Page 83 of Little Do You Know

I should try to find Stacey since I’m sure she’s here; it’s Jeremy’s fraternity. My nose wrinkles because if anyone discovers what Bash and I did in the bathroom, I’ll never live it down.

Only I run directly into Vera wearing a hippy costume. “Oh, you seem to have lost your bodyguard. I’m shocked you don’t have him on a leash, but if you whistle, Bash will come running.” On the bright side, she’s not trying to hide her opinion. I think the can in her hand might be the reason for it.

“What do you want, Vera?” I ask, putting my hands on my hips, hoping she’ll miss that the fabric is now wrinkled. Then I notice her eyes have narrowed on my neck, and I realize I’m worried about the wrong thing. My hickey. Shit.I’m going to murder Sebastian.

“You’re going to throw away our eleven years of friendship over a guy you couldn’t care less about?” she asks, and my hands clench at my sides. I cannot take a swing at her. Violence isn’t the answer. Our moms are best friends, so no matter how badly I might want to hit her, violence really can’t be my answer. Liquor finally helped Vera find the balls to say this to my face.

“I’m not the one who threw away our friendship over a guy. You did that when you decided to fuck Sebastian, knowing he is important to me! He’s been my friend for eighteen years, so get off your high horse,” I snap, laughing quietly at the ridiculousness of this conversation. I might finally be losing it.

“I love him. I’m in love with him!”

Vera loves Sebastian? What?

“Then stop playing these fucking mind games with me, and tell Bash how you feel instead of telling me. I am not your enemy, Vera, but how you’ve acted since I came back is ridiculous and petty,” I say, trying to keep the hammering of my heart from revealing how shitty that makes me feel. I didn’t know she felt that strongly toward him. It shouldn’t matter how she feels, but while it might have been easy for Vera to flip the switch on our friendship, I’m still playing catch up.

Vera stares at me in disbelief. “I would tell him, but Sebastian doesn’t care about anyone but you! Lia, look at what’s right in front of you! You get everything, and you take it for granted. Do you even see Bash that way, or do you just like having someone always falling at your feet?”

I suck in a sharp breath, hurt by the insinuation I’m playing with him. That’s not who I am, and I thought she knew that. “It’s not my fault you won’t tell him. He’s a good man and deserves better. I deserve better after eleven years of being your best friend, but you had no problem making sure Sebastian and I were still at each other’s throats. You had the nerve to bring Landon into it too. Loving someone is not an excuse to treat your friends like shit. You’re a manipulative bitch, Vera, and you have no one to blame but yourself.”

“Better than being a bitch that leads on her brother’s best friend.”

It takes everything I have in me to keep my cool. It’s a good thing I haven’t been drinking tonight, or I wouldn’t be willing to keep this argument from escalating. I walk away from her, taking the high road, but it doesn’t feel as good as everyone says it does. I make a beeline to Sebastian’s car on the street, except I don’t have the keys since I made sure Sebastian held onto them. Great.

I’m not sure how long I’m out here leaning against Sebastian’s car, trapped in my thoughts, replaying tonight’s events over and over before he finds me. The conclusion I’ve come to is that I messed up big time. The smile on his face fades when he gets close enough to see the expression on mine. “What are you doing out here, Thalia? You have to be freezing.”

He unlocks the car, pulls a jacket out of the trunk, and hands it to me. I hold it in my hands; the simple act of kindness is more than my brain can comprehend. I think about how we were together in that bathroom not even an hour ago. I sniffle and wipe my nose with the back of my hand. “Bash, nothing has changed. Tonight didn’t…it hasn’t changed anything for me.”

“I wasn’t going to assume anything until we had a chance to talk. Put the jacket on, please. It’s cold, and you’re wearing scraps for clothes,” Sebastian says, with the hint of a smile, but I can tell I’ve upset him.This is why we don’t work, no matter how right it might feel.

I want to curl up into a ball and cry. “Can you just take me home, please? I’m tired.”

He surprisingly offers me the keys without a fight. “I should probably stay and keep an eye out for Blake and Owen. We’ll call an Uber.” It might be a good thing he’s staying. It guarantees I go to my bed instead of backsliding into Sebastian’s.

“Thank you,” I say softly, accepting them carefully. I walk around the side of the car to climb in before driving away from him without looking back.

CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO

Thalia

I KEEP HEARING everything Vera said on repeat in my head, over and over. I’m in love with him. I know it shouldn’t matter, but I feel bad. It doesn’t justify how she’s been acting, but I still feel bad.

“Lia? Hello?” Penelope asks. I forgot I was still on the phone with her. My head is killing me. Pretty soon I’ll start hallucinating from sleep deprivation. It’s been almost a week since Halloween.

“Shit, sorry, Pen, I must have zoned out.”

Her bubbly laugh filters through the other end. “No worries. Were you thinking about how much fun we’ll have when you’re here in a few days?”

One of the companies I freelanced for last year is flying me to Paris for the Paris Photo Fair, where I will be featured as one of their top photographers. Previously, they were going to have someone from their company represent my collection of work, but they asked me again yesterday if I would consider changing my mind to be there in person. I could use a break from the drama here and accepted their offer. I haven’t told anyone besides Penelope yet, but I will tell Owen tonight.

“No, but that’s what I should focus on instead of Vera and Sebastian,” I answer tiredly. I would consider murdering someone if I thought it would mean I’d sleep through the night.

Penelope hums quietly. “Any new developments since last we talked?”

I rub my forehead as if it can make my headache disappear. “I don’t even know where to start. None of it sounds very believable. The hickey on my neck is very real, so it should be believable.”

“Is his dick really that magical?”

It might be. I hadn’t considered sorcery, but it would make sense. “I don’t know, but we’re not together. It was a slip. He was wearing a police uniform on Halloween and would not leave me alone!”

---