“Is that your way of encouraging me?” I asked bitterly.
Mason shrugged, walked a few paces in front of me and turned back to say, “It’s what I’d want to hear!”
“You have a strange way of comforting someone,” I said bitterly. And a strange way of dealing with unpleasant feelings, I thought menacingly, remembering how he tore out of the gelato shop last night.
He smirked and rejoined my side.
“Can we talk about last night?” I finally asked.
“What is there to talk about?” he answered quickly.
“How you left the gelato shop, claiming that no one believed you about Reese. Then right after that, I found you in Reese’s trailer. Is there something going on that I’m missing?”
Mason faltered for a moment. He obviously wasn’t used to getting called out like that. “There’s just… some unresolved things between me and Reese,” he finally said. “It’s complicated.”
“How long did you two date?” I asked.
“You’re a nosy one, aren’t you?” he asked with a tone of warning in his voice.
“Just curious,” I rebuffed.
“Alright, that’s reasonable,” he said. “We dated for three months. Met during the academy awards.”
“And that’s how it ended? When you found his cousins in his basement?” I asked.
Reese was looking at the buildings we were passing carefully. If I didn’t know better, I’d argue that he was trying hard to get out of this situation.
Someone was making him uncomfortable, for once.
“I don’t know what bullshit he’s trying to pull, saying they were his cousins,” Mason said. “None of them looked a thing like Reese. Even at the time, he told me they were his cousins, but I didn’t believe him. Then I tried to tell other people about them, but no one believed me.”
“I know what that’s like,” I said, remembering my high school self.
“To not be believed?” Mason asked.
I looked over at him and his blue irises were on me. His gaze was overpowering.
I nodded. “No one believed me when… ugh, never mind, I don’t want to get into it.”
“Here it is,” Mason said, cutting me off and stopping in front of an ancient-looking building with roman columns out front.
“These are the baths?” I asked.
“Yep yep,” he said.
As I followed him up the marble stone steps, I couldn’t help but feel like I was left out in the cold. It was true that I didn’t want to get into what had happened to me in the past, but part of me was disappointed. I was just about to make an emotional connection with Mason, but he was taking the easy way out. Is it possible to feel relieved and disappointed at the same time?
As we passed the check-in desk, Mason flashed his I.D. And said something about his reservation.
I was still lost in thought about him. Why was I even hanging out with him? This was the guy that fucked me and then left me feeling used.
It was just like what happened with that bully…
We checked in and then went into the locker room to change.
“So, you were saying,” Mason said, taking off his shirt to reveal his gleaming abs.
“Saying what?” I asked as I did the same, feeling my face flare as I tried not to look at him.
“No one believed you,” he said cordially, training his eyes on the locker in front of him.
I raised an eyebrow. I didn’t expect Mason to swivel our conversation back around to this. “Yeah, no one believed me during this thing that happened a long time ago.” I shook my head, suddenly making a decision not to tell mason anything. “It doesn’t matter.”
Mason stepped out of his shorts.
I averted my eyes, my face heating.
“No, I want to know what you were about to say. Come on, man, don’t leave me hanging.”
“Not here,” I said, trying to get away from this subject. I would do anything — anything to not have to look at Mason when he was undressing like this.
I had to wonder— what was his game? Was he using his body — being naked like this — to make me squirm like this while he forced me to relive one of the worst moments of my life? That seemed like exactly the kind of weird little power games Mason Vayne liked to play.
“Fine, but I'm going to expect you to tell me later,” he said with a smirk. “We’re supposed to be close, you know?”
“I don’t know what you mean,” I replied sassily.
“Oh, you didn’t read ahead in the script, did you?” Mason asked, that mischievous glimmer back in his eye.
I felt a sinking feeling in my gut. “Obviously not as far ahead as you have. Why? What’s in it for Chronis?”
“Our characters have a few more scenes together. We should at least try to be friends,” Mason said.
“You have a funny way of wanting to be friends,” I sassed.
Mason sighed and turned to me. “I’m not the best. I’m actually a terrible friend. But can we agree on some kind of truce going forward? It’ll make everything easier.”
He outstretched his hand for me to shake. I eyed it, then returned my attention to my locker.
“Easier for whom? For me or you?” I asked, the words feeling bitter on my tongue.
“Both,” he said confidently. Though there was a small quiver on the edge of his mouth.
“It’s going to take more than that after the shit you pulled,” I said, letting my anger and past hurt boil to the surface.
He withdrew his hand slowly. “What shit?”
I slammed my locker shut and fixed him with an angry gaze. “What, are you used to people letting you get away with things? You just smile and you can get away with whatever you want, pretty boy?” I asked, coming at him.
His thick black eyebrows went up ever so slightly and he took a step back.
I didn’t know what had gotten into me — this was a different side of me that I was completely unfamiliar with.
“I don’t know what you mean,” he said, his brilliant smile
