Liability (Suncoast Society #33)(21)

Just like the fact that he hadn’t followed his initial instincts to keep Freddie at arm’s length had come back to bite him in the ass.

Thank goodness for the mute function on his phone, because after basically ignoring Freddie’s texts last night and responding with a simple good-night text of his own, he’d awakened that morning to ten texts from the man, vacillating between sweet and borderline psychotic.

I guess if I was a true sadist I could f*cking block him and be done with it.

But just because he was a sadist didn’t mean he wanted to be a dick. The last thing he wanted to be was a dick. Even with damn Freddie. His father was a dick, and he was not his father. Refused to be like the man.

Kim and Cole were different. He definitely felt…something for the couple. Intellectually, for sure. People he enjoyed talking with, the kind of people he knew he could get lost for hours with in conversation.

Hell, they’d done exactly that at dinner, their topics veering from kinky issues to vanilla ones and back again effortlessly.

They were both nice people. Okay, make that barrier one, and being people he could be vanilla friends with barrier number two.

As far as other concerns—they both had jobs, their own places, vehicles. He didn’t give a crap if they were rich or poor, but they seemed to have their shit together.

He sat back in his chair and stared at his monitor. Yep, another red flag he’d ignored with Freddie. Freddie most definitely did not have his shit together, fiscally or emotionally.

Why had I let him talk me into a relationship?

Oh, yeah. He was cute and available and I was a lonely f*cking idiot who ignored warning signs and moved too fast because Freddie wanted to move at warp speed.

As soon as he’d realized Freddie definitely wasn’t a submissive or a masochist, he should have never taken things to the next level, should have chilled everything down and friend-zoned him. Not even for f*ck buddies, as clingy as the man had turned out to be. Although Freddie had put on a good mask in the early days and didn’t let his crazy show, at first.

Mason had wondered after Saturday night’s conversation with Freddie if that was really the end of it. The texts he’d awakened to that morning didn’t bode well for that. There’d been a time a few months earlier, once he’d told Freddie he was moving, where Freddie had pulled a snit like this. Mason had pretty much told him there was the door, which had turned Freddie’s attitude around one hundred and eighty degrees real quick.

Which helped Mason put the brakes on something else. Even thinking about Kim in terms of being play partners was moving things along way too fast. Lots of ground to cover before that point, especially since she didn’t even know what she’d like.

Cart before the horse. Waaaay before the horse. Cole didn’t even know what he’d be comfortable doing or watching them do together. Mason knew he’d have to go slow, start simply, and hopefully with things that Cole himself could get into. Mason would stay away from any orgasm play with her for now, unless it was teaching Cole how to do it.

Lots of talking and communication.

No, that didn’t mean he’d avoid any and all pitfalls with the couple, but it was a start. They were both curious, had open minds, and Cole wasn’t reluctantly doing this. He was being honest and open that he wasn’t sure what he’d be able to do, but that he did want to try to work out whatever accommodations they could so that Kim could get what she needed. Or at least to give her the ability to figure out what she needed.

More important still? Cole was willing to admit that he might be able to learn and grow and enjoy this, but wouldn’t hesitate to back out if he couldn’t and still support her trying to do what she needed to do.

Mason could tell how much they loved each other. Only an idiot could miss that.

Now if I could just find a guy like that for me, things would be spiffy.





It was nearly lunch time when Mason’s phone buzzed with a text from Cole, thanking him again for the night before, but he also saw one there from Freddie that he hadn’t seen earlier.

How RU?

Mason stared at the text. There was a fine line between being an * and being firm, and he still didn’t want to be one more dick in a long line of dicks in Freddie’s life, staring with Freddie’s own family.

Yes, Freddie didn’t just have issues, he had subscriptions. And no, he knew he wasn’t the cause of Freddie’s issues, and it didn’t mean he had to let Freddie walk all over him. He didn’t want to cut all ties with the man if they could still be friends.

He could still be friends. He didn’t know if that was something in Freddie’s emotional DNA, however.

He waited until he was ready to leave to text Freddie back.

Heading for lunch.

The reply came almost immediately, as if Freddie had been sitting on his phone and awaiting Mason’s reply.

Which, of course, he probably had.

Where U goin?

To eat with coworkers. Have to go. Driving.

Freddie knew he did not text and drive, so hopefully that would buy him an easy out.

He’d felt sorry for Freddie, who initially made a great impression. It was hard to see how damaged the guy was, at first.

Until he got his hooks into you and tenaciously clung to you and didn’t want to let go.

Like a f*cking sandspur. The harder you tried to get rid of him, the more tenaciously he clung to you.