Page 11 of How To Resist Mr. Wrong (Mr. Wrong Chronicles #1)

Present

Seb was thankfully gone by the time Emily collected herself enough to face humans again.

She went downstairs and finished her mingling duties because it wasn't her parents' fault that her life was a complete mess. But her father did thrust Seb back into her life, so he wasn’t completely faultless.

Still, she was willing to let that go for all the nice things they'd done for her.

When she finally got back home, she was bone-deep tired. She wasn't looking forward to the morning. Maybe she could call in sick?

She slowly dragged her feet to change and go to bed. Her brain was jumbled up with thoughts she couldn't even begin to untangle. So she did the only thing that helped in situations like this. She called Ray.

As expected, Ray picked up almost immediately. “You weren't sleeping, right?” Emily asked as soon as she heard her voice.

“Nah, I was waiting for you to call, actually,” Ray said, sounding very awake.

“Oh?” Emily asked.

“Listen, you are coming to dinner tomorrow,” Ray informed her.

“I mean, I have work to catch up on. You know I had to leave early today for my folks' anniversary that you conveniently missed,” Emily accused.

“Yeah, being too pregnant to walk is always convenient,” Ray said. “You know what else it's good for?”

“What?” Emily asked, suspiciously.

“Emotional blackmail,” Ray said.

Emily laughed.

“Yes, so be here at seven sharp,” Ray said and hung up the call.

“Well, that was as rude an invitation as can be,” Emily whispered in the dark room, looking at the bright light of her phone screen.

She wasn't hoping sleep would grace her with its presence today, so she played around on her phone for a while. She didn't know how her fingers found their way to the picture gallery and scrolled down to Ray's graduation.

They all looked so happy.

She swiped through the pictures until she found one in which Ray, Seb, and young, naive Emily were laughing. Ray was the only one looking in the camera, and Seb and Emily were looking at each other over her shoulder.

Emily remembered that time being particularly difficult for her. She could hardly look Seb in the eyes. She was so into him back then. At least that girl would be proud that Emily finally slept with him.

***

Emily did end up calling in sick the next morning, but she asked Marissa to schedule enough calls and send over enough work to keep her occupied for the day.

She didn't give herself any time to think about yesterday or about Seb. What was there to think anyway? She was a sucker enough that she'd want Seb even if he left her alone for years, didn't bother to explain the absence, and then proceeded to take over her life and mind like nothing had happened.

So, she was done thinking.

She hated herself right now, so she worked. And then she drove to Ray's to vent her sorrows to her best friend, who was no comfort last night.

Ray hugged her the best she could with the heavy belly and took her directly to the dining room. “Do you trust me?” she asked once Emily and Jess finished their small talk and Jess made her a cup of tea. Ray’s face was all serious.

“That’s my cue,” Jess said, rushing out of the room but not before shooting an angry look at Ray.

“Em?” Ray asked, ignoring Jess.

“Of course,” Emily said, without even thinking.

“So trust me when I say you need to get your head out of your ass,” Ray declared.

Emily's mouth hung open. She kept her tea down. This was clearly not a cozy conversation.

“That's rude, Ray. Emily Junior can hear you,” Emily said.

“We’re not naming her that,” Ray stressed. “And it could be an early lesson for her on dealing with stubborn best friends.”

“Okay, what did I do?” Emily asked, feeling very attacked right then. “You obviously talked to Seb, but you can't become Team Seb just because I made one tiny error of judgment,” Emily pleaded her case.

“Well, yeah, I've been talking to him, and it has been a snoozefest of how ‘Em ignored me today,’ or ‘She looked at me,’ or ‘She smiled at me before getting angry again.’ I'm bored. You need to make up,” Ray complained.

“How can you even say that?” Emily asked. “He left me, Ray. He didn't call or text or respond to me for two years,” Emily said.

“I know,” Ray said, sighing. “But then you did the same to him for the next two years, so you're even.”

“You know it's not that simple,” Emily said, almost rolling her eyes.

“I know,” Ray said. She took a deep breath. “Okay, I'm going to tell you something that is definitely not my story to tell, but I'm really done with you guys, so I'll tell you anyway.”

“No, wait, I don't want some half-ass excuse for everything he did,” Emily said, stopping her.

