Allison's POV
I stood up, collected my clothes and started throwing them on. Suddenly, Mason was behind me, placing his hands on my arms.
"Allison, what's wrong?" His voice sounded concerned.
I shrugged him off. "I just gotta go. Are you gonna take me to my car or am I gonna need to call an Uber?"
I had to get out of there. I was experiencing too many emotions that I didn't know how to process. I just needed to be as far away from Mason as I could be.
"I'll take you," he replied, sounding hurt.
I couldn't bring myself to look at him. The whole ride to my car, I didn't say anything to Mason. He reached out for my hand, but I pulled it away.
"Allison, talk to me. Did I do something wrong?"
We had just pulled up next to my car. I wasn't sure how to say what I was thinking without hurting him. So, instead, I just got out of the car and shut the door.
Next thing I knew, Mason was at my car door, blocking me from unlocking it.
"Please move, Mason."
"Not until you talk to me."
I looked at him. Tears started to fill my eyes, but I blinked them back. "I can't do this, Mason. This isn't who I am. You want more than what I can give you. I'm sorry, but I need to go now." I was finally able to unlock the door, but when I opened it, Mason pushed it shut again.
"What do you mean? I didn't ask you to marry me or anything."
"No, but it's written on your face. You're falling for me and I'm not the right person for you."
Mason furrowed his brow. "You don't know that. I get to decide that." He paused for a brief moment before speaking again. "Do you not like me?"
I turned away from him and hugged my arms to my chest hoping to keep myself from falling apart. "No. It's not that I don't like you."
He touched my back. His hand was warm and inviting. "What is it then? Are you not satisfied cuz I can..."
I turned around and cut him off. "No! I'm completely satisfied. You make me want more of you."
He searched my eyes, a single tear slipping from them. "What's the matter then?"
He touched the back of his finger to my cheek, catching the lone tear.
"You are what's the matter with me."
Mason looked at me confused.
"I like you. All day today, until we went to your house, all I could think about was you touching me, kissing me, f*cking me. Afterward, all I could think about was how good you make me feel."
"And that's a problem?" Mason questioned.
"Yes."
"I'm confused...I thought that was a good thing?"
I sighed. "For a normal person? Yes. For someone like me? No."
Mason just stared at me.
"I'm not looking for commitment, Mason. I like being my own person. I like being able to go where I want and do what I want with whomever I want without fear of hurting someone."
"Ok, well, it's not like I'm asking you to run away with me. We can just take things slow and see how it goes."
I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. "I'm sorry, Mason, but I can't. I need to go."
I opened the door and got inside. Mason tapped on my window after I started the car. I rolled it down and looked at him. My stomach was in knots.
"Why can't we just have fun and enjoy each other?"
My heart literally hurt.
"When we were laying there after s*x, you started to say something, but I cut you off. What were you going to say? Was it something along the lines of you're falling for me?"
Mason didn't say anything, but he didn't have to. I knew the answer.
"That's what I thought. I'm sorry, Mason. I really am, but we can't just have fun when those kinds of emotions are involved. The first time I have s*x with someone else, you'll be hurt and I couldn't stand to hurt you. So, we're better off putting a stop to this now. Goodbye, Mason."
I drove away, watching Mason in my rearview mirror. He just stood there, defeated. I started to cry again. I drove a little further, then had to pull over.
My crying turned into uncontrollable chest heaving sobs. I could feel my heart fraying.
I don't know what's wrong with me. I have only known this man for one day and yet he feels so right. It feels like I've known him my whole life.
I tried to shut it off, but I couldn't.
The truth is.....I'm falling for Mason, too, and I just can't let that happen.
Mason's POV
I wanted to go after her. I wanted to pull her from her car and into my arms, but that's not what she wanted.
I guess I scared her somehow. She was able to sense how I felt about her and that made her run away from me.
I went home and sat on the couch, looking at the time: midnight. I decided to call Evan. He's known Allison longer. His wife is her best friend. Maybe he knows what's going on with her. I needed to make sense of this so that I knew what I needed to do next.
"Hey, man! What's up? You guys bailed on us early," Evan said as he answered the phone.
"Hey, man. I'm sorry. We um..."
"Dude, don't worry about it. I get it. You guys were f*cking each other with your eyes all night. Katie and I saw it," he laughed.
"Yeah," I laughed. "I guess we kinda were."
"So, you guys coming back to the bar? Katie wants a rematch!" He tittered.
"Who is that, baby?" Katie asked Evan, in the background.
"It's Mason. I was just seeing if he and Allison were coming back," Evan responded to Katie, moving away from the speaker as he spoke.
"No. He can't come back," she whispered.
I could barely make out her words. I pushed the phone into my ear so that I could hopefully hear her better.
"Why not?" Evan inquired.
"Allison's coming. She just called me, crying. It had something to do with him, but I don't know what yet," Katie replied.
"Ok, do you want me to ask him?" Evan asked Katie.
"No! Just get him off the phone. She'll be here any minute," Katie demanded.
"Ok....," Evan trailed off.
His voice grew louder as he came back on the phone to talk to me. "Hey man, sorry. Um...I gotta go."
"Allison is upset with me. That's why I called you, man. I don't know what I did wrong. She mentioned something about not being able to commit and liking me. I seriously am lost."
"Oh, yeah. I would love to, but that's not something I can do at this moment. Maybe confront the bull head-on?" Evan hinted.
"Babe!" Katie shouted in the background.
"Sorry, bud. I gotta run. Talk to you soon. Bye," Evan said to me as he hung up.
I just sat there for a moment, thinking about what Evan said: Confront the bull head-on? Talk to you later? Was he trying to tell me I should go there and talk to Allison?
She could deny me a conversation.
What am I doing? I'm a lawyer for sh*t's sake. If anyone can make someone see their point, it's me. I'm going to go make her talk to me and I'm not taking no for an answer.