Tristan
Pulling up at the office, I notice Arianna’s car is already here. I grab my things from the seat and head inside to find her sitting at my desk with a box of my favorite donuts and coffee. She pats my chair for me to sit, and I quickly wipe away the tears that break free and run down my face. I walk over and take a seat in my chair as Ari wraps me up in a hug.
“It’s going to be okay, I promise,” she says soothingly. I cry on her shoulder until I can’t cry anymore. Sitting up, I wipe my face and try to pull myself together.
“So, do you have any idea what you want or are going to do?”
“Well, as much as it hurts, I’m obviously going to let Laz go, and I’ll have to find a new apartment.”
Arianna side-eyes me. “I already told you, you can stay in Landon’s old place as long as you need to.”
“I know, but I don’t want to take advantage. You already do so much for me.”
“I insist. But if you don’t want to just stay there, then you can rent it!”
“Okay. I can do that.”
“Great. Now that we got that settled, tell me more about this Sebastian.”
“I would really rather not talk about him right now.”
“Okay,” she says. Though, I know this isn’t the end of it. She’s picked up her best friend Ashlan’s habits of being able to pull whatever information she wants from you.
Arianna excuses herself and heads to her office, leaving me to my work. Which is good because right now I need the distraction. I busy myself putting together hard copies of the files for our new clients and make sure all the necessary paperwork is filled out for each one. My phone rings and a ridiculous your brother is calling ringtone plays.
“Hi, Evan.”
“Hi, Tris. I was just calling to make sure you’re okay and see how things went last night.”
I’m hesitant to tell him what happened, but I can’t lie to him. “Well, I begged and pleaded with Lazaro to forgive me. I wanted to work through things. But in a strange turn of events, he kicked me out and before I could even get my stuff packed in my car and leave, he invited his co-worker that he’s been cheating on me with to come stay the night.” There’s silence on the line. “Evan? Are you still there?”
“I’m going to kill him,” he growls.
“Evan! No! Just let it go.”
“Why didn’t you call me? Where did you stay?”
“I didn’t want to bother you with my problems. My boss let me move into her husband's old apartment that they rent out. It’s going to be my new place.”
“Tris, you’re never a problem. You could have called me, and I would have come right back to help you.”
“Yea, and by the time you would have been back to the bar, Jaxson would have asked what was going on, and you both would have showed up and probably killed Laz.”
He sighs. “You’re right. Jax might still kill him. Like he almost did that Sebastian dude last night.”
My mind races. I never wanted Sebastian caught in the crossfire, but I’ve done that because of a single kiss. “What happened?” I ask, not really wanting to know the answer. I know what my brother’s temper can be like when it gets the best of him.
“Aimee told me later on, that Jaxson got in his face and she thought there was going to be a fight. Jax told that dude to stay away from you. Lucky for the guy his friend, Ben, stepped in to help and suggested they leave.”
I sigh in relief. Thank god Jaxson didn’t kill him.
Evan goes quiet again and I know what’s coming next. “Do you like him?
“Like who? That Sebastian guy?”
“Don’t play dumb, Tristan. It isn’t a good look on you.”
“Honestly, I don’t know how I feel about anything right now. I’m just… numb,” I admit. “But can I call you later? I’m at work and have a ton of stuff to get done.”
“Sure. Love you!”
“Love you too.”
Chapter Fourteen
Sebastian
M
y phone rings, waking me from a drunken sleep. Along the drive home last night, I stopped at a liquor store and grabbed some more beers. Not only did I not end up bringing the barmaid back with me, but I failed with Tristan too. So, drinking my problems away seemed like a good idea at the time. Fumbling around on the nightstand I finally find my phone and answer, “This better be important.”
“Well, good fucking morning to you too, Bastian.” My sister’s voice sings down the other line.
“Ena.” I groan. “What’s up? Is everything okay?”
“Yea, everything’s fine. I was just calling to see how mom is doing?”
“She’s good. Doctor says she’s healing well. They wanted to send her to a rehabilitation center, but you know I wasn’t having that shit. So, I’m going to hire a temporary nurse to come in and help Helen with her until she’s fully healed.”
I hear Selena breathe a sigh of relief. “Are you alright?” I ask. “You know I can tell when you’re lying to me, right?”
“I’m nervous, Bastian. The race is fast approaching, and I need you here for support.”
“You’re going to do great, Ena. Just breathe,” I reassure her. “But I have to let you go because I have to get a shower and get dressed to go see mom and clean up a mess I made.”
“A mess, huh?”
“I don’t want to talk about it right now.”
“Fine… I’ll talk to you later. Love you, Bastian.”
“Love you too, Ena.”
I shower and dress. Helen called while I was in the shower and left a message telling me they were doing all the paperwork to discharge my mother. Best I hurry up and get to the hospital.
Pulling up out front, they’re already downstairs waiting for me. I put the car in park and climb out to help load my mother’s stuff into the car.
“Took you long enough,” my mother says, as I round the car to the passenger’s side.
“I’m sorry, mama. Hospitals never discharge people that fast; I was sure I had at least an hour.”
“They were probably so quick because they were ready to get rid of you and your sassy pants,” Helen cuts in.
I chuckle when my mother gives her the evil eye. “Come on mama, let’s get you home.”
“I got this,” she says when I go to help her out of the wheelchair. “Take these.” She hands me a vase of flowers with a card on them.
“Who sent these?” I ask.
Helen looks at me confused. “We thought you did. The card is signed, your secret admirer. We thought you sent them and were just being silly.”
“No, wasn’t me.” I say “Mama, maybe you really do have a secret admirer.”
I carefully set the flowers on the backseat where they won’t fall over and slide into the driver’s seat. Clicking my belt on, I turn to my mother and say, “You ready?”
“Yes. Take me home.”