Pretend We're Over (Pretend 2)

I was prepared to say goodbye tonight, but only on good terms. Only if we parted as friends. I can’t part Sebastian like this.

I see Larkyn in the house, who gives me a puzzled look then points to the front door. I’ll have to thank her later. I run out the front door and see Sebastian about ten feet from his car.

I open my mouth, but if he hears me coming, he might get in the car and take off before I get to him. So I run, flying as fast as I can and I fling myself in front of him just as he reaches his car.

“Listen. Please.”

“I don’t need to hear any more. Not from a liar like you.”

“Sebastian, just listen. It’s not what you think.”

“There isn’t any possible explanation you could give me for not telling me you were married three times, stole money from unsuspecting men like a leech, and then are trying to pull the same thing on me. You’re a con-woman.”

I wince at his harsh words. I deserve that, but it doesn’t help the situation. He doesn’t understand why.

“And you were an asshole when I first met you!”

“I called you fat. I didn’t try to steal half your wealth.”

“I thought you had been helping Boden cheat on Oaklee. I thought you were a monster.”

“And I thought I loved you. I guess we were both wrong.”

There is a crack of lighting when he says his final sentence, followed by the rain pouring down in sheets.

Just like that, the world declares us over. We’re over.

It’s for the best.

“I’ll see you in court,” Sebastian says, pulling his door open to escape the rain.

“I don’t want your money.”

“And I don’t want you.”

His door slams shut, and then he’s driving off.

Leaving me breathless as I stand in the rain.

I don’t know how long I stand there in the pouring rain. Eventually, Larkyn finds me and brings me inside, wrapping me in a blanket.

“I’m sorry, I’ll call an Uber and get out of your way.”

“No, you’re staying here tonight. I know Sebastian needs his space. And Oaklee doesn’t seem like the best friend of yours to be around.”

“But you’re Sebastian’s family. I shouldn’t be here. Not when I hurt him.”

She smiles as she hugs me. “That’s exactly why you should be here. Now tell me everything.”

So I do.

39

Sebastian

I drove until I could find the shittiest, ugliest bar in town. The kind with cockroaches and everything is sticky where you walk. The kind that only serves one brand of beer and two brands of whiskey.

That’s where I’m sitting, holding a whiskey glass in my hand filled with some cheap shot.