Breaking Perfect (16 page)

She hesitated and then nodded. Mason realized his greedy
libido was already costing Liberty. He just hoped she could keep a grip on
herself and make it through the day without any major setbacks. Cursing under
his breath when he realized it was Tuesday and he had to be at the hospital by
eleven, he admitted it was a shit day to fuck with her routine.

They walked down the steps in silence and headed toward the
kitchen from where the warm scent of coffee was flowing. When they walked into
the room nothing appeared out of place other than the presence of the massive
man in jeans and a tight T-shirt sitting at the counter scowling at them over a
mug.

“Morning,” Sean greeted, none too cheery.

“Good morning,” Mason replied.

Beside him Liberty made a grunt of distress and quickly
untangled their hands and went to the coffee pot. She took the pot out and
dumped it down the drain and followed it with the still steaming soggy grounds.
She ran the garbage disposal six times. Not the best sign. Sean looked
concerned, but Mason just shook his head and gave him a signal to ignore her.

He took his seat on the stool he usually occupied and watched
as Libby scoured the counter and proceeded to brew a fresh pot of coffee. He
could tell she was upset, but waited for her to work it all out.

When she opened the cabinet to pull down the mugs and found
one already missing another sound of panic left her throat. Sean shot him
another look of concern and then guiltily glanced down at his cup.

Fuck. Mason was going to have to do something. He couldn’t
leave her like this and he doubted she would be over it by the time he left. He
looked at the clock. Shit. Less than an hour and a half before he had to leave.
Maybe he should just call out. But he left early on Sunday. He couldn’t keep
doing this.

Sean cleared his throat as Libby proceeded to make breakfast.
“Uh, look, I was thinking. Maybe it would be best if I headed out today. You
guys have been great to put me up and I really appreciate it, but maybe—”
Whatever he was going to say was cut off by the sound of a pan slamming down on
the counter.

That was it. Mason looked at Sean. “Living room. Now.” To his
wife he said, “Liberty, enough. I’ll deal with it. Remember your promise the
other day. Those are my hands too. We’ll be back in ten minutes.”

He silently led Sean out of the kitchen, but they didn’t make
it to the living room. Once in the foyer Sean turned on him. “Dude,
what
the fuck? What are you handling? Look, I’m sorry. Thank you for your
hospitality, but I really can’t deal with this. Your wife’s great, but I
obviously did something to piss her off. I’m just gonna go.”

Before he could turn away Mason grabbed a fistful of his
shirt and dragged him into the living room and quietly shut the French doors.
“You can’t go.”

“What? Why?”

“Because you need to stay for twelve
more days or she’ll lose it.”

“What’s in twelve more days?”

“Nothing, it’s just how long she expects you to stay.
Besides, I need to go to work in a little over an hour and I need you to stay
with her. She’s having a bad day and I can’t call out again.”

Sean held up his palms. “What? No, dude, I don’t know enough
about what she has. I gotta get out of here—”

Mason instantly became irate and defensive. He got into
Sean’s face, hissing, “What she has is a good heart. It’s not like she’s a
fucking leper so stop acting like you can catch it, you prick!” Realizing how
badly he just lashed out, he quickly stepped back. “I’m sorry. This isn’t your
fault.”

“You sure about that? Would this be happening if I’d never
shown up?”

Good point
. “It doesn’t matter. You’re here now, you
might as well stay.”

“I can’t.”

Mason shook his head and let out an exasperated breath. “I
guess some things don’t change. Things get a little too real and you go
running. Fine. Go. I’ll deal with it.”

“Hey, that isn’t even a bit fair!”

Mason accused, “No? You show up uninvited and surprise my
wife, barging in here when I’m not even home—”

“She invited me in!”

“What else was she supposed to do?” Mason shouted. “You told
her we were old friends. Unlike you, my wife puts everyone else’s comfort
first. After you give her some sob story about losing your father, a father you
never even liked, I remind you, and how you traveled all this way just to
reconnect with an old friend, well, she felt for you and only wanted to put you
at ease. You took advantage of that and you know it!”

“That’s not true.”
“No? Then you tell me how it happened.”

