by Riley Hart
“Stop.” The word forced itself from his lips, because stopping was the last thing he wanted Mason to do. “You have to fucking stop or I’m going to lose it.” And then Mason would have to get him hard again so Gavin could fuck him.
Mason didn’t slow down. Didn’t stop fingering his ass. Licking his hole. Gavin didn’t stop thrusting, either—into the bed, then pushing his ass in Mason’s face.
It was the combination of the three, the friction on his rod and the play behind, that got him.
He buried his face in the pillow. His whole body tensed in the best way, tensed in the way that said it was preparing to let go.
When Mason’s fingers pushed in deeper, when they went for his prostate, rubbing the sensitive spot, Gavin couldn’t hold it back. He thrust again, his cock leaking all over the bed. Mason’s tongue circled him again, making him shoot again, then again, as he emptied his load.
Damned if his body didn’t feel like deadweight. Like Mason has taken everything out of him. Fuck.
There was a rustling behind him. Mason’s tongue was gone, and then his fingers, and then his weight. Gavin rolled just as Mason went up on his knees, jerking himself off.
“Christ, you got me right there. Just fucking watching you and I’m right there.”
No way could Gavin not be a part of this. He wet his fingers in his mouth, then reached a hand up and behind Mason. He bent over Gavin’s body, ass in the air, using one hand to hold himself up and the other to work his dick.
Gavin pushed his fingers inside. Wished like hell it was his half-hard cock inside Mason.
It didn’t take long—a few hard thrusts of Gavin’s fingers, a few pumps of Mason’s hand, and then he erupted, ribbons of white, sticky come landing on Gavin’s stomach, mixing with his own.
As Mason went down, his heavy weight astride Gavin, all he could think about was how explosive they were together.
How good they felt together, and not just when they fucked, either.
He hadn’t expected it to happen….but he was damn glad it did.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
Gavin stirred, naked, beneath him. Mason pried his eyes open, not even aware that he’d fallen asleep. Darkness still encased the room, telling him that it was the middle of the night. Mason’s body was sticky, and as he ran a hand down Gavin’s abs, he realized his lover was the same.
“You weren’t kidding about the small window between orgasm and passing out, were you?” Mason’s hand vibrated on Gavin’s chest as he spoke, his voice scratchy.
“Hey, not all the time. I’m always up for a round two, and it doesn’t sound like I’m the only one who fell asleep.”
“I’m sorry. About the shit with Isaac. I’m not usually a jealous man. I don’t know what’s wrong with me.”
“You’re a man. You want to know what’s yours is yours. I get it. I’m not fucking my ex. I won’t fuck my ex. But if we’re going to do this, you have to trust me. I don’t play games, and I don’t take shit, either.” Mason rubbed his thumb through the hair on Gavin’s chest, wanted to feel it against his skin. “Don’t accuse me again, and if you’re in, we’ll define everything right now. There’s something about you that I can’t get out of my head.”
Had he been looking for a relationship? Hell, no, but he might have found one. Mason was okay with that. And if Gavin wanted to keep it strictly fucking, he’d deal with that, as well.
Gavin turned, threw a heavy leg over Mason. He fucking loved that. The weight of another man on top of him. Gavin’s hand went down, cupped Mason’s balls.
“Are you asking me to be your boyfriend?” Gavin questioned.
“We’re not twelve. I’m just asking you if you want to be mine.”
His body started to respond to Gavin’s hand. Blood flooded is dick.
“Yeah…yeah, I think I do. Now, you owe me. Tit for tat, remember? How’d it go when you went home?”
Damn it. He’d hoped they could avoid that and Gavin would just take his ass. “We’re awfully fucking chatty. Are we supposed to spend this much time talking?”
“Do people come with rule books about what they are and aren’t supposed to do? We’re living, right? That’s what it is. Go with the flow. This was your idea, boss.”