“Don't you?” Ray looked at her.

Did she? It would make her hate herself less. And who was she kidding? She was curious. She'd been curious for two years, since Seb resurfaced. Maybe hearing it would cement her hatred of him, and she'd finally be over him?

“Okay, go ahead,” Emily said, nodding slowly.

“Seb's father was released on parole four years ago,” Ray said.

“Wasn't his dad dead?”

“No, just in jail,” Ray said.

“Well, there you go, then. Another deception. I feel like our entire relationship was just a series of them. It's good that it ended, whatever it was,” Emily said.

“Sure, you can think of it that way if it won't make everyone more miserable, or you can listen to the entire thing before making your decision," Ray chastised.

“Urgh, I hate it when you are reasonable,” Emily grumbled.

“Yeah, yeah. So he was an abusive asshole who was finally put behind bars with Miss Raux and Seb's testimony,” Ray said.

“Oh god,” Emily gasped.

“Yeah, so when they heard he was getting out with all the grudge he held for them, Seb had to leave the state with his mother,” Ray finished.

“But he could have told us and let us help, or at least texted me, ‘Abusive dad on the loose. Need to flee,’” Emily said.

“I agree, but Em, he was scared. He probably thought he was doing the right thing by keeping us out,” Ray said sympathetically.

“That's bullshit, Ray, you know that,” Emily said.

Their conversation was interrupted by the noise of a car entering Ray's driveway. “Are we expecting more people?” Emily asked.

Ray’s face turned guilty.

“Dude, you didn't,” Emily warned.

But of course she did. A minute later, she heard Seb’s voice talking merrily to Jess.

“We need to sort this out today, Em. I don't want this little kid's aunt and uncle to be fighting,” Ray said, moving her hand up and down her belly for added effect.

“You were right. It is great for emotional blackmail,” Emily nodded.

“Right?” Ray said.

When footsteps entered the dining space, Ray stood up and looked over Emily's head. Emily didn't stand up or look back as Ray hugged Seb, and he joined them at the table.

“Em,” he nodded once in greeting.

“Seb,” she repeated the gesture.

“So,” Ray clapped her hands. “Why don't you tell Em why you didn't tell her you were leaving to take care of your dad?” Ray got right to the point.

“Oh, wow. Okay.” Seb said, looking suddenly overwhelmed.

Emily looked at him. She was ready for an explanation. “Or any time after that,” Emily added.

“I tried! I texted, called. I even showed up at your apartment,” Seb argued.

“You did?” Ray asked.

“Oh, yeah. This woman right here had me escorted out,” Seb said.

“I always wanted to do that to someone,” Ray contemplated out loud.

“Right? It was as fun as it looks in the movies,” Emily informed her gleefully.

Seb rolled his eyes. “I didn't miss the evil twin routine at all, honestly.” He turned his whole body towards Emily. “You didn't give me any chance to talk to you after I was back,” he said.

“Well, that wouldn't have stopped the truly determined,” Ray said.

Seb pointed a finger at Ray. “So I joined your dad's company. Besides, I was trying to be respectful because I did screw up badly,” Seb admitted.

“You took the job to force me to talk to you?” Emily asked, outraged.

“That's unnecessarily extreme language,” Seb hesitated. “I was hoping you'd remember you love me and give me a chance to explain.”

“I so don't,” Emily said, setting the record straight.

“Sure, Em,” Ray said, rolling her eyes.

“I didn't tell you I was leaving because my dad was a dangerous person, and the only way to finally end it all was to deal with him,” Seb said.

“Oh god, what did you do?” Emily asked, really worried now.

“I didn't kill him if you're worried about that. Not that I didn't think about it,” he said.

Emily was truly relieved, even though she was sure Seb wasn’t capable of murder. “So what did you do?”

“Collected evidence, created traps, and made sure he'd get caught red-handed. This time when he went in, it was for good,” Seb said, looking very distant.

“I'm glad.” Emily sighed. “I really am…”

“But?” Seb said, bracing for rejection.

“But it doesn't change anything, does it? I know you had your priorities, and I would never want you to question them. But I was never a part of your life. Not really,” Emily said calmly. She was thankful her feelings didn’t trickle out in her tone.