“I stayed because I felt like she shouldn’t be alone. I can’t
explain it. I was just going to go and she told me to wait. I knew you weren’t
home and for some reason I couldn’t leave.”

“Never had a problem leaving before,” Mason said snidely.

“Oh, will you give it up?
 
It was thirteen years ago. I was moving to a different state and you
were going off to medical school to start your internship. I’d just blown out
my knee and had no place to live.”

“You could have lived with me and you know it.”

“We weren’t there yet. It would have been for all the wrong
reasons.”

“
You
weren’t there yet.” Mason accusingly corrected.

“Yeah, well, maybe I wasn’t! Big fucking deal. We never would
have made it work anyway. I mean, look at you. That wasn’t the lifestyle you
wanted.
This is!”

Mason’s chest puffed and his nostrils flared as he said
through clenched teeth, “Don’t tell me what I wanted. You want to blame anyone,
blame yourself. This all has to do with you and your undying need to please
your chronically miserable dad.”

“That’s not true. My dad had nothing to do with it.”

Mason couldn’t listen to another lie. He’d heard enough of them
thirteen years ago. He wasn’t going to listen to them now. “Then why are you
here? You didn’t have his approval then, so what would introducing him to your
gay lover change? You threw away everything we could have had and for what?
He’s dead now, Sean. Dead. Did he ever tell you, just
once
, that he
loved you? Because I was ready to tell you every day for the rest of your
life.” Mason’s voice cracked with emotion.

Sean looked up at him with such hurt in his eyes. He didn’t
say a word for several heartbeats and then, “You’re right. I’m an idiot. I
don’t know what I expected to find here, but…You’ve made your point loud and
clear. I missed my chance.”

“Sean—”

“No. I’m sorry for barging in and messing up your life
again.”

He turned to leave and Mason grabbed hold of his arm. Sean
turned and just that quickly Mason felt the weight of the connection they had
once shared. Visions of outdated dreams reintroduced themselves with the
remembered pain that came when he learned Sean hadn’t loved him enough to be
his partner forever. It could have, should’ve been him, but he left, leaving
Mase floundering in the shambles of a broken heart. Sean’s presence changed
nothing about the past, but he couldn’t watch him walk away again. Not yet.

“Don’t go.”

“I have no reason to stay,” Sean whispered in a defeated
voice.

Mason stepped closer to him and tipped up his chin. “Stay,
because no matter what, you’ll always be welcome in my life.”

Sean shook his head and shut his eyes. “I don’t belong here,
Mase. It hurts to watch you two. I…I can’t do it.”

Emotion choked him for a moment. How could something from so
long ago still hurt so much? Without thinking he swept his lips across Sean’s.
Sean looked down into his eyes, questioning, but Mason had no words. He just
wanted him to stay.

Like fuel being ignited by a flame there was a sharp crackle
in the energy surrounding them and suddenly Sean’s mouth was on his, greedily
taking what he had once offered so long ago.

Mason locked his fist in his boy’s coarse blonde hair and
held him. The rough slide of stubble along his jaw abraded his face and Sean
was backing him into the wall. He hit the bookcase with a soft thud and Sean
pressed the bulk of his form into Mason. He bit at Mason’s lips and yanked his
head back to suck at his neck. He roughly reached under his shirt and Mason
stopped him.

“No.”

Sean stilled and pressed his forehead into Mason’s shoulder
as he breathed heavily.

“This can’t happen,” Mason rasped. “I want you to stay, but
it can’t be like this. I won’t do that to her.”

Sean stepped away and turned. He ran his hand over his head
and gripped the back of his neck while he released a tense breath. “What’ll
happen if I don’t stay as long as she expects?”

“It will be like this morning and the other day, only maybe
worse. She wants you here. I want you here. I’m asking you to stay.”

Sean turned back to him and blew out a slow breath. “Alright,
I’ll stay, but do me a favor.”

“Anything.”

“Put a lid on it in the bedroom. Last thing I need to hear is
you fucking your wife.”

* * * *

Mason and Sean walked into the dining room just as Liberty
placed three glasses of orange juice on the table, oatmeal, one cup in each
bowl, three cut strawberries making nine perfect slices and three blueberries
forming an isosceles triangle in between.

