Pulling the towel from my back pocket, I wipe my hands off. It has been a busy week, and my shift at Velvet tonight hasn’t been any different. Thankfully, Dean has been helping Farin and I run the bar.
Running into Brea in the locker room was hard. We haven’t spoken since our night together at Dean’s, and when I saw her, all I wanted to do was pull her into my arms and kiss her. I’ve thought about reaching out to her a hundred times. The shit with my dad this week has my stress level running at an all-time high, but she wanted me to promise nothing would change between us.
I knew it was nothing but a fucking lie. So, I’ve kept my head down and focused on everything else going on in my life. Seeing her tonight, I found myself searching her face for any hint.
Did she regret it or did it change anything between us, as it did for me?
I sensed she looked hesitant and unsure when we saw each other. She wanted a night of meaningless sex with someone, without the worry it would ruin our friendship.
Lucky for her, I have experience in one-night stands.
Waving to Dean I’m going to make a quick break, I walk down the hall toward the bathroom.
“You going to tell me what the hell that was about,” Graham mumbles behind me.
I want to roll my eyes. Graham is a man of little words, but don’t think for a second he isn’t picking up on shit going on around him. He reads people. Their facial expressions, their body language, everything.
I promised I would keep my night with Brea between the two of us, but I can tell by his question, he knows something happened.
“What are you talking about?” I ask, deciding to play the oblivious card.
“Don’t fucking give me that shit,” he grunts. “What’s going on between you and Brea?”
Spinning around, I lean against the wall and cross my arms over my chest, deciding this is the best option if I want to avoid him reading into it.
“Nothing’s going on. I haven’t seen Brea since last week.”
His eyes narrow as he runs his hand over his jaw, shaking his head, not buying it.
“Alright. If you don’t want to talk about it, fine. Answer me this at least, did you call Callum and tell him about your dad going to rehab?”
I can tell by the annoyed look on his face he knows the answer to his question.
“Why is it my responsibility to tell Callum?” I ask. I want to ask him why he even cares, but I know it’s because he’s looking out for me. He hates, as much as I do, that all this shit gets put on me.
“The way I see it, if my dad wanted Callum to know, he’d tell him on his own. I’m sick of being stuck in the middle of it. I told my mom the same thing. Callum is stubborn as fuck, particularly where my father is concerned.”
I think she’s hesitant to tell him in case our father doesn’t stick with it. She doesn’t want to give him another reason to believe all he’s capable of is letting other people down.
“He deserves to know, you know.”
“Yeah, well my dad doesn’t deserve to hear how he’s a piece of shit while he’s trying to get better,” I spit, uncrossing my arms.
“I didn’t expect to see you ever again and what do you know.” The sound of the loud shouting has my body tensing. I would know that voice anywhere. The anger in her tone is not one I often hear.
Looking down the hall, I turn my head toward Graham. I can tell he has the same thought I do as we both jog to where her voice is coming from. As soon as I turn the corner, I see Kaleb standing in front of Brea with his hand gripping her forearm.
“So, what, you can forgive Mason for sleeping around, but it’s not okay for me to do the same?”
I can feel my ears ringing as the anger rises in my face, heating my skin.
“Stop it, Kaleb, you’re hurting me.” Brea’s pained voice echoes in my head. I vaguely hear Graham’s grunt behind me, and I’m relieved to hear he’s with us, at least I know he’ll have my back if something happens. Clenching my fists, I stalk toward where they’re standing.
“No, I want you to answer my question. What is it about your precious Mase that has you so willing to overlook his trail of countless women coming from his bedroom?”
As soon as I’m within spitting distance to the fucking prick, I can’t help but clench my jaw as I say, “She told you to let her go. I suggest you do as she says unless you want me to help you out.”
Kaleb’s shoulders tense and I know he wasn’t expecting me to come up from behind him. Moving closer so I’m standing near Brea, I see the sinister smile on his face, and it’s enough to make me want to deck the fucker right in his mouth.
