Page 13 of Possession

Apparently,hewas the only one who didn’t know how to stand on his own. Mason had been proppinghimup all these years.

Maybe this was for the best. Maybe they really were too codependent, and it was time they learned to be two separate people instead of the duo they’d been for so long.

He was just pouring himself an unhealthy amount of vodka into a glass with a few ice cubes when his phone started vibrating on the counter behind him. He nearly dropped his glass in his haste to grab it. Never in his life had he ever been disappointed to see Ollie’s name and face on the screen, his hundred-watt smile beaming up at him.

He took a deep breath and then tried to sound halfway normal. “Hey, Ol. How’s it going?”

“You tell me, Vin,” Ollie said, voice sharper than usual. “What the fuck do you think you’re doing?”

“That is the question of the hour,” Vinnie mumbled and took a deep drink, wincing at the burn of the freezing cold liquor.

“I’m being completely serious. You need to get your head out of your ass. You know I love you, but if half of what Mason told me is true?—”

“What? You’ll take his side in the divorce?” Vinnie cut in, his chest feeling like it was going to explode.

Of course Ollie would take Mason’s side. Their friend Penny would too. Mason was the more likable one. The sweet one. Theniceone.

Vinnie had always been more serious. More cautious and stubborn. If Mason hadn’t been the bridge, he wasn’t sure he would have built friendships that would have lasted a quarter as long as his ones with Ollie and Penny had.

He just wasn’t built that way.

He wouldn’t be surprised, though, when he lost them like he was going to Mason. He even knew it was his fault. He wasn’t delusional. He knew he was being an asshole. That he was letting his own shit in his head build up until it was an orchestra of negativity and blame and jealousy. Making him lash out at the one person in his life who’d ever loved him unconditionally.

Because of what? Money?

God, what the hell was wrong with him? Maybe he deserved to be alone, abandoned all over again, just like when his parents found him and Mase half-naked on his bed a month before they finished high school.

He took another drink.

“I’m not choosing sides,” Ollie said, sounding exasperated.

There was music in the background—something with a heavy bass and fast pace—and the low hum of voices. It pissed him off, helping him shed some of his self-pity. Was Mason too busy partying it up with the bikers to return his texts and phone calls?

“I’m just trying to understand what’s going on,” Ollie continued, oblivious to the rising storm in Vinnie’s head. “The two of you are like conjoined twins, and yet half of you is camped out in the room next to mine, heartbroken, and the other half sounds like they’re getting drunk by themselves across the country.”

Vinnie swirled the ice cubes in his glass. Fucking Ollie. “Don’t worry about it,” he said, keeping his tone even. “It was just an argument. I’m sure we’ll work it out.”

Ollie snorted. “If I honestly thought you believed that, I’d fly down there and smack you upside the head myself. But we both know you don’t. So, I’m going to give you a little piece of advice.”

Jaw clenching, Vinnie set his glass down harder than he meant. “Relationship advice from Ollie? Wait while I grab a pen and paper.”

“Ha ha.”

“Okay, I’m ready. Go ahead and hit me.”

“Oh, I’ll hit you,” Ollie snapped at him. “I don’t know exactly what’s going on in that head of yours, but if you don’t figure out why you’re trying to ruin your own fucking life, fix it, and then get your ass up here and fix what you did to Mason, you’re going to regret it. He won’t wait for you forever.”

An ice pick to the fucking heart.

Ollie could be the fun-loving, never-serious friend more often than not, but when he felt like you were messing up and needed a talking-to, he was the first in line to give you a verbal smackdown.

The fact that he’d said Mason was heartbroken was tearing at his insides, leaving his organs bruised and bleeding. That was the last thing he wanted. He just… The way their relationship had changed the last few years, he couldn’t stop obsessing over the biting comments his parents had made to him before kicking him and Mase out and never speaking to them again.

Mostly, it had been outdated bullshit like telling him he’d die from AIDS, but more than once, his dad had said some nasty things about how Vinnie would basically end up as some rich guy’s dirty secret until getting kicked to the curb once he wasn’t young and attractive anymore.

He’d been able to bury it all down deep and rarely thought about it. He’d gotten his degree and started working at the hospital, bringing home good money with benefits and supporting Mason whenever he jumped to another short-term job. Mason hadn’t been able to settle on one thing and gave up on college after a couple of years, so money could be tight for him, but Vinnie hadn’t minded sometimes covering the majority of their bills.

But then Mason’s channel had taken off.

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