MASON

What the fuck? I could not believe that Scarlett picked that moment of all fucking moments to walk in and see me. I had planned on telling her about Bentley and I had planned on telling Bentley about Scarlett, but I just hadn’t had a chance. I didn’t want to ruin mine and Scarlett’s first weekend together by telling her the entire story and it wasn’t something I wanted to do over the phone, so I had planned on explaining everything to her the next time we had time to talk. And I was definitely going to tell Bentley that she needed to back off, whatever thing we had going was over now that Angel was back. But because I had been ignoring her calls and texts all week, she took a two-day break from the VanderBlue tour to come and check on me. Fucking awesome. I had told her I wasn’t in the mood to fuck around when she showed up unannounced earlier in the night, but she just kept at it… trying to touch and kiss me. I thought she would get the picture when I refused to touch or kiss her back, but instead of discouraging her, it gave her a night’s mission. And the more she drank, the more aggressive she became.

When I reached Scarlett, her eyes told me that I was losing her quickly and I better do something or our reunion was going to be short-lived.

“Angel, it’s not what it looks like. I promise I can explain.” I cringed as I heard the lame words come out of my mouth.

“Rat, what in the fuck is your problem?” Bentley’s voice was fast approaching. I turned around so that I would be standing in between her and Scarlett.

“Bentley, like I’ve told you all night, I. Am. Not. Interested.” She needed to understand the warning in my voice. She could be a brutal bitch and if she said one fucking thing to or about Scarlett, I would lose my shit on her.

“Who are you hiding there Rat?” She asked trying to get a good look at Scarlett. “Aww, did Ratboy get him a little fangirl to kiss his feet and suck his dick on command?”

“Stop. Right Fucking Now.” I had never before in my life wanted to hit a woman, but in that moment, I wanted to slap the shit out of her.

Surprisingly, Scarlett stepped out from behind me and grabbed my hand. “You heard him. He said to leave him alone. He’s not interested.” I could tell by her voice that she was nervous as hell, but I was so fucking proud of her.

“He’s always interested, Doll. Don’t let him tell you otherwise.” Bentley sneered at her.

“Angel, just ignore her. She’s trying to upset you,” I said to Scarlett. I did not like where the conversation was leading. I just wanted Bentley to leave.

Ignoring me, Scarlett replied matter-of-factly, “It didn’t appear that was the case a few minutes ago when you were pathetically rubbing yourself all over an unresponsive statue.”

“Pathetic? We’ll see who’s pathetic when he’s living down the hall from me in Austin in a few short weeks. That will probably be you, Angel, since you’ll be the one here by yourself. He has told you he’s leaving soon, hasn’t he?” Fucking shit. I felt Scarlett’s hand squeeze mine as her whole body tensed up at Bentley’s announcement. Just when I thought it couldn’t get any worse, it most certainly did.

“Of course he’s told me he’s moving, but how we handle our relationship while living apart is none of your fucking business. Just keep your skanky hands off of him… stupid whore.”

Scarlett looked up at me and I could see the fury in her face. “I’m going to have Max take me to your apartment. Take care of this now. I’ll be waiting up for you.” She stood on her tippy toes and kissed me briskly; she then disappeared into the crowd of people. I was too stunned to do or say anything.

Bentley walked up behind me and whispered in my ear, “You’ll be back in my bed soon enough; until then, I’m still your fucking manager. So enjoy the next few weeks with your Angel because after that, your ass is mine.”

CHAPTER SEVEN

SECRETS

The Fire ~ Rev Theory

Stay ~ Rihanna (feat Mikky Ekko)

SCARLETT

Pissed did not even come close to describe how I was feeling as I tore through the crowd to get to Max. I could not fucking believe that Mason was moving to Austin sometime soon and he hadn’t told me, and I didn’t even want to begin to think about what affiliation he had with that woman ~ it obviously wasn’t someone he had a passing fling with. Why in the world did he even pretend like we had a chance to be together? Did he just want to get back at me for hurting him? Well, if so, he had succeeded brilliantly. I had taken the bait ~ hook, line, and sinker.

As soon as Max saw me approaching, he jumped out of his barstool and threw his arm around my shoulders. “Scarlett, you came!” He exclaimed.

“I need you to take me to Mason’s apartment.”

“Why? What’s wrong? You just got here, right?”

I took a step back from him and looked at him dead in the eye. “I hate to be calling in the ‘need a friend’ card so quickly, but I REALLY need you to get me out of here.” I was doing my best to stay calm; my insides felt like a bomb had gone off.

“Where’s Rat?” He asked and I saw his eyes drift over my head and look in the direction of Jobu’s Rum’s table. I knew the precise moment that he found him by the look of recognition and then distress that crossed his face. She must’ve still been with him.

