Chapter Fifty Nine
Mason laughs at me as I cringe the whole way through Livin’ On A Prayer. “Don’t worry. Buzz insists that they get better as the night goes on. Apparently they peak around midnight.”
“They get better or he gets drunker?”
“I guess we’re going to find out.”
I groan. “Does that mean we’re still going to be here at midnight?”
“Not if there’s somewhere else you’d rather be,” he replies, one eyebrow raised.
“Anywhere but here. That guy just butchered one of my all time favorite songs.”
“We could go to the hotel, if you’d like?”
I laugh. “Stop trying to show me your shower.”
“Who said anything about my shower?” His eyes twinkle with amusement. “You have a dirty mind, Sophia. Speaking of which, I googled Channing Tatum dancing to that horse song. I didn’t know you were interested in that kind of thing.”
“What kind of thing? Dancing?”
He laughs. “Oh, come on. He was hardly dancing. He was gyrating on women’s faces.”
“What the hell are you two talking about?” Lori asks as she sits down next to me.
“Magic Mike.”
“Who?” Mason asks.
“The dance is from the film Magic Mike,” I tell him.
His rolls his eyes. “You mean there’s a whole film about him dry humping horny women?”
“It has an actual plot but yeah, there’s lots of dancing.”
“If I knew that’s what you classed as dancing then we’d be doing that tonight instead of karaoke.”
“Oh and I suppose you have moves like Channing?”
He raises his eyebrow. “Oh, I have the moves.” I take a drink and try to think of something mundane to stop my mind from wandering to places that it shouldn’t.
“The night is still young,” Lori says. “I’m sure there will be enough time for you two to go dancing after we leave here.”
“That’s an excellent idea,” Mason replies as I give her the side eye. “Don’t you think, Sophia?”
I down the rest of my cosmopolitan. “I think I need another drink.”
He laughs. “Me too. I’ll get them. Same again?”
“Yes, please,” Lori interrupts. “And one for me too, thanks Mason.”
“Two cosmo’s coming right up.”
My greedy traitor eyes follow him as he walks over to the bar. “You should take a picture, it’ll last longer,” she says.
“And you should stop with the stupid comments. Don’t encourage him.”
She laughs. “I can’t help it. I totally ship you two. I know you’ve struggled with all of this but Jesus Christ, you could cut the sexual tension with a chainsaw. I think actual sparks would fly if you two got together.”
“Well it’s never going to happen. I can’t let it happen. Why did you tell him to get me another drink? You know I don’t like to drink at work.”
“Um, hello? You’re not at work.”
“Technically I am.”
“I don’t care about technicalities. You’ve already made it crystal clear that you’re not going to trap him or help Emily in any way so no, you’re not at work. We’re just four friends hanging out on a Friday night. Stop feeling so guilty all of the time and have some fun.” It’s true. I wonder how much of what is weighing me down is actually mine to carry. “Answer me this, would you still want to spend time with him if you hadn’t signed a contract?”
I sigh. “Yes.”
“Exactly. You’re not here because you have to be, you’re here because you want to be. Cut yourself some slack, Soph. Let your hair down for once.”
I look over my shoulder and see Mason on his way back to us, a cocktail in each hand. He smiles sweetly when our eyes meet and I get a warm fuzzy feeling in the pit of my stomach. Multiple women turn to watch him as he walks by but his eyes stay firmly locked onto mine.
He places a drink in front of Lori and then carefully hands me the other, his fingers brushing against mine. “Thank you.”
“What did I miss?”
I shrug. “Nothing.”
“Hey, it looks like Buzz has finally chosen a song,” Lori tells us. “It took him long enough.”
“It’s a very important decision,” Mason jokes. “Life altering.”
“Is he any good?” she asks.
“I’ll let you be the judge of that.”
“So that’s a no.”
“You might want to cover your ears,” Mason whispers to me as the music starts to play. His hot breath sends a shiver down my spine. I take another drink while trying to regain my composure.
Buzz walks up to the mic and taps it three times. “Testing, testing. Can everybody hear me in the back?” A few people clap and cheer. “How y’all doing tonight?”
Lori rolls her eyes. “Jeez, he’s acting like he’s the headliner of his own show.”
“I would like to dedicate this next song to my sweetheart, Lori.” He points at her and she groans when several people turn around to look. “I can’t think of a better song to sum up my feelings for you.”
“Oh here we go,” she says as he starts to sing Hot In Herre.