Page 83 of The Fantasy League
Hate, hate, hated that look.
“How you holding up?”
“Been better. Also been a hell of a lot worse, so…” I gave him a weak smile before drawing my gaze out the window. I knew that if I looked over at him again, the tears pricking the back of my eyes would break free.
I hated this.
I shouldn’t have been almost crying about a guy I never really dated, let alone almost crying over him on a date withsomeone else. How freaking embarrassing.
Part of me knew that I was going to have to get over him sooner rather than later, but my heart still ached so badly I felt the need to clutch my chest to ease the ache sometimes. The only thing I could do was hope that one day I woke up to the ache easing the slightest bit. And the next day after that, the hope that it would ease even more.
The thing that I feared most though was the day that I saw him again for the first time. We were still neighbors, so as much as I would do my best to avoid him, it was never a guarantee.
I could almost picture it.
One morning we’d both be walking out to our cars and neither of us would stop to say a word to each other. And there wouldn’t be any courtesy waves because his new girlfriend would be standing in the driveway bidding him adieu while wearing one of his T-shirts.
I’d stare at them dumbfounded while my heart tore in two and he wouldn’t even spare me a glance.
I allowed one small tear to slip from my eye before pulling myself together. Deciding to steer my thoughts away from Abel, I decided to make some silly chatter with October. Like always, we cackled while reminiscing about the weird antics and hobbies we had as kids.
That’s when I confirmed what I already knew deep down. October and I were good together, but only as friends. Hell, he was more like a brother than a friend after all these years. And I was about to go on adatewith him… revolting.
Just when I was about to admit to October that I wanted us to be just friends, my phone lit up with Lea’s rust-colored hair from her contact picture on the screen. Ehh, I guessed October could wait a few minutes before I let him down. With that, I happily answered her call.
“Hi, Lea.”
“Hi, Scar. You sitting down, babe?”
“Uhh, yes…” I trailed off nervously. The last time Lea told me to sit down, she was the messenger who broke my heart. I twirled my little green ring, waiting for her to respond.
“So, I should probably start by telling you that I’m sorry for lying to you.”
Dizziness washed over me at her words. “You lied to me? About what?”
“Well, when I told you that I only briefly spoke with Abel the other day, I sort of withheld the truth. He and I had talked… a lot.”
“Okay…”
I felt like I was going to faint. Why was she talking with Abel? She was supposed to bemyfriend, not his. Work loyalties be damned.
“There’s another article coming out about him in about twenty minutes, but Abel wanted you to read the exclusive first before it gets published.” She paused. “And he wanted me to tell you that every word of this one is true. He made sure of it.”
“Lea, you’re being really weird right now. I don’t under—”
“Just promise me you’ll read it, Scar.” I opened my mouth to speak, but words never came out. “I’ll take your silence as a yes. Love you, bye.” The line went dead, and not even a second later, a text notification came through with a link to a new article that had Abel and Aera on the cover.
Reluctantly, I clicked the message open and waited for what felt like three lifetimes for the article to load. My eyes widened, and I gasped, reading the headline on the screen in front of me.
Breaking News: Abel Abbott and Aera Chase - SIBLINGS! The pair has announced that they found out last year through an ancestry test that they are half-sibs. Chase has announced her engagement to long-term boyfriend and tech mogul, Tye Jerod, via Socialgram and Abbot has given a Page Six exclusive statement confirming he is still with girlfriend Scarlett Sawyer and that he’s “madly in love with her.”
My pulse raced and my stomach turned into knots made of stone.
They were siblings? Thiswhole timethey were siblings? Why did he let me believe that they were together? More importantly, why did he let the world believe they were together?
I popped my head up from the trance I was in, realizing I recognized the street we were turning down. “Um, what restaurant are we going to again?”
“Mafiosa’s. Somebody on the team said it’s the best Italian place in town, can’t remember who said it though.”
