Total pages in book: 74
Estimated words: 71651 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 358(@200wpm)___ 287(@250wpm)___ 239(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 71651 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 358(@200wpm)___ 287(@250wpm)___ 239(@300wpm)
“We’re definitely not going to be able to work it all out today, but I can make some progress,” I said. “I know you’re going to laugh in my face, but I really just have to say it—”
“The way I live isn’t helping, I know, I know,” Mason said.
I tended to tell him something similar almost every week.
He knew the drill.
“I don’t have to say yes to everything. I know,” he said. “Last night’s party was worth it, though.”
“I love a good party, too,” I told him. “But if they start to happen every day—”
“Then you’re a hot mess,” Mason said. “I know I am. Ouch.”
“That is a doozy,” I said, lessening my pressure on another awful knot a bit lower next to his shoulder blade. “I’m going to work on the muscle groups that connect to this, rather than going anywhere near the cluster itself, today. It needs rest.”
“I have to go to my friend’s taiko drum concert tonight, but I promise I’ll try to sleep afterward,” Mason said. “After the afterparty, at least.”
“Taiko drum concert?”
“They’re those super cool Japanese drums,” Mason said. “My friend Yuji in Nashville is really good at them.”
“And you have to go to the afterparty?”
“Well, I got invited,” Mason said, like it was that simple. “And Yuji is such a sweet guy.”
“Or you could cancel both of those things, get some sleep, and see Yuji later on,” I said, with nothing but kindness in my tone.
“I promise I’ll sleep,” Mason said. “Eventually.”
No one could tame Mason.
But maybe that was how he liked it.
“Going to work an area on your arm that’ll be a little tense,” I said. “Just breathe for me, okay?”
Mason may not have listened to me much about his lifestyle, but he always listened during his massages. He breathed deeply and evenly as I ran slow strokes along his upper arm. I could tell that it was tense but not painful, and finally, as the massage went on, I was even able to relax him enough that he fell asleep for a while.
Ninety minutes later, when the massage was over, Mason didn’t seem like a hot mess at all. He was calmer, and when he stood up, I could see appreciation in his eyes.
“You’re a miracle worker,” he said. “You always are.”
“Your body knows what it needs,” I reminded him.
He nodded. “I’m still going to go to the taiko show. But maybe—maybe I’ll skip the afterparty and sleep.”
“Damn right,” I said.
He pulled out his phone to send me a payment. Mason always tipped extremely well—he was always overly generous since he’d gotten his inheritance, and I’d seen him leave hundred-dollar tips on the bar at the Hard Spot many times, too. His heart was always in the right place, even if he didn’t take care of himself enough.
“This is why I’m rallying to go to the concert tonight,” Mason said, swapping to a photo on his phone. “Hot as fuck, right? He’s going to be there.”
It was a picture of a guy that kind of looked like a young Clooney.
“I see,” I said.
Mason smiled. “He’s sexy, and I’m going to flirt my ass off and hope he enjoys my kind of chaos,” he said.
“Very cute.”
“Thanks for humoring me, Finn.”
“Hey, I can appreciate a good-looking guy just as much as anyone can,” I protested as I started to break down the portable massage table.
As I headed home, I realized that Mason hadn’t even crossed my mind as a potential hookup for Ori. Ori had asked me about gay prospects in Bestens the first night he got back, but… well, nobody I knew seemed good enough for Ori, anyway. Mason was a good person, but Ori needed someone a little less wild.
I didn’t know what Ori needed.
In the week since he’d been in my house, we’d stayed out of each other’s way. This week had been busy and full of massage clients, and Ori had been working in the diner every day, too.
Last week my date with Maddy Hagerson had gone to shit. It ended with her crying on my shoulder about another guy, who she was clearly still in love with.
That was another thing Ori and I had butted heads about endlessly. He said I was too picky about girls, and that used to piss me off royally, back in the day. I told him to fuck right off every time he commented on the fact that most of my relationships ended by my decision, not the girls’.
Maybe it could seem a little egotistical, but deep down, it wasn’t.
I just wanted to be with the right person.
Not that I knew what the fuck that meant.
It had continued until now, and over time, Ori had gone from saying I was too picky to not commenting on my relationships much. He’d grown and learned, just like I had.