I turn, stepping toward the door. “I’ll get out of your way,” I say, already reaching for my tote.
“Olivia.”
I pause to turn around. Sebastian straightens, standing fully now. His hand rakes through his hair, and he shifts slightly on his feet before walking over to me. “I’m sorry,” he says finally. “For the way I reacted. And… thank you. For getting him through it.”
I don’t mean to freeze, but I do. Just for a second.
“It’s what I’m here for, right?” I try to smile, to keep my voice light, because if I don’t, I might cry from the leftover adrenaline. “I’ll call next time.”
“It’s okay. I—” His eyes close briefly. “I trust you.”
His words shouldn’t mean as much as they do, but… they just do. “Thank you.” I should leave. I know I should. But something keeps me rooted. “You know,” I add, “I see you every day, but I don’t think I’ve ever actually asked… how you’ve been. I mean, surely we can manage something resembling friendship, right? So, how was your week?”
His eyes meet mine, slow, deliberate. They catch onto something. My face? My hair? I’m not sure. But under his stare, my skin starts to buzz, and it’s not entirely unpleasant.
“Long,” he says. “Yours?”
I shrug my tote higher on my shoulder, swallowing around the tangle in my throat. “Fine. Nothing exciting.”
Great chat, Liv.There’s the barest twitch at the corner of his mouth, a ghost of a smirk that I pretend not to see. I nod, forcing myself to move, to leave before I say anything else that might tip the balance. “Goodnight,” I say softly, and walk outside. I don’t say goodbye to Teddy. It kills me a little, but I won’t risk stirringhim up again. I slip out into the dusk, heart still pounding from everything and nothing all at once, and make it to my car before my hands start to tremble for real. The call comes just as I’m reversing.
I jab the answer button. “Is everything okay?”
The low rumble of Sebastian’s voice filters in. “Uh, Teddy wanted to tell you something.”
My fingers tighten on the wheel. “Oh. Um. Okay.”
There’s shuffling on the other end before, “You didn’t say goodbye.” Teddy’s voice is soft as he speaks. The words land like a pebble in a pond, rippling everywhere at once.He noticed.I swallow hard and smile into the phone, like he can see it.
“I know, champ. I didn’t want to upset you. I’ll say goodbye tomorrow, promise.”
Silence stretches. Then, a tentative, “Pinky promise?”
A laugh slips out. “Pinky promise.”
“You can’t pinky promise if she’s not here, bud.” Sebastian’s voice is gentle, but firm.
I scramble, my heart suddenly in my throat. “We’ll do it tomorrow morning. Properly. Pinkies and all.”
The line shifts, and I can sense Sebastian hesitating. “Drive safe.”
“Always,” I murmur, before the line ends. I sit there a second longer, forehead pressed to the steering wheel, the quiet of the evening pressing in on me.
12
Sebastian
Teddy fell asleep fast after the call. I didn’t.
I sat on the edge of the couch with the TV on mute, replaying the night like a reel I couldn’t shut off; his blocks, her small apology. The steadiness in her voice when it mattered most.
And then there’s the part I won’t admit out loud: Olivia walking into my house the other night in that short black skirt, bare legs, hair loose, dressed to go impress some fucking boy.
It shouldn’t have landed. It did. But that’s not the whole truth. The truth is, I hated the idea of her putting in that kind of effort for someone who wasn’t worth it. Not proud of that thought. But it’s where my head went. I don’t get to think about her like that. Not when my name is on the mortgage, not with a five-year-old asleep down the hall, and not with a job that chews through every spare piece of me. She’s Bradley’s sister. The rules are there for a reason.
Still, Teddy talks about her more. Not a lot, but enough that it counts.
“Liv put the blue block there.”
