“Selene!” Piper squealed when she caught sight of me.“I had no idea you were going to be here!”
Sebastian and I hadbegrudginglyagreed to a story. I couldn’t exactly tell them I’d kidnapped him, and as a result I couldn’t leave his house in case his brother’s family tried to kill me. So we’d settled on: he’d seen me in the neighborhood, and invited me to come. Later that night, I could sneak into my room, and he’d tell them I’d left.
Part of me wanted to sneak out of the house at the end of the night, and get the hell away from Sebastian. But even as I moved my cup up to my lips, I noticed the slight shakiness of my movements. Unfortunately, I was in no position to re-enter the real world tonight.
“Good to see you Piper,” I said, standing up and pulling her into a hug.
“Wow Selene, it’s been years,”Emmasaid, walking over to us.
I gave her the expected cheek kisses while Sebastian began working on their drink requests. When I askedEmmaabout what she’d been up to, she swung back her flawless chocolate brown hair and launched into a speech about her racquetball career.
“It’s insane that they won’t make racquetball part of the olympics,” sheranted.
Yeah, at my high school the prom queen wasn’t the head cheerleader. She was the star racquetball player. Typical UpperWest Side stuff.
“I know what you mean,” Sebastian cut in, setting a martini in front ofEmma.“It doesn’t look like we’re going to see jiu jitsu at theOlympicsthis cycle."
My attention shifted to Sebastian, whosatin the black seat next toEmma.
From my Instagram stalking, I’d come across some pictures of Sebastian participating in some jiu jitsu tournaments. He’d seemed to have won quite a few, but it’s possible the organizers were too terrified to lethim lose.
I thought back to him placing his brother in a guillotine choke. Okay, maybe he had some natural talent.
Jared leaned forward.“I remember going to one of your tournaments. That was some intense shit. Are you still thinking of opening a studio?”
Sebastian shot him a look.“No. I’m too busy with my current work.”
Now that I thought about it, I couldn’t remember seeing any social media postsinthe last year mentioning jiu jitsu.
I shook my head.Why was I still paying attention to their conversation?
While I tried to tune out Sebastian andEmma’sdebate aroundOlympic sport inclusions, I turned my attention back to Piper. Maybe, I’d ask her if I could crash at her house tomorrow night.
Before I could broach the subject, the doorbell rang again. This time, it wasn’t anyone I recognized. From the guys’ navy vests, I was sure they were some of Jared’s Wall Street Bros. My suspicions were solidified when one guy whispered to Jared about coke.
Piper followed them into an empty room before I could ask her about crashing at her place.
I sighed and leaned back into the couch. And at that exact moment, Micah wordlessly moved onto the couch cushion beside me.
Fantastic, my only options for conversation were an egomaniac who compared himself to God, or the reason I was in this mess.
Rolling my eyes, I chose the lesser of two evils.
“So how do you know everyone?”Micahasked, shifting forward in his seat. Sebastian glanced in our direction, but re-directed his attention toEmma.
I pointed atEmma.“High school.”
Then I pointed at Sebastian.“I methimrecently,” I said.
It was weird to think that I’d only recently met Sebastian. My entire life had been a mess long before I met him, but the chaos seemed to grow the longer we stayed together.
Micah smiled.“I went to Connecticut Prep with Jared and Sebastian.”
I wondered how much he actually knew about Sebastian.
I glanced towards Sebastian. He was still in an in-depth conversation withEmmaabout theOlympics.
“So where’d you go to school?” Micah asked.
