Page 24 of When We Ignite
did something happen?
No response. He didn’t even resend the message this time.
I excused myself from the meeting and tried calling him twice. True to his word, he didn’t pick up.
“Sebastian.” Aria approached, a distressed look on her face.
“What?”
She sighed. “You know, right? Are you mad at me? I swear I bought off all the tabloids. It was a private video that went viral. I’ve already tried to have it taken down, reported it for inappropriate content,” she rambled.
I stared at her, confused. “What the fuck are you talking about?”
“The video,” she said, exasperated.
Seeing my blank expression, she pulled out her phone and showed me. The clip started with a couple of girls smiling in a nightclub, then zoomed in on the background—me, kissing Chris against a wall. One hand gripping his neck, keeping him close. The camera zoomed back out to the girls squealing, then replayed. A solid thirty seconds of us making out. Not good.
I looked at Aria.
She shrugged.
“I wasn’t upset about this, but it certainly makes matters worse.”
My phone vibrated. Hoping it was Ethan, I answered—it was Henry instead.
“Did he get back to you? Where should I send the car for your boy toy?”
“He canceled. He’s furious with me, told me not to call him again. I have no idea why.”
“That sucks, Ash. So close too. Oh hey, do you think it’s because of that video of you choking Chris?”
“I wasn’t fucking choking him,” I argued.
“Sure looks like you were,” Aria chimed in. I shot her a glare. “He seemed super into it, though,” she added with a thumbs-up.
“That can’t be the reason,” I told Henry.
He chuckled. “You think it’s a coincidence that a video of you making out with some guy goes viral, and now Ethan doesn’t want to see you?”
“We barely know each other. He said he wants to pretend we haven’t met. Why would he care about me kissing someone else?” I argued, stepping away from Aria.
“This is fucking priceless, Ash. Did you expect a mature reaction from your nineteen-year-old boy toy?”
“Fuck off,” I snapped, though I knew he might be right. “He wouldn’t react like that over a kiss.”
“In Ethan’s defense, it looked like you were devouring Chris. No one’s doubting what happened after.”
“This is ridiculous,” I muttered.
“What’s ridiculous is you’re surprised by his reaction. If you wanted someone sensible, maybe this wasn’t the best choice,” he pointed out.
I sighed, refusing to believe this was it.
“I’ll call you later,” I said, hanging up.
Opening my chat with Ethan, I typed:
Me
