Filed to story: Once Upon a One Night Mistake Book PDF Free by Simone Shirazi
“Oh please,” she said. “You never loved me. If you had, you wouldn’t have considered sleeping with her.” Taliana shook her head and glanced away momentarily before swinging her gaze back to him. “Of all the people you could have picked, why her? Why my best friend?”
Sebastian could hear the hurt in her voice, but her eyes betrayed nothing. Zak, unfortunately, looked like he was preparing to take advantage of her vulnerability.
“Baby,” he pleaded. “You know I’m sorry.”
But she was having none of it. “If you were truly sorry, you would have said so as soon as I caught you two together,” Taliana replied, taking a shaky breath. “Not almost four months later.”
Zak’s eyes softened as he closed the distance between them and reached out as if to pull her into his arms. Sebastian knew the action by heart-he may have used the same ploy in the past to get girls to forgive him. This time, however, it was his job to stop anyone from doing it to his “girlfriend”.
“Don’t touch her.” Sebastian was on his feet a moment later, stepping between them. “Haven’t you hurt her enough already?”
The anger returned to Zak’s face as he looked up at Sebastian. “I can do whatever the fuck I wa-“
“Leave, Zak,” Taliana ordered, no trace of sorrow this time. “There’s nothing left for you to say. We’re done.”
Her ex looked like he wanted to reject that but seemed to think better of it when he saw the finality in her eyes. So instead of trying again, he simply shook his head in disgust and shoved his way out of the room.
Sebastian watched him until he disappeared down the hall and out of sight, then turned toward an exhausted Stick Girl. Though she’d done an excellent job hiding it before, it was clear now that Zak had hurt her much more than she ever let on.
“Are you okay?” he asked, searching her face for any indication of an oncoming breakdown.
“Never been better,” she deadpanned as she dropped into one of the chairs and put her head in her hands.
Sebastian watched her carefully for a moment. “He really broke your heart, didn’t he?”
She snorted humorlessly and squeezed her eyes shut. “That obvious, huh?”
He took a seat beside her, glancing at the floor before dragging his gaze back to her hunched shoulders. “Did you love him?” Sebastian knew the question was out of line, but he needed to know if she felt the same way about her ex as he felt about his.
Taliana finally lifted her head, her unnervingly blue eyes locking on him. “Did you love Blair?”
He nodded, knowing he was going to have to give an answer to get an answer. “Yeah, I did.”
“Do you still love her?”
Sebastian had to pause and think about that one for a moment. “I-” He trailed off as he tried to gather his thoughts. “It’s not a conscious thing, but on some level, I still care about her. It’s kind of hard to just stop loving someone, even if they do something horrible to you.”
A sad smile tugged on the corners of her mouth. “Then there’s your answer.” Taliana blew a few tendrils of hair out of her eyes and relaxed into her seat. “Looks like we’re in the same boat.”
“The same sinking boat, you mean.”
“Yeah, well… Here’s to hoping we won’t drown.”
* * *
By the time lunch rolled around, Taliana could tell something had changed between her and Sebastian. It was as if someone had dialed down the animosity from a ten to a seven; she still hated him and he still hated her, but the dislike wasn’t as bad now that they had something so major in common.
A few minutes before the bell rang, Sebastian stood and moved toward the door.
“You coming out to the courtyard?” he questioned, glancing over his shoulder at her.
She shook her head. She still felt like she was seconds away from falling apart, even though it had been hours since her encounter with Zak. “I’m not really in the mood to socialize right now.”
“I know what you mean,” Sebastian admitted. “Want me to bring you back anything?”
Taliana’s stomach was still twisted into knots, and she had a feeling if she tried to put anything in it, it would stage a revolt. “I’m not hungry.”
“No wonder you’re so skinny,” he said with a frown, looking her over. “You never eat anything.”
Never ate anything? This guy obviously didn’t know her. “Fine then, asshole, get me three sandwiches, two orders of fries, a soda, a few cookies, and some pudding.”
Sebastian looked like he didn’t believe her. “Think you can eat all that, Stick Girl?”
Taliana glowered. “Think you want me to tackle you again, Cry Baby?”
He ducked out of the room.
That short round of insults had her feeling a little better. At least some semblance of normality had returned, even if most wouldn’t consider their behavior to be “normal”, but she wouldn’t have had it any other way. At least she could count on their dislike for each other to be a constant.
Taliana had only been alone for a little less than five minutes when she heard the door open again.
“That was quick,” she said, not bothering to glance back at who she assumed to be Sebastian.
“It felt like ages to me,” a timid voice replied.
Taliana’s head snapped toward the door, where her gaze landed on a sheepish looking Jude. “Oh. I wasn’t expecting you.”
But damn, was she glad to see him.
A bit of color came to his cheeks. “Can I come in?”
“Sure,” Taliana answered with a shrug, kicking out a chair for him.
Jude took a seat but didn’t speak again for a few long moments. After wringing his hands together, he finally mustered up the strength to look at Taliana, his eyes filled with remorse.
“I’m really sorry about telling everyone you slept with Sebastian,” he began. “I didn’t realize it would make you so upset, and I figured everyone knew already. I know I fucked up.”