Seb was shaking his head, but she continued before he could interject. “You were always hiding something. Then you went no-contact for years. You can't expect everything to be normal again. Especially since our normal wasn't even good to begin with,” Emily said.

“It wasn’t?” Seb asked.

Emily started to get up. She’d said her piece, and she knew the reason for Seb's absence now. They truly didn’t have anything left to say anymore.

“No, wait,” Seb caught her arm. “I know. I get it. I promise. I know what I did was horrible, Em. You must have been so confused. But I was so scared. For my mom. For you. For the life I desperately wanted to come back to,” he pleaded.

“I'm sorry you went through that. But you didn't have to do it all alone. I wish you'd realize that,” Emily said, gently taking her hand back.

“But I did. He was a dangerous man. I would never bring anything that rotten into your lives. And believe me, it would have followed me,” Seb said.

Emily disagreed.

“Okay, if you don't want to believe that, just know I had to deal with that part of my life before I could start a new one worth living,” he said.

Emily could see that Seb believed that. But she couldn't. All she could feel was her heart breaking into a million pieces because she knew this time, it was final.

So she walked out before she lost herself completely and freaked everyone out with her bawling. She heard Jess calling out for her when she crossed the living room, but she couldn't even manage to be polite. Her eyes were already watering.

She somehow managed to hold back tears during her drive back because driving misty-eyed was a bitch. It looked cute and dramatic in movies, but it was clearly dangerous.

Should they ticket people who drive while crying?

Emily let the tears flow freely once she was back home with no one to listen to her except her walls and furniture, who’d seen her being way worse and weirder.

A knock after almost 30 minutes brought her back to reality.

She opened the door without checking. Her face would have scared away the most dangerous criminals.

But not this man.

“You told me I should have come to your house when we stopped talking back in college, so here I am,” Seb said, determined.

“What?” Emily asked. It came out all croaky because of all the crying.

“I don't know,” he said, coming inside and closing the door behind him. “I was trying to be cute,” he added when Emily gave him a questioning look.

“But why are you here, Seb?” She was too tired to try to control the situation.

“Because you called me ‘Seb’. And because you were always a part of my life. One of the most important ones. Because our normal was way better than just normal. And we were everything, despite all the secrets, half of which weren't even mine,” he declared, leaning back against the door.

Emily looked up and groaned. “You can't make claims like that without any proof.”

“Proof? Okay, I have tons of proof. First, in high school, I didn't have to hang out with you guys all the time to prove my relationship with Ray. I could have occasionally hung out with her and played it up in public. Why do you think I was always around?”

“Because Ray and I were fun to hang out with,” Emily said, haughtily.

“Yes, you were, but also I was so in love with you it was stupid,” he admitted.

“What?” Emily asked.

“Come on, you're not that dense. Second, I never had a serious girlfriend.”

“Until Pia,” Emily pointed out.

“God, I hate what I did to her. I was so jealous that you and Jason were in love and everything. She was my attempt at moving on,” Seb confessed.

Emily's jaw dropped.

“Third, I never dated anyone during the tiny periods you were single,” he said and gently closed Emily's mouth. “I know I messed up, but can we start over?” he pleaded.

When he put it like that, Emily didn’t remember why they weren’t together already. Oh right! “Can you promise there’ll be no more secrets? Ever?” She can’t possibly go through all of that again. “Yours or anyone else's,” she added.

Seb's eyes went wide as if he wasn't expecting her to take him seriously. “I promise,” he said quickly.

“Well then, sure,” Emily nodded once. “Hi, I'm Emily. You can call me Em,” she said, offering her hand.

“Sebastian,” Seb said, taking her hand and pulling her in. He wrapped his arm around her and brought his lips down until they met hers. This time, his kiss was slow and indulgent. He caressed her lips slowly before deepening the kiss.

“I love you,” Emily mumbled between the kisses.

“You do?” Seb looked at her and almost blinded her with his smile.

Emily cupped his cheek, softly brushing his dimple with her fingers. “Of course, I do,” she said and sealed their lips again.

Emily knew this time it was final. She had chosen to walk away, but Seb pulled her back. Now, they were on the same page for the first time since she saw him in the cafeteria ten years ago.

THE END