Liability (Suncoast Society #33)(55)

He’d known when taking the job that he’d have some elephants to eat. He’d already been warned about the desperately needed upgrades and systems merges that the company acquisitions had triggered.

But he’d expected to implement several things in stages and not have massive meltdowns in the process.

At least things would get easier from here on out.

He hoped.

He was also looking forward to spending a leisurely Sunday with Cole and Kim,

Hopefully naked most of the day, maybe not even leaving bed except for coffee, food, and bathroom breaks. Not even all-day sex, but snuggling and talking and watching TV.

Heavy on the snuggling and talking options.

Especially the talking.

It was time to start nudging Kim a little more out of her comfort zone. He understood her past pain, but it was time for her to decide to move forward. Either she trusted Cole, at least, or not. He wouldn’t pressure her, because despite his feelings, they’d only known each other for a couple of months.

Trusting Cole enough to move forward would be her first step to being able to trust him, too.

Ideally? He’d like to have all three of them living under the same roof, preferably in the same bed. He could easily see the three of them like that.

Unlike Freddie.

Yeah, he hadn’t done either himself or Freddie any favors there.

Speaking of…

Mason wasn’t sure he even wanted to deal with that mess right now. After the verbal reaming he’d given Freddie the other night—which Mason would be the first to admit had been conduct unbecoming a Dom, but the man’s sudden appearance had caught him totally off-guard—maybe that had been what was needed to get the guy out of his hair for good.

Seriously? Freddie had moved here?

Mason still wasn’t sure he believed it, that maybe it was a sympathy ploy on Freddie’s part to get Mason to invite him to move in, but no way in hell.

Maybe if he’d never met and fallen in love with Cole and Kim he might be soft-hearted enough to go have dinner somewhere at a neutral location with the guy, but definitely not now. And especially not if Freddie really had moved down here.

Mason absolutely did not want Freddie anywhere near those two.

He got a shower, dressed, shaved—finally—and prepared his stuff for the club as he exchanged flirty texts with both Kim and Cole. They’d left earlier so Mason could wrap up a couple of reports, leaving his Sunday free for them. Cole would pick her up and then they’d meet him at Sigalo’s at six. They’d swing back by Mason’s condo to drop off Cole’s car and their stuff, and so that Kim could change clothes for going to the club.

Meaning they’d have a quick opportunity to start winding her up in ways they couldn’t at the club.

Oooh, yeah.

That woke up some interest in his cock.

In fact, tonight he’d like to finish off the night f*cking her while Cole f*cked his ass. That was a permutation they hadn’t done in a while.

Aaaand now I’m hard.

He still didn’t have to leave for nearly an hour yet and he ended up staring at the string of text messages from Freddie.

And the pending voice mail he hadn’t played, left over from earlier that day. He took a deep breath and played it rather than leaving it hanging over his head all night.

“You need to call me and talk to me. Don’t push me on this. You owe me an explanation, and you owe me an apology. I love you. Don’t make me do something I’ll regret.”

The tone of the man’s voice disturbed Mason. Not quite threatening. He wasn’t sure if Freddie was saying he’d do something to Mason, or to himself. Mason decided to keep the voice mail just in case he’d ever need it as evidence if his car got trashed or something.

I’m sick of this shit. Time to Dom-up and do this.

After his thumb hovered over it for a moment, he hit Freddie’s number in his contact list.

At first, Mason was kind of hoping the call would go to voice mail. That he could be an über-dick and just leave a succinct message for Freddie to tell him no more, that he was going to be blocking his number.

Then the guy answered.

“Mason?”

Damn. “Yeah. Look, here’s the thing,” Mason said without preamble. “You caught me off-guard the other night. I’m sorry I yelled at you, but the message remains the same. There is no relationship between us.”

“I moved down here to be near you.”

Mason rubbed at his forehead, trying to keep this conversation civil. “I left absolutely no doubt about my opinions on that when I moved down here. We are no longer in a relationship. I have repeatedly told you that. Do not try to guilt-trip me with this.”

“Are you seeing anyone else?”

He wasn’t going to lie to the guy, but he didn’t want Freddie knowing his business, either. “I’m in a relationship.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

“Because it’s none of your business. I don’t understand what’s not clear about that.”

“You said we’re friends.”

“And you’ve made it abundantly clear that you’re going to try to shove against and fail to respect that boundary as hard and as much as you can. Moving down here and showing up unannounced at my place is proof of that. Unfortunately, it’s also proof that I cannot be friends with you.”