Sebastian took a step back and made his way farther down the driveway. “Nope. Luis and I are good, but I’m done trying to make up to Abi. I fucked up too much. I deserve the silent treatment. I’ll talk to you guys later.”
“Sebastian?” Luis called, but he only waved and continued walking.
“Stubborn asshole,” I muttered.
“Yeah. The only person who’s gonna get him to budge is himself,” Luis said. “Let’s go back in.”
I stood there for a moment, watching Sebastian walk away. Watching him saddened me. His shoulders were slumped, his gait slow, and his whole body giving off depressed vibes. I wished he’d come in with us. He really was stubborn as all hell.
106
MADDY
As soon as the guys left, I grabbed Abi and hauled her out to the back porch. I didn’t want us to get interrupted if they came back too soon. Once the door was closed, I laid into her. “What the hell just happened? I told you these games were going to fuck things up between Luis and Sebastian.”
Abi was on the verge of tears. “I wasn’t playing games, Maddy. I’m serious. All I wanted to do was apologize to Luis for everything and ask what he thought I could do to make it up to Sebastian.”
I pointed back toward the house. “That didn’t look like someone apologizing.”
Abi sighed and flopped her arms down to her sides in defeat. “It was, like, the most awful timing ever. Sebastian walked in right after Luis and I finished talking, and we happened to be coming down the stairs together.”
“The stairs? Like where your room is?”
Abi’s face went red. “Shit. We were talking in Nico’s office, but I guess that does make it look even worse.”
“You think? Sebastian probably thought Luis just got done railing your ass. This is awful.” I was beyond frustrated. Justanother thing that was my fault. If not for me, none of this, none of it, would have happened.
“I screwed up. I know. Luis even realized it. He told me, at first, he was sort of playing along with me to screw with Sebastian. I guess they do that with each other, usually about sports or other silly stuff. Once he saw that Sebastian was really getting upset, he told me to lay off and stopped hanging out with me.”
“Yes, you screwed up. You have to fix this. Those guys have been best friends since they were children. You can’t be the reason their entire relationship is fucked.”
“I know,” Abi said, fresh tears sliding down her cheeks. “I’m gonna try. If Sebastian will even talk to me.”
The front door was in my line of sight from where I stood, and I saw it open. Nico had come back, but only Luis was with him. “Damn it. Come on.” I tugged Abi back inside.
Nico saw me and rolled his eyes. I went to him, and he pulled me into a hug. Putting his lips to my ear, he whispered, “Everything is so fucked up right now.”
The weariness in his voice was obvious. I rubbed his back, trying to comfort him. It was all I could do not to apologize. He wouldn’t want to hear that from me. Probably wouldn’t even believe I’d been part of the problem, even though I felt like I was. Instead, I said, “We’ll figure it out. I promise.”
Nico pulled away and looked into my eyes. “Let’s go for a run. We haven’t done that in a while.”
He was right. We’d been far too busy to take a moment to ourselves. I couldn’t even remember the last time I let my wolf out to run free. Even the thought of it had her pacing in my mind, eager to come out to play. “That sounds great.”
It would be good to take some time alone and be free of worry, even if it was only for an hour or two. I followed Nico outside, and we both jogged off into the woods behind the house.We shifted when we passed the tree line, and the relief fell across my body like a wave. My wolf was beyond happy to be out, and I reveled in her joy.
Nico took the lead, and I followed him up to a ridge behind the house. Florida was pretty flat, but we still had our fair share of mountains. This one was pretty small in comparison to some, but once we were at the top, we could catch a good glimpse of the surrounding countryside. From there, everything looked calm and serene. It was hard to believe the world had been turned upside down and inside out. It all looked like a peaceful paradise to us.
The scents were deep and sharp. It was winter in Florida, but obviously still warm. Still, the humidity had dropped with the change in season, and I could smell more. It was always the strangest thing about being in wolf form. The sense of smell was almost life-changing—being able to smell a black bear nearly a mile away or the creek I liked to sit at. It was on the far side of Nico’s property, but I could still catch a whiff of the mineral scent of the water. No wonder my wolf was always desperate to get out and run. It had to be boring, stuck in my head with my puny human senses.
We sprinted to the top of the ridge and then back down the other side. Toward the bottom of the hill, we caught the scent of a rabbit and spent a few minutes hunting and chasing the poor creature. We weren’t hungry, which meant the little guy got to live to see another day. Eventually, we made it back to the forest directly behind the house and shifted back in a small open glade.
Nico lay down in the grass, and I curled into him. It had only been for a few hours, but I felt a lot better already—more relaxed and at peace. I reminded myself to try to do this more often. It was better than therapy.
“Nico? Maddy?” Luis’s voice called from the edge of the yard.
We both sighed in irritation, upset that our few moments of calm had already been interrupted. Nico sat up and put his hands to his mouth. “What?” he called.
“Six o’clock news. On in ten minutes,” Luis yelled back.
