Barbie Btch (Rejects Paradise #3) - Sheridan Anne Page 0,67
put up with along the way like Colton’s bitchy mom and sisters and the dickheads at the Academy throwing acid over me. So, you tell me how I am.”
“Okaaaay,” he says slowly, hitting the gas and pulling away from the curb. “So, things haven’t been going so great? I mean, you’ve got that whole falling for Colton thing, right? That’s a positive. It’s not all bad.”
I level a heavy glare on him and he instantly swallows whatever bullshit that was about to come flying out of his mouth. “Can we just skip over all the stupid bullshit and say what needs to be said?”
Sebastian lets out a heavy breath and as he glances across at me, I see fear in his eyes and realize that he’s been working up to this moment, too afraid that I’ll push him away and risk fucking it all up even more. “Okay,” he finally says. “We fucked up. Each and every one of us, we fucked it all up, like royally fucked up. Every step along the way, we had an opportunity to come clean to you and we hid it in our selfish need to protect you when we should have known that not only were you strong enough to handle it, you would have been able to protect yourself better.”
“I don’t want to hear the same bullshit that you guys keep spouting. I don’t want to hear about you as a group. Stop apologizing for them. If they want to make things right, they can come and make the effort themselves. I want to hear about your part in all of this.”
He nods and presses his lips into a tight line as he pulls up at a red light. “I’m sorry, Ocean. You’re my best friend, my little fucking sister and I let you down. It was a matter of either coming clean or going against the boys. We all sat down and agreed that we wouldn’t say anything and then it got to the point where it had gone too far to come clean. You’ve got to know that we never intended on hurting you. That’s the last thing I ever wanted.”
“And what about the cameras. You had a million opportunities to tell me about that.”
His eyes drop and he studies his steering wheel way too closely. “I kept telling myself that it was to protect you, a way that we could watch out for you. I wasn’t on board at first and then that fucker put his hands on you and I climbed on board pretty fucking fast after that.”
“So, not one of you gave a shit about violating my privacy?”
“Of course we did, O. It felt so fucking wrong and when I realized that the threat from the Jude kid was gone, I wanted it out. I was planning on coming down here and stripping the place myself and then things got serious between you and Colton and that’s when everything took a turn. I didn’t realize what Nic had done at first but when I figured it out … fuck, babe. I’m so fucking sorry.”
I glance over at him, watching as he navigates through the streets with his heart on his sleeve. Tears begin welling in my eyes and I instantly hate myself for it. “You were a brother to me, Sebastian. You and Nic. We’ve always been the closet and all I see is a list of betrayals that just keeps getting longer and longer. Do you have any idea how bad that hurts?”
“I know.”
“Imagine if I did that to you.”
I watch as the guy that I’ve always seen as larger than life gets smaller and smaller, completely deflated until he finally pulls over on the side of the road. I stare at him, wondering what the hell he’s doing when his hand flies across the car and he unclips my seatbelt. I'm pulled up onto his lap before I even know what’s going on and then his arms curl tightly around me and my head is crushed into his strong chest. “I’m so fucking sorry, Ocean. If I knew it would end with you hating me like this, I never would have done it. I would have gone against Nic and done what was right. If I could take it all back … fuck. I love you so goddamn much. Please don’t end this. I need you in my life.”
Fuck, that’s some big words he’s saying there. Big words with big fucking consequences. Saying that he’d