Seb (18 page)

“Yeah, through Kane. We’ve all gone out for beers a couple of times.”

“Oh.” Maybe I was overreacting. Maybe Seb would be relieved when he learned my new friend was someone he liked and trusted. “I told him about you, but I guess he didn’t put two and two together.”

“You did?” Jarod sounded surprised. “You always talk to your new boyfriend about other guys?”

“Why not?” I asked. “I don’t keep secrets from Seb.”

He shrugged before reaching for his wine. “I don’t know. Maybe he’s just more evolved than I am, but I can’t say I’d be happy about the girl I’m dating seeing other guys.”

“He knows we’re just friends,” I said, recalling how Seb had reacted when Jarod called me. “I have quite a few male friends. I made it clear to him that was something he’d have to learn to live with if we’re going to be together.”

He grinned. “That couldn’t have gone over well.”

“Why do you say that?”

“Seb doesn’t strike me as the kind of guy who’d respond well to an ultimatum.”

“It wasn’t an ultimatum,” I said, hoping I hadn’t made it seem that way to Seb. “I just needed him to know that trust is important to me. If he can’t trust me to be friends with another man, then we probably don’t have much of a future.”

“Can you honestly see yourself with a guy like him long-term?” he asked, frowning.

“What do you mean?” I asked, feeling slightly defensive on Seb’s behalf.

“He’s just a bit of a hothead. We were out at a bar, and his girlfriend—uh, Amy I think her name was—was there.”

I took a bite of my salad, trying to pretend I wasn’t hanging on his every word. “And?”

“She danced with some other guy, and Seb flipped out. Gabe and I had to step in. Thankfully we were able to talk him down before it got out of hand.”

If Seb was that jealous and possessive about a woman he’d claimed was just a fling, how would he react when he found out I’d gone out for dinner with Jarod without telling him?

“Really? That doesn’t sound like Seb.” I knew he had a temper. I’d seen it at work, but I understood he was a perfectionist and wanted his business to produce the best quality product possible.

“Maybe you don’t know him as well as you think you do, Sky.”

I didn’t appreciate Jarod trying to plant seeds of doubt about Seb. I trusted Seb, and that wouldn’t change just because someone made a few disparaging comments about him. Seb and I had spent hours talking about everything from our families to our work and plans for the future. I already felt I knew him better than most of the guys I’d dated. “I know all I need to know.”

“Speaking of which, how long have you known him?”

“I, uh, met him the same day I met you. In fact, I was just coming home from his shop when you responded to Mrs. Ryan’s call for help.”

“So if I’d met you before he did, things might have turned out differently?” he asked, sounding so hopeful it made me uncomfortable.

“Jarod, I meant what I said when we met. In fact, I told Seb the same thing. I really didn’t think I had time to pursue a relationship given my uncle’s health problems, but now that Seb and I are working together…” He was watching me closely, and I felt as if he was trying to read me. “I don’t know, it just kind of happened.”

“Maybe he planned it that way,” he said, tearing his eyes away from me to dig into his mashed potatoes.

“What are you talking about?”

“I’m not gonna lie. I’d probably have tried some underhanded maneuvering if I thought I stood a chance with you.”

That made me just a little more uncomfortable. “Seb hasn’t done anything underhanded.”

“How would you know?”

“Why are you doing this?” I asked, feeling tension building in my stomach. “I thought you were my friend. Why are you trying to make me question what I have with Seb?”

He held up his hand. “I’m sorry. You’re right. I guess it’s just an occupational hazard, seeing the potential for danger where there is none.”

“Danger? What the hell are you talking about? Seb isn’t dangerous.” I had to get out of there before this went any further.

“I didn’t say he was, did I?” He chewed slowly. “It’s just been my experience that guys with explosive tempers like that are capable of almost anything.” He shrugged. “But hey, if you feel safe with him, who am I to judge?”

Was it possible there was a side to Seb I hadn’t seen yet?

“What’s wrong?” he asked, gesturing to my plate. “Aren’t you going to finish that?”

“I’m not very hungry anymore. Excuse me. I need to use the restroom.”
And figure out whether my new boyfriend really is a Jekyll and Hyde.

