Mason

by Nicki Rowe

  “We're more than friends,” Axe grumbled.

  “Fuck buddies?”

  At that point I heard Tina come out of the guest room and go to the kitchen to stop the beeping timer. Axe hadn't heard her and was still looking at me through narrowed eyes. Damn, I loved when he got all growly and possessive.

  He growled. “You better say what I want to hear or I am going to show you no mercy when it comes to your punishments later.”

  “Please, Axe,” I said with a laugh. “Not in front of Tina.”

  I laughed harder when Axe realized Tina was moving around in the kitchen and was no longer in her room.

  “Oh, don't stop on my account!” she called. “Maybe we can make this a threesome.”

  “I don't share!” Axe and I said in unison.

  Tina giggled.

  August

  Chapter Ten

  Axe

  I have to admit that four or so months ago I did not think this was going to be my life.Tina had moved in with me until after the babies were born, Mason and I had gone to Chicago to pick up Tina's belongings and sort things out for her so she wouldn't have to go back and forth between Chicago and Glensville. Mason also spent more time at my apartment than his own, so he was basically living with me as well. Which would have freaked me out in the past, but I loved waking up to him making breakfast or finding him in the living room with Tina and talking to my kids in her womb. Even Gracie was living with me whenever Mason was at my apartment. Tina decided she loved Mason so much that they were going to be best friends. They spent a lot of time together and Mason even helped her pick out color schemes to paint the twins' nursery.

  He had been there when Tina found out that we were having a boy and a girl. Unfortunately, I had to work, but Tina said Mason was just as much the twins' parent as she and I were, so she had dragged him along to her ultrasound. Again, having twins was something that would have once freaked me out four months ago, but I liked the idea of being a father. I could give my kids a life I never had. I could show them the way a father is supposed to love their child. I wouldn't be like my father. I couldn't.

  We had found Tina a cute two bedroom house just down the street from my apartment complex. Even though she wouldn't be moving in until after the babies were born, the community had rallied into making the house a home for her and the babies. Greta had donated some furniture that she had planned to get rid of. The police chief and his wife had given Tina a huge pile of boy's baby clothes. Jayson and August cooked food for the three of us so we rarely had to focus on what to make for dinner, and just focused on getting things ready for the twins. Mason and I had even started baby proofing my apartment. My collection of knives was gone, my gun was locked in a safe on the top shelf of my closet, and I had even gone out and bought everything I needed to make sure the kids wouldn't bang into corners or open cabinets and drawers. We were planning to turn the guest room into a nursery when Tina moved out.

  Holly told Tina that she could start subbing at the school as soon as she was able. All Tina needed to do was give Holly a call when she decided to end her maternity leave.

  Grizz had congratulated me on becoming a father and told me that if I needed time off I was welcome to it. I took him up on his offer and spent the past two days helping Mason and Tina get everything ready.

  “What are you going to name them?” Mason asked as we strolled through the baby store on Avenue G and Seventh street, it had some cutesy as fuck name like Baby World or Nappies or something like that.

  “What are we going to name them?” Tina corrected.

  I loved that Tina included Mason in important decisions like what to name the kids, and picking out cribs. She even called him Daddy Mason when she was talking to our twins. Mason hadn't asked to be included in all the decision making, but I could tell that he loved it. While Tina and I would obviously be the twins' legal parents, Tina was determined to make Mason realize he wasn't any less important. She had looked offended and horrified when Mason said it was okay if the twins called him uncle.

  “They will call you Daddy Mason. End of discussion,” she had said.

  That night Mason told me how much he loved Tina and how much he couldn't wait for the twins to get here. I had been frightened that Mason would run after he heard I was going to be a father—he didn't ask to become part of that—but he was sticking by me, sticking by us.

  “I like Apollo and Athena,” Tina said, rubbing her hands on the fabric of a rocking chair on display in the store.

  “Please tell me you are kidding,” I said. “We are not naming them after Greek gods.”

