Total pages in book: 121
Estimated words: 116759 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 584(@200wpm)___ 467(@250wpm)___ 389(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 116759 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 584(@200wpm)___ 467(@250wpm)___ 389(@300wpm)
“Your boy doesn’t look like he’s enjoying himself. Your boy looks like he’s trying to push her off him.”
So many questions roiled in my head. “How did she end up in the room with him half-naked? How did it get that far? Why would Zac send me this?”
“I have no answer for you.” Jan gave me a sympathetic pat on the shoulder. “But I wouldn’t go jumping to conclusions. If you trust your guy, you should talk it out with him.”
I didn’t know if I was brave enough to. Having been cheated on multiple times, it was extremely hard for me to not trust the obvious tale the photo told. “Maybe I should call Sierra and Maddie. See if they know anything. Before I call Sebastian.”
“Sounds like a plan. I’ll be downstairs eating your bacon roll since your appetite is probably gone.”
I grimaced. “I’m sorry. I didn’t even ask how you are?”
“Eh, forgiven, considering the circumstances. And I’m okay. I promise. Come find me if you need me. I won’t tell Mum and Dad what’s going on.”
“Thanks.”
She gave me an awkward one-armed hug because she was still wary of moving her left arm with the cast on. I hugged her back, trying to hold in my panicked tears, and waited until she’d left the room before I shakily called Sierra.
My friend picked up on the tenth ring with a groggy, “Ullo?”
“Sierra, it’s me.”
“Lil?”
“Aye. Can you wake up, please? It’s important.”
“Is Jan okay?”
“Jan’s fine. It’s something else.”
“Okay. One sec.” I heard rustling and then a male voice lazily demanding, “Come back to bed.”
Momentarily distracted from my own drama, I asked, “Is that Harry?”
Instead of answering, I heard her speak to the man. “I need to take this.”
“Then come back to bed.”
That definitely sounded like Harry. A few seconds later, I heard a door shutting and Sierra spoke. “Sorry. What’s up?”
“Did you sleep with Harry?”
“We, uh, we’ve kind of hooked up a few times. I’ll tell you about it later. What’s up?”
My heart sped again as I tried to think of the right words to explain the situation. “Did … did something happen last night, Sierra? Was there … was there a girl with Sebastian?”
“What?” Sierra’s tone was sharp. “What do you mean? How do you … Look, I don’t know who’s been talking, but there was this haughty trust fund baby chasing Bastian around the party all night.” She sounded breathless with agitation. “He couldn’t have been clearer with her if he tried. He told her over and over he had a girlfriend and to back off, and it got so bad I had to threaten the crazy, drunk bunny boiler.”
I stood up, my legs shaking as a tentative relief started to flood through me. “When did you last see Sebastian?”
“Lily, what is going on? You know he would never cheat on you, right?”
Guilt riddled me at Sierra’s absolute certainty. “Is … is he around?”
“I don’t know. You woke me up. Try his cell. Will you tell me what is going on?”
“I will,” I promised. “I need to speak to Sebastian first.”
“Okay. Note that I am worried, though. Please call me back when you can.”
“I promise.”
We hung up and I stared at my phone, trying to catch my breath. Finally, realizing Sierra might go to Sebastian before I could call, I hit his name.
He answered after three rings. “Morning, Sawyer.” His voice was raspy like he was either waking up or he hadn’t slept. “How’s Jan?”
“S-she’s … she’s fine.”
“What is it?” Sebastian was suddenly alert.
“I … I … I’m trying not to jump to conclusions about something.” My tears started to come before I could stop them. I had to take a minute to get them under control.
“Okay, you’re scaring me,” he replied thickly. “Tell me what’s going on.”
“I … I’m s-sending you something, okay? It was sent to me this morning.” Swiping at my tears, I tapped into my messages and attached the photo Zac sent me. “Okay. I’ve sent it.”
“All right. The suspense is killing me, though. Why are you crying, angel?”
Sniffling, I lied, “I’m not.”
“Oh. Well then, you’re doing a very good impression of it. Okay … got it.” He went quiet a moment and then suddenly burst into loud, furious cursing. I flinched, switching the volume down on my phone since I had him on speaker. Finally, he began pleading, “Lily, God, Lily, I swear to God, this is not what it looks like. This woman is an old friend, she was harassing me all fucking night, I thought I’d gotten away from her, and I was trying to get to sleep and she crept in through the fucking slider doors while I was sleeping and accosted me. I threw her out, like, seconds after this photo was taken. Who the fuck took the photo? What the … Lily, God, Lily, please tell me you believe me.” His voice caught on a sob. “Please.”