Page 81 of The Sebastian Guarantee
“Want me to hit him or throw him into a deeper part of the lake?” Sebastian seethed.
“Go ahead,” Jeremy sputtered, waving off Sebastian as he dragged himself out of the lake. “But don’t try and play the hero, Cress. You’re no better than me, and after our little discussion last night, you know it.”
She pegged Sebastian with her gaze. “What’s he saying? What did you two talk about? Is there something I need to know?”
Jeremy removed his glasses and shook off the excess water. “Your best buddy here, Mr. Six-Pack Internet Playboy, is into you because you aren’t traipsing around in those stupid overalls and that dumb beret anymore. It was written all over his face last night. He’s not your best friend, Phoebe. The guy wants you for himself,” Jeremy griped, then marched up to Sebastian. “Do you deny it?”
Barely able to breathe, she turned to her friend—her best friend. What had he said to Jeremy behind her back? Sebastian couldn’t be so shallow he’d only want her because she had an upgraded wardrobe and donned sexy lingerie. But as the thought crossed her mind, she pictured his socials over the last six months—hisshallow, playboy-lifestyle posts where beauty and status reigned supreme. He’d said he wanted to change and put that behind him, but was that a lie?
She didn’t know what to believe.
Feeling like an exposed nerve, the mountain air assaulted her soaked body. It whipped through her hair and sent a shiver down her spine. “Sebastian?” she breathed, her teeth chattering.
“Answer the question, Cress. Yes or no? Do you want Phoebe?” Jeremy spat.
Agony flashed in Sebastian’s eyes as rain trailed down his cheeks. “Yes, I want her.”
Chapter17
PHOEBE
Crunch, crunch, crunch!
“Phoebe, the weather’s only getting worse. We have to go back to the lodge. It’s not safe out here.”
A blistering crack of lightning followed by thunder roared above her head. It illuminated the billowy clouds and mountainous terrain. The wind hissed through the aspen leaves as towering evergreens loomed, shadowy and imposing. Another roll of thunder grumbled, and the pelting beads of rain turned to sheets of icy moisture. But Phoebe didn’t flinch. It didn’t slow her down. Soaked inside and out, she kept her gaze on her feet.
“Phoebe, say something!” Sebastian pleaded.
She could hear him calling. He’d been hot on her trail since she’d dropped her dinner tray, abandoned the box of cookies, and taken off running for the path carved into the side of the mountain.
“Phoebe, stop!”
She narrowed her gaze. There was no way she’d comply with that command. Even if she wanted to, she couldn’t stop. Every beat of her heart pushed her—no, forced her—to keep going.
Crunch, crunch, crunch!
Sticking to the patches of gravel, she hopped over thick grooves in the trail. Cut by the rain, the watery channels snaked downhill like tentacles crisscrossing through the stones and mounds of mud.
“Phoebe, talk to me, please!” Sebastian called, now a few paces behind.
The man could catch up to her if he wanted to. She could barely run a mile. Sebastian Cress practiced Pun-chi yoga. He was as fit as a fiddle and strong as an ox, but at this very moment, he had the good sense to give her space as she wound her way deeper into the forest.
Did she have a destination?
No.
Between Jeremy’s salty confession and Sebastian’s sobering admission, she only had one choice. And that choice was to run. Or, in her case, speed walk, or speed hike, or speed trudge—which probably wasn’t even a thing. But it didn’t matter what she called her escape. She had to get out of there. If Sebastian wanted to follow her like a lost puppy, that was his choice.
Another rumble of thunder vibrated through the saturated evergreen landscape, and she exhaled a pained breath. With each step, her heart endured another fracture, another crack, as a heartbreaking realization set in. She’d loved Sebastian Cress since she was a girl. She’d loved him when he was a scrawny kid. She’d loved him when he was an awkward preteen. She’d loved him regardless of what he looked like or what he’d achieved. She also knew that her love for him had changed.
She’d felt the shift the minute their lips touched. She’d tried to deny it, tried to hide behind excuses like saying nothing counted because they’d agreed to co-exist in a wishy-washy, sex-fueled creative mode or deem their intimate encounters as quasi-academic man-eater training exercises. But that was bullshit, complete bullshit, a veneer unable to hide the glaring truth. Barely a handful of days ago, she’d opened her heart to him, not as a friend, but as a lover.
It wasn’t like she hadn’t fallen for men in the past. She’d just never expected Sebastian to be so reckless with her heart. Whatever had transpired between her ex and her oldest friend had opened Pandora’s box. Where did they go from here? How was she supposed to see him as a friend now that she couldn’t hide from the truth—the truth that she loved him and he only wanted satin-and-lace Phoebe 2.0?
“Phoebe, stop! There’s an animal ahead.”
That exclamation warranted a reaction.