“Looks great! Thanks, Liberty,” Sean said as he took his
seat.

Mason came over and squeezed her shoulder. “You okay, babe?”
She gently nudged him off of her and mumbled a reply that could be taken as a
yes or no. She didn’t want to talk about the uneasy nervousness barely banked
inside of her at the moment.

They sat down and began to eat. “Wow, this is outstanding. I
don’t think I ever had oatmeal that didn’t come from a paper packet.” Sean
seemed awfully chatty. Liberty didn’t feel like chatting, but mumbled a thank
you.

“Liberty,” Mason said and waited for her to look at him. When
she met his gaze he continued. “In about an hour I have to—”

“I know what your schedule is, Mason.” He raised his brow at
her clipped tone, but she didn’t care. “And I suppose you’ll be leaving as
well, Sean?”

Sean, caught off guard, paused before shoveling a large bite
of oatmeal into his mouth and looked over to Mason.

Mason said, “Sean’s decided to stay with us up until the
Sunday following this one. Isn’t that great, Lib?”

She looked at her husband and back to Sean. “I thought you
wanted to leave.”

“Only if you want me to go, Liberty. What would you prefer?”

“Stay.” She looked over to Mason and saw that he still
agreed. “You should stay for a proper visit. Mason and I would enjoy that.”

“Then that’s what I’ll do.”

“Sean has some stuff he needs to take care of for about an
hour. I told him to make himself at home and assured him he wouldn’t be
disturbed in my office while he makes his calls. That’ll give you enough time
to do the floor without worrying about tracks being left on it, won’t it?”

“That would work.” It was practically immoral how much joy
she felt at knowing she would be able to do the floors before lunch. They
always were done before breakfast, but if she did them late it would be best to
do them before lunch.

Mason’s hand settled over hers, stilling her fingers and she
realized she’d been unconsciously folding her napkin only to unfold it and
refold it again. Her hands clasped on her lap so she would stop fidgeting. “And
I noticed that some of the DVDs are out of order in the entertainment room. Do
you think you could straighten that out for me?” he asked softly.

“Sure.”

They finished eating and Liberty stood to clear the dishes
and take them into the kitchen. She immediately set out to wash them, and as
she reached for the faucet she paused.

Don’t
.

The sound of the kitchen door swinging open startled her and
she quickly turned on the water at the coldest setting possible.

“Thanks for breakfast, Lib. It was spectacular, as everything
else you cook,” Sean said as he tentatively placed his arm around her
shoulders. Her mind retreated as her body craved the blanketing weight of his
heavy arm. He leaned close, the scent of his clothing filling her senses, and
whispered, “Are you sure you’re okay with me staying?”

He’d never touched her. He smelled nice. Right. The way Sean
should smell. She nodded tightly and reached for one of the bowls from
breakfast.

“One of these times I’m going to do the dishes for you. Give
you a chance to take a break and relax for a change.”

No
. She should tell him that wouldn’t work, but he was
just trying to be nice. But he couldn’t do the dishes, because he might not
move the sponge in clockwise motions and the—
Stop it!
She slammed down
another bowl and Sean jumped and pulled his arm off of her.

Just then Mason walked into the kitchen. “What’s going on?”

Sean stepped back. “Nothing. I just told Libby one of these
days I would do the dishes for her so she could relax. I only meant it as a
thank you for all her delicious cooking.”

“Lib?” Mason walked over to where she stood with her palms
braced on the lip of the counter as the water rushed from the faucet. He
reached over and shut off the valve, but before he did he slipped a finger
under the flow to test the temperature. “Do you want me to call out, Liberty?”

“No.”

“What would make this better? Tell me and I’ll do it.”

She looked at the dishes still needing to be done and then at
the time. Mason had thirty minutes before he had to leave. He needed a lunch.
Banana,
sliced in half and then thirds per half forming six pieces. One cup of Greek
yogurt. Thirty-six clusters of granola for topping. Two egg salad sandwiches
made from three eggs and three teaspoons of mayonnaise. Six… Fuck, fuck, fuck,
fuck, fuck…
she tried not to think it. Tried to leave it at five fucks.