I wanted to interrogate him about the plot details to catch him in his lie, but that would mean validating his decision to once again act cavalier about our estrangement.
Instead, I glared sullenly at him.
Sebastian’s countenance turned serious. “I’m going to apologize now and if you still hate me when I’m done, I’ll leave you alone.”
Last Semester
“This is a mistake. We shouldn’t be doing this,” I whispered, feeling panic rise in my chest as I crouched behind a hedge with Sierra.
“That dickwart Olly is doing this because I dumped him, and I’m going to prove it,” Sierra seethed, peering over the top of the hedge to the building across the busy street.
We’d jumped on a train to Haymarket with our bikes and ridden from the station to the student accommodation in Westfield. All because Sierra got a lead on who thePotterrow Blokeswere. When I’d gotten back to the flat after my tutorial session with Sebastian yesterday, Sierra was there. She’d told us she’d bumped into a drunk friend of Oliver Abernathy’s last night and he’d let the cat out of the bag.
Olly Abernathy was the son of a wealthy financier in London. He’d been brought up in Kent, attended boarding school, and was friends with lots of highfalutin people. Last year he and Sierra had engaged in casual dating. Sierra ended it when Olly started to get attached.
According to the drunk friend of Olly’s, he’d decided to get a little revenge on Sierra for rejecting him by setting up a rival podcast to malign us.
If that was true, I honestly despaired at the immature toxicity of the male species.
Sierra had pumped drunk friend for a lot of information. According to drunk friend, Olly ran the podcast from a studio in his apartment. Sierra had slept over in his flat, so she knew exactly where that was.
“This is breaking and entering. We could be charged.” I tried to dissuade my best friend because now that we were here, rationale was returning. Maddie had decided she quite rightly didn’t want to be a part of unmasking the guys if it meant possible criminal charges. I’d gone along with Sierra because she’d been determined to do it with or without us. Her indignation knew no bounds.
“Plus, someone might steal our bikes.”
“So.” She glowered at me. “These assholes are trying to ruin something we worked our asses off to build just because one of them didn’t like that he got dumped. Tell me you’re an entitled toxic male without telling me!”
I absolutely agreed with her. But … “My e-bike cost my parents, like, a grand. That’s a lot of money for us.”
Mum might have made good money as head librarian, but it wasn’t epic money. And Dad ran his own successful photography business, made even more successful by some clever social media marketing. He mostly did weddings and big events, but he had a side business where he sold beautiful prints of scenes from Edinburgh and Scotland. He did well for an artist, but it wasn’t like we were rolling in it like Beth’s parents.
A grand on a bike was a lot.
And I treated that bike like my child.
Sierra sighed heavily. “We’ve secured the goddamn bikes.” She gestured angrily to the bike rack at the end of the large car park behind us.
“I’m not familiar with the area.” I sniffed haughtily. “Our bikes might not stay there very long if we leave them unattended.”
“Enough with the bikes.” Sierra abruptly stood and took off across the road.
Heart in my throat, I hurried after her, flattening myself against the wall of the apartment building. The guys could see us coming any second. Sierra had it on good authority the lads recorded the show Friday mornings. I was skipping a class for this ludicrousness!
Without another word, she pressed all the buttons except button 2A on the intercom system. Someone answered the intercom. “Yes?”
“Amazon package,” Sierra lied.
The door clicked open two seconds later. Shaking my head at her deviousness, I followed her inside and up the stairs to flat 2A. The student accommodation was new and modern, but it didn’t have the character of my flat on Leven Street.It probably doesn’t have the mouse problem or draftiness either, I thought with momentary longing.
“Now what?” I hissed as we stopped outside the flat.
My pulse was deafening in my ears.
“I should have brought Jan.” Sierra cut me a wry look. “She lives for this stuff.”
My wee sister did live for misadventures and mischief. “She’d also give you away in two seconds.”
Sierra let out a snort that was quickly replaced by determination. “I’m coming for you, you bastards.” She reached for the door handle.