  I rolled my eyes. Tina had been obssessed with Greek mythology ever since I have known her. And I loved that about her, but there was no way in hell that I was naming my kids Apollo and Athena.

  “Let me guess,” Mason said, turning his head to look back at me. I would never tire of the way my heart seemed to stop when I looked into his eyes. Of course, I would never voice that out loud. I was going soft, but that didn't mean the whole world had to know that I was losing my edge. “You want to name them something tough like Rocky and. . .Agnes.”

  “Is Agnes a tough name?” Tina asked, wrinkling her nose.

  Mason shrugged. “I couldn't think of anything better.”

  “Agnes sounds like an eighty-year-old grandmother,” I quipped.

  “I'm not giving birth to an eighty-year-old!” Tina shrieked, causing several expecting mothers to look over at us. “I'm giving birth to two precious angels.”

  “If they are anything like this one,” Mason said, hooking his thumb back at me, “they aren't going to be very angelic.”

  Tina sat in the rocking chair we had already passed and kicked her feet up on the stool. “You have a point, Mase.”

  “What do you mean?” I replied incredulously. “I have a fucking halo.”

  “Baby, you have devil horns. Lying is not an attractive trait.”

  I walked behind Mason and pulled his back to my front. “I'll show you a devil horn,” I whispered in his ear.

  “Gentlemen, save your hanky-panky for your bedroom,” Tina demanded, getting up and grabbing the few baby blankets she had picked out earlier. “We are in public.”

  I snorted, but made no further comments. If she only knew what Mason and I had gotten up to in the bathroom at The Diner that morning while she sat at the table. Mason had said it was on his list to fuck in The Diner's bathroom, and I aimed to please. I couldn't deny my man anything. I would give him the world if he asked for it. See? I was going fucking soft.

  ~ ~ ~

  Two days later our group of friends were asked by Gigi and Viola to meet at Jayson's bakery after hours. It was going on ten when everyone had finally arrived. Mason was sitting on the check out counter and I was standing between his legs with my back to his front. The others were sitting in the chairs, Jayson and August were standing by the far wall. Greta and Tina were the only ones absent. Greta had volunteered to watch the kids of the various partners and Tina was too tired to go anywhere after her and Mason went out to get pickles and ice cream.

  “You're going to fuck me so hard when we get home, right?” Mason leaned down and whispered in my ear.

  His words went straight to my cock. Luckily, we were far enough away that no one could hear and the room was buzzing with chatter. I noticed that Edward and Diego were whispering to their partners as well. God, the trio was a bunch of horny fucks. I loved that Mason looked like an angel with his innocent face, blond hair and wide teal eyes, but had the dirtiest mouth I had ever heard. It rivaled my own dirty mouth. He even made me blush sometimes.

  “Behave,” I said.

  He kissed a path along my neck. “What's the fun in that?”

  “I don't think our friends want to see us fuck in the middle of the bakery.”

  “Please don't,” Jayson said.

  It was then that I realized I had said those words a little louder than I had meant to. I looked around the room. “You all can just fu
ck off,” I said, but there was no heat in my voice.

  “You need to watch your language,” Mills said. “You're about to be a dad.”

  I flipped him the bird. Everyone laughed.

  I found it much easier to be around everyone since I had found Mason. I didn't feel itchy under the collar when our entire group of friends were around. And there were a lot of them. Our numbers seemed to be growing every day. I found it easier to joke around with everyone, even though I still wasn't comfortable enough to laugh. Mason had almost heard me chuckle the other day, and his eyes lit with so much warmth that I vowed to try to be more free in my laughter and smiles with him, but I didn't feel that same want to laugh around the rest of our friends. I was slowly healing, but I still had a ways to go before I would be comfortable enough in myself and my surroundings to show my friends the light hearted side of me that I reserved mostly for Mason. I was more comfortable with Mason then I had ever been with anyone, including Tina and Grizz.

  “Everyone!” Viola hollered over the chatter of our friends. “We have an announcement!”