Yeah, he guessed it was. “It’s nothing, really. I just…even when I wasn’t living the life I wanted, I always felt like I knew who I was. Now? I’m not so sure. That’s a hard pill to swallow at thirty years old. And should it even fucking matter? Who my parents are or what my heritage is? I know my personal history, and that’s all that should matter. My head just keeps fucking it all up by overthinking everything. I don’t fail, Gav. I never have. And not being able to get over this—that feels like a failure to me, and I’m having a hard time with it.”
Pride could fuck people up more than anything else, he thought.
“You’ve been dealt a blow. It makes sense.”
That didn’t mean he had to like it. It didn’t mean he was okay with how he felt. “I find myself second guessing everything. Earlier, you said you’re angry. I am, too. I’m pissed they lied and pissed it matters. I’m pissed that I’m not theirs.”
“You are in the ways that count.”
Mason shook his head. “Just words. All those are just words. What matters is how you feel. You get that. I know you do.”
There was a pause, and Mason knew Gavin realized he was right. They were both dealing with shit that stemmed from something inside them. Something personal, that made them feel or act a certain way. Something that made them human.
“Have you ever thought about finding her? Your birth mother? Might help.” Gavin rolled over and lay on top of him. Mason wrapped his arms around him. That’s what he wanted. Muscle on muscle. Chest on chest. Cock against cock.
“She’s in Durango. I know that. And she has a husband and she’s clean. Why do I need to see her?”
“Because you’re not dealing well?”
Just what he wanted to hear. “See, now you’re just trying to emasculate me.” Mason leaned down and kissed Gavin’s forehead.
“You know what I mean.”
Mason sighed. “I do.” And he knew why he didn’t want to find her, either. She hadn’t wanted him. Maybe it was the drugs at first, but once she got clean, she still hadn’t wanted him. Mason didn’t know why that mattered so much, but it did.
“Can we end the talk for now? Fuck me and put me to sleep.”
“Whatever you say, boss.”
Gavin did exactly what he said.
***
Mason boxed him in against the bar. “Hurry, get on your knees before someone comes in.”
Gavin rolled his eyes at Mason. “I have something more important than a blow job going on right now.”
“There are things that are more important than blow jobs?” Mason retorted.
Gavin mulled that over before he smiled. “You’re right. I don’t know what I was thinking. There’s nothing more important that getting head, but music is a close second. I found a band who wants to play two Fridays a month. They’re from Boulder but they’re looking to expand. They’re incredible. I told them you need to hear them first, but you’ll think they’re great. They have this really rich sound. If things go well—”
“Book them.”
He wanted that, badly. Patrons would like them. Gavin knew it.
“We can schedule them to play for you first. Make sure it’s what you’re looking for.”
“Just book them. You like them. I trust you. You have better taste in music than I do anyway. And I’m pissed at you, too. You said you’d teach me to play. Scared I’ll give you a run for your money?” Mason went to walk away but Gavin grabbed his arm.
In a lot of ways, this was something little, but Mason’s trust in him meant a lot. “I’ll teach you. And thanks. For all of this. Is this one of those times where I want to kiss you?”
Mason laughed. “Now you’re catching on. It is.” Gavin leaned in when the door made its familiar
creak. That damn door. Mason had been saying he needed to fix it from the first day Gavin started work here.
“I need to fix that,” Mason said at the same time Cooper said, “I love that half the town is gay now. See what you did when you turned me?”
Mason let out a loud laugh and stepped away from Gavin.
“Of course, it’s always about you,” Noah teased.
Cooper reminded Gavin of Braden.
He listened as Noah, Cooper and Mason continued to razz each other. He liked the dynamic of the people he’d met in Blackcreek. It made him feel at home in a way that was totally foreign to him. “Can I get you guys anything?”
“Just lunch. Burger and fries,” Noah told him, and Gavin went back to tell the cook before returning.
“Hey, what are you guys doing this weekend? Noah and I were thinking of having a poker night at the house. Braden and Wes are coming. You guys are welcome.”
“It’d have to be Sunday for us. Gavin and I both work Friday and Saturday night.”
