Page 70 of I Need You Tonight
Chapter 26
Mason
Don’t fuck things up, son. That’s what my uncle had been telling me. He wanted me to confess the truth to Nicole about what had really happened between my family and me. If he had known about her father, he might not have felt the same way. Or maybe he would’ve been even more adamant about me telling her the truth.
When my family had initially turned their backs on me six years ago, my uncle knew how upset I was, and he’d eventually checked on me a few months later. It had taken him that long because he too had been pissed at me. I’d promised him I would turn my life around.
And I did. Temporarily.
But then I lost everything I owned and then some on a bad deal, which meant I was royally fucked—as in the if-you-don’t-pay-us-by-the-end-of-the-day-you’re-dead type of fucked. So I’d overdosed on alcohol and painkillers. Zack had found me and called the police—and my uncle had been the cop sent on the call. The cop responsible for telling my family the news.
I can’t imagine they were too upset when they heard it. More likely they were upset that Zack had saved my miserable ass. His photo was probably on some family dartboard, along with mine.
As much as my uncle clearly wanted me to tell Nicole everything, I couldn’t. Besides, what was the point? That wasn’t who I was anymore. Plus, who knew how long Nicole and I would be together? I longed for it to work out between us, but I had no idea if that was the same future she also saw for us.
And right now I wasn’t in the mood to ask her.
We drove back to my house and changed our clothes, then took a cab to the airport. Once we had checked in for the flight, we sat down in a restaurant and ordered food and drinks. She had water; I had beer.
Before she was halfway finished with her drink, I was already on my second beer. But it would take a lot more than two beers to push away the memory of what had happened at the funeral.
We didn’t talk much. I pretended to watch the game playing on the large-screen TV. Just don’t quiz me on what sport it was or who was playing. I could feel Nicole’s worried gaze on me. I did my best to ignore it.
The men at the table next to us leapt out of their seats, whooping and hollering. They high-fived, then returned their attention to the TV screen. In the background, a recorded female voice reminded passengers to not leave their luggage unattended, or else it would be removed and destroyed.Happy Thanksgiving to you too.
Two teenage girls approached the table, giggling. “Aren’t you Mason Dell from Pushing Limits?” the tall redhead asked. Before I could reply, she sat down next to me and asked her friend to take a photo.
“I’d rather not be in any pictures right now,” I told them. My voice came out gruff, the opposite of how I normally was with fans, but at this point I didn’t give a damn.
“You don’t have a choice,” she huffed. “It’s part of your job.”
“What he means,” Nicole jumped in, her voice sounding like it had been dipped in honey, despite the mother-bear attitude rolling off her, “is this isn’t a good time and he’s not currently working right now. He’s in a restaurant having dinner.”
“Doesn’t matter,” the redhead said. “I bought his album, which means I bought the right to take a photo of him.”
Nicole slowly shook her head. “Wrong. You bought the album, nothing more.”
“He’s a celebrity. If he doesn’t like people taking photos of him, then he shouldn’t be one.”
I didn’t have the energy to argue otherwise. Fortunately, Nicole did. “How would you feel if one of your teachers showed up in the middle of the night, handed you a homework assignment she’d forgotten to assign in class, and told you it was due tomorrow morning?”
“That’s not the same thing.”
“It’s exactly the same thing. Yes, Mason is a celebrity, but he deserves his privacy as much as anyone else. Being a celebrity doesn’t mean he gives up the right to privacy. It means it becomes even more important to him.”
“God, you’re such a bitch.”
Nicole gave her a long look that basically said,Pot, have you checked the mirror lately?“No, I’m not. I’m just asking you to be more respectful of his wishes.”
“C’mon, Em,” the redhead’s friend said. “It’s not a big deal. It’s enough that we saw him here.”
Em glared at her. “But I want proof. No one’s gonna believe me when I say I saw him.” More so because I wasn’t even supposed to be in L.A. As far as everyone knew, I was heading to Atlantic City from New York with the band. L.A. wasn’t exactly in the neighborhood of either location.
“We’re going,” the brunette said firmly, and took her sister’s arm. To Nicole and me she added, “I’m sorry about my sister. She can be a spoiled brat sometimes.”
Her sister threw her a dark look. “I’m not a spoiled brat.”
“Whatever.” The brunette rolled her eyes. “Happy Thanksgiving,” she said to Nicole and me before the two of them walked away.
