Liability (Suncoast Society #33)(90)

He snickered. “Uh-huh. Suurre.”

Mason turned it back down to low and the moaning from the bathroom quieted.

Mason pulled his shorts on and went to wash his hands in the guest bathroom. Kim emerged from their bedroom, expression glazed and glaring at him. “I nearly fell in the toilet.”

He giggled. “Then I suggest you better figure out how to get used to it. Oh, get a towel to sit on for dinner.”

“Yes, Master.” She turned around to go do it and he delivered a stinging slap to her ass.

She turned and smiled. “Love you, Master.”

“Love you, too, pet. Merry Christmas.”

He washed his hands—again—and headed for the kitchen.

“Dinner’s—hey. Where’s your walker?”

“In the living room. I used the walls and couch for balance.” He slid into a chair at the table. “See? Safe.”

Cole rolled his eyes and leaned in for a kiss. “Damn stubborn Dom. Love you.”

Mason hooked a hand around the back of his neck and pulled him in for another kiss. “Love you, too. Merry Christmas.”

Cole picked up the remote from where Mason had left it on the table, and cranked it up to high.

They both laughed as Kim squealed in the hall.

Cole grinned as he turned it back down. “It is now.”





Chapter Thirty-Three


Mason awoke feeling achy and sore.

Dammit.

The forecasted winter weather front must have made it through. Februaries in Florida could be balmy or brutally bitter—sometimes from one day to the next, depending on the frontal boundaries.

It was a Friday, meaning he needed to get his ass out of bed and get ready for work. Tony was a great boss, but now that Mason was back up to what currently passed for full speed in his life, he knew Tony also wouldn’t hesitate to razz him about being late too many times.

As Mason slowly forced himself up into a sitting position, his area of awareness expanded and he processed that he was alone in bed.

“Pet,” he called out.

“Coming, Master.” She hurried into the bedroom, a steaming mug of coffee in one hand and two ibuprofen tablets in the other. “I was just coming to wake you up.” She set the coffee on the end table and handed him the glass of water from there. “There you go.”

“Thank you, sweetheart.” Now more awake, he heard the shower going. From her damp hair, he suspected she’d already showered. “Cole in the shower?”

“Yes, Sir.”

He switched out the water for coffee and took a few sips. Then he handed the mug back to her and held out his right hand. “Okay. Help me up.”

“It’s cold out there.”

“I figured.” The house felt comfortable. He knew Cole had set it to sixty-eight the night before, and he heard the air handler kick off in confirmation.

Sure enough, Cole was still in the shower. He stepped inside with him.

“Hey, you,” Cole said as he leaned in for a kiss. “I was just finishing up. Want me to scrub your back?”

“Please.” Mason turned and leaned his forehead against the tile, closing his eyes as the warm water sprayed on his aching body. He was one massive ball of pain this morning. Yes, they’d all warned him that this would likely occur, at least at first. He might be up and mobile, but his body was still healing, and in some ways medical science couldn’t even understand. Such was the legacy of the injuries he’d survived.

At least he was still alive, something he could appreciate far more now looking back on the experience than he could at first. Several months since the accident, he was still a long way from a full recovery, and he had only just been cleared to drive again a couple of weeks earlier.

Cole scrubbed his back for him, finishing by pressing his body along Mason’s back and wrapping his arms around Mason’s midsection. “Do you want me or Kim to drive you?”

“No, I’ll manage it. I just need to stand under the hot water for a while.” Once again settled in and working at Asher Insurance, it was amazing how easy it’d been to absorb back into the culture there. A few people he knew from his earlier stint still worked there, too.

And had he just stayed there, he might have been even farther along than he was now.

Then again, had he been “meaner” to Freddie when he broke up with him, he might not have lost his other job.

Maybe my dad was really onto something after all.

Cole made him turn around and look at him. “I know that tone of voice, dude. Talk to me.”

Kim was absolutely right. Cole was their balance. Mason could divert Kim’s concern for him, but Cole wasn’t so easily swayed. Especially after his time spent with Kim and dealing with her issues.

“Just stuck in my head right now. I’ll be okay. The weather and the pain. That’s all.”

Cole finally nodded and kissed him. “Warn Tony when you get there that you’re hurting today. They might let you come home early.”

“I will.” No might about it, they would. But Mason hated doing that. He hated feeling like he wasn’t pulling his own weight.

Hated feeling borderline useless sometimes.

He finished his shower to find that Kim had already made the bed and laid his clothes out for him, making him smile. She was in the other bathroom getting ready so she wasn’t in his way, plus she needed to use a mirror that wasn’t all steamed up so she could do her hair and makeup.