***

Seb

I would have preferred to have Skylar pick me up at the airport, but since she was at another doctor’s appointment with her uncle, I had to make do with Kane. Not that I wasn’t grateful he’d taken time out of his day to pick me up—I was—I just missed my girl. She’d seemed strange when I called her last night. She’d claimed she was just tired, but I hoped she’d meet me at my house later to put my fears to rest.

“Uh, Seb, there’s something I need to talk to you about, and I don’t think you’re gonna take it too well.”

I cast him a sidelong glance. I didn’t often see Kane anxious about anything, but the way he was white-knuckling the steering wheel gave me the impression this was serious. “What’s up?”

“You remember Jarod, that buddy of mine who works on the force? We all went out for beers together a few times.”

“Yeah, I remember.” Some drunk had gotten a little too grabby with Amy on the dance floor, and I’d threatened to lay him out, but before I could, Jarod intervened, claiming he didn’t want to haul me in. “What about him?”

“Jesus,” Kane said, swiping a hand over his face. “There’s no easy way to say this, so I’m just gonna spit it out. He’s been seeing Skylar too.”

I glared at Kane, giving him half a second to retract that stupid statement before I pounced. “What the hell are you talking about? Skylar’s not seeing anyone else.”

“Yeah, she is.” Kane sighed. “Apparently she’s been out with him at least a couple of times, and they talk on the phone all the time.”

“How the hell do you know this?”

“Jarod told me. At first he just told me he was seeing this hot new chick, then he showed me a selfie of them together, and she, uh, looked pretty happy. It was date- and time-stamped… last night.”

“Last night?” I felt as if someone had sucker-punched me. She’d said she couldn’t come with me because she needed to take care of her uncle. Was she lying? Did she blow me off for some other guy? “Take me to her apartment.” When we pulled up to the light, I checked my phone and punched Skylar’s address into Kane’s GPS.

“Man, I don’t think that’s such a good idea. You know how you get when you think someone’s been lying to you. You should take some time to cool off. Call her later. Maybe there’s a reasonable explanation for—”

“I’ve been screwed over one too many times by women. I’m not going through this shit again!” I shouted, slamming my fist into the dash. “If she wants him, let her have him, but she’s goddamn well gonna look me in the eye and admit she lied to me!”

Ignoring the GPS’s commands, Kane pulled into an empty school parking lot. “Listen to me. You need to calm down. You can’t go see her when you’re like this. You know her uncle’s not in the best of health. Think about what it would do to him if you showed up there to pick a fight with his niece.”

I hated like hell to admit it, but Kane was right. I couldn’t do that to Charlie. Even if his niece had just been using me to get his car fixed. A car that I’d been laboring over for countless hours, intent on making it perfect not only for Charlie but for Skylar too. God, what an idiot I was!

“I need answers. Now.” My mind was racing through possible scenarios, but as I fit the pieces together, only one answer made sense: she’d been using me. “When did she meet him?” When she’d told me about Jarod, I assumed they’d been friends for years.

“Apparently he responded to an emergency call at her apartment building recently. Her landlady or something.”

That was the same day she’d met me, unless Mrs. R made a practice of calling 9-1-1, which I doubted. “What did he say about her?” If I was going to confront her, I needed all the facts.

“Sounds like he’s crazy about her.”

Of course he was. Any man in his right mind would bend over backwards for a shot with a girl like Skylar. I sure as hell had. “You said they’ve only been out together a couple of times?” I didn’t know why it made me feel better to know she’d spent more time with me than with him, but it did.

“Yeah. He said she’s been pretty busy with work and stuff.”

“Then he doesn’t know about me?” I asked, rolling down my window. Even though the air conditioning was on, I still felt as if I was suffocating.

Kane shut off the truck after rolling down his own window. “No, I don’t think so. He acted like…”

I knew Kane didn’t want to say it any more than I wanted to hear it, but the masochist in me had to know. “Like what?”

“He acted like he was the only one, like he could see a real future with this girl.”

I stared off in the distance where two boys about ten were playing catch, a baseball bat lying on the ground beside them. I had a flash of taking Jarod’s head off with that bat before I reminded myself this wasn’t his fault. Skylar had been the one playing me, not him.

Kane sighed. “So what are you gonna do? Aside from confront her. Seems to me this one is already pretty wrapped up in your life, man. The car, work, the show. It’s not gonna be easy to cut her off.”