  “This is how your proposal started,” Gabe said, earning an elbow to the ribs from his husband, Lorenzo.

  Viola continued like Gabe hadn't spoken. Everyone was used to his interruptions. “We are getting married next weekend in Vegas. We want you all to be there.”

  A loud round of cheering filled the tiny bakery.

  “We got everyone tickets,” Gigi said, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. “We leave Friday morning. Can everyone make it?”

  Everyone let out a resounding yes. I knew there was no way our group was going to miss Gigi and Viola's wedding. Hell could freeze over and the group would somehow try to make it to their wedding.

  Grizz said that we could move around appoinments and close the shop for the weekend. Jayson said that he would have Marley, his day manager, run things in the bakery for the weekend. Everyone else assured Gigi and Viola that they could rearrange things and get off from work. Everyone was going to be in attendance, except Greta who had already volunteered to watch all the children that weekend too.

  After Viola and Gigi's announcement, Jayson brought out some baked goods that hadn't sold during that day. We all talked as we ate and drank coffee.

  “Three days in Vegas,” Mason said. “Are you excited?”

  “What if I miss the babies being born?”

  “You won't,” he said. I was still unsure, but I didn't say anything. “Do you want to stay here?”

  “Would you be mad?”

  Mason shook his head. “No. Those babies are more important.”

  “You three are equally important to me.”

  Mason smiled. “You're such a sweet talker.”

  I gave him one of my mini-smiles. “Don't tell anyone.”

  ~ ~ ~

  “No,” Tina said when we got home and told her what the meeting was about, and how I was thinking about staying behind. “You both are going to that wedding. I'll call Greta and see if I can stay with her and the kids.”

  “Tina,” Mason took her hands and gave them a little squeeze. “Are you sure?”

  Tina moved so her feet were tucked under her on the couch. Mason was sitting beside her while I stood behind him. We were a weird little family, but it worked for us. Anyone who thought our situation was strange or went against their delicate sensibilites could go fuck themselves. All three of us made decisions together since the babies would be all of ours. If something effected one of us, it effected all three of us.

  “Honey, I'll be fine.”

  Mason looked up at me. It was my final decision since I was the one who was going to stay behind. I didn't want to miss a mini-vacation with Mason in Vegas, but I also was afraid I was going to miss the birth of my twins.

  “If you continue to argue with me, Axe, then I am going to bust out the fake tears and the pouty lip. If you stay I promise to be so annoying that you are going to wish you had gone to Vegas.”

  “T, are you sure?”

  “If someone asks me if I am sure one more time—”

  Mason and I held up our hands in surrender. Mason and Tina laughed.

  “Promise you will call us if anything happens?” Mason asked.

  Tina crossed her fingers and placed them over her heart.

  Mason

  I hated airplanes. I hated the take off, the landing, being confined to a small seat, being in a suffocating cabin with a bunch of people. Luckily, most of the people on this plane were our loud, big group of friends. People were getting sick of us, not that any of us really seemed to care. I held on to Axe's arm for most of the plane ride; we had experienced some turbulence at the beginning and I had yet to let go of the vise grip I had on his bicep.

  “You're cutting off the circulation to my fingers, baby,” Axe said, running a soothing hand over my hair.

  “You don't need them,” I grumbled.

  Axe snorted. “I guess. But if I don't have fingers then I can't really jack you off, now can I?”

  I loosened my grip on Axe's arm.

  I heard Caleb and Edward chuckling behind me. Apparently, we weren't being very quiet. I looked over at the man sitting next to Axe. He was looking at me with a look of confusion and amusement. I apologized for Axe's crassness. I turned in my seat to see Carter and Diego looking at us from the seats in front of us.

  “You get feeling back in your fingers, Axe?” Diego asked.

  Axe slid his arm out of my grip and flipped Carter and Diego the bird. “What do you think?”

  Even the man next to us laughed.

  The flight seemed to end too soon even though I hated every second of it, and we found ourselves staring up at the lights and splendor of Sin City. After checking into the hotel in the middle of the Strip we all walked around and took in the touristy spots.

