“Scouted by the boss himself when he witnessed him fighting some other kid...” Seb checked the door before he leaned forward in his seat and lowered his voice. “Dean got into a lot of fights in high school, but he was good. When the kids realized this, they organized fights after school to place bets on how many other kids his age he could verse... Eventually, he dropped out of school and joined street fights.”
My eyes widened but I kept my voice as quiet as his. “How long did this go on for?”
“From around age…sixteen?”
I shook my head in disbelief. “Why didn’t either of you say no?”
Seb chuckled and sat back. “Someone offers some cocky, poor little shits the chance to make fast money with their fists? I guarantee they wouldn’t say no.”
“Right...” I settled back in my seat. More frustrated at Antonio than anything else.
“Trust me, if I could go back, we wouldn’t be having this conversation. But when you come from a life of wondering when your next meal will be and someone offers you the chance to fix that, you take it.”
I looked down at my hands where they sat in my lap. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to sound so ignorant.”
“It’s not your fault.” When I looked up again, Seb offered me a soft smile. “We can’t help what we witnessed, or didn’t witness, growing up as kids.”
I smiled a little too, though still feeling bad, and breathed in. “So... Did you win your first fights?”
Seb grinned. “Oh, hell yes. Earned one thousand in cash between us... Probably wasn’t Antonio’s best idea to let two young men out into the city with that much money between us though.”
Amusement filled my chest at the way he grimaced. “What happened?”
“A lot of things I don’t think should be repeated out loud,” he said.
“Was streaking included?”
“You know about that?”
“Not exactly. Dean mentioned it at the barbecue.”
Seb’s face was still alight with happiness when he said, “Unfortunately streaking didn’t play a part that night... We did get kicked out of a strip club though.”
I huffed a laugh. “Oh my god.”
Right on time, Dean appeared in the doorway again. Three bottles of juice in hand, along with his burrito, as he slowed on his way to the chair beside Seb. His eyes shifted between the two of us as he said, “What's so funny?”
“Just telling her about how we met,” Seb smiled.
Dean’s eyes narrowed on him, a ghost of a smile on his lips as he handed me one of the bottles of juice. “What’d you tell her?”
“Nothing that wasn’t too explicit,” Seb said, accepting the other bottle from Dean.
I smiled as I picked at the label of the orange juice. “I imagine you would’ve felt horrible the next morning.”
The silence that fell between us was slow at first, paired with fading smiles as Seb and Dean shared a look. It sent my nerves skyrocketing. Dean then took a seat, focusing on his burrito with a subtle frown on his face while he picked at the paper wrap.
Seb cleared his throat. “Yeah. Worst hangover ever— Hey, Lily, I never asked about the books you bought,” he said, motioning to the bag I forgot was hanging from my arm.
My attention was on the way Dean slipped into his thoughts, unable to look up as his right leg bounced on the spot. He wasn’t really looking at anything in particular and half paying attention to the conversation, his eyes were almost blank.
I smiled politely at Seb and his attempt to change the subject. Anxiety and guilt burned in my stomach as I gathered my bags, and the orange juice, and began to ramble, “Maybe we can talk about the books another time? I should get going. It is a little ridiculous for me to be hiding out here. And I have things to do back home before my shift at The Den.”
That last part was a lie, but I needed to give them a reasonable excuse for changing my mind about staying. Plus, every time I looked at Dean, the guilt chewed a wider hole into my chest.
I stood and Dean’s eyes followed, but Seb interjected first. “Lily—”
“I’ll see you tonight.” I left quickly, my smile fading as I breezed back through the garage, wiping the wetness from my eyes. It was ridiculous that I was even on the verge of crying. There wasn’t any reason for me to be upset when it was Dean who had grown uncomfortable.
