Free So Many Men... by Dorie Graham

high.
    He could do this. He could meet this challenge. A single day of spontaneity couldn’t derail a lifetime of discipline. “I’m yours then—for the day.”
    “You said it, mister.” She grabbed his hand and before he changed his mind tugged him out of the bed and toward the bathroom. “You’re mine.”
    He perked up. “Are we taking a shower together?”
    “A quick one.” She turned and frowned at him. “Just a shower—no sex. We don’t have time for that. The sun is up and time’s wasting.”
    Disappointment mingled with his returning dread. “Wouldn’t want to waste any time.”
    “Don’t look so glum. We’ll get back to that. I promise. But there’s a whole world to explore and good times to be had. We’re getting you out of your rut and into the new and exciting.”
    “But we did that last night. If that wasn’t new and exciting, I don’t know what is.”
    She smiled at him. “Yes, it was. It was a good start, but this isn’t just about sex. You’ll feel better for it. You’ll see.”
    “Right.” He padded along behind her. Good times. Something told him they had very different ideas of what constituted a good time.

6
    M ASON STARED AT THE brightly painted building near the beach. “You’re kidding. There is absolutely no way I am going in there.”
    “Come on. You can’t tell me you’ve never been to an arcade.”
    He never had, but he wasn’t going to admit that to her. “Arcades are for kids.”
    “No, they’re not.”
    “Yes—” he nodded to some children pushing through the door “—they are.”
    “Well, even you must have been a kid at one time.”
    “Nope, never.”
    She grabbed his hand and pulled him into the dimly lit interior. Multicolored lights flashed from various games lining the walls and grouped about the open center area. Various dings, tones and computerized notes sounded from all corners.
    He wrinkled his nose at the sour smell that permeated the air, while eyeing the blotchy carpet in distrust. “I don’t know about this.”
    “Oh, come on. It isn’t going to hurt you to have a little fun.”
    “I have fun.”
    She folded her arms and gave him a wide-eyed look, waiting for him to elaborate.
    “You know, like last night. I go out to dinner and the theater on occasion.”
    “That was really nice, Mason, but I mean Fun with a capital F. ”
    He scratched his head. “I’m taking Rafe to a game next Saturday.”
    “Good, but my guess is that’s more for Project Mentor and Rafe. I’m talking about fun for you, where you let go of your inhibitions and enjoy yourself, regardless of what anyone else might think. Fun outside the bedroom. Last night was about us. This is about fun for you. Just for you. When was the last time you did something just because it was something you wanted to do? Something besides sex.”
    When was the last time he’d had that kind of fun? “I like football and lacrosse.”
    “Playing it or watching it?”
    “I haven’t done much more than watch it in years, but I used to play.”
    “Doesn’t count.” She grabbed his hand again and pulled him toward a low counter at one end of the building.
    While she purchased what she called a game card, he eyed a row of plastic rings and other unidentifiable, but seemingly just as useless, objects proudly displayed beneath the grimy glass countertop. “And exactly what would you do with any of that?”
    She flashed him a grin and nodded toward a row of stuffed animals lining a shelf on the wall behind the counter. “I don’t go for the small stuff.”
    “I see. I didn’t realize I was with a big winner.”
    “This way.”
    She maneuvered her way past a guy on a pair of skis, poling his way down a snowy terrain depicted on a screen in front of him, a circular table with spinning lights and buttons that did who knew what and an air-hockey table. At least that Mason recognized. A loud banging sounded from around a corner. Tess swerved toward the sound, stopping beside a