Page 35 of Possession

Mason understood that, sure, but seeing Tomas’s face, the left side bruised and bloody, made him want to track the man down himself. “Is Marv okay?”

He’d only met the club’s Road Captain once in the three weeks he’d been staying there. He was probably only a couple of years older than him and Vinnie, and he dressed like anaccountant, mostly because he was. Ollie had let him know afterward that Marv was more than meets the eye but that he didn’t share a ton with people who weren’t members of the MC, and that included Ollie and CJ, who had been Mason’s main sources of information about Tomas and the rest of the bikers.

Tomas chuckled. “Yeah, he still looks like a pretty boy, though I think his hair got messed up, and he was most upset about that than his busted knuckles. He was pretty sure he fractured his hand, so he had to go to the ER.”

“Jesus,” Vinnie muttered. “How do you look like this and he hit the guys so hard he broke his hand?”

Some emotion crossed Tomas’s face, but he quickly hid it behind a smile. “I guess I’m just getting slow in my old age.”

Mason narrowed his eyes, but before he could call bullshit in a more polite way, Vinnie scoffed.

“Bullshit. If you don’t want to tell us, just say that. You don’t have to make up some lie. Even with the gray in your beard, you can’t be more than mid-forties, which is far from old.”

Tomas stared at Vinnie, and the tension in the room ratcheted back up. “You know, most people are a little bit more courteous when they talk to me, especially in my own damn house.”

If Tomas had said that to him—in that low, almost scary tone—he would’ve dropped to his damn knees to beg for forgiveness, but he and Vinnie weren’t the same kind of subs.

Vinnie shot to his feet. “Well, excuse me for giving a shit.”

“Sit back down,” Tomas said, straightening to his full height. He didn’t tower over Vinnie like he did Mason, but he still had a few inches on him, and he made it count, especially with his much bulkier body.

They stared each other down, and unable to stop himself, Mason decided to throw a little gas on the sparking fire. “Tomas and I are sleeping together.”

The lie fell out of his mouth, easy as pie. He ignored the confused look Tomas shot him and kept his entire focus on Vinnie, who stared at him, surprised for a moment, but that quickly bled away, leaving hurt and anger… and jealousy.

Bingo.

“Whatever. That’s fine,” Vinnie said. “I’m happy for you both. But I guess it answers the question I came here to ask, so I’ll just leave.”

Mason realized the error in his plan, jumping to his feet. “Vinnie, wait.”

Vinnie whirled around, the anger overtaking everything else in him, his dark eyes sparking with it and making Mason want to shrink into a puddle. “Why? You broke the rules, Mase. I’m allowed to be upset about that.”

“No, that isn’t what…” He shook his head quickly, holding his hands up, stumbling over his words as he tried to make better what he’d just ruined.

Trying to see if Vinnie would be jealous had been stupid. He’d gotten caught up in the moment, wanting to push the two of them to see if they were as attracted to each other as he and Tomas had been since he’d first arrived.

But just like most things, he and Vinnie weren’t the same that way. If Vinnie had said that to him, Mason would’ve asked if he could watch them, join in, or see when it would be his turn.

That wasn’t how Vinnie operated, and now Mason couldn’t even be sure if the jealousy was over him or Tomas.

“Stop,” Tomas barked, moving between them and holding up a hand. He pointed at Mason. “What the fuck was that? I don’t want to be in the middle of some game you’re playing with him. I told you that.”

Mason’s knees trembled. He locked them in place, resisting the urge to fall. “You’re right. You did. I’m sorry. I don’t know what I was thinking.”

“And you,” Tomas said, turning to Vinnie, “I don’t completely understand what kind of relationship the two of you have, but I do know that it’s special and you’ve been together for years. I would never just step in the middle of that. I don’t know why he lied, but he did. If it were up to me, he’d get his ass paddled over it.”

Mason sucked in a breath, heat filling his entire body with arousal and trepidation. He was on the brink of getting what he wanted, but it was a fine line he was trying to traverse. If he pushed too hard one way, he could lose everything, but if he didn’t push hard enough, nothing could come to fruition between them.

“Why would you say that?” Vinnie asked, his voice a little hoarse. The anger had sputtered out, leaving behind his hurt.

Mason threw up his hands. “Because I’m an idiot. I was trying to make a point.”

“What point, Mase? I’m here. I didn’t sign the contract to go to Dallas. I’m trying, and instead of giving me a chance, you tried to throw another man in my face.”

“No, no,” Mason said, moving forward. He tried to grab Vinnie’s hands, but he jerked away, taking a step back, and Mason felt his heart cracking in his chest. “Vinnie, please. I’m sorry. I just wanted to see.”

“See what? If I actually cared about you? The fact that you would even question that…” Vinnie shook his head. “I guess I’m to blame for that, aren’t I?”

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