Page 19 of Possession

A year ago, he’d been so excited when he and Vinnie had agreed to go on their adventure, and that’s what it had felt like. They were going to live somewhere else temporarily, experience a big city, new restaurants, clubs, meet interesting people, and then they would come home and go back to their hunt for finding the perfect Dom for the two of them.

But as the year had progressed, it had become glaringly obvious to Mason that he and Vinnie weren’t on the same path anymore. He wasn’t exactly sure when it had happened, but based on parts of their fights, he had a feeling it was when he’d started becoming successful with his work. He hated the idea that Vinnie resented him making more money than he did, but it also didn’t make sense.

Yeah, Vinnie could be stubborn and pigheaded and occasionally even rude—though he was never cruel. He just got crabby sometimes. Vinnie had never learned how to just say what was wrong without first spending at least a few hours, if not days, being grumpy and sarcastic.

But he was also thoughtful and loving. He took care of Mason as best he could for nearly a decade. When Mason had floundered, trying to figure out his life, Vinnie had been a steadyrock, supporting him and encouraging him, paying more than his fair share of the bills.

A part of Mason knew that something like this was inevitable. He’d ignored it, pretending they could go on the way they were indefinitely, but he’d always secretly known the truth, even when he wouldn’t admit it out loud.

They were too similar and yet too different, both subs desiring a guiding hand and the release that only came from completely giving yourself over to someone else but needing it in completely different ways.

There was no way they could be one hundred percent happy with only each other. But as the years had gone on and no Dom that either of them had liked or tried to bring into their relationship had worked out, the more frantic Mason had become to find their unicorn.

He was convinced the perfect man had to be out there for them, someone who could give both of them what they needed even though they were so different, but maybe Vinnie was right. Maybe holding out hope that there was someone out there, eager to explore all of the things he and Vinnie needed or wanted to try, was actually silly. Maybe he was being naïve. Maybe he should have?—

“Are you okay?”

Mason jerked his head up, and then up a little more until he finally met Tomas’s concerned gaze. “What?”

“I said are you okay? You’ve been sitting here for quite a while.”

Mason frowned and looked around. How had he missed Tomas standing there staring at him? “Sorry, I didn’t realize… Did you need to go upstairs?”

He started to stand, but Tomas waved him off. “No, I was just finishing up in my office and checked the new security cameras.”

“You have new security cameras?” He tried to remember if there had been old security cameras, but he couldn’t recall ever seeing any.

Tomas shrugged and crossed his arms over his chest, leaning one shoulder against the hall wall. “Yeah, and I replaced the gate so that it can be remotely opened and closed.”

“Well, that seems handy,” Mason said slowly, finally spotting the camera at the end of the hall pointed toward the stairs.

“So what has you sitting here all by yourself when your friends are out there?” Tomas pointed over his shoulder with his thumb, studying Mason in that way of his that made him feel exposed and vulnerable in the best way.

He laughed without much humor. “Those aren’t my friends. I mean, Ollie is, but I don’t really know everyone else.”

He pushed to his feet. Now that someone knew he’d just been sitting there, not moving, he felt like he should go and have his existential crisis in his room.

Tomas frowned and pushed upright, taking a step closer. “You didn’t really answer my question.”

He hadn’t, had he? Sighing, he shook his head. “It’s dumb. Nothing you need to worry about.”

“Try me.”

Mason rolled his lips over his teeth, not sure he wanted to, yet the words were at the back of his throat, eager to come out and be shared. “I talked to Vinnie.”

“Is everything okay? Did you guys have another fight?” There was a furrow between Tomas’s thick brows, the lines on his forehead deepening. Even as he frowned at Mason, he was thought-stealingly handsome with his sexy beard and serious eyes.

And why was his body warming at the mere fact that this man, who barely knew him and was responsible for an entiremotorcycle club, remembered that he and Vinnie had had a fight?

“Not another fight, more of an extension of the last one. I told him I wasn’t coming back, and if he wanted to try and work things out, he needed to come here and not go somewhere else for another year.”

An emotion he couldn’t pinpoint crossed over Tomas’ face before he cleared it away and nodded. “I’m sorry to hear that. Relationships are hard, but if you two are meant to be, I’m sure you’ll work it out.”

“Maybe,” he said softly, dropping his gaze to his feet. He hadn’t bothered to put shoes on, thinking he’d be able to sneak down and then right back up. He rubbed the bottom of one foot over the top of the other, feeling self-conscious for some reason. “Anyway, I just wasn’t feeling up to being around a bunch of other people, but I really wanted to get something to eat.”

Tomas didn’t say anything for a long minute, and then his black motorcycle boots came into Mason’s line of sight. “Go on back upstairs. I’ll bring you something.”

He jerked his head up. “No, you don’t have to do that. You’ve already done way too much for me. I can be a big boy and be social. It’s not that big of a?—”

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