“I’m sure that’s workable. I’ll call Wes later and make sure that’s something they can do,” Noah told them.
Gavin smiled, feeling almost content for the first time in his life. He’d lost his job, and things were a mess with his family, but he was happy. He had a relationship that meant a lot to him and friends he enjoyed. Even the bar; who would have thought he’d enjoy tending bar? But he did. He loved the people, and was excited for the chance to bring good music here.
Music. That’s something he missed. Live bands in Creekside were one thing, but he still had an ache inside him because music wasn’t as big a part of his life as it had been.
“Oh, Braden mentioned you’re giving piano lessons to Jess at the fire house the other day. One of the other guys is interested for his son. He wants to play guitar. Did Braden ask you about it?” Cooper leaned on the bar.
“No…he didn’t.” Private lessons wasn’t something he put a lot of thought into doing. Jessie was one thing since she was Braden’s little girl. If he decided to take more clients on, he would have to make more plans on going about it the right way.
Mason leaned close to his ear. “Do it. You want to. I can see it.”
And he did. He missed instructing. It was a part of him—teaching—more than he’d realized. Just as Gavin was about to answer, the phone rang. Something made him turn and watch Mason as he sauntered over and answered it. It took less than five seconds for the smile to fall from his face.
Gavin’s stomach dropped to the floor as he made his way over to his lover.
“I’ll be right there.” Mason hung up the phone and looked at Gavin. “It’s my dad. He had a stroke.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
“I have to go.” Mason patted his pocket to make sure his cell was there before he headed for his office to get his keys.
“Do they know anything? Is he okay?” Gavin walked right at his heels.
“He’s alive. They’re at the hospital. That’s all I know.” He unlocked his office with the work keys and then grabbed the others from his drawer. Christ. A stroke. He could have died. Maybe he still would. And I’ve treated them like shit. He raised me and loved me and I’ve been a fucking child over things that didn’t matter.
Mason was already out his office door when Gavin spoke. “Maybe you shouldn’t drive. Let me get my stuff. I’ll take you.”
“No.” Mason shook his head. “The bar. I need you to take care of the bar. There’s nothing you can do for me in Denver.” As soon as the words left his mouth he realized how they sounded. “Shit. Not that you don’t—”
“I don’t need you to coddle me, Mason. I’m a big boy. I get it. Call me when you get there.”
Thank you. It meant a lot to him that Gavin understood. “I will. You know how to count down the register at night and everything, right? There are numbers in my drawer if you need help. Shit. I don’t even have much help for you.” He’d run on barebones staff since he opened. Not because he couldn’t afford it, but because the bar was his. It was Mason’s responsibility, and he wanted to do this on his own.
“Go. I have it under control.”
Mason nodded, hoping Gavin saw the appreciation on his face, and then he ran to his SUV. The tires squealed as he pulled from the parking lot and onto the street.
Mason’s heart punched wildly against his chest the whole drive. Stroke. His father wasn’t old—in his fifties—and yet he’d seemed under the weather the last few times Mason saw him. And now he’d had a stroke. The thought made his pulse go faster, harder.
He paid no attention to the speed limit and it still felt like it took too long to get to Denver. By the time he ran through the doors of the hospital, he saw it had been less than an hour since the call.
He turned down the wrong hallway once before finally making his way to the ER waiting room. “I’m looking for my father, Ted Alexander. He—”
“Mase.”
Mason turned at the sound of Isaac’s voice. His ex pulled him into a hug that made Mason’s heart stop beating. “He’s okay?” What if something happened on the drive over?
“Yeah, they think so. We were in his office, talking about Boulder and Durango, when he went over. I wasn’t sure if it was heart attack or stroke but he’s been taking aspirin daily, so I gave him one—”
Mason pulled back. “He’s on an aspirin a day?” Which meant they worried about the fear of a heart attack. Which meant they’d been worried about health issues that Mason didn’t know about.
