Page 29 of Possession

The other two chuckled and started moving in the opposite direction. The man with the dark beard glanced back at Vinnie and smiled, giving him a quick wink and then hurrying after his friend.

Vinnie shook his head at their antics and pulled open the door to the clubhouse. Inside, the large open space was full of light and bustling with activity. Several men were moving around furniture. Others were blowing up balloons and tying strings to them. A woman with short hair dyed a vibrant purple barked orders at a couple of younger people who were setting out plates, cups, cutlery, and large dishes that would be filled with food later.

And just like the man in the truck had said, Ollie and another young man Vinnie recognized from their video chats stood near the back, heads tipped up as they looked at a crooked banner being hung by a large Black man and a white guy with long hair pulled up into a messy bun. He knew from some of hisconversations with Ollie the dark-skinned man was Houston, which made the other guy Rooster.

He slowly approached, looking all around the room to try and pinpoint Mason but not seeing him. He wasn’t sure where he could be. There was no way he’d be hiding out in his room upstairs while there was a party being set up by one of their best friends down here.

Then again, he’d barely talked to Mason the last couple of weeks, the two of them doing nothing more than exchanging a handful of text messages, not FaceTiming or talking on the phone after that first disastrous time. Maybe Mason was on a date, or he’d moved out, or he was getting dicked down by a biker somewhere in the clubhouse.

It wasn’t that Vinnie didn’t want Mason to have fun and all the sex he wanted, but they’d had an agreement since they were twenty and had decided they would be more than just best friends who slept in the same bed and sometimes had sex. While they looked for someone who could give them the things they wanted but couldn’t give each other, they weren’t supposed to hook up with anyone without letting the other person know.

If it was someone they had real feelings for, there was supposed to be a lengthier conversation first, but Vinnie didn’t know if those rules applied anymore. Mason had left him, after all. Maybe he had left their relationship as well and felt like he could fuck anyone he wanted, and it wasn’t Vinnie’s business.

“Rooster, you have to go higher on your side. Houston, stop fucking moving your end,” Ollie called out, exasperated.

The two men chuckled, and a second later, the banner was miraculously exactly level.

Ollie planted his hands on his slim hips and stomped one of his boot-covered feet. “Were you two fucking with me? Do I look like I’m in the mood to be fucked with right now?”

CJ clapped a hand over his mouth, but it didn’t stop the sound of his laughter from escaping.

Ollie turned on his friend. “Et tu?”

CJ waved his free hand before speaking against his fingers in a muffled voice. “No, no, you’re right. This is very serious business.”

Throwing his hands up in the air, Ollie spun on his heel, no doubt intent on storming away to go bully someone else into doing what he wanted, but he screeched to a halt when he saw Vinnie standing five feet behind him.

“Hey, Ollie.”

“Vinnie, what the hell are you doing here?”

CJ turned and stared at him, his jaw slackened. “Holy shit,” he whispered as the two men hanging the banner descended from where they’d been standing on the bar top.

“Everything okay?” Houston said as he eyed Vinnie.

Ollie shook off his surprise, darted forward, and wrapped Vinnie in a tight hug. “I fucking hope so,” he muttered. When they separated, he gave Vinnie a slight shove. “You’re here to fix things, right?”

Vinnie nodded. “I am.”

“Glad you finally got your head out of your ass.”

“Boy, I know you aren’t the one I’ve been hearing cussing from across the room,” a low, growly voice said.

Six came up behind Vinnie. He upnodded Vinnie as he glanced over, seeming completely unsurprised at his appearance. The large biker threaded his fingers into Ollie’s hair and gripped tightly, tipping his head back. “Do I need to take you upstairs for a time-out?”

Ollie licked his lips, and the temperature in the room shot up ten degrees. Vinnie was no prude, but watching the two of them felt incredibly intimate. He glanced around and saw that Roosterand Houston had moved on, ignoring the two of them, and CJ was rolling his eyes.

When his gaze connected with Vinnie’s, he moved forward and held out a hand. “It’s nice to finally meet you in person.”

“You too,” Vinnie said, giving him a quick shake. He ignored the soft gasp he heard from Ollie, keeping his attention on CJ. “Is Mason around? I was hoping to talk to him.”

CJ didn’t say anything for a moment, his friendly smile staying perfectly in place. Vinnie got the very distinct impression he was being evaluated. He couldn’t even be offended. He knew Mason was incredibly easy to like and care about, so the fact CJ was trying to decide whether he was worthy of knowing where Mason was made him feel a little bit better about their time away from each other.

Though he couldn’t also help but wish he had that for himself. Too bad his personality didn’t tend to make fast friends like Mason’s did.

Before CJ could decide on telling him or not, Ollie popped up next to him, a flush in his cheekbones and hair a little mussed. “He had to go and get more helium for the balloons. He should be back in about half an hour.”

While he was a little disappointed at missing him, a larger part of him was grateful for the reprieve, which made him feel like a shitty person. He’d had nearly three weeks to figure out what to say; he shouldn’t need another thirty minutes.

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