Chapter Seventeen
I shoot a worried look in Lori's direction. "Behave."
She winks. "I always do."
"Hey Buzz," his ex says without even looking at him. She's too busy burning holes into Lori's skull.
"Hey Stacey, how are you?" he asks.
She finally looks at him and winks. "A little sore after last night." Mason chuckles when he spots my raised eyebrow. "Who are your friends? Aren't you going to introduce us?"
Buzz points to Mason. "This is Mason. I might have mentioned him once or twice."
"Very funny. I already know Mason." She points to Lori. "And who might this be?"
"This is my girlfriend."
She laughs. "Your girlfriend? Since when?"
"Since ten seconds ago," Mason whispers to me.
"Does she know that you fucked me last night?"
“Well if she didn’t then she does now.”
Lori smiles. "Yes, I already knew."
"And you're okay with it?"
She shrugs. "It was Throwback Thursday."
Buzz's jaw hits the ground as soon as the words leave her mouth and I'm pretty sure I can see little hearts floating around in his eyes. "Come here, sweetheart." He leans in and kisses her like he's been waiting to do it all of his life. When he finally pulls away, Lori looks a little taken aback but recovers quickly.
Stacey shakes her head. "So let me get this straight. You don't mind that your boyfriend cheated on you?"
"We only became official tonight so technically he didn't cheat on me."
"Buzz doesn't know the meaning of the word official. He's not a commitment kind of guy."
"I am now," Buzz replies, looking only at Lori. “I don’t want anyone else.”
"You won't be saying that when you're back in my bed next week."
Lori takes a step towards her. "You’re right, he won’t be saying that. He won’t be saying anything to you because you won’t be seeing him again. He’s mine now. If you go anywhere near him, or me for that matter, then we're going to have a very big problem."
“Are you threatening me?”
“Oh, did I not make that clear enough?”
Stacey turns to Buzz. “Since when do you like prim and proper?”
“You know nothing about me,” Lori says. “And I intend to keep it that way. Bye bye.” She waves her away.
“Call me when you get bored of little miss vanilla.” She looks at each one of us in turn before walking away.
Lori shakes free of Buzz’s hand. "Kiss me again and I'll break your jaw."
"Oh my god, you're perfect," Buzz replies, ignoring her. "You're sexy when you're angry."
"Oh, please. It was all an act. How long did you date her?"
"Not long. I wouldn’t even call it dating.”
“Okay then, how long did you sleep with her for?”
“About nine months.”
“She doesn’t seem like your type.”
He shrugs. “I had to occupy myself while I was waiting for you."
"Well you'll be keeping yourself occupied for a very long time."
"No I won't. We're official now, remember? You said so yourself."
"If we were official then I would know the story behind your nickname."
He laughs. "Where have you been all my life?"
"Avoiding you. My parents warned me about guys like you.”
"Woah, woah, woah! Slow down for a second. Parents love me.” He grins. “Tell her, Mason. Tell her how much your mom loves me."
"My mother despises him," Mason replies. "More drinks?"
"I'll come with you,” I tell him. “I think we should give the new couple some time alone."
"Very funny," Lori replies as we walk away.
"So what are his odds looking like right now?" Mason asks.
"Hmmm, I'd say slim to none."
"Hey, that's pretty good for him. He'd be happy with that."
"He’s definitely her type but I'm not sure his ex did him any favors. She kind of has a no baggage rule. What's the story with them anyway?"
He groans. "Where do I start? Do you want to hear about the fake pregnancy or the time she broke into his apartment and cut all the sleeves off of his shirts?"
"Oh my god, she faked being pregnant?”
“Yep, she even printed a fake scan picture off the internet. That’s how he found out she was lying because it had some other woman’s name and date of birth on it. Sloppy.”
“Jesus. I thought that kind of thing only happened in movies. Why isn’t he running in the opposite direction as fast as he can?"
"How can I put this? Buzz finds it hard to say no, especially when it's being handed to him on a plate."
"Hence the commitment issues?"
He nods. "It's weird, he seems to fall in love really easily but once the honeymoon period is over, he moves on to the next woman."
I definitely need to remember all of this to tell Lori. "So he's in love with the idea of love?"
"Maybe. Or maybe he just hasn't found the right woman for him, the one who can keep the spark alive for longer than a few weeks."
"Well he's never going to find her if he keeps going back to his ex."
"That's what I keep telling him."
By the time we reach the bar, I've lost count of the number of women who stopped what they were doing to stare at Mason. It's no surprise as he's easily the best looking man in the club. "Mason?"
"Yeah?"
"That bartender is staring at you."
He looks around then waves. "Oh, that's my little sister’s best friend. I've known her forever."
I smile and it’s a genuine one. It’s nice to find out something that I didn’t already know about him. "You have a sister?"
"Yes. Indiana. She's a year younger than me."
"Wow, small age gap. Are you close?"
"Very." I already knew what his answer was going to be. His face lit up when he started talking about her. "What about you, have you got any siblings?"
"Nope, I'm an only child. I used to beg my parents for a little brother or sister but it never happened. That's why I've always said that I want to have loads of kids one day."
He grins. “How many are we talking?”
“A lot. Five, six, ten.”
“Wow, enough to make your own soccer team then?"
"That's the plan."
"Sounds like a good one if you ask me."
"What about you? Do you want children?"
His smile fades. "One day, when the time is right. I need stability first."
I nod but wonder what he means by that. Mason has a wife, a good job and a place to call home. If anyone has stability then surely it’s him. But then I remember why I’m even here in the first place. His wife thinks he’s a cheater. I’ve been so caught up in conversation that I’ve forgotten about trapping him. Maybe it’s the talk of children or his candid answer but I suddenly feel very uncomfortable. I decide to amp it up and take a bolder approach. The sooner I get this over with, the better. I lean closer to him so that our bodies are touching. “Well I’m sure we can have lots of fun practicing in the meantime.” His eyes turn dark.
Time to get this show on the road.