Filed to story: Once Upon a One Night Mistake Book PDF Free by Simone Shirazi
“Because I knew it would piss him off.” Sebastian took a sip of his drink, acting as if nothing was wrong. “It’s obvious he wants you back.”
Taliana shook her head, unable to believe that. “No way. The guy cheated on me, Sebastian. That means he didn’t want me in the first place.”
“Did you not see the way he looked at us? He hated seeing you with me.”
“Yeah, but that doesn’t necessarily mean he wants me back.”
“True, but he lost his shit finding you with another guy. Especially me.”
Sebastian did have a point. Zak’s anger had been unmistakable, and even a little amusing at first.
“I guess you’re right,” she admitted for the second time that day. “Blair wasn’t much different with her little threat. I can’t believe she actually thought I would ever date you.” She snorted at the thought.
“Yeah, that’s a pretty far-fetched ide-” His eyes widened suddenly as if he just had a revelation. “That’s it!”
Taliana frowned and took a sip of her coffee, burning her tongue in the process. “What’s it?”
“You!” he exclaimed, motioning excitedly with his free hand. “You’re the solution to getting Blair to back off.”
“I’m afraid I don’t follow…”
“It’s simple,” he explained as he nudged Taliana toward an empty couch. “Of all the girls Blair warned to stay away from me, it was you.”
Taliana plopped down on a hideous burnt-orange loveseat, still not understanding where he was going with this. “So? She probably did it because we’d already slept together once and had no clue that I did? that-” she motioned to his stitches “-to your face.”
“But she hasn’t threatened anyone else,” he pointed out, taking the seat next to Taliana. “There are plenty other girls who she could have singled out besides you, trust me.”
Taliana read between the lines on that one. “Gross.”
Sebastian continued as if she hadn’t spoken. “Obviously Blair feels like you’re more of a threat to her than any of the others. Why, I have no idea, but we can use that to our advantage.”
Taliana lifted a brow. “Oh yeah? And how do you propose we do that?”
If she’d known what the next words to come out of his mouth were going to be, she would’ve never asked.
“By pretending to date each other.”
Taliana paused, staring slack jawed at him, before it really hit her. “Are you out of your? mind
?”
Sebastian sighed and fixed her with a pleading look. “Just hear me out, okay?” He drew in a deep breath before continuing. “If Blair was that pissed about us sleeping together once, could you imagine how she would react if we were dating? The same thing applies to Zak. The kid hates me more than anyone in the world right now, so it would just push him over the edge if we started dating. This is perfect, Stick Girl.”
“There’s just one little problem with that,” Taliana pointed out. “I can’t fucking stand you.”
“The feeling’s mutual,” he replied easily, as if the fact didn’t faze him at all. “But think about what we could achieve by doing this. Wouldn’t you love to make the guy who broke your heart jealous?”
This time, Taliana truly had to stop and think. Zak had hurt her in a way she’d never thought possible. She’d believed the lies he fed her from day one and trusted him when she knew deep down that she shouldn’t. But despite that knowledge, it still hurt when he’d betrayed her. She had contemplated revenge so many times in the past, but none of the schemes she’d come up with had been good enough to use. Sebastian’s idea, however, sounded like it could possibly work.
Unfortunately, this was Sebastian Phillips, the boy she’d sworn to hate for the rest of her life. How they would pull this off was a complete mystery, but if Cry Baby was confident enough about it… Well, she was willing to give it a shot if it meant seeing Zak miserable.
“Fine,” Taliana sighed in defeat a moment later. “I’ll pretend to be your girlfriend.”
A grin spread across his face as he tilted his drink toward her in a mock toast. “Just what I wanted to hear.”
Taliana jabbed a finger into his chest. “Don’t make me regret this.”
“Trust me, Stick Girl.” He grinned, eyes glinting. “You won’t.”
14
Let the Games Begin
The current time was seven-fifty AM, and in exactly ten minutes the final warning bell at Georgetown Trinity was going to ring. Sebastian usually had no problem with that, but today was a little different.
He and Taliana had been sitting in Trinity’s parking lot for the past few minutes, watching silently as more cars pulled in and students piled out. As everyone else laughed and shouted greetings to each other, Sebastian was trying hard not to panic.
Taliana didn’t look much better. When he’d picked her up that morning, she’d walked out to his car like she was heading for the gallows. Honestly, he’d felt pretty much the same, but if this whole plan meant getting Blair off his back and making it obvious they’d never be together again, he’d do just about anything.
And if that meant fake-dating Taliana fucking Avilla, he’d paste a smile on his face and act like he’d never loved someone more.
“We should head in.”
Stick Girl didn’t look too happy with his suggestion. “I have a feeling this isn’t going to go well,” she grumbled, gazing at the building where a few kids were lingering outside the doors.
“It’ll be fine,” he tried to reassure her, but in the pit of his stomach he knew something was bound to go wrong. “You’ve got me, Marcus, Michael, and Jacob as allies. What could go wrong?”
She scoffed and shot him a doubtful look. “Was that supposed to make me feel better?”
“Yeah, actually, it was.” A lackluster attempt, but it was something.
“It didn’t work. Can we get this over with now?”
Once they were out of the car, he reluctantly offered her his hand, which she took with a grimace.
“This is going to suck,” she groaned.