Page 23 of Pucking Revenge

With another boisterous laugh, Gavin pulls his sister in for a tight hug and presses a kiss to her cheek. “You giving our best friend trouble?”

Garreth looks down his nose at Sienna with a smug purse of his lips. “Trouble. That’s like her middle name.”

“No one said you had to follow me around like a shadow,” she shoots back with a sharp glare.

“Actually, he did,” he grumbles, pointing to Beckett.

Beckett lifts his chin, not the least bit ashamed. “And that’s all your fault, Sienna. You fire every bodyguard I hire. Let one of them stick around, and I won’t sick my friends on you.”

I cup a hand over my mouth to stifle my laughter when Liv whirls on her husband and smacks his arm. “Beckett Langfield!”

He shrinks just a little, but he still holds his hand out to Garreth and rumbles out a greeting.

Wildly entertained by the little spat between siblings going on, I sip my drink and take in the room. Near the door, Monroe is hugging a woman who is close to her age. She’s equally gorgeous and equally flawless, and she looks more like Sienna than any Langfield I know. I nudge Brooks and angle in close. “Who’s that?”

The smile that splits his face is full of fondness, and his eyes warm at the sight of her. “That’s my Aunt Zoe.” He clutches my hand and practically tugs me along with him as he makes a beeline for her. “Seb’s wife.”

The earth shifts below my feet, and I stumble as Brooks continues dragging me closer. Unfortunately, when the ground cracks open wide, it doesn’t swallow me up like I’m suddenly wishing it would.

His wife?

My stomach drops and then does a somersault. Or maybe it’s my heart.

“Wife?” I ask, unable to hide my shock. I can only imagine the horror on my face.

Brooks stops and frowns at me in confusion. “Yeah,” he says, drawing out the word. “Aunt Zoe. When I was a kid, she and Seb were like my second parents. Come on, I want you to meet my other favorite woman.”

Though my heart has lodged itself in my throat, I force a smile to my face. Surely, he means Seb’s ex-wife. Seb isn’t still married.

That’s what he told me. They separated years ago. We had a whole conversation about it.

Right?

Behind the two gorgeous older women, Seb appears, and all the blood drains from my face. Like everyone else, he’s decked out in a dark suit that stretches taut over his broad shoulders. His smile is wide as he claps Preston on the back and wishes him a happy birthday.

Then, to my horror, he grasps Zoe by the hip and hauls her to his side. She tips her chin up and smiles with nothing but love in her eyes. When he dips low and presses a quick kiss to her lips—the easy, familiar kind that makes it obvious they do it all the time—my lungs seize in my chest.

“Sorry I’m late, baby,” he says, wearing a warm smile. “I wanted to pick you up myself, but my meeting ran over.”

I’m going to throw up.

Brooks, clueless to the living nightmare I’ve found myself in, squeezes my hand and tugs me forward. “Don’t worry, Coach should be chill tonight. He’s always in a better mood around my aunt.”

“Aunt Zoe, I have someone I want you to meet.”

At Brooks’s words, his aunt and Seb turn. That’s the moment when I think I officially die. Seb’s smile falls when his focus lands on me, and he goes rigid when he notices the way Brooks is clutching my hip.

“This is Sara.” Brooks gives me a gentle squeeze. “Sara, this is my Aunt Zoe.”

The woman’s smile is genuine, and her blue eyes light up when she takes us in. “It’s so nice to finally meet you, Sara. I’ve heard only lovely things from Brooks.”

That comment knocks me back a step, but I recover quickly and plaster what I hope looks like a smile to my face. Because this woman knows all about me, yet I’ve never heard a peep about her. “Well, Brooks is the nicest guy I know. I’m not sure he could say a mean thing if he tried, so don’t believe everything he’s said.”

With a light laugh, Zoe pulls Brooks in for a hug. He accepts it with a warmth so genuine it makes my chest ache.

Beside her, Seb is watching me, his blue irises like ice and his jaw hard, like he’s pissed at me. The attitude is rich coming from him. He’d begun to show his true colors this morning, and in this moment, I see him for what he really is: A liar and a cheater. The epitome of selfishness and deception.

I look away first. He doesn’t get to make me feel bad for being here. He doesn’t get to make me feel anything at all.

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