7. Sara #3
Wildly entertained by the little spat between siblings going on, I sip my drink and take in the room.
Near the door, Monroe is hugging a woman who is close to her age.
She’s equally gorgeous and equally flawless, and she looks more like Sienna than any Langfield I know.
I nudge Brooks and angle in close. “Who’s that? ”
The smile that splits his face is full of fondness, and his eyes warm at the sight of her. “That’s my Aunt Zoe.” He clutches my hand and practically tugs me along with him as he makes a beeline for her. “Seb’s wife.”
The earth shifts below my feet, and I stumble as Brooks continues dragging me closer. Unfortunately, when the ground cracks open wide, it doesn’t swallow me up like I’m suddenly wishing it would.
His wife?
My stomach drops and then does a somersault. Or maybe it’s my heart.
“Wife?” I ask, unable to hide my shock. I can only imagine the horror on my face.
Brooks stops and frowns at me in confusion. “Yeah,” he says, drawing out the word. “Aunt Zoe. When I was a kid, she and Seb were like my second parents. Come on, I want you to meet my other favorite woman.”
Though my heart has lodged itself in my throat, I force a smile to my face. Surely, he means Seb’s ex-wife. Seb isn’t still married.
That’s what he told me. They separated years ago. We had a whole conversation about it.
Right?
Behind the two gorgeous older women, Seb appears, and all the blood drains from my face. Like everyone else, he’s decked out in a dark suit that stretches taut over his broad shoulders. His smile is wide as he claps Preston on the back and wishes him a happy birthday.
Then, to my horror, he grasps Zoe by the hip and hauls her to his side. She tips her chin up and smiles with nothing but love in her eyes. When he dips low and presses a quick kiss to her lips—the easy, familiar kind that makes it obvious they do it all the time—my lungs seize in my chest.
“Sorry I’m late, baby,” he says, wearing a warm smile. “I wanted to pick you up myself, but my meeting ran over.”
I’m going to throw up.
Brooks, clueless to the living nightmare I’ve found myself in, squeezes my hand and tugs me forward. “Don’t worry, Coach should be chill tonight. He’s always in a better mood around my aunt.”
“Aunt Zoe, I have someone I want you to meet.”
At Brooks’s words, his aunt and Seb turn. That’s the moment when I think I officially die. Seb’s smile falls when his focus lands on me, and he goes rigid when he notices the way Brooks is clutching my hip.
“This is Sara.” Brooks gives me a gentle squeeze. “Sara, this is my Aunt Zoe.”
The woman’s smile is genuine, and her blue eyes light up when she takes us in. “It’s so nice to finally meet you, Sara. I’ve heard only lovely things from Brooks.”
That comment knocks me back a step, but I recover quickly and plaster what I hope looks like a smile to my face.
Because this woman knows all about me, yet I’ve never heard a peep about her.
“Well, Brooks is the nicest guy I know. I’m not sure he could say a mean thing if he tried, so don’t believe everything he’s said. ”
With a light laugh, Zoe pulls Brooks in for a hug. He accepts it with a warmth so genuine it makes my chest ache.
Beside her, Seb is watching me, his blue irises like ice and his jaw hard, like he’s pissed at me.
The attitude is rich coming from him. He’d begun to show his true colors this morning, and in this moment, I see him for what he really is: A liar and a cheater.
The epitome of selfishness and deception.
I look away first. He doesn’t get to make me feel bad for being here. He doesn’t get to make me feel anything at all.
Asshole.
The need to run overwhelms me. I need to get out of here. Brooks is going to hate me when he finds out what I’ve done. How could I be this person? How could I have slept with a married man?
Seb made me a home-wrecker. God, I hate him.
“Excuse me,” I murmur to Brooks, heart beating wildly against my ribs. “I’m just going to freshen up in the bathroom.”
He nods but turns back to his family quickly. Sienna has appeared, and she’s launched into a story about her time in Paris.
My ears are doing that buzzing noise that happens when a person’s heart is beating so loudly everything sounds like an echo. I practically trip as I stumble out of the room full of people who would hate me if they knew what I’ve done.
Once I’m safely locked in the bathroom, I dial Lennox.
This can’t seriously be happening. As I wait for her to pick up the phone, I assess myself in the mirror.
Is it possible that I look different now that I know?
An hour ago, I looked like the fun-loving best friend, and now, the woman in the mirror looks like nothing more than a liar and a cheat.
He made me a mistress.
My burgundy dress feels cheap against my skin. My mascara is smudged. With a deep breath in, I swipe at the black below my eyes.
Do not let him see you cry.
“Hey, babe.” Lennox’s upbeat voice echoes off the tile walls in the bathroom, almost like it’s taunting me.
“Hey.” My voice is the exact opposite, full of nothing but brokenness and defeat.
“What’s wrong?”
“He’s married,” I sob. There’s no stopping the tears now. Damn him. “He’s fucking married.”
“Who’s married? Brooks?”
The sarcastic laugh that escapes me is harsh in the small space. “Good-Boy Brooks would never do something like this. Fuck, he’s going to hate me, Len. He’s going to fucking hate me.”
“Take a deep breath and start again,” she urges. “Who’s married?”
I snatch a paper towel from the dispenser and wet it as I take a deep breath. “Sebastian. He’s still married to Brooks’s aunt. She’s so damn adorable, and he seemed smitten with her. How could he be so sweet and swoony with me for all these months and have a wife he adores at home?”
My heart cracks open at the image that hits me then. Zoe at home while Seb was with me. The idea makes me sick. Hockey season is long. We travel constantly. But even during the offseason, the coaching staff is working, so Sebastian was around all summer. Where the hell was his wife?
“Holy shit,” Lennox mutters.
“Yeah. What the hell am I going to do?” The tears have stopped, but the pain in my chest hasn’t dulled. I’m not even upset about Sebastian. In my mind, we were over when he called me a slut and threatened my job this morning.
Growing up, I was nothing more than an afterthought.
My mother tried so hard but my father got a new family and despite my mother’s attempts, he often forgot I existed.
From the time I was old enough to understand, I promised myself that I’d never allow that to happen again.
If I’m not considered a priority, then that person has no place on my roster. It’s that simple.
And no one tells me what to do.
It’s only been hours since our blowup outside Brooks’s apartment, but it’s not Seb that I’m upset over. It’s Brooks. It’s the Langfields. It’s my job.
“Oh my God. I’m going to lose my job.”
“You are not going to lose your job. If that asshole tries to get you fired, I’ll go to law school and sue his ass.”
Despite the utter devastation coursing through me, a laugh bubbles out of my chest. My best friend would so do that. “It would take too long,” I remind her. “I need this job, or I can’t stay in Boston, Len.”
Ethan’s face appears in my mind, and the devastation turns to anger.
“I’ve gotta go.” I’ve already been in the bathroom too long. It’s time to come up with an excuse and get out of here. I can’t possibly sit at a table across from Sebastian and his wife.
Just…no.
“Okay, call me as soon as you get home so we can plot his murder.”
Leaning over the vanity, I use the damp paper towel to blot at the skin under my eyes. “You mean my job search.”
“No. I said what I said.”
I laugh. “I love you.”
“Love you too, babe. Remember: you did nothing wrong. You walk out of there with your head held high. We’ve got this.”
I hang up feeling decidedly like I don’t have this at all. With no other option but to face the Langfields, I toss the paper towel, determined to get this over with. But when I open the door and find Sebastian standing on the other side, blue eyes cold and angry, I wish I’d just stayed inside.