With a shove, he pushes away from the wall. I move quickly to help her, not wanting her to fall but the move fuels Kaleb’s anger further.
“Alright, you need to leave,” Graham commands. The venom in his voice is threatening, and I know Kaleb realizes he would be a fucking fool to even think about going toe-to-toe with Graham. He’d lay him out in a fucking instant.
Sliding my arm around Brea’s shoulder, I turn her to face me, making sure she’s okay. Looking over Brea’s shoulder, my eyes find Graham who glances at me, making sure Brea is alright.
“She’s fine; I’ve got her. Get him out of here, will ya?”
With his hand pressed on Kaleb’s shoulder, he moves him out of the space and away from Brea. I hear the low murmur in his ear, and I don’t have to hear Graham’s words to know he’s telling him to cool down before making things worse.
“What the hell was that about?” I ask, turning toward Brea.
“He’s upset about our fight from the other night is all. I’m fine though; it’s not a big deal.”
“Not a big deal, Brea? I walked around the corner and see this fucker intimidating you and the scared look on your face. I know you better than this, Brea. This isn’t something little to be waved off like it’s nothing. Has this happened before?”
I can tell by the flash of anger in her eyes as she grits her teeth, that she didn’t like my question.
“No, he has never gotten angry like this,” she grunts. “What the hell? Do you think I’d stay with him if he did?”
“I’m fine though, I swear. I’m upset of course, but I’ll be okay. Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to get ice from the cooler and check on my tables. I’m sure they’re wondering where I’m at by now.”
“Don’t worry about the ice. I’ll get it. If that asshole comes around again, I want you to tell me.”
Following Brea out, I stop and pull out a bag of ice before lugging it with me to the bar. As soon as I round the corner, I find Graham leaning against the bar as he surveys the crowd.
“How’s she doing?” Graham yells over the music as he leans against the wall. I break open the bag of ice and pour it into the cooler. The music is thumping through the speakers, making it hard to hear.
“She’s acting like Brea, pretending like it didn’t happen or like it’s not bothering her,” I shout, wiping my hands off on my towel.
“Did you take care of him?”
Graham leans back against the bar and doesn’t say anything, only nods his head before searching the crowd for Lissa and Brea, checking on them.
A petite blonde saddles up to the counter and waves her hand at me, getting my attention. Sliding my hand along the bar, I lean closer to her.
“What can I get you?” I shout.
“I’ll take a dirty martini.” She smiles, running her finger along her lower lip as her eyes roam over my body. Taking a step back, I pick up a clean glass from underneath the bar and pour the ingredients into the cocktail mixer.
Dropping the olive in her drink, I slide the glass toward her and flash her my signature smile. I watch as her eyes light up as her tongue darts out, licking the tip of her finger before bringing the drink to her mouth.
Shaking my head, I don’t bother feeding into the attention she’s craving. Turning my head toward the server station, I see the annoyance on Lissa’s face as she looks back and forth between the petite blonde and me. Behind her, I see Brea turn her head as she saunters toward her tables.
Shit, I hadn’t even noticed the two of them approach, and I know it looked worse than it was.
“Are you ever going to grow the hell up, Mason Reid?” Lissa yells, walking behind the counter and starts fixing her own drinks. By the way her arm jerks with the bottle in her hand, she’s pissed.
“Excuse me?”
“You heard me,” she says, stopping what she’s doing as her eyes run over my face. Her eyes narrow as if she’s waiting for me to give her the answer she’s looking for.
“You want her,” she yells, and I can feel my body tense. The sound of Graham’s deep laugh behind me has me gritting my teeth. “You want her, Mason. We all know it but the question is, do you?”
“I don’t know what the hell you’re talking about.”
“Riiiiiiight.” She laughs, sliding the bottle of vodka on the shelf. “I’m still not buying it. Listen, I’m going to cut to the chase because I don’t have time or patience for your cat and mouse bullshit right now.”
