“Not particularly, no,” I say while still looking over my shoulder.Now in search of Wild.
“That you andourstepbro are still…close.”
I turn my attention back to him and give him a saccharine smile. “Well, good thing your ‘theory’ on my relationship is really none of my concern.” I shrug. “Can you excuse me?” I say without another word.
“Of course.” I hear him speak up from behind me, but I don’t stop as I continue through the venue toward the exit to look for Wild. He’s been gone for about ten minutes, so I hope it’s nothing serious with work. I make it to the hallway and pan my gaze around, searching the space for Wild, but I only see a few people congregating, one of whom is Sara’s sister, Emily, who has never liked me. She’s talking to a few other women, so I hope she doesn’t break away to talk to me. I’ve been actively avoiding her, but as she moves toward me, I realize that I no longer have a choice.
“Halle, it’s good to see you!” She wraps her arms around me, engulfing me in a tight hug and pressing a kiss to my cheek. It’s been so long since I’ve seen her,probably close to seven years,so her dark hair is now shorter and peppered with strands of silver, and she now wears glasses in front of her powder-blue eyes.
“Hi, Emily. It’s great to see you as well. How are you?”
“Good.” She lets out a sigh before putting her hand under my chin, almost adoringly, which is surprising. “I can’t believe how long it’s been. You should have come home more. Sara has missed you a lot, you know.”
“I know it wasn’t as often as maybe I could have, but I did come home from time to time.”
She twists her mouth before looking toward the venue, and when I follow her gaze, I find Sara and Mike smiling with a group of their friends. “That’s my baby sister, you know?” When I turn my eyes back to her, she’s still looking at Sara fondly before her smile falls and turns back to me. “She did her best, Halle.”Ah, here it comes. This is the Emily I know.I don’t respond because I’m really not interested in arguing with heragain.I spent most of the summer, while Sebastian was staying at her house, arguing with her every time I showed up to see him. It wasn’t often because Sara didn’t want me driving to visit him, so I was rarely allowed to use my car. But the few times I was forced to interact with her were not pleasant. “What you did in response to her just trying to survive a tragedy was cruel.”
My eyebrows pinch, and anxiety blooms in my chest at the impending conversation. “I’m sorry, what exactly did I do?”
“Cutting her off. Never coming home. Alienating Sebastian and making it absolutely impossible for her to be close with her son.” She shakes her head with eyes full of judgment. “You are the reason Sara and Sebastian are not close as well.”
“What? You can’t be serious. Her relationship with Sebastian has nothing to do with me.”
“It has everything to do with you. It hasalwaysbeen about you.” She scoffs. “What she gets for raising you, I guess.”
Anger and guilt and sadness are making a cocktail in the pit of my stomach, and combined with actual alcohol, it’s all making me emotional. Tears spring to my eyes in response, and I’m about to speak when I sense Wild’s presence next to me. “What did you just say?” I feel his anger in my bones, and when I turn my head, I see him glaring at her.
“Sebastian.” She smiles curtly, and I’m surprised by this energy. I know she thinks I’m the root of the problems, but I wasn’t expecting her to be angry with Wild too. “Well, you are damn near killing your mother.”
“My mother is fine. She’s happy,” Wild says, anger laced in his tone.
“She misses you. And you have let your obsession with this one,” she says, pointing at me, “destroy your relationship.”
He drops his eyes to the drink in her hand, and the obvious glance makes me realize I may be missing something. “My mom did say you’ve been drinking more than usual. She just didn’t mention that you became an angry drunk.” He shakes his head. “Is that why you and Uncle Cole are having problems? I notice he’s not here,” he says, crossing his arms over his chest.
“Wild…” I don’t want him to go too far, even if she does fucking deserve it.
Pain and horror flash across her face, and then her eyes narrow into angry slits. “You’re still up to this shit, aren’t you?” She grits her teeth before taking a low breath through them. “Well, there goes my theory that you’d eventually grow out of it.”
“Emily…” I start, wanting to tell her for the millionth time that my feelings for Wild were nothing I was going to “grow out of.”
She points her finger at us, waving it back and forth between us. “No one will ever accept this. Haven’t you gotten this through your heads yet? Or are you still just thinking like immature, horny teenagers?” She chuckles before downing the rest of her drink.
“We are done with this conversation,” Wild says, moving me away from her and through the lobby.
There’s no one around or in sight, but I’m still surprised when he presses his lips to mine in a possessive, bruising kiss.He cups my face gently, but his lips are hard and aggressive, and the complete opposite of how he’s holding me. His tongue strokes mine slowly at first and then faster while it explores my mouth as his hands move down my body to grip my ass. I push him off slightly because not only is this not the place for it, but oftenwhen he kisses me like this, it’s because something’s wrong or he’s feeling jealous and possessive. “Hey, hey,” I whisper against his mouth before planting a light, gentle kiss on them, trying my best to calm his nerves or whatever has him on edge. “What’s going on? Talk to me.”
“I’m sorry I was gone so long. I know you’re not exactly comfortable here.” His expression is worried, and I put my hand on his cheek in an attempt to calm him.
“I’m okay. Everything’s fine. Only Emily said something, and I’m not worried about her.” I look up into his eyes, and it’s incredible how sometimes he still reminds me of that same five-year-old boy. “This,” I say, pointing back and forth between us and our current state, “isn’t about her, though. Talk to me.”
He exhales slowly as he lets his eyes close. When he opens them, his eyes aren’t on me but trained on a spot on the wall. “The head of my PR team called.” He runs a hand through his hair, pulling it slightly at the root.
“Okay?” I ask, wondering why that would have him so agitated. “Is that bad?”
His hands ball into fists as he begins to pace, and it feels like he’s a bull ready to charge. “Quinn Prescott ran her mouth about… seeing me in New York… withyou.”
I gasp, and my heart begins to accelerate. “You said she wasn’t going to say anything!”
