Vicious Circles - By Leann Andrews Page 0,4
and ran from the store, before he got any wild ideas.
Finding a taxi was extremely easy and the driver knew right where the bar was. I sat back against the leather seat and watched as the dark buildings passed, one by one. My initial thoughts about Mason Chance were starting to wear thin and it was unnerving. If he was actually a decent guy then I wouldn’t mind being friends with him. The thought of him being an actor and fairly well known was scaring me just a bit. No one, and I do mean no one, knew much about me at all. I liked it that way. Jill knew the most and still she was clueless.
My heart beat a little faster when the driver came to a stop outside the back door of a small brick building and Mason was leaning against the wall, waiting. He leaned in the open window on the passenger side and handed the man a twenty, instructing him to keep the change.
“I figured you would change your mind,” Mason said to me as I stepped from the yellow car, slamming the door behind me.
“I was considering being civil to you but then you go and say asshole shit like that,” I chided in a smart tone.
He ignored my comment and held the door open, motioning for me to go in ahead of him. So, he has some gentleman qualities. They probably disappear once he’s naked and balls deep inside of some wannabe.
The bar was dark but lit well enough so I didn’t trip and fall up the narrow staircase to the second floor. There was a main room, which was empty besides a small table and a small couch that was directly below a window facing the street. I could hear voices from the room Mason was headed toward and stopped. I wasn’t going to be on display.
“What’s wrong?” Mason asked me when I stopped walking.
“I don’t want to “hang out” with your buddies in there. I’ll just sit here on the couch.” My chest was tight and my head was still pounding.
He looked confused but let me have my way. Instead of continuing on to the other room, he spun around and took a seat on the small couch alongside me. “I’ll sit with you,” he said hesitantly.
“I just want to go back to LA,” I said finally. “Jill talked me into coming out here and then that bitch left me high and dry. Wait until I find her.”
Mason laughed, relaxing his posture and turning toward me. “Can I ask you something?”
“You can ask me, I may or may not answer.”
“I can’t quite see why you and Jill are such good friends.” He looked away, probably because he was making assumptions. I decided to answer because he had assumed correctly.
“Jill is my only close friend and you’re right…we are polar opposites. Sometimes I can’t stand her, like right now, but she knows more about me than anyone and it’s just easier.”
“I understand,” Mason said, nodding. “I understand that completely.”
“Can I ask you a question?” Fair is fair, I say.
He simply nodded.
“Why were you screwing her?”
“Wow, don’t hold back.” He ran his right hand through his hair, which had been straightened. “Look, sex is sex. We’re both adults and adults have sex.”
I cut my eyes at him. “Don’t speak to me like I’m ignorant. I’m sorry Mason, but I’m an adult and I like sex but I won’t be having it with you or anyone else for no good reason. Jill has no moral compass…”
“Whoa, you aren’t suggesting I have no morals are you? Trust me, you couldn’t be more wrong.”
I drew back into the couch, shocked that I had actually touched a nerve. A slight guilty feeling set in, which was odd considering I barely knew him. “I didn’t mean it that way, I’m sorry.”
“It’s all right,” he responded quietly. “I have to work on the set list for the show, will you be okay here?”
“I’ll be fine, go do what you need to do.”
He stood and walked a few steps. “You’ll be on a plane tomorrow, I’ll see to it.”
Rather than answer, I turned sideways and cranked the window open, to let the night air in. Voices floated up from the street below. Upon further investigation, I realized the line to get into the bar was all the way down the block. I’ll admit that the band was more popular than I had originally thought and I felt bad for thinking less