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He was fully aware that he hadn’t let Gavin answer his first question, but that was Mason Or it always had been If so needed to be done, heelse second It’s why he and Isaac had worked so well together He only hoped Gavin would be able to deal with it as well

Gavin kept his eyes on Mason all night There was a tenseness in his shoulders that Gavin hadn’t seen there before His sait heavy

Which should be expected His father had a stroke That was enough to stress anyone out But it didn’t stop there Gavin wasn’t sure what else weighed so heavily on his lover, but he had no doubt there was so

And he wanted to fix it

Wanted it gone

It was the first ti like that for another man, the first time he wanted to fix whatever was broken because Gavin felt the overwhel need to take care of as his He’d never really let so be his before, other than his career He felt that way about Mason

Gavin waited until they closed the bar down He hung out while Mason took care of orders and paperwork and whatever he could find to keep himself busy

Finally, Gavin pushed his way into Mason’s office The man sat behind his desk; his eyes jerked up when Gavin walked in

"Hey I’o--"

"You know I don’t need to go" He squeezed between Mason and the desk Pushed his paperwork and laptop out of the way, and sat on the desk Mason grinned up at hi to let his lover do that He wasn’t going to let hiht

"So, what do we do fro on that I need to know about?"

Mason’s right brow quirked up "How do you know there’s soed "Maybe I’ve spent soto know you? Either that or it’s the talking that’s doing it Still not sure which I’ll let you knohen I figure it out"

For the first tiht, the smile on Mason’s face looked real "Funny h Mason’s hair Gripped it and gave it a slight tug "Tell hed and then dropped his forehead onto Gavin’s knee Gavin still had a hand in his hair, only now he used his thumb to rub the back of Mason’s head One deep breath later, Mason sat up "He could have died He could have fucking died, and it would have happened withan asshole because, what? They raisedwhen they didn’t have to?"

"No Fuck that" Gavin wouldn’t let him blame himself Not that he didn’t want Mason and his family toangry at his You were hurt We all get that way They raised you, but they lied to you as well Loving someone doesn’t mean you’re perfect They weren’t, and you weren’t, either Don’t use that as an excuse"

Mason studied Gavin for a long tie the fact that he could have died I left a lot on their plate when I came to Blackcreek I never told them I didn’t want the business Then one day I just said I needed a break and wanted to try and see what I could do with a bar It wasn’t fair to them They’re my faoing to be able to keep going at the same pace he was"

Which ot that It still felt like so doith Mason’s statement "The bar?" Mason loved this place It would kill hio, whether it’s what he believed he needed to do or not

Mason let out a slow, deep breath His hands pulled into tight fists that he banged gently on the desk "I can’t let it go I should Fuck, it’s just a bar, but it’s my bar I don’t want to walk away from it"

"Then don’t," Gavin said siht Don’t do the saret it You deserve to have your dream, too"

Mason’s hands opened He wrapped them around Gavin and pulled his "You’re damned smart, music man That’s why I keep you around"