I nodded as my stomach turned. There was no way I was going to start judging Easton based on what some dumbass meathead thought, but that didn't mean Brett's words didn't bury themselves deep inside of me and fester.
"He wouldn't do that, right?" I glanced across the table at Casey.
"Hell no." She looked over at Brett. "Shut up, dude. Not all men are pigs."
"Right. Only the breathing ones." He laughed and turned back to his friends, leaving me to stew in the possibility of Easton not wanting to talk simply because it would get in the way of him seducing some other woman.
I really didn't know him that well at all in all actuality.
It had only been a week.
"I can't do this," I mumbled and glanced up at Casey.
"Awww fuck. Not this again."
Chapter 29
Two Days Later
Easton
"Not much longer." I walked around the hotel, trying to talk myself out of faking a cold and leaving early. Something about being away from Vivian for the last few days after not kissing her goodbye, but simply leaving her sleeping, left me raw, unnerved.
I picked up my phone, trying to think through what I would say if I called her. I mentioned too many times in Florida that I was interested in being with her only to have her turn me down. Calling her throughout the week would leave me looking weak and needy, which I was trying like hell not to be. My mother and father had convinced me to take things a little slower after I explained the situation between me and Vivian to them, but I hated the idea of moving slowly.
"It wasn't but a week ago that you weren't going to move at all." I turned and walked to the kitchen to grab my phone as it rang.
Unknown number.
"This is Easton Parks."
"East. It's Kev. Hey buddy, I just wanted you to hear it from me that I got let go by Jon this morning. Some bullshit about the La Mage people filling a suit against us over something they alleged that I did or didn't do. Such bullshit." He'd been drinking from what I could tell.
"Well, maybe this is one of those moments in life where you go to bed one man and wake up another." I pressed my hand to my face and hoped that we'd be off the phone quickly. The guy deserved every bit of shit that landed at his feet, but it didn't mean that I wanted to be in the center of it.
"Whatever that means. Did you know about this?" His tone turned from friendly to accusatory.
My phone beeped, and I pulled it from my face to see that Jon was calling. "Let me call you right back, Kev. Jon's on the other line and I'm out of town, trying to wrap up a situation we've been dealing with."
"Yeah, whatever. Fuck all you guys."
"Alright. Good talking to you too, buddy." I pressed the button to switch the call to Jon. "Boss? How's it going?"
"Great. The baby was delivered a couple of days ago, and I'm just getting into L.A. right now. Let's meet up for dinner and talk. I have a few résumés for food critics that have come in. Some of them don't look half bad." He cleared his throat. "Zuppa at seven good with you? The one on Rodeo."
"Yeah, that sounds great. I'll be there." I pursed my lips, trying to make a decision where Viv was concerned, though I knew that I should call her and just talk it through. Did she want the opportunity to work for my company, or would that be another layer for her to have to discard if things didn't solidify between us?
I grabbed my jacket and walked out of the hotel, taking my valet ticket to the front of my rental car and chewing on my lip as I worked through the possible outcomes of pushing my weight around with Jon. He was almost like a second father to me, though he wasn't any more than twenty years older than me.
After getting in the Lexus, I plugged in my phone and called the only person besides Vivian who could help me think through what to do.
"Hi, baby. Are you still in L.A.?" My mom's voice was joyful and filled with warmth.
I sighed and stopped at the red light just beside the hotel. "I am, but I needed to think something through with you."
"You want me to put you on speaker? Your dad's right here too."
"Yeah. That's fine." I turned on the heater, though it wasn't too terribly cold. I must have been coming down with something, because I couldn't seem to get warm in California. Maybe it was the wind blowing continuously.