Page 68 of Flipping the Script

Not sure what to say, I patted him awkwardly on the shoulder and slipped out from between him and the wall. He stayed exactly where he was, facing the corner like some sort of ghost or paranormal creature from a horror movie.

No one paid me any attention as I slipped out of the back room. The hall was filled with people, but not many were just hanging around. The bathrooms and the other back room werejust down the hall, and an emergency exit was at the other end, just past where I’d come out.

As casually as I could, I leaned against the wall across from the door and pulled out my phone so I could pretend to look at it while I scoped out the area.

No one was acting weird or seemed to be paying the back room any attention. A few guys lingered nearby, sticking around longer than anyone else in my vicinity, but even they moved on after a few minutes.

Hopefully that asshole had run all the way home, only to find that his pic was of yours truly and not Sebastian.

Jesus: all clear

The door banged open a moment later, and Sebastian slipped out.

Making sure I stayed far enough behind him so it wouldn’t look suspicious, I stayed on his six as he made a beeline down the hallway and out into the club.

He kept his head down and his pace quick as he weaved through the crowd with such ease I almost lost sight of him. No one paid him any attention, and no one followed us. Not that I could see.

Keeping close, we left the club and headed down the street. Two blocks later, he stopped at his car, the lights flashing as he unlocked it with his key fob.

Without looking around, he got in, cranked the engine, and pulled away from the curb.

I watched him disappear down the road.

What the fuck had just happened?

I’d come to Envy to escape him, and not only had we gotten each other off again, but we’d done it in public where anyone could have seen us.

And we’d had a weird moment again where things hadn’t been terrible.

He was still annoying as fuck, but after seeing some of the shit he went through on the daily, maybe some of his attitude was warranted.

Shaking off those thoughts, I spun on my heel and headed back down the street toward my car.

He might not be the worst, but that didn’t change anything. We were bad news, and we’d always be bad news.

My phone vibrated in my pocket. I pulled it out and checked my notifications.

Unknown: thanks

I quickly made a contact listing for Bas’s number.

Yeah. I needed to stay the hell away from him before shit got any weirder.

10

SEBASTIAN

“Sebastian!”Patrick greeted me with a big grin, stepping back so I could come into the house. “We’re so glad you could make it.”

“Thanks for inviting me.” I held out a tall, skinny gift bag as he closed the door behind me. “I come bearing wine.”

He took the bag and pulled the wine bottle out just far enough to read the label. “Holy shit. How did you get your hands on this?”

“My old sound guy’s wife is a sommelier. She’s been my hookup for fancy wine for years. I swear she can find anything.”

“It’s a good thing I don’t know anyone like that. We’d be broke in no time.” He slipped the bottle back into the bag. “Thank you. Jonah is going to love this.”

Jesse and Adam’s dad and stepdad were two of my favorite people. They’d always been good to me, and especially good to my sister. They were also wine enthusiasts, and I liked to bring them bottles of their favorites or elusive vintages they’d mentioned in conversation as a thank you for everything they’d done for us.

---