Her blunt and straight to the point response is earning another laugh from Graham. I can’t help but flash him a “fuck off” look. Any other time the guy doesn’t say more than two words, much less show emotion, and here he is laughing like this is the funniest god-damn thing he’s heard all day.
“I know what happened between the two of you at Dean’s house the other night. If I’m honest, I’m surprised it took as long as it did before it happened. Maybe you’re still in denial, or maybe you’re just stupid, but don’t fuck with her heart. You like taking women home with you, but you and I both know, Brea deserves far fucking more than some one-night stand. I would expect something like this from some douche fucker like Kaleb, but I don’t from you. So, do us both a favor, figure out what the hell you want and quit fucking with her.”
She picks up the drinks and slides them onto her server tray before spinning and facing me. She’s close enough to where I can hear her without yelling. I don’t say anything, just watch as she leans in closer and says, “You want her, Mason. We all know it,” she says, looking over at Graham and raising her eyebrow. I know he heard her as he simply nods his head before looking at me.
Looking at me, I see the smug look on her face. “So, the question is, what are you going to do about it?”
She doesn’t wait for me to respond as she turns and walks to the other side of the bar. Graham doesn’t stick around either, following along right behind her.
The club is packed, but the area near the tables is less crowded, leaving room for servers to get through to the tables lining the club. My eyes roam, trying to spot Brea, but it’s hard beneath the dim lights.
I try to busy myself helping customers but I can’t help replaying the words Lissa said as my eyes seek out Brea in the crowd of people. I’ve known how I feel about Brea for a long time, but have fought against it for months, telling myself it’s time to move on after seeing her happy with Kaleb.
When she told me about what he did and then proceeded to tell me she was going to go into the party to find someone to hook up with, I felt like I could hear the blood rushing in my ears and my heart nearly beating out of my chest. It was hard enough to hear and see her with Kaleb. I’ll be damned if I was going to watch her march in the house to find someone to take his place.
Over my dead fucking body.
It never dawned on me after all this time, our closest friends may have seen what I am feeling for her, too. I’ve worked hard to hide my feelings from Brea, respecting her and Kaleb’s relationship. Trust is so important to Brea, and I would never want to lose hers.
It’s a sure-fire way to drive a wedge between us.
Having someone confront me about her, asking me what my next moves are, takes me by surprise. After Brea and Kaleb had been together for more than six months, I honestly gave up the notion I would ever get a chance with her. She was happy with him, I could see it. Not to mention, they just broke up. It’s not like she can get over him and the hurt of what happened overnight, regardless of her wanting to ease the sting.
Turning my head toward where she’s serving tables, my eyes immediately lock with hers and I feel it knock the wind out of my chest. She’s so goddamn beautiful. Her hair is pulled into a high ponytail. The long strands are curled in waves, hanging down her back. The makeup she’s wearing is a little heavier than normal, but she still looks beautiful. I prefer her fresh faced, dressed down in her yoga pants and a t-shirt like she often wears when we are hanging out, but she’s breathtaking like this, too.
I watch as her eyes search my face as she approaches the counter, sliding her tray onto the server station. On nights where we’re busy, we try to help the servers with their drinks, but sometimes it can be hard to keep up. I don’t care now though; I want an excuse to talk to her.
Approaching her, I lean in close to the side of her face and whisper in her ear. “What can I get you?”
I feel her body heat having her close to me, and her body tenses as my mouth rests near her ear. Leaning back, I meet her eyes and watch as they dilate from our proximity.
“Jack and Coke,” she whispers loud enough for me to hear. I feel her heated breath against the edge of my lips. She darts her tongue out, wetting her lips before she continues. “And…sex on the beach.”
I know she’s talking about a drink, but I can’t help the grin that takes over my face. Grabbing the bottle of vodka off the shelf, I turn around to face her.
“Coming right up,” I shout before flashing her a wink.