Page 67 of Right Number

Chapter 23

The Showdown

I STOOD NEXT TO the front door frozen in panic.

Liam was standing in front of me on the other side of the entryway. When taken out of context, what he’d said sounded really bad. Really, really bad.

Mason was sitting on the sofa behind me after just asking for a second chance. I could only imagine what he must have been thinking of my stupid, vague answer about “last night being eventful” mixed with what Liam just said. I was too afraid to turn around and see the look on his face. That was one perk of remaining strictly over the phone…I never had to see an upset or disappointed look on Mason’s face.

The whole situation was bad. Very, very bad.

“Umm…” I stammered as I wrung my hands and tried to come up with something magical to say that would fix the whole moment.

Liam’s face scrunched up in concern. “You OK, Anna?” He reached up to touch my face and I pulled my head away. The look of surprise that flashed across his face made me feel terrible, especially after he’d been so good to my stupid, drunk ass the night before.

The whole situation was beyond bad. We’d officially ventured into total cluster-fuck territory.

I wrapped my arms around my middle just to have something to do with my hands. Why the hell didn’t I know what to do with my hands? I tried to look anywhere but directly at Liam. “Yes, I’m fine. Maybe we could talk later. Now’s really not a good time.”

Just then Liam’s eyes darted over to Mason sitting on the sofa and the look of surprise on Liam’s face was back. “Oh, I didn’t…”

“I’m Mason. And you are?” A deep voice rang out from behind me. I turned to see Mason standing and looking at Liam with a stony expression. I tried to make eye contact with Mason, but his gaze remained fixed on Liam.

Just when I thought the moment couldn’t get any worse, Bree and Sarah burst out of the kitchen. “Liam!” Bree shouted from across the room. “So good to see you! Why don’t you come into the kitchen for some coffee?” Her voice sounded totally unnatural and forced…like she was trying to hide something. Dammit. It felt like the whole situation was just spiraling further and further out of control.

“We have donuts!” Sarah said loudly, in the same over-the-top voice.

Everyone stood frozen. Liam’s eyes darted from me, to Mason, to Bree and Sarah, then back to me. Mason’s eyes remained fixed on Liam. Bree and Sarah had big, fake smiles plastered on their faces as they gave me “what the hell is going on?” looks with their eyes. I don’t think anyone in the room had a clue what to do. I closed my eyes and wished the floor would swallow me up or that I would somehow wake up from the nightmare.

The morning had officially blown out of “cluster-fuck territory” and turned into “full-on raging dumpster fire of epic proportions.”

Bless Liam for being the one to finally say something. “Umm…yeah. I think I have time for a quick cup.”

“Great!” Sarah shouted out in a high-pitched, overly cheerful voice. She darted across the room, grabbed Liam’s arm, and practically dragged him into the kitchen. Liam looked over his shoulder at me with a totally bewildered expression on his face.

There had to be a point where the maximum amount of bad stuff that could happen would be reached and something good would happen, right? I mean it seemed to defy the law of averages that so many bad things were happening in the span of less than ten minutes.

When Bree, Sarah, and Liam made it to the kitchen, I finally closed the front door and turned to Mason. “Anna?” he said in a tense voice. “What’s going on?”

I took a deep breath. “Long version or short version?”

“Let’s start with who that guy is.”

“Liam.” I didn’t really know what else to say.

“I gathered that,” Mason said. It sounded like he was talking through clenched teeth. Oh, that was not good. “Who’s Liam?” Before I could answer, a look of realization settled in on Mason’s face. “Wait…is that…is that Coffee Guy?”

“Yes,” I said softly. I looked up at Mason just in time to see his face fall and his shoulders slump slightly forward. My heart clenched in my chest as I racked my brain, trying to come up with something to say. No matter how hard I tried, words just wouldn’t come.

Mason pulled his eyes away from me and slowly sat back down on the sofa. “Coffee Guy just happens to stop by this morning after you had an ‘eventful night’ together and he brought you home late?” Mason put his elbows on his knees as he clasped his hands together and leaned forward. “Fuck,” I heard him mutter under his breath.

I moved quickly to the sofa and sat down next to him. He didn’t even glance at me. “Mason, I know how it sounds, but that’s not what happened. You have it all wrong.”

“I have it all wrong? Really, Anna? It looks pretty clear to me, but please, tell me how it is. You said you ended things with him.” The hurt in Mason’s voice was thick.

I hesitantly reached my hand out and put it on his shoulder. He still wouldn’t look at me, but he didn’t pull away, so I just kept my hand there as I spoke. “I did. Last night after I talked to you on the phone at the Spring Art Show, I was really upset. I had way too much to drink and got into a bad situation with my ex-boyfriend, Oliver. Liam helped me out of that bad situation and brought me home. That’s what happened…that’s all that happened.”

I waited for Mason to say something, but he just continued to sit, staring forward with his jaw clenched and his hands clasped together. When it was clear he wasn’t going to say anything, I continued. “Mason, I was a mess last night. It threw me for a complete loop when you weren’t there, and after our phone conversation, I thought you were with some other girl. I was heartbroken, sad, confused, and really hurt. I didn’t handle any of it well, and went off the deep end. Last night I assumed the worst about everything and Mason…I can see you’re doing the same thing right now. Please don’t make the same mistake I did.”

---