Filed to story: Once Upon a One Night Mistake Book PDF Free by Simone Shirazi
Sebastian shot him a slightly disbelieving look, amused he would even consider that. “Only guys who have to compensate for something drive red cars.”
“Last I heard, you needed to do some serious compensating.”
“You’ve been chatting up the wrong girls, Jude,” he laughed, moving toward the door. “Pick me something to wear for the party, would you? I don’t have enough time to do it myself. After I escape my parents, I have to go down to the club and finalize some things for tomorrow.”
“Fine, fine.” He turned toward Sebastian again and shooed him with one hand. “Now, get out of here, you spoiled brat.”
Sebastian lazily lifted a hand in goodbye. “I owe you one, Jude.”
Turning once more, he left the private room and started toward the front of the store, but not before hearing Jude mutter, “More like a thousand.”
Finally stepping outside, Sebastian dodged the hordes as he made the two-block trek to Caf? Tehran. Most tourists stayed away from its grungy looking exterior and painted windows, which made it the perfect hideaway. The comforting scent of spices greeted him as he entered and made his way up the spiral staircase to the second floor of the restaurant, quickly finding his friends at one of the tables and sliding onto the bench next to Michael.
“Sorry I’m late,” he apologized, but no one seemed to have noticed, seeing as Marcus had slid so far down in his seat that he almost disappeared under the table. Sebastian glanced at his friend, slightly concerned about his wellbeing. “You all right? You look like shit.”
“I had a rough night,” Marcus mumbled.
Michael’s eyebrows shot up, suddenly interested. “Oh? Care to spare any details?”
Marcus rolled his eyes. “It’s nothing good, trust me. Zak got in early and my mother was obviously unprepared for another teenager to enter her home. Especially one like him.”
A grunt came from Jacob’s direction. “Where is he now?”
“At home.” Marcus sighed in relief, sitting up some. “I somehow managed to get out of taking him around with me today, though we’ll see for how long.”
As if on cue, his phone rang.
Marcus let out a loud groan, and Sebastian knew it had to be Senator Patterson. “Hello?” Marcus answered hesitantly, pausing momentarily as the woman spoke. “Are you serious? Come on, why can’t someone else show him around?”
Michael and Sebastian exchanged amused glances, both knowing their friend’s good luck never lasted long.
“I know you have to go to work, but-Mommy,? please .” He paused again, brown eyes widening in shock. “He did what? What is he, a fucking pyromaniac or something?” A sudden blush consumed his face as he ducked his head. “I know, I know, I’m sorry… It’s not like I have much of a choice, do I?”
Struggling to contain his laughter, Sebastian continued to watch as Marcus pinched the bridge of his nose.
“Fine. We’re at Caf? Tehran. Drop him off on your way back to the Capitol.” Without a goodbye, Marcus hung up and grimaced. “My mom is making us look after Zak for the afternoon.”
“Look after him?” Michael questioned. “Isn’t he our age?”
“Yeah, but he tends to get into trouble,” Marcus explained. “He ‘accidentally’ lit one of the houseplants on fire today. Apparently, he thought it would make a good hiding spot for a joint. My mother is livid.”
“Considering Senator Patterson’s political track record on drugs, that’s not surprising,” Michael snickered. “Can’t have her looking like a hypocrite.”
Marcus shot him a venomous look. “Go to hell.”
In typical Michael fashion, he blew a kiss to his offended friend and grinned as if he’d done nothing wrong.
Marcus, however, was having none of it. “I’ll be back,” he announced, getting up and stalking out of the room.
Sebastian glanced at his best friend, a silent now look what you’ve done look, before sliding off the bench and following Marcus downstairs. Sebastian caught up with him outside, where he was attempting to light a cigarette.
“Those’ll kill you eventually, you know,” Sebastian pointed out as he approached, though his words had no true warning in them.
The shorter boy didn’t respond until he’d taken a long drag. “Thanks for the concern.” He sighed, tilting his head back and letting a curl of smoke escape his lips. “But Zak will probably kill me before these do.”
Together, they sat on a nearby bench, watching the bumper-to-bumper traffic slowly inch down the street. Though his posture was relaxed, Sebastian could tell his friend was seething, something he didn’t see too often from Marcus. Clearly Zak had rubbed him the wrong way, but Marcus wasn’t alone in that.
There was no denying that Zak was Sebastian’s polar opposite. Sure, they both had attitude problems, Sebastian wouldn’t deny that, but that was where the similarities ended. Zak was an edgy little shitlord who dressed in all black and was covered in tattoos, while Sebastian looked like a walking Brooks Brothers ad from the moment he rolled out of bed in the morning. Zak had the appeal of any trashy rock star in the making, but Sebastian reeked of old money. Anyone could have seen they were born to butt heads.
Marcus groaned a few minutes later, flicking his cigarette onto the ground and snubbing it out with the heel of his shoe. “Crap, here he comes.”
In a town like this, it wasn’t hard to pick Zak Huntington out of a crowd. He looked no different than the last time Sebastian had seen him a few years ago, save for the fact that his hair was a little longer and hid those soulless eyes.
Sebastian slowly rose to his feet as Zak approached, listening to the curses Marcus was muttering under his breath. “Huntington,” he greeted with a smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes. “It’s been a while.”
Zak had the decency to at least give him a curt nod. “Phillips,” he murmured. “It hasn’t been long enough.”
“I could say the same.” Without another glance in Zak’s direction, Sebastian turned to Marcus and fished his car keys out of his pocket, not wanting to suffer through any more time with Zak. “I’ve gotta go. You two have fun.”
Though there was no missing the glare from Marcus, Sebastian smiled as he walked away, silently thanking the universe for blessing him with a well-dressed, flamboyant narcissist for a cousin instead of a demon like Zak. But he had a feeling said demon was about to bring more drama to their lives than Jude ever could. Sebastian just hoped they were all ready for it.
Fashionably Not Invited
“Hold still, Taliana! You’re gonna make me mess this up!”
Taliana bit back a scream and slapped Marissa’s hand away from her face. The tweezers that had been grasped in her fingers a moment earlier went flying across the room, landing softly on the bed where Taliana hoped they’d stay. When she’d agreed to let the twins help her get ready for Sebastian’s party, she never thought it would involve this kind of torture.
Vanessa, who’d moved quickly to avoid losing an eye to said tweezers, threw up her hands. “Stop being such a baby,” she chided, shooting Taliana a glare as she snatched them up again. “Plucking your eyebrows doesn’t hurt.”
“It does when she’s doing it,” Taliana whined, rubbing one of her throbbing brows.
“Oh, just hold still.”
Taliana winced but obeyed nonetheless, inhaling sharply as Vanessa ripped out another hair. If it hadn’t been for the fact that the twins didn’t want her showing up to the party with them looking like a slob, they probably wouldn’t have bothered with any of this. Part of her wished she had just refused to go, but it was too late now.
She’d already gone through the pain of having her hair combed and straightened; her nails clipped, filed, and painted blood-red; and her skin exfoliated and buffed so many times that she wondered if she actually had any left. Taliana would be damned if she didn’t go to this party, even if was in honor of her sworn enemy’s birthday.