Chapter 37

Evelyn

“Hope you’re having a good Thanksgiving. I really wanna talk.”

Still, as I stare at my screen, I watch as my text message is delivered but ignored. I sigh heavily and drop my phone on the bed beside me.

I flop down on my back, the ceiling bearing down on me. It’s like I’ll soon be crushed by the ceiling and the weight of my anxieties and stress.

Closing my eyes, I picture Sebastian and me at the racetrack together. I watched as he sped around the track, making turns and flourishing his car while he went. He was spectacular.

I can’t believe I’ve never bothered to look up any of Sebastian’s races before. He’s a natural.

“That was so outstanding!” I screamed as he came back to the pit, bouncing up and down and feeling the adrenaline continuing to flow through me. “You’re a natural, Sebastian!”

He burst into a fit of laughter at my delight, but I was too busy clapping my hands and dancing about like a kid.

“Looks like someone’s having a good time,” he joked with me.

It was so nice to laugh and forget for even an hour what I’ve been dealing with. After my nightmare, I was so worried I wouldn’t be able to get out of bed and function.

My nightmare might have been dramatic, but I wasn’t expecting Ava to show up in my dreams. Especially because it’s been years since I’ve had nightmares that scared me awake.

As much as I’m trying not to let this ruin my temperament, I also know I can’t control what pops up during sleep.

“Thank you for today,” I’d told Sebastian when we were finally leaving. I touched his arm and looked up into his eyes. “I mean it.”

He gives me a two-finger salute and smirks his signature grin.

“Of course.”

When I open my eyes, my world returns to the present. The sun shines through the curtains and reflects around the room, but I don’t seem to care.

How am I ever going to convince Ava to talk to me, let alone forgive me for all that’s happened between us? Thinking about Sebastian and Ava brings me back to something Sebastian told me last night during my nightmare recovery.

“And you can’t know that they’ll be angry or even hate us. Come on, Princess. You gotta just believe me this one time.”

He was right. Everyone won’t have the same reaction.

But still, does that help anything now? Because Ava’s reaction alone is enough to want me to hide away from the world for the rest of my life.

Another ten minutes go by, and I decide I need something to do to occupy my brain. There’s not much to do at a moment’s notice on a Saturday night after Thanksgiving, especially since we’ll be heading back to school tomorrow for the rest of the semester.

So, begrudgingly, I groan and sit up, leaving my room to go down to the living room and find a movie to put on.

With everyone about in the house, I choose some random Netflix original movie that I know nothing about. It’s supposed to be a love story with a spy twist, but I just put it on to drown out the noise in my head.

About fifteen minutes into the movie, my mom comes into the room looking for me.

“Whatcha watching?” She chimes brightly.

I gesture to the screen. “The new spy movie with the romance plot,” I explain.

“Ooo I wanted to watch this! Catch me up what did I miss?”

So I explain the small bit of plot she’s missed to catch her up, the two of us sitting on opposite couches to enjoy the film.

Not too long after that, Sebastian and Gregory come in from the garage.

“Madelyn?” Gregory calls, turning my mother away from the screen.

But what I expect to be a conversation that interrupts the flow of the movie, ends up being completely different.

“Shh!” she taunts, finger to her lips. “Eve and I are watching a movie!”

Sebastian, for his part, jumps over the back of the couch and lands perfectly on the couch cushion next to me.

“Ah, I heard this was good. Is that guy from Succession in this?”

I shrug. “I don’t know, I just picked it at random.”

Gregory even sits with my mom, and suddenly, I realize the family affair.

What was supposed to be a place for me to unwind, has turned into all of us actually spending time together outside of the wedding or a simple meal.

“He’s the villain, I’m calling it right now,” Sebastian states, pointing at the male on screen.

I shove him with my shoulder, aghast. “Why would you spoil it?”

“I’m not!” He insists. “I’m making an educated guess based on the clues around me.”

I roll my eyes, but Sebastian doesn’t reply to me. Instead, I watch as he lifts his legs up onto the couch, crunched up in what looks to be a ball.

“I hope he’s wrong,” Madelyn sighs. “He’s my favorite character so far!”

As she speaks, I notice Sebastian’s hand slowly moving toward mine, which sits on my lap.

Is this why he chose to sit next to me?

“I just worry about them getting lost,” Gregory merely mumbles as Sebastian’s hand finds mine. “I mean, it looks like this place was designed for it.”

“I’m sure the sidekick character will lead them to safety. That’s what good sidekicks are for, right?” Madelyn teases, looking up into her husband’s eyes with a genuine small smile.

Sebastian and I lace our fingers together, out of sight from our parents’ eyes. It feels strange to be holding his hand in the same room as them. A streak of rebellion, a rush of excitement and anxiety pulses through me like an ocean crashing to shore.

I wonder how he’s feeling right now.

“I tend to be a big fan of the sidekicks,” Sebastian states. “They get the funniest lines, they don’t have to be responsible for when shit goes down, and they’re the bond that holds the lead together.”

Sebastian lets his eyes venture toward mine, refusing to fully break into a smile with Madelyn and Gregory nearby.

“I agree,” I state, giving him a knowing look with the smallest of nods.

I don’t know which of us is the lead and which is the sidekick, but as his warm hand pulses, I feel my heart joining in with the rhythm.

In the end, the bad guy ends up being who we all thought it would be, and the characters thwart evil, and fall in love with the sun setting in the background.

When everyone separates to go to bed, Sebastian and I walk to our rooms side by side, saying nothing aloud. But when we reach my door, he suddenly touches my upper arm.

Before I have any chance to speak, Sebastian leans in and kisses me, tender and kind, soft and urgent all at once. I let him, kissing him back with my own earnest energy.

The kiss only lasts about three seconds, and when he pulls away, it takes him a second to open his eyes and return his gaze to mine.

“I promise I’m going to do everything I can to help get Ava back,” he plainly states, eyes fixed on me.

I’m surprised, seeing as I’d actually forgotten about Ava. “That’s not your responsibility,” I remind him.

“No,” he shakes his head. “It is. And your heart is just as important to me as the rest of you.”

Why is he saying these things? What is he implying?

“I’ll figure it out. Just give me time.”

I shake my head now. “Sebastian—”

He leans in and kisses me again, stopping my sentence dead in its tracks. I let him kiss me again, mostly because it feels so right to feel like this with him and feel every emotion that bubbles to the surface.

When he pulls away again, he only leaves a few inches between us before he whispers, “I promise you, Princess.”

Then, that’s it. He goes back to his own room and gives me a single nod before he disappears behind the door.

Too stunned to speak, I walk back into my room, closing the door and leaning against it in utter confusion.

What could a life with Sebastian Cain look like?

What if the reality of our situation truly is to run away together just to ensure our happiness? Could I forgive myself for causing so much pain?

“Can I beg for forgiveness from everyone else?” I ask myself, still on a high from our kisses.

It’s becoming quite clear to me that my feelings aren’t just ludicrous. They’re based in facts, with primary examples and a common ground of mutual respect and admiration.

No question about it. I’m absolutely falling for this man, and there is nothing that I can do to stop it.