Page 52 of The Confidant
When I glanced back at Hunter, hurt and confusion flashed across his face for a second. But then, whoever had just come in the door threw his or her shoes in the closet, and Hunter’s eyes widened, coming to realize there was someone else besides us in his family’s penthouse.
“Hey guys,” Hunter’s brother Sebastian said, glancing up from his phone when he walked into the living room a second later.
Sebastian was a senior at New York University and lived in an apartment close to campus. He and Hunter looked a lot alike, with the same tall, athletic build, the same strong jawline that could cut glass, and the slight curl to their hair. The only real difference between the two brothers was that Sebastian had their dad’s darker brown, almost black hair, along with their mom’s infatuation with designer clothes.
Which, based on what I’d heard from Hunter a few months ago, was becoming a problem for Sebastian now that his trust fund had become more of an “if he gets it” thing instead of a “when he gets it.”
All depending on if he decided to follow the parable of the prodigal son and come back to The Fold.
Sebastian slipped his phone into the back pocket of his jeans. “When did you guys get back to town?”
“We rode the train in this morning,” Hunter said, scooting closer to the armrest on his side of the couch, as if he, too, was worried his brother might suspect we were on a date. “We don’t have school on Monday so we’re home for the weekend.”
“Nice.” Sebastian took a seat on the chair next to Hunter. He nodded at the movie that I’d long since forgotten. “I see you’re watching your favorite movie again.”
“We are.” Hunter chuckled. “Though the self-preserving side of me feels the need to clarify that it’sScarlett’sfavorite movie and not mine.”
“Just keep telling yourself that, Hunter,” Sebastian said, teasing his brother. He shifted in his seat. “Mind if I finish it with you, though? My roommate is throwing a party, so I decided to hang out here tonight.”
“S-sure.” Hunter glanced at me with a look that said he wasn’t sure how I would feel about his brother joining us. “That okay with you, Scarlett?”
No! Go back to your apartment, Sebastian, so I can kiss your brother.
“Totally fine with me,” I lied as I slipped what I hoped was a believable smile on my lips. “As long as you don’t make fun of it like you did the last time you watched it with us.”
Sebastian chuckled. “I’ll keep my thoughts to myself.”
18
HUNTER
“Sorry Bash decidedto intrude on our night,” I told Scarlett in a low voice as we were putting our shoes back on by the elevator after the movie ended. “That was not how I expected the evening to go.”
Especially not when things had been about to take a much more exciting turn right before my brother had walked in and scared Scarlett clear over to the other end of the couch.
“It’s okay.“ She pulled her boots onto her feet. “We said we wanted to watch a movie, so that’s what we did.”
That we did.
Watched the whole dang thing.
Which was about forty minutes more than it should have been.
Should I say something about that? Bring up the fact that I’d almost kissed her?
Or just leave it be and hope another opportunity arose in the near future?
“It was fun, though,” she said. “I had a good time with you tonight.”
“Well, that’s good,” I said, still feeling lame for basically failing at the date.
I mean, not only had we skipped the movie theater because I hadn’t ordered the tickets ahead of time, but we’d also ended up with a third wheel.
A very vocal third wheel because Bash was, like, the loudest person to watch a movie with—always finding a reason to comment about one thing or another.
I grabbed Scarlett’s wool coat from the closet. After helping her put it on, I pulled on the hoodie that I’d worn this morning and added my letterman jacket over it.
“Ready to go?” I asked once she’d buttoned her coat and pulled her knit gloves over her hands.
