“Did I miss anything while I was away?” Mason asked, one arm still wrapped around my waist.
“Nothing that can’t wait,” Jim said. “Let’s get your bags upstairs.”
Between the three of us, we were able to take Mason’s suitcases up in one trip. The spare room was still tiny, but it had been painted and the plastic storage boxes were gone, so it felt a little bit bigger. We put the bags down and Jim looked around. “It’s a tight squeeze, but you’ll be moving into my room soon enough, I guess.”
“It feels like I’m kicking you out,” Mason said, a crease appearing in his brow.
“Nonsense. I’m more than ready to retire. And I want to see the country while I’m still fit enough to enjoy it,” Jim said. There was a twinkle in his eye when he added, “One thing I discovered on vacation was that ladies love a vet.”
Mason laughed, and his worried expression disappeared.
Jim crouched down, his knees clicking, and petted the top of Dog’s head. “I thought I’d take a ride over to visit Alan Springer. Dog can come too. He loves the truck, don’t you, boy?” Then, with all the subtlety of a brick through a window, he added, “I’ll be a couple of hours at least.”
“I’m sure Dog would enjoy that,” Mason said, a hint of laughter in his voice.
We went downstairs and Jim put a leash on Dog and took him outside. Dog’s tail was wagging so hard his whole back end was moving. He jumped up into the passenger seat of the truck without so much as a backward glance.
“Should I be insulted that Dog didn’t even miss me?” Mason asked as we stood on the porch and watched Jim drive away.
I leaned over and kissed his cheek. “Imissed you. So much.”
Mason gave me a teasing smile and a look that made my heart beat faster. “I missed you too. Wanna come inside and I can show you how much?”
“Yeah,” I said, my voice catching.
We went inside and Mason locked the door behind us. My stomach twisted with nerves, which was dumb because we’d already done this and I wanted to do it again. But I’d read somewhere that the body couldn’t always tell the difference between excitement and fear, so I guessed this was one of those times. And when Mason looked at me with so much warmth and joy in his gaze, that dumb knot in my stomach dissolved away into nothing.
I took Mason’s hand and led him upstairs.
We stripped out of our jeans and underwear. Mason stepped close and cupped my face in his hands, kissing me gently, like I was something precious. Then he stopped kissing me for long enough to close the curtains, shutting out the harsh daylight, and guided me over to the bed in the semidarkness.
I peeled off my shirt on the way.
Mason stripped out of his shirt as well, and then we got into bed and made out for a while, slow and lazy. We relearned each other with careful touches, each one stoking a low, simmering heat that danced between us.
I knew that eventually we’d take things further, but it wasn’t like there was any rush. It was enough for now having him here with me, real and solid and reassuring.
I’d missed him more than I had words to say. I’d missed him when I walked Dog alone. I’d missed him when I ordered a single coffee at Gobble de Goose instead of getting one for him as well, or when I’d watched a movie without the warm weight of his body leaning against mine. I’d missed him in all the small, everyday parts of life that he’d become a part of when I’d met him, slotting in so easily it was like he’d always been there. And I’d missed moments like these too, that I’d never had with anyone else, and never wanted until him.
We kissed some more, bare legs brushing against each other, and the heat between us built from a simmer to a steady flame until I ached with need. I finally moved things along by reaching down and wrapping a hand around Mason’s dick, stroking firmly to let him know I was down for more. He responded by pressing a line of open-mouthed kisses down my throat, and I shivered at the rasp of his beard against my skin.
Mason rearranged us so I was straddling him, and then he reached between us and started to jerk us off, his grip firm, and it was so fucking perfect that I never wanted it to end, but at the same time heat coiled inside me, bringing me closer tothe edge. I thrust up into his hand a couple of times, and the added friction was enough to send my orgasm crashing over me without warning.
I came so hard that I saw stars.
I was dimly aware of Mason stroking his own dick before he tensed and came as well, letting out a ragged breath. I collapsed against him in a boneless heap, burying my face in the curve of his shoulder as I floated slowly back to earth. Mason wrapped an arm around me and pulled me close, and we lay there like that for a while in our own little bubble, ignoring everything except each other.
Eventually, Mason stirred, letting out a hum before he said, “I missed you so much.”
I rested my head on Mason’s chest and traced random patterns in his chest hair, listening to the steady thump of his heartbeat. I propped myself up on one elbow to face him and opened my mouth to tell him I’d missed him too and I was glad he was back.
Except at the sight of him all relaxed and sleepy, wearing a little half smile on his face, my heart gave a strange wobble. I thought about how he’d taken both me and Dog in and cared for us without question, and about how he always checked in before he touched me, and about how he’d made sure to close the curtains because he knew I preferred to undress in the dark.
A wave of affection—morethan affection—washed over me, and I found myself, for the first time in forever, speaking without weighing the words and counting the cost. These words, I couldn’t have kept in if I tried. They were too big. “I love you, Mason.”
Mason froze, and I had a second of quiet terror when I wondered if it was too soon to say it, but then his face split in a wide grin and he grabbed my face and kissed me hard, and when he pulled back he was still smiling. “I love you too, Cash.”
Happiness welled up inside me, too big to be contained, and I laughed. And then, just because it felt so fucking good, I said it again. “I love you.”
