On His Knees by Tabatha Kiss
Chapter 18
Jenna
Best. Night. Ever.
I half-smile at my phone. Heidi’s been lighting up my inbox for nearly an hour now. The Eiffel Tower against the night sky. The Seine shining in moonlight. She and Drew smiling and happy as ever.
“They’re so fucking cute,” Ellie says from over my shoulder on the couch.
I chuckle as I lower the phone to my lap. “Yes, they