“Nina. Out. Now,” Mason snarls over my head.
I recoil at his words once again. “No! Both of you stop. This is getting ridiculous.” They will be brawling in the damn coffee shop in a minute.
I stand, picking up my bag. “Look, Joey, here is my email, just send me?—”
Mason snatches the napkin from my hand, balling it up before claiming my wrist in his grip. He pulls me through the coffee shop and out the door.
“Mason!” I fume. “Let go of me!” I fight against him, but his hold is too strong.
“You’ll damn well listen to me,” he spits.
“No. I won’t. Mase, let go of my arm now,” I warn.
He pulls open the door to the back of the Audi, then looks down at where I stand beside him. His forehead creases as his eyes search my face. “Please,” he asks, closing his eyes briefly and pulling in a breath before loosening his hold on me. “Get in the car.”
Ripping my arm away, I turn to and stand toe to toe with him. “I’m getting in the car because I deserve an explanation, not because I want to spend another second with you—and you should be thankful that I’m even giving you the opportunity.”
I duck down and step into the car, the door slamming shut as I turn to look at Vinny in the driver’s seat. Whipping my head around, I see Mason striding back across the street and towards the café.
Shit! I go to open the door, and the lock clicks.
“Vinny, No! You didn’t see him in there. He is fucking wild,” I cry, adrenaline making my hand tremble on the handle.
“Mason is only acting out of concern for you, and keeping you out of harm’s way. You need to trust him,” Vinny replies flatly.
I widen my eyes at him. He has gone mad. “Vinny, please.” I try to reason with him. “You go then, and I’ll wait here. But please do something. One of them is going to get hurt.”
He doesn’t budge, doesn’t answer me, doesn’t even acknowledge I’m in the car. I sit staring in the direction Mase went, waiting for him to reappear.
It’s only a few minutes later that he emerges from the café, his face like stone and muscles taut as he strides towards me, looking every bit of the god that he is. I scoot across the seat as he yanks open the door and squeezes in next to me.
He doesn’t say a word, his knee brushing mine as he widens his legs, sinking deeper into the leather. His tongue runs across the front of his teeth, and he sits, staring straight ahead.
“What the fuck was that!” I yell as Vinny pulls out into traffic.
“Don’t.” Mason raises his finger in the air, nodding towards Vinny.
“Vinny doesn’t give a shit! He clearly knows what a headcase you are!” I proclaim, my anger getting the better of me.
His nostrils flare as he continues to try and calm himself. I don’t think I’m helping the situation, but I’m not about to roll over and take his bullshit. He runs his hand back and forth across his mouth, his silence only heightening my annoyance.
“I only met up with him to apologise and make sure he was okay. Why did you have to make such a big deal about it, and why do you even care?” I ask.
His glare turns on me. “You went to apologise? For what?”
“Everything that happened on Friday night. Your friend Elliot made a fool of him at the bar, and then you ended up choking him and?—”
“He almost hit you! You…” His hands ball into fists as he pauses, shaking his head. “You don’t know him, Nina. You need to be more careful.”
“I don’t fucking know you, Mason! But you seem to think I should obey your every command.”
“You’re right. You don’t know me,” he scoffs. “You’ve just confirmed my point exactly.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” I squint at him.
“Well, it didn’t take a lot to get you to go home with me, did it?”
Did he just say that?