“Come on, Sam. Let’s go.” Max grabbed my hand and led me to the door, taking the path in the opposite direction of them. Minutes later we broke out into the open air and I gasped for breath. I was suffocating in the deceit and deception that I had just been slapped in the face with.

He continued to lead me across the parking lot to his car. We got inside and then just sat there. Despite the oppressive heat, my body was shaking and covered in chill bumps. Max turned and looked at me with sympathetic eyes.

“So you met Bentley, I take it?” He asked nervously.

“You know about her!?!” I yelled. “Why didn’t you tell me?” I crossed my arms across my chest. I felt completely ridiculous that I had apparently been played for a gullible fool.

He ran his fingers through his hair and leaned his head back on the seat. Staring at the car ceiling, he said, “Yeah, I knew about her, but it wasn’t my place to tell you Scarlett. I didn’t know what, if anything, Rat had told you and I just couldn’t…” His voice trailed off. I didn’t say anything. I was so terribly furious and crushed that I could not even conjure up a meaningful sentence. I really just wanted to yell “FUCK YOU!” over and over again at anyone and everyone.

He turned and looked at me, “He wants to be with you. I know he does.” I closed my eyes and shook my head, remaining silent. Max continued, “Rat and I became close last year and we’ve stayed tight since everything happened… so I know what he wants. He was really starting to fall for you when you left. It tore him up... he’s been struggling.”

“Yeah, it looks like he’s really been struggling.”

“Well what did you expect Scarlett? For him to sit around forever and wait for you to come back? None of us have heard from you in over eight months; he had no idea if he’d ever see you again. You just disappeared.” I winced recalling the events of that horrific night.

“No… I know,” I begrudgingly agreed. I wasn’t stupid enough to think that he’d been celibate while I was gone; I just didn’t expect him to get into a relationship so soon. “Who is she? Why is he moving to Austin to be near her?”

He snapped his head up and looked at me. “He’s moving to Austin?”

I shrugged. “I guess so.” The rage began to simmer and I was quickly slipping into the “I don’t care about anything” mode. Difficult situations were much easier to handle when I turned the pain sensors off. “That’s what she said. I don’t know; he really didn’t say anything.”

“What do you mean he didn’t say anything?”

As we continued to sit in the parked car, I gave Max the short version of what had happened. I hoped he could share some insight or advice or anything that would make me feel just a little bit better, but instead he played Switzerland.

“Scarlett, you and Rat have a lot y’all need to talk about; like I said earlier, it’s not my place to tell you his story. I don’t want you to think I’m hiding things from you, so I’m going to give him his chance tonight to tell you everything. After tonight I won’t hold back or lie to you, but I think he deserves that.”

I just sat there, staring off into space, wondering what in the world I was doing. I knew it would be tough returning, but I had only been back in Houston a week and I was emotionally drained. And all of it for what? He apparently had a girlfriend or a crazy ex-girlfriend that he was about to move to Austin to be with.

“That’s fine, Max. You’re right; it’s not your place to tell me. It’s his. Well, it was his.” It was my turn to lay my head back on the seat. There were no words to describe what I was feeling.

The engine came to life as he turned the key in the ignition and we took off out of the parking lot. Thankfully, Max knew the way to Mason’s place so I could just quietly lay with my head back and my eyes closed. It wasn’t until we pulled into the parking lot that I remembered I didn’t have any way to get inside the apartment. I forgot to ask Mason for his key.

“I can’t get in,” I stated flatly. “I didn’t even think about it. Do you mind taking me to my place instead?”

“Rat will be here in just a couple of minutes; he left a few minutes after us,” he answered.

“What?” I asked confused. He lifted up his cell phone and smiled sheepishly. “He messaged that he was on his way a little bit ago.”

“Great. I can’t wait,” I said, sarcasm dripping from my voice. “This should be loads of fun.”

“Please just listen to what he has to say, Scarlett,” Max wrinkled his forehead in frustration. He reached over the middle console and grabbed my hand, making me look in his pleading eyes. “Look, you know I don’t want you to hurt anymore, but from what you told me he wasn’t responding to her and then basically told her to fuck off.”

“But he didn’t do anything to stop her before he knew I was watching!” I interjected.

“She’s his manager. It’s not like he can just push her away like some stupid-ass groupie girl!”

“His manager?” His words punched me in the gut. I immediately realized Bentley wasn’t going anywhere anytime soon. Mason would be working closely with her on a daily basis, and apparently living near her as well. Awesome.

“Shit… see that’s why I don’t need to discuss this with you until after the two of y’all talk.” He released my hand and rubbed his face in his hands. “All I can say is I know what you mean to him and I know how you feel about him, and I really think that y’all are good for each other. I would hate to see something that has real potential never really get a chance because of a misunderstanding.”