“It starts in an hour.”

Which meant he would already be slightly late. “I’m on my way.”

“Thank you, Gavin. You know I love you, right?”

He did. He always had. “I know. I love you, too.”

He called Mason as he drove. The bar sounded fairly quiet when Mason picked up.

“Hey, it’s me. I’m not going to be able to make it. My mom called. I have to head home and help her with her church banquet. The pianist got sick and I need to fill in.”

“Well, hell, what about my surprise?”

Gavin thought of Mason on his knees. Or being on his knees himself. Of sweat and hard bodies and fucking. Who the hell cared if Mason was at work? Gavin wanted him. That’s what he had an office for, and it had been much too long since Gavin had him. “You’re getting me hard. I like the sound of that.”

“Hey, you using me for sex? Who said this had anything to do with fucking?”

“No, it’s not just the sex, but the sex is good, too.” And that was the truth. He enjoyed doing nothing but spending time with Mason—they could be sitting around the house, working at the bar, or jumping out of planes. He felt like himself around Mason more than he did anyone else.

“It is. Hey, we’re slow around here. I bet I can sneak out for a couple hours and watch you play. That gets me hard. It feels like a Goddamned lifetime since I’ve done anything except work—here or Denver. It’s been all the same. I need to get out. Swing by the bar and I’ll follow you.”

He got what Mason was saying, but the thought of Mason dealing with his mom put a heavy weight in his gut. “You don’t want to spend your time out there.”

“I don’t, huh? You mean you don’t want me to? That’s okay if that’s how you feel, just don’t put it off on me.”

What the fuck? “I’m not putting it off on you. You can’t tell me you want to go spend your afternoon at a church function with the mother of your lover, who thinks her son is going to Hell.”

Mason was quiet for a second and then mumbled, “Shit.” There was noise on the other end of the line before he said, “Yeah, I guess you’re right. I’ll catch you later. I have customers.”

“Mason.” He wasn’t sure why he said his boyfriend’s name. Wasn’t even sure what to say after it.

“Don’t talk and drive, music man. Didn’t anyone tell you that’s not safe?”

“Always so damned bossy.” But he sounded like Mason, and that’s all that mattered to Gavin.

CHAPTER THIRTY

Mason hung up the phone a little louder than he needed to. He didn’t know why in the hell this bothered him so much. He understood feeling loyalty to your family. Mason experienced that same thing every day, yet he’d been instantly annoyed when Gavin canceled on him.

It was the stress. It had to be. And the uncertainty of the future. And the Goddamned piece of paper that felt like it taunted him every second since the day he received it.

But the truth of it was, all that had a way of falling to the back of his mind when he was with Gavin, and Mason wanted that. He needed it. And it hadn’t helped that Gavin clearly hadn’t wanted Mason to go home with him. He understood how Gavin’s mom was, but she also knew he was gay. Mason didn’t like to feel like he had to hide.

He spent his whole day moping around the bar like a damned child, angry and frustrated with Gavin. It was a big step for Mason to take Gavin home, and he wouldn’t have minded the same treatment.

“Piano, huh? Some of the bands Gavin brings in need a piano, or something?” Melody, one of their regulars, sipped her martini.

“Something like that.” Mason pulled some of the empty glasses off the bar.

“He runs the place well when you’re not here. You can tell he wants to do a good job for you. The two of you make a sexy couple.” Melody winked at him and Mason chuckled.

“Thanks. And you’re much too beautiful to sit around this place every week alone.”

She finished off her glass. It was almost closing time. When she came in, she typically left right before they closed for the night.

“The company in here is so much better than the company out there. I’m actually glad it wasn’t meant to be the night I tried to flirt with you. It’s good to see somebody I know happy.” With that, Melody set a twenty on the bar and left.

And he was that. His bar made him happy, and Gavin did, too. It was all the other shit that kept getting in the way.

Mason finished up at work before locking up. He let his other employee go, and finished up everything himself. Just as he grabbed his things to head out for the night, Mason heard a key in the lock, the familiar creak of the door, and then Gavin walked in.