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“Of course, sweetpea.” She smiled at Nolan. “Are you coming to work with me today, tulip?”

“Ugh, I guess.” Nolan sometimes worked in Mom’s shop just like I used to, before I landed my job at Goliaths.

I was grateful that the conversation had moved on, but as I stuffed a bit of pancake in my mouth, I found myself trying to subtly peer over Dad’s head at a specific booth on the other side of the diner.

Ludo was saying something to Seb, his expression solemn. When he glanced up and caught my eye, I ducked back down quickly, my cheeks on fire. Shit.

I’m going to have it play it extra cool at work, I thought, then realised that I didn’t really want to. Honestly, I kind of wished I’d introduced Seb to my family. I wanted him to meet them. It felt important, for some reason.

He felt important.

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Accepting the Unfortunate Inevitable (11 Letters)

Seb

Ludo was watching me as I sat back down and picked up my coffee to take a sip. Trying to hide whatever was currently showing on my face after seeing Larkin, I kept my gaze averted and ate my last bite of scrambled eggs.

“It’s him, isn’t it?” Ludo asked. I tensed, fingers tightening around my fork. “He’s who you’ve been seeing?”

Swallowing, I looked up at him warily. I didn’t want to outright lie to Ludo, but I couldn’t explain the actual situation. That wasn’t fair to Larkin. It’d be breaking his trust.

“It’s not… We’re not seeing each other.” Not a lie.

Ludo leaned in. “Alright, fine. Fucking, then. You’ve been having sex with Larkin?”

An uncharacteristic blush heated my cheeks as I glanced back warily. His parents were in here. It felt wrong and way too risky to discuss this right now.

“It’s… complicated.”

Ludo frowned, glancing behind me, then softened his expression. “Is it that he doesn’t want something serious?”

I hunched up, wishing I still had food to distract myself from this conversation. “Why do you assume it’s that he doesn’t want something serious?” I muttered.

“Because I know you, Seb. You don’t do casual.”

“Yeah, well, maybe I decided to try something different,” I said tersely.

Ludo huffed in disbelief. “So you decided to try it with the kid at work who flirts non-stop with all the wrestlers?”

My teeth ground together as I glared at him. “He’s not a fucking kid.”

Infuriating me further, Ludo smirked and sat back. “Real casual, huh?”

I leaned forward and lowered my voice, a vein in my temple throbbing with anger. “What exactly are you trying to insinuate? Because he flirts with people at work he’s… what, easy? A ‘slut?’ What’s your fucking point, Ludo?”

He sobered and held up his hands. “Alright, sorry.”

We lapsed into silence as I pushed my plate away and gulped down the last of my coffee, my movements stiff and jerky with tension.

After a minute, Ludo awkwardly said, “I’m sorry, man. That was a dick thing to say.”

“Yeah,” I muttered, fiddling with my cup.

“How did it happen?”

I gave him a flat look. “It’s none of your business, Ludo.”