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“All I’m saying is take a risk,” said Leo.

“And what if I lose him completely?”

“Would you rather stay like this and see him with another guy like the last one?”

Mason banged his fist on the desk. “Exactly. How can I protect him if he leaves?”

“By being the man at his side.”

“He deserves better than me,” he mumbled.

Leo looked lost for words for a second, then lowered his voice. “Why would you think that? Anyone can see how much that man loves you.”

“I’m a control freak.”

Leo snorted. “So am I. Jacob is a fan.”

Mason chuckled. “You know what I mean. With the guys he’s been with.”

“We’ve had this conversation, Mason. You’re nothing like them. The only thing standing in the way of you having Zeb is⁠—”

“My ego, I know.”

“No, Mason. It’s your fear.”

They were half an hour from the cabin when they hit snow, so Mason had to drive slower. His brother’s words still rang in his ears. He’d pushed Zeb away, and because of that he’d been in two abusive relationships in the past year. There was a genuine fear that because of Mason’s pigheadedness they would never get their chance to be together.

“It’s really coming down, isn’t it?” said Zeb, awe in his voice.

Mason smiled. He loved seeing him happy. “You’ve seen snow before.”

“Yeah, but this is country snow, not New York snow, which always looks like sludge when it settles.”

That was true. Snow in New York always looked romantic in the movies, but once it hit the ground, you had millions of people walking over it. They were off the freeway now, and all around them were untouched fields of white. Mason had been up here in the winter before, so this wasn’t new to him. He glanced over at Zeb and couldn’t help smiling again at his excited face looking out the window.

He turned his attention back to the road. Mason had to take it slowly, but also wanted to get them to the cabin as soon as possible. It would likely settle overnight, so they’d be able to explore the town tomorrow. Now, they just needed to get to the warmth of the cabin and relax for the evening.

“I don’t know how you can drive in this,” said Zeb. “I would shit myself.”

Mason snorted. “You can’t even drive in the city.”

“Why do I need to? I can get everywhere by subway.”

Mason had never liked Zeb using the subway late at night. If he ever worked into the evening at the restaurant, which he’d done more of when he was in the kitchen, then Mason would make sure he got home safely. He would arrange a car or take him personally. He preferred the latter, so he could see Zeb to the door. Zeb had moved around a lot over the past two years. Once he was off the streets, Sebastian had arranged affordable accommodation for him through his charity connections. After six months, he’d shared with people he’d met through the charity. It had been a suitable arrangement for him, but then he’d met someone just before last Christmas and had moved in with the guy by Valentine’s Day.

When that fell apart, Zeb shared an apartment again; this time it was with strangers. They seemed okay from what Mason had heard, but he arranged it all himself before anyone knew his living situation had changed. He hadn’t wanted his friends to swoop in and help him, which they would have done. Now he was living with Mason and hadn’t mentioned finding his own place for over a week, so he would take that as a positive.

“You should learn to drive,” said Mason. “It could be useful.”

“Are you offering to teach me?”

“You might regret asking me that.”

“Why?”

“If you hadn’t noticed, I’m a bit of a control freak.”

“Really? I’m shocked.”