Filed to story: Once Upon a One Night Mistake Book PDF Free by Simone Shirazi
“I thought you said-“
“I know I said I would hate her for eternity, but things change.”
Sebastian found himself fielding questions left and right about his new relationship with his sworn enemy, and so far, it didn’t look like anyone was buying it.
Sitting to his left, Stick Girl was politely answering the questions his family fired at her, and kept giving him “loving”-yet slightly panicked-looks whenever he managed to catch her eye. In a way, he was glad he had picked her for the job since she held up well under pressure, but then again, if he had picked literally anyone else, his family wouldn’t have been asking so many questions. Hell, they probably wouldn’t have said anything if he’d suddenly announced he was gay and brought a dude to dinner. But he had already decided to make Stick Girl his fake girlfriend and there was no getting out of this now.
The inquiries ceased for a few moments when the food arrived, but Grandma Stanton was the first to resume the interrogation.
“Do tell,” she began as she set down her half empty glass of red wine. She was still working on her first, while the rest were already on their second or third-save for Nana Phillips who was now on her fifth glass. “When was it exactly that you two got over your…differences?”
Sebastian glanced down at Taliana, who had just looked up at him with wide eyes. They hadn’t gone over anything beforehand, and he certainly hadn’t prepared any answers, even though he should have known it was bound to be asked sooner or later.
“I was wondering when that question was going to come up,” Taliana answered amusedly, gaining a chuckle from a few people at the table.
If Sebastian hadn’t known better, he never would have realized she was stalling for time to come up with something, but with the way her foot was bouncing up and down nervously under the table, it was obvious. Once the laughter died out, she continued as he listened nervously to what she had to say.
“Well, I guess everything started on Sebastian’s birthday,” she began again. “I had just gotten back from LA the day before, and my sisters told me about his party. At first, I didn’t want to go, but I ended up tagging along. And since I have such great luck, I ended up losing the girls and sat by myself for a while-and then I saw him.”
A shy smile appeared on her lips as she glanced up at Sebastian, gaining a few soft coos from the hopeless romantics at the table. Sebastian had to try his hardest not to laugh as he stared down at the girl who could have truly been an actress when she grew up.
“Anyway,” she continued, looking back at Grandma Stanton, “turns out he saw me too. I didn’t know he was the boy I had sworn to hate forever, and he didn’t know it was me. Crazy, I know, but it’s true. I just thought he was really cute, and it looked like he wasn’t having a very good time. So we hung out for a while, but we never really took the time to introduce ourselves.”
Sebastian was trying hard to keep the smile on his face now. The story Stick Girl was telling so far seemed a lot like the real one; he just hoped she was going to change the ending.
“The whole not introducing yourself thing sounds a bit, ah,? unrealistic,” Grandpa Stanton cut in, frowning.
With the way Stick Girl was nodding, it seemed like she was expecting that. “Well, we had both been drinking, so I guess it slipped our minds.” She blushed and glanced down briefly in embarrassment. “But if I hadn’t been, I probably would have never gotten to know Sebastian and we would still hate each other.” She looked back up and locked eyes with him, the silent words of? you owe me for this passing between them.
Sebastian grinned as he wrapped his arm around Stick Girl and leaned down to press a kiss to the top of her head, an action any loving boyfriend would do, though it was mostly to hide his laughter.
“That can’t be the end of the story,” a familiar voice drawled from the doorway. “Knowing you, Sebby, there’s probably a lot more to it.”
Sebastian’s eyes narrowed on the smirking douchebag strolling into the room. William had finally arrived.
“Don’t tell me you’re jealous,” he shot back, his arm tightening around the girl sitting next to him.
William tossed his head back and laughed. “No, just surprised someone like her would waste her time on you.” His eyes moved to Stick Girl, and his smirk was quick to spread into a devilish grin. “What’s your name, sweetheart?”
“This is my girlfriend,” Sebastian answered before she could. “You remember Taliana Avilla, don’t you?”
A surprised guffaw escaped his older brother’s lips as he moved closer to the table, taking a seat across from the pair. “You’ve got to be kidding me,” he murmured, turning his gaze back to Taliana. “You’re the girl who tried to kill my brother?”
Taliana let out an annoyed sigh as she threw a hand up. “Why does everyone think I tried to kill him?” She paused for a moment before nodding wearily. “But, yes, I’m the one.”
“God? damn .” William leaned forward and took one of her hands in his. “Last time I saw you, you were just some scrawny little kid. You’ve grown up.”
“Language, William,” Grandma Stanton warned, though she was still smiling at her favorite grandson.
William ignored his grandmother and continued to look over Stick Girl approvingly. “Just so you know, you could do a hell of a lot better than this guy,” he said, nodding to Sebastian. “You’re out of his league. A solid ten out of ten, easily.”
Sebastian rolled his eyes, knowing William had once said the exact same thing to Blair. The guy was an unoriginal douchebag, and all Sebastian could hope was that Taliana could see right through it.
“I bet you say that to every girl you meet,” she joked, removing her hand from William’s, but there was an underlying threat in her words that told him she knew exactly what he was trying to do.
William drew back as if he had been stung. “You wound me,” he murmured, dramatically putting a hand over the spot where his heart was supposed to be.
Sebastian was glad conversation amongst the rest of the table had picked up again, leaving his mumbled words of “fuck off” to go, thankfully, unheard by Grandma Stanton. Only Jude-who was sitting a few seats down from William-was paying attention to them now.
“I think you’ll be just fine,” Taliana replied, the fake smile remaining firmly in place.
Sebastian was mentally grinning, amazed that this girl wasn’t falling for his brother’s infamous charm. If it hadn’t been for the fact that he had sworn to hate her for eternity, he probably would have loved her for this. But hell, he was definitely warming up to her.
“Honestly, you’re way too beautiful to be dating my broody little brother,” William continued, barely ruffled by her words. “If you actually want to have a good time…” He reached for her hand again, but she easily slid it away from him.
“I don’t mean to sound rude,” she objected, her posture straightening ever so slightly, “but I would appreciate it if you didn’t touch me again.”
He put his hands up in mock surrender. “My apologies.”
“Thanks,” she managed to get out, her smile tightening. Then, to Sebastian’s surprise, she rose from her seat and dropped her napkin on the chair. “If you’ll excuse me, I need to use the ladies’ room.” She left without waiting for a reply, her heels clicking loudly against the floor as she made her exit.
Once she’d gone, Sebastian returned his attention to his brother, and for a moment he thought he caught sight of a scowl. But before he could be certain, William’s usual smirk was back in place.
“Once again, you’ve chosen a great girl,” William said as he ran a hand through his hair. “Tell me when you get tired of her, or she gets tired of you. I’d? love to get into that.”
Sebastian’s hands balled into fists. “Don’t even think about it,” he snapped, leaning closer. “She won’t be one of your toys like Blair was.”
“Still not over her?” William chuckled, though the look in his eyes made it clear the question was anything but playful. “Can’t get past the fact that she liked me more than you?”
Anger burned in Sebastian’s chest. He wanted nothing more than to strangle the asshole he was forced to call his brother. He was pretty confident that if Taliana had heard what William had just said, she’d want to do the same.
Wait, Taliana…
Sebastian looked away from his brother and turned to Jude, who was nodding toward the doorway and mouthing, “Go find your girlfriend!”
Taking his advice, Sebastian stood and mumbled, “Excuse me,” before stalking out of the room to find out where she’d really gone.