?”

“Yeah. As settled in as I’m going to get. Finally got the last boxes unpacked this week. I’m officially a Floridian again.”