Page 16 of Trapped for Christmas

“Your presence is required.”

“I’m making food for everyone.”

“Which is already done, and I’m sure these lovely ladies and that cute gentleman can bring it out for you.”

They all practically swooned at what Ryder had said. Mason rolled his eyes.

“Do not encourage him, or I’ll be questioning the taste level of all of you. Does Felix like you flirting with other people?”

“Felix knows he’ll be the one under me later, begging for my⁠—”

“Please don’t finish that sentence. Let’s go.”

Mason quickly washed his hands, dried them, and followed Ryder out to the private dining room. There were still a few stragglers in the restaurant, which was fine. A third of the staff were staying on to close out, clear up, and prep for tomorrow, but they would be gone by eight. The rest had already left. He then had six people staying until whenever this lot finished, so that could be any time. Mason would arrange rides for them all to get home, and none of them were scheduled for tomorrow.

“Here’s the main man,” said Ryder, pulling Mason into the room.

Mason greeted all his friends. The looks of sympathy on their faces were appreciated and irritating at the same time. They’d all called him out on his feelings for Zeb and knew this was his fault. By pushing Zeb away, he’d ended up with Kaden, who was doing God knew what to him right now. What was Zeb doing for Thanksgiving? Was it just the two of them, or did Kaden have his own family? Was Zeb a part of that now?

He got to his brother who gave him a hug. Leo wasn’t a hugger, so it was a welcome surprise. His brother was tall with a muscular build. Mason still hit the gym a few times a week, but he was leaner because he was on his feet for over twelve hours a day.

“Mason, I’d like you to meet Jacob,” said Leo, pointing to the cute guy on his left.

He knew Jacob was twenty-three and fifteen years younger than Leo. That hadn’t stopped his brother. It was something he admired in Leo. If he wanted something, he went for it. Mason had been like that once. Perhaps he’d become too comfortable at Epicure. He’d lost his edge and put up barriers to protect his reputation. His brother had just followed his heart and not given a fuck what people thought.

“Pleased to meet you, Jacob. I don’t know what you’ve done to my brother, but I haven’t seen him smile like this in . . . well, I haven’t seen it before.”

“It’s more what I’ve been doing to him,” whispered Leo.

Jacob’s eyes widened, and he went bright red. Mason snorted at his brother making a joke like that.

“I love it when he blushes,” said Leo, pulling Jacob toward him and kissing him affectionately on the temple.

Mason wasn’t sure what to say. His brother and PDA were not something he’d ever seen. It made him happy, but his heart ached for his own loss at the same time.

“You’re sitting next to me, so let’s catch up properly when we’re seated,” said Mason, leaving them to look gooey eyed at each other.

Mason finished making his rounds just as the servers entered with the platters of food. They had a large table set up, and everything was being put in the middle for people to help themselves. It was something he would never do in the main restaurant, but he didn’t need to do any of that with this group. They usually gave him shit about his “pretentious” food when they visited, but he loved them for it. They kept him grounded.

The next five minutes were chaos as platters were passed around and plates were filled with food, people unable to stop themselves from starting. There was no formality, just the people Mason loved, eating great food. He’d love to have his parents here, but they never left Florida in the winter, and he would visit them for Christmas. The restaurant closed early on Christmas Eve and didn’t reopen until the twenty-seventh, so he could spend a couple of days with them. He wasn’t sure what Leo would do now he had Jacob.

Everyone tucked into their food, making cheerful noises and giving Mason compliments. He smiled, which was something he hadn’t been doing a lot of recently. He could focus today on being present with this big extended family they’d created. Well, Sebastian was responsible. He’d gone around collecting them all: Ryder had been his PT; Deacon worked for him and still did; Ethan was his financial advisor and was now that for all of them; and he’d met Max in a bar one night and they’d just hit it off as friends.

As for Mason, he’d met Sebastian at a gala—which wasn’t something he enjoyed—where the restaurant he’d been working at was doing the catering. The head chef had been sick, and Mason had stepped in. It had been linked to a charity Sebastian was on the board of. How the man had time to do everything he did was a mystery, and he was the oldest of them all. Sebastian had asked to speak to Mason and told him he had a special talent, and if he ever needed an investor, then to give him first refusal. The rest was history.

As the meal progressed and everyone chatted, with several conversations going on at once, Mason could relax. His mind would occasionally wander to Zeb and wonder what he was doing. Many of the most important people in his life surrounded him, though, so he needed to snap out of it. He could give them his entire self today and go back to moping tomorrow.

“What the fuck!” exclaimed Hunter, quieting everyone immediately.

Mason looked up and his jaw dropped. It was Zeb. He looked terrible. His clothes were ripped. He had a nasty cut on his head, and his arm was bleeding.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t have anywhere else to go,” he said, tears rolling down his face.

Mason might have been sitting further away, but he was in front of Zeb before anyone else.

“What’s happened?” he asked, unable to stop the growl in his voice.

If Kaden had done this to Zeb, then Mason would track the fucker down and break his pretty-boy face. Not that he knew what the guy looked like, but he’d conjured an image in his head. Kaden was young and handsome compared to Mason, who was old and weather-beaten.