Page 90 of Until The Lights Go Out

By the end of the final engineering meeting, I was practically vibrating in my seat. The second we were dismissed, I was out the door before half the room had even stood up. Sebastian caught up with me outside the paddock, laughing under his breath as we slid into the backseat of the car taking us to the hotel.

“I can’t believe I owe Mom money,” he sighed dramatically, leaning back against the leather seat.

I frowned over at him. “Why the hell do you owe Mom money?” If this idiot was about to ask me for cash despite his absurd management salary, I was going to throw him into traffic.

Sebastian looked entirely too amused with himself. “She bet me you and Maisey would end up together.”

I blinked. “What?”

“She’s been saying it for years, actually.” He shrugged casually, like he wasn’t detonating a bomb in the middle of the car. “Apparently your pining was ‘painfully obvious.’”

I stared at him in horror. “Excuse me?”

“Yeah,” he continued, grinning now, “so guess I’m out some money.”

I stared, slack-jawed, genuinely offended at him for betting on my life, and betting against me, at that. “Fuck you, brother.”

Sebastian barked out a laugh. “In my defense, you spent ten years acting emotionally repressed and allergic to happiness.”

“Goddamn, just going to attack me today then, Seb?”

He pointed at me. “My favorite pastime.”

I dragged a hand over my face, staring out the window at the blur of city lights passing us by. Then, despite myself, I smiled. I couldn’t help it. Every time I thought about Maisey, it happened automatically, like my body had betrayed me entirely.

Sebastian caught it immediately.

“This is so entertaining,” he said softly.

“I hate you.”

“You kissed her one time and suddenly you’re smiling out the window, ya big sap.”

“I said I hate you.”

“You look like one of those pathetic men in dramatic period era films. I love it.”

I turned slowly. “Sebastian.”

He held his hands up, still laughing. “Pathetic in a good way!”

The hotel room felt too quiet without her in it. That realization hit me approximately three seconds after I walked inside. I tossed my room key onto the counter and immediately paced back toward the door again like an idiot. Like maybe if I opened it she’d somehow still be standing there flushed and breathless and looking at me like she had during the kiss.

My phone buzzed in my pocket.

Unknown Number:

Sebastian says you’ve been smiling at the walls. Should we alert medical staff?

I stared at the message, then barked out an actual laugh alone in my hotel room. Maisey Andrews finally had my number.

Theo:

How the hell did you get this number?

The typing bubbles appeared almost instantly.

Unknown Number: