Filed to story: Once Upon a One Night Mistake Book PDF Free by Simone Shirazi
She ignored Sebastian and rubbed her cheek anxiously as she continued talking to Jude. “Now that I think about it…” She paused and did some quick mental calculations. “I’m just about a week late. I mean, I guess it’s understandable,” she tried to reason as she squirmed in her seat. “I’ve been under a lot of stress lately. Maybe that’s why?”
If Taliana had been a cartoon character, she would’ve been sweating bullets and gnawing her nails off. However, she was most definitely human, so she had to settle for her cheeks heating and her armpits feeling a bit damp.
“Stress, my ass!” Jude shouted. “You’re pregnant!”
He had said it loud enough that Sebastian turned to look at Taliana, eyes wide. He looked just as shocked as she’d felt when his family had jumped to the conclusion that she was pregnant-with a pinch of hysteria thrown in for an added bonus. And if one thing was for sure, Taliana didn’t like that look at all.
“No, I’m not!” she yelled back at Jude. “Damn it!” With those parting words, she ended the call and stared at the phone for a moment before turning to Sebastian and announcing, “There’s a chance I could be pregnant.”
The expression on his face didn’t change. “You’ve got to be kidding me.”
Taliana’s phone rang again, and this time she knew who was calling without having to look at the screen. “I really don’t like you right now, Jude.”
He ignored her. “You know, you two would have really pretty babies.”
She resisted the urge to bash her head against the dashboard. “I’m? not? pregnant.”
“Really! Your spawn would be gorgeous,” he gushed, having done a complete 180 since the last call. One second he was screaming at her, and the next he was overjoyed. “If we’re just going off looks here, Seb’s not a bad choice for your baby daddy. I mean, with his cheekbones and your eyes, we’d have a supermodel on our hands.”
Taliana shut her eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose, not knowing what else to do. “We’re not having this conversation, Jude.”
“That’s probably a good idea,” he agreed. “It would be better to talk face to face. You going to Michael’s?”
“That’s the plan,” she responded with a sigh as she opened her eyes. “I’m being forced to spend the night there with Sebby and his henchmen.”
Sebastian flipped her the bird.
She gave him an equally obscene gesture that relayed the statement of up yours .
“I suppose I could join you all for a while,” Jude said. “See you soon.”
Taliana dropped her phone back into her lap once he hung up. “Why is everything so screwed up for us right now?” she asked Sebastian, though she wasn’t expecting an answer.
A humorless laugh passed from his lips as he kept his eyes trained on the dark road in front of them. “Nothing would have been messed up if you had never come back. Our lives would have never collided, and we wouldn’t be dealing with all this drama.”
Taliana raised an eyebrow. “You think this is all my fault?”
He nodded sharply and responded with a terse, “Yes.”
She opened her mouth to retort but stopped herself when she realized he was actually right. If she’d never decided to leave LA and come back here, none of this would have happened. She would’ve never gone to his party, they would’ve never slept together, and they wouldn’t have been facing the possibility that she could be pregnant. It really was all her fault, and she suddenly felt terrible about it.
Taking her by complete surprise, a tear slid down her cheek. She tried to swipe it away, but as soon as she did, another one fell. And another. And then the dam broke.
Within seconds Taliana was sobbing. As in, nose running, eyeliner dripping, and hiccupping as she tried to suck in a breath. If that wasn’t bad enough, she had a panicking Sebastian Phillips sitting next to her, trying desperately to comfort her. It was obvious this wasn’t something he did often.
“Oh shit, you know I didn’t mean that,” he tried to backpedal as he continued to steal glances at her, attempting to turn onto a residential street at the same time. “I was just joking, I swear.”
“No, you weren’t,” Taliana blubbered, covering her face with her hands. “It really is all my f-fault. I should have never come back!”
“Come on, I didn’t mean it like that,” Sebastian urged. “Seriously, please don’t cry. Oh god, don’t cry!”
Having him tell her not to cry only made it ten times worse. She was full-on bawling and angry at herself for making that horrible decision to return to DC, a city that no longer felt like home. Taliana never thought she would miss LA, but right then, that smoggy city was the only thing she wanted.
“I should just leave,” she hiccupped, furiously wiping at her eyes, trying to clear away the tears but more continued to fall. “There’s no point in me being here. All I do is cause problems for everybody!”
“Don’t say that, Talia,” he murmured, reaching over hesitantly to pat her arm. His moves were awkward and completely forced, but at least he was trying. “You don’t cause problems for everybody. I mean, you do for certain people, but-“
Taliana let out a loud sob and buried her head farther into her hands.
“But-
Shit, I’m no good at this.”
“Don’t bother,” Taliana groaned, still trying to brush away the tears that kept falling. “Just drive me to the airport and ship me back to Los Angeles. I’ll be out of your hair, and you won’t have worry about me doing anything else s-stupid.”
“Oh, for fuck’s sake.” He let out an annoyed sigh and then a car door opened and slammed shut.
Taliana sniffled and lifted her head slightly as her own door opened seconds later, letting in a wave of warm air, and before she could comprehend what was happening, she was on her feet out on the sidewalk.
She barely managed to get out a sobbed, “What are you doing?” before he pulled her into his arms and pressed her head into his chest.
“Please, don’t cry,” he murmured against her hair. “I? hate it when girls cry. Especially you. You’re not supposed to even have the ability to cry.”
A mix between a laugh and yet another sob passed from Taliana’s lips as she pressed closer to him and curled her fingers into his blazer.
“I’m not a robot, you know,” she managed to get out as she leaned against him, sniffling. “I do have f-feelings.”
Sebastian easily took on the rest of her weight and wrapped his arms even tighter around her shoulders. “I know you do,” he murmured. “I really didn’t mean to hurt them.”
“Yes, you did,” she mumbled, shutting her eyes tightly. “You’re? always trying to hurt my feelings.”
He paused for a moment but continued rubbing her back. “Okay, so maybe I am, and maybe I was trying to get a rise out of you, but I didn’t think you were going to? cry .”
“I didn’t know I would either!” Her tears were beginning to seep into his jacket, making the section underneath her cheek uncomfortably damp. Luckily, they were beginning to slow, so she pulled back a bit. “You just r-really got to me,” she mumbled as she met his eyes. “I mean, it’s not every day I feel guilty about something, but you made me feel like everything was my fault.”
“I’m sorry, Stick Girl.” He reached up and wiped some of the wetness off her cheeks. “I really am.”