It was gonna be hell on my heart, but what choice did I have? I closed my eyes, tipping my head back. “This is why I didn’t wanna put myself out there again. Why the hell does this keep happening to me? I attract these opportunists like goddamn magnets.” I wasn’t one to nurse my wounds for long, but I knew this one would take a hell of a long time to heal. I’d really thought Skylar was different. I had been so sure I could trust her.

“I know it sucks, Seb. But better you find out now, right?”

“I guess.” A part of me wished I could have lived in the dark for a little while longer, which just proved what a sick son of a bitch I was.

“Can I make a suggestion?”

I knew he was going to whether I wanted him to or not. We were brothers. It was our job to get up in each other’s business. “What?”

“Go home. Call her. Tell her you want to see her.” When I continued to stare out the window instead of responding, Kane said, “It’ll give you a chance to cool off. Besides, I know you don’t wanna have it out with her at her place, with an audience.”

“Fine,” I said, rubbing my face. I was suddenly wiped out, but I knew I wouldn’t get a wink of sleep tonight. “Take me home.”

***

Skylar had sounded happy to hear from me, which proved she didn’t suspect a shitstorm was about to rain down on her. Her other boyfriend mustn’t have told her that he’d had a little chat with my brother. I wasn’t surprised. Why would he?

When I opened the door to find her looking so beautiful in a black sundress and heels, I was tempted to forget everything my brother had told me, to pretend that she was mine alone and she hadn’t been sharing herself with someone else. But then I imagined his hands on her, his lips on hers, and that was enough to snap me out of my stupidity.

“Come in,” I said, trying to keep my rage in check. I’d already had an intense workout followed by a long hot shower and a couple of shots of Jack, but I was just as riled up now as I’d been when Kane dropped me off two hours earlier.

She stepped closer, presumably to hug me, but I stepped back, just out of her reach.

Her arched brows knitted together in a frown as she set her purse on the hall table. “Um, how was your trip? Did you end up buying the car?”

“Yeah, I did.” I slammed the door before walking into the family room. I had to put some distance between us. Her scent was driving me out of my mind. All I’d been able to think about on the flight home was getting her into bed, and now that I knew that would never happen again, I felt gutted.

She stood against a pillar leading to the family room, her arms wrapped around her middle, as though she sensed something was wrong but was trying to figure it out on her own. “I missed you.”

I’d already sat down, but my head snapped up at that comment. “From what I hear, you didn’t have time to miss me.”

“What do you mean?”

“I heard all about your date last night, Skylar. Did you have fun?”

Her mouth dropped open, but she recovered quickly, shaking her head. “It wasn’t a date. It was dinner with a friend. I told you about Jarod. I don’t know why you’d be surprised that we—”

“You didn’t tell me you met him the same day you met me.” She was crazy if she thought I was going to let her play this off as though it was nothing.

She shrugged, which only pissed me off more. “I didn’t think it was relevant.”

“You didn’t think I was relevant either apparently.” I picked up my third drink and downed it while enjoying the burn. It distracted me from the other pain… in my chest.

“What are you talking about? You’re not making any sense.”

I slammed the glass on the table, making her jump. Scaring her gave me little satisfaction. I wanted to make her heart bleed the way mine was. “Why didn’t you tell him about me?” I held up my hand before she could respond. “Don’t answer that. I already know. You thought you could play both of us, right?” I glared at her. “Was it him you really wanted all along? You thought you could just keep me your dirty little secret until after I’d finished the car?”

“Are you serious?” she asked, gaping at me. “You honestly think I’m dating Jarod?”

“Don’t bullshit me, girl. I’ve heard it all before.” I reached for the bottle of Jack Daniels on the coffee table. My plan was to get trashed tonight, and just like all the other times I’d been screwed over, my buddy Jack was there to help me forget.

She watched me refill my glass. “I can’t believe you think I’d lie to you. Jarod knew about you, Seb. I told him we were dating.”

“Then he may not give a shit that you’re sleeping with someone else, but I sure as hell do.” I tipped back the glass, wondering how long it would be before the numbness set in. The sooner, the better. I didn’t want to feel anything tonight. Not the pain of another dream going up in smoke or the frustration of being lied to or the embarrassment of another bad judgment call.