Page 54 of Almost

I sigh, shaking my head. “Does it matter? Sebastian hasn’t even been single for twenty-four hours, and you think he loves me?” It scares me that I still love him. What if I’m only holding onto the memories of the man I used to know? He apologized when he got here, but that doesn’t erase the things that were said the day of Mimi’s funeral.

“I do think Bash loves you. I don’t think he ever stopped. I saw how hard it was for him to try to move on because he thought he lost you.”

Sebastian has a funny way of showing it sometimes. “He told me I was the worst thing that almost ever happened to him, Owen. This was at Mimi’s funeral too after Sebastian said that the biggest mistake of his life was asking me to marry him. You don’t say that to someone you love. What if there’s too much history for us to overcome?”

My brother leans forward in the seat, his face showing exactly how surprised he is. “When did that happen? I was there, and you two stayed on different sides of the service.”

“After the service. I wanted to tell him…I wanted to tell him I was sorry, but I saw the ring on Kiera’s finger. I didn’t want to fight, but he was awful. I know he lost Mimi, and I was okay with being his punching bag that day, but what he said was cruel.” I look down at my lap, shaking my head. That was a horrible day, and I wish I could forget it, but I can’t.

Owen is rendered silent, scratching his jaw. It’s a few minutes before he speaks again. “I’m sorry, Thalia. I really am for not noticing all this stuff was going on.”

“I didn’t want you to. I’ve never forgotten how after we broke up, you offered to cut him out of your life. I want youto know how much that meant to me, knowing that you would pick me over him. Despite everything, I never wanted to put either of you in the position where you wouldn’t have the other.” I don’t want Owen to feel guilty, but it’s the truth. They’re best friends, and Bash doesn’t have a lot of people in his life that he can rely on. “You have your own life. Trust me, I wouldn’t pay attention to any of my shit if I weren’t directly involved in it.”

“You’re a really good person, Thalia,” Owen says, smiling faintly at me.

I roll my eyes, trying to play off the compliment, but it means a lot to hear him say it. “Thanks, I try.”

“He doesn’t deserve you,” he admits, staring at Sebastian. Owen clears his throat. “But I know that he knows it, and I’ve never seen either of you happier than when you were with each other.”

I blink back the tears threatening to spill, because my stupid brother is right. “Sebastian was going to marry someone else, Owen. Someone he loved, and that person cheated on him. He’s going to need time to process everything. That’s why it doesn’t matter if I love him or if he loves me. Bash is in no position to be with anyone for a while, and we both know it.”

This isn’t how I thought tonight was going to go.

I had no idea that Sebastian was just going to show up here and kiss me. I didn’t mean to kiss him back, except maybe I did? It’s too late, and I’m running on too little sleep to make sense of all this. My adrenaline rush from Sebastian showing up is starting to wane.

Owen shrugs as Zeus decides now is the time for pets as he nudges Owen’s hand. “I’m not going to disagree withyou because you make some valid points, but I don’t think he was going to marry Kiera.”

“Why do you think that?”

“Mom called me last week to talk. She mentioned that Bash was having doubts when he drove to see them a few weeks ago. Mom said he didn’t seem happy like someone who was getting married should be.”

I tuck a piece of my hair out of my face, trying to adjust, but Sebastian is starting to get heavy. My leg is threatening to fall asleep. “I don’t know. It’s too late to think about this anymore tonight. Will you just please take Bash to your house? I don’t think it’s a good idea if he stays here tonight.”

I’m afraid that if he wakes up, we’ll end up having a conversation that we’re not ready to have yet. He needs to take a few days to try to at least get his thoughts in order. There’s plenty of time to have the conversations we need to have.

Owen stands up, stretching. “I agree. You might need to help me a little bit, though.”

“If he starts to fall, he’s going to take me down with him. At least you have a chance,” I retort, sliding my hands under his head to lift it from my lap. Owen nudges him a few times, before finally pinching him hard enough that I protest. “I said wake him up, don’t hurt him.”

“Then you try,” Owen says annoyed, taking a step back.

I ignore the fact that my brother is right behind me as I kneel on the floor next to him, I brush away the hair that had fallen into his face. “Bash, you have to get up. C’mon.” I shake his shoulder lightly, and he lets out a short puff of air, but no sign of movement.

Well I tried it the nice way, might as well try it Owen’s way. I flick him hard, right in the center of his forehead. He doesn’t budge. Are you kidding me?

I flick Sebastian one more time and nothing happens. “Do you have any other ideas that won’t ruin my couch or piss him off?” I ask, and Owen tilts his head to analyze the situation.

“We could pour water on him.”

“I said I don’t want to ruin my couch!”

Owen scoffs, crossing his arms. “If it’s just water, it will dry!” I shoot him an unamused look, and he rolls his eyes. “Okay, fine. What if we just roll him off the couch? Maybe he’ll wake up when he hits the floor.”

I let out a resigned sigh because I’m sure there are a million different ways I could do this, but none of them are coming to mind. “Can you do it without hurting him?” I ask, already regretting considering this idea.

“The point is to hurt him. You don’t really think he’s going to get away with saying that shit to you without a couple of bruises in return?” Owen asks, and I laugh quietly.

“Owen.”