“Um, yeah,” he said, his eyes darting away before returning to me. He cleared his throat. “…you?”
“More than fucking ‘okay’,” I whispered, my mouth pressing against Mason’s in a hot and hungry kiss. I was pleasantly surprised when Mason’s tongue slid out from between his lips to coax and dance with my own. “I am fucking fantastic,” I said, breathless from the kiss. Mason nodded his head in agreement.
“Me, too,” he said. He blushed as he looked at me, and shyly asked “So…” he started, then cleared his throat again. “…would you like to take a shower with me?”
I could feel the grin from earlier spreading across my face as I pushed aside the shower curtain and stepped in. We’d never put on any clothes last night, and I’d kind of been hoping in the back of my mind that hewouldinvite me, but it had definitely not been a given.
We took turns washing each other, our hands mostly innocent in their touches as we worked body wash over each other, and then shampoo through each other’s hair.
Mason made me work some kind of conditioning product into his hair, then waited a few minutes before rinsing. I couldn’t complain about the extra time. After all, sexy naked time seemed to be at a premium for us, and I certainly loved the effect it had on his hair. I took the few minutes we waited to slide some fingers down his back and into his crease.
Mason groaned slightly and said, “I really wish we had more time.”
I agreed, and was rather disappointed when Mason announced that it was time to rinse his hair.
We finished everything up and I stepped out of the shower. I snagged a couple of towels from beside the vanity and handed one to Mason. He wrapped one around his head and did some kind of complicated twist thing that left him wearing what looked like a white turban. I gave him another towel to dry off with and proceeded to do the same myself.
I figured if I didn’t focus on getting myself dry, we would end up staying in bed all day, and Mason had an event that evening. Plus, I had a regular passenger this evening, so as nice as it might be to contemplate, we had commitments.
After we got dressed, I went in the kitchen and put together some hot ham and cheese sandwiches. After polishing them off in record time, Mason’s phone pinged.
“It’s just a reminder from Lizzie about tonight,” Mason said, then showed me the address. I Google Mapped it and groaned in frustration. It was a little over thirty minutes from my house, so if we were going to be there on time we had to get moving.
By the time we arrived at the community center it was almost 7 p.m. and starting to get dark out. It had taken us a little while to find the building. It was apparently a newish construction. It was a flat cement block building that looked cheaply built.
The hand-painted sign in front just said “Community Center” with crosses on either side. I saw poster board signs up on either side of the heavy wooden door with the words “LGBTQ Discussion”. It seemed a little strange, with LGBTQ underlined.
I saw a couple of women in frumpy skirts and sweaters dragging a couple of little kids inside. They didn’t exactly seem the type of people to be attending an LGBTQ rally, but I figured it took all kinds to make the world go around. Not every gay person was an interior designer or fashion plate.
“Are you sure you don’t want me to stay?” I asked, as Mason opened the car door and leaned back through the open window.
“Yep, I’m okay. It’s just a Q&A,” he rolled his eyes a little. While his lecture yesterday had been spectacularly boring, I could have watched him read a telephone book and been entertained. He was just thatdamn sexy.
“You sure?” I asked. Something seemed off, and my gut was screaming at me, but I couldn’t figure out why. Maybe I was just being overprotective of him.
“Yep. Besides, didn’t you say you had to meet someone?” He asked.
I checked the clock. I had a regular client I took to a therapy appointment on Thursdays.
I nodded. “Yeah, I guess. I just don’t like leaving you here…” I said, looking around.
“By myself, you mean?” he smiled, and raised an eyebrow at me. “I’m a big boy, Lee. Last couple of days to the contrary, I can take care of myself, really. Besides, if there’s anywhere I should be safe, it’s at an LGBTQ rally,” he grinned. “I’ll see you in a couple of hours.”
I nodded and he shut the door. I watched as he walked into the building and turned the car around.
The next two hours seemed to crawl by. I sighed in relief when I dropped my passenger off at his home and was able to turn the car around to head back to the Community Center.
When I pulled into the parking lot it was dark, and almost all the cars were gone. I double-checked my phone for the time. Mason had said it would be two hours and it was just under that. I pulled up and put the car in park. Floodlights now lit up the exterior of the building, the lights casting stark shadows on the vegetation and greenery planted around the building in a vain attempt to hide the cheap construction. I walked up to the wooden door, but came up short as I tugged on the handle, only to find it was locked.
I looked around, but saw no one. I knocked on the door several times, but no one answered. Real fear began to tighten in my gut. Where was Mason? I pulled out my phone and dialed Mason’s number. It went right to voicemail. I texted him and waited a minute but no answering text came.
I pounded on the door a few more times, but it there was no response. Maybe I could find another entrance…
Around the corner of the building some landscaping had beendone that filled in around the uneven walls. There was a large empty field behind the structure but none of the lights were on inside.
All was quiet, but some sound or movement near the building caught my attention. I ran closer only to see two forms huddled in a corner beside one of the darkened windows. One was Mason, the other was…Tobi?
“Mason?” I asked, slowing as I approached, quickly spotting the way he was rocking back and forth on the cold gravel. “Mason, are you okay, baby?”
