Page 37 of Off Plan

It meant… Just about every gay man has known ahundredguys like you.

It meant…I amdonewith guys who are straight as anarrow, straight as alinewhile the lights are on but can’t wait to get their dicks in my mouth the second we’re alone.

It meant…I amoverguys who let me fuck them, then end up fucking me over.

“It means… nothing,” I finally concluded, squeezing my eyes shut and turning around. “Not a damn thing. Enjoy your dinner in heterosexual tranquility.”

“Wait, what?” Mason sputtered. “Don’t be like that, Fenn! I’m sorry, okay? It was an accident. I couldn’thelpit!” His face got redder and redder. “I thought we were okay with each other now.”

“God. Is there a script you people follow?”

“Us people?”

If he’d face-planted into the tub again, Mason couldn’t have looked more bewildered, and on some level IknewI was being unfair. Mason wasn’t Thad Chambers. Mason was Mason.

But also? I had One Life Rule for a reason.

“Never mind. Just…” I clenched my hands into fists. “Call Rafe. Tell him to get a plumber out here. Tell him to pay the guy a decent rate and not offer him a hunk of moon rock for the job.”

“Okay, but—”

“And have him move you to another room. Immediately.”

“Yeah, obviously. But—”

“And tell himhecan take your ass to work in the morning.”

“I can take my own ass!” he returned. “I’ll call a cab.”

I gave him a withering glance that I hoped conveyed his chances of finding a cab that would come all the way to Whispering Key and take him a mile down the road to work.

“And watch out, because there’s a storm coming, and the door locks are shit,” I warned. Turned out Beale and his motherfucking portents had been right, damn it all.

“Fenn!” I could hear the rustle of plastic as he shifted. “Can we please talk about—”

I shook my head. The last thing I wanted to do was talk. If I stayed one more minute, I was going to kiss him. I was going to do anything he’dletme do.

And then I’d hate myself even more than I already did.

“Have a good night, Loafers. Call me when you’re ready to go back to the airport.”

Chapter Six

Mason

Micah:Hey. You settling in?

Micah:It’s been four days. Were you gonna answer my calls, ever?

Micah:Look, I’m sorry I wasn’t as supportive as I could have been the other day.

Micah:I was surprised.

Micah:And I’ll miss you. We all will.

Micah:But I believe in you, Mase. Always have. You know what you’re doing.

I gritted my teeth and forced myself to type.