  We ate lunch at one of the casinos and saw one of the very many shows at one of the hotels. Afterwards we all went back to our hotel and to our rooms.

  “Can you believe Viola and Gigi are getting married tomorrow?” I asked, plopping on the big bed in the very nice hotel Viola's parents had paid for. Her parents weren't happy that she was getting married in Vegas, but they had promised to come to the wedding none-the-less. I was naked, but Axe was still in the process of getting undressed. My cock was already semi-hard just by watching Axe take off his shirt. Hell, Axe could breathe and I could feel it go to my cock.

  “I don't want to talk about Viola and Gigi.”

  Axe was standing at the foot of the bed, his hand rubbing over his still clothed cock, and his gorgeous chest was bare, his nipple ring glittered in the dim light of the room. I moved so I was sitting on my knees. I licked my lips as I watched him stroke himself through his jeans.

  “Sorry. I didn't bring any supplies,” I lied.

  Axe snorted. “Luckily, I came prepared.”

  I chuckled. “Of course you did.”

  “Baby, we are in the most romantic place on Earth—”

  “Vegas is not the most romantic place in the world. Paris, Fiji, Hawaii, even Bumfuck, Kansas is more romantic than Vegas.”

  Axe snorted. “I knew that would ruffle your feathers.”

  I rolled my eyes at him. “You're sooo hilarious, Axe Knox.”

  “I know.”

  Axe unbuttoned the fly of his jeans and slid them to the ground. “I'm going to fuck you hard, boy.”

  “Duh,” I quipped. I know we were already playing our little sex game, but I couldn't help throwing in some snark. I liked riling Axe up. His notrils flared, and his pupils dialated even further. Even though he liked when I submitted to him, he liked when I didn't play by the rules even more. We both liked when he doled out punishments.

  “You're going to pay for that.”

  “I'm counting on it, Sir.”

  Axe gave me a smile—the biggest smile I have ever seen from him and I was momentarily stunned. It was so fucking beautiful. His entire face lit up, and I felt like the entire room became a little bit b
righter.

  “Axe, you're fucking smiling!”

  “No, I'm not.” His smile grew bigger.

  “Holy fuck, Axe.”

  “Stop, looking at me like that.”

  “Like what?”

  Axe shook his head. “You're ruining my game.”

  I slid across the mattress and pulled Axe to me. I kissed him deep and slow—very unlike the kisses we usually shared which were hard and rough. I poured every ounce of love I had for him into the kiss. I wanted him to know what I felt for him even though I knew he still wasn't ready to hear the words. Or maybe I was just scared. Maybe I thought he wouldn't accept my love. What if he didn't say it back to me? It would break my heart if I said the words and he didn't say them back.

  I love you, Axe Knox. I love you so much.

  “What are you thinking about?” Axe asked me.

  His voice was soft, and I had the wild thought that he could hear what I was thinking. He was looking at me in a way I had seen Diego look at Carter, or the way Edward looked at Caleb. I knew he wouldn't reject my love for him, but I still didn't say the words aloud.

  “Nothing,” I replied.

  Epilogue

  Axe

  Viola and Gigi's wedding was fun and hilarious. We had gone to one of the many wedding chapels in Vegas, and Viola and Gigi dressed up in hilarious costumes to say 'I do'. They left for their honeymoon Saturday night. The rest of us left Sunday night to return home and back to our lives.

  Two days after we returned to Glensville I got a call from Mason that Tina had gone into labor. I was in the middle of finishing up a thigh piece for one of the new twenty-somethings that started working at Jayson's bakery. She was a chatty thing, but I found that I liked talking to her; her personality reminded me of Mason's personality.

  “Axe!” Mason's harried voice pulled my focus from the hummingbird tattoo on Yvonne's thigh. I even had to pull the phone away from my ear in fear that Mason's shouting was going to ruin my ear drum. “Tina is having the babies! What do I do?”