“Mase…”
“Christ, Isaac. How do you know more about my family than I do? What happened? How long has he been on them?”
“Not long, and it’s not a big deal. His doctor decided he needed to be on an aspirin. That’s all. They didn’t ask me to keep this from you. I guess they just figured since they only ordered him to take one pill a day, and to exercise, he didn’t think there was a reason to bring it up. We both would have done the same thing.”
But it was a big deal. The comment about his dad’s treadmill and the way his mom cooked the other day made more sense now. They’d worried about his health, and Mason had been too selfish to notice what was going on. He’d been too wrapped up in a past that shouldn’t matter to pay attention to the future. His bar had become more important than anything else. The pressure of the restaurants and Mason himself had to have played a role in his dad’s stress level. He left his family out to dry—the people who’d wanted him. Who’d chosen him. Who’d loved him.
It wasn’t a mistake he would make again.
***
Gavin checked his cell for what had to be the hundredth time today. He closed the bar a few minutes before. With his phone again not indicating any calls, he had nothing much to do except go home.
He’d called Mason once, without a reply. The silence made his gut weigh down like an anchor, but he couldn’t harass the man, either. He had to be dealing with a lot. All Gavin could do is hope everything was okay.
He slept fitfully all night. Thoughts of Mason, his parents and Gavin’s own blocked out much chance of him sleeping. It was an easy reminder how quickly life could change. It always took a major event to remind people of that.
Gavin had just been thinking about how good things were going—that they were looking up. They spent their days fucking, laughing and working. How much better could it get? One phone call later, he discovered Mason could have lost his father. And Gavin’s own dad hadn’t been healthy for a while. His mother, either, yet he hadn’t as much as called her since their fight.
Gavin rolled over just as the sun teased with coming morning. He reached for his cell off his bedside table and opened a text message. Everything okay?
A minute later his phone rang, Mason’s name on the screen. “Hey.”
Mason’s voice was all gravel when he responded with, “Hey.”
“Is he doing okay?”
Mason sighed and Gavin imagined him rubbing a hand over his face in frustration.
/> “Yeah, he seems to be. He’s awake. They’ve been worried about his heart, Gav. Told him to take aspirin and exercise and to lower stress, and the whole time I’ve kept my fucking distance like a goddamned child and left the business up to him and Isaac.”
He heard the pain in Mason’s voice. Understood it because he would feel the same, yet, “It’s not your fault. You didn’t know. Even if you had, some things are out of our control. You were hurt. You dealt with it the only way you knew how.”
He could have sworn he heard Mason say, I didn’t deal with it at all, but when he asked Mason to repeat it, the man only said, “Never mind.”
“You didn’t have any problems at the bar last night, right? We get those random busy weeknights from time to time. And the front door, it sticks sometimes, and feels like it’s locked when it’s not. Did you check it?”
Why was he not surprised that’s where Mason’s mind would go? Sex and the bar were the two things he thought about the most. “It’s fine. I have it under control. You worry about your dad. I’m here. Whatever you need, I’ll help.” He was sincere about that. Mason meant a lot to him, and he wanted to be there for the man.
The line was quiet, nothing except his and Mason’s breathing. Finally, his lover said, “Thanks. I appreciate that. Jesus, I can’t believe this happened. Do you think you can open the bar today? I’ll be in at some point. There…there’s a few things we need to talk about.”
There was a hitch to Mason’s voice then. Gavin had never heard it there before.
“Yeah. It’s under control. Are you sure you’re okay?” he asked.
Before Mason could reply, there was another voice in the background. “Mason, you need to get some sleep. You’ve been awake all night.”
Gavin squeezed the phone in his hand. It made sense for Isaac to be with Mason. It did. They were friends, and Isaac was close to Mason’s family. But that didn’t mean he liked it.
“He’s right. I can hardly hold my damn eyes open over here. I’m going to crash for a while, and then go see my dad before I come home. Thanks for helping out.”
Gavin nodded as though Mason could see him. “No problem.”