Page 19 of Bang

I gave a little shake of my head.It would be totally awful, that's what.Because Mason Blastoviak – aka Mason Blast – was the least likeable person I'd ever met.

As for the new guy, he held up his hands in mock surrender. With a nervous laugh, he said, "Hey, sorry, not a problem."

Livia made a sound of frustration. "It is, too, a problem." She gave me an accusing look. "You're not even dancing."

Holy cow, she was right.

Of course, on some level I'd already realized this. And yet, I wasn't even surewhenwe'd stopped dancing. I just knew that we weren't dancing anymore – and that Masonstillwasn't letting go.

Funny, neither was I.

In fact, unless I was mistaken, Mason was holding me tighternowthan he'd been doing just a moment ago.

And I liked it.

Oh, crud.

This wasn't good.

Maybe Ididwant to get into his pants.

But in my own defense, my self-imposed dry spell had been going on much longer than I'd ever intended. I tried to think. Was Russell the last guy I'd slept with?

Yes. He was.

And now that I thought about it, we'd broken up last November. That was nearly a year ago.

Wow. No wonder a frolic in Mason's pants wasn't sounding so bad.

Reluctantly, I returned my attention to Mason, only to frown in new confusion. He wasn't looking atme.He was looking at Chopped Liver. As I watched, Mason gave the guy a look so dangerous, I felt myself swallow.

Wow, he must really hate to be interrupted.

And yet, I found myself captivated by his profile. And the longer I stared, the more I liked it.

By the time I looked back to Livia, she was standing there alone. I squinted through the crowd and saw Chopper Liver pushing his way toward the entrance, jostling people aside like someone had just yelled "fire" in the crowded building.

And speaking of fire, Livia's eyes were flashing with new anger. She looked to me and said, "That wassorude. You know that?"

My jaw dropped. "What?"

"He totally wanted to dance with you."

"He did not," I said. "And why amIthe rude one?You'rethe one who dragged him out here."

"I didn't have to 'drag' him anywhere," she said. "Hewantedto dance with me."

"Right," I said. "With you. Not me." I was glaring now. "Have you ever considered that maybeyou'rethe rude one?"

"Me?" she sputtered. "I'mrude? I'll have you know I pulled some serious strings to get you that job interview."

I gave her a look. "You mean with your dad?"

"Yes," she said. "And just so you know, you're totally blowing it."

"Oh yeah?" I shot back. "How can I blow it if you already hired me?"

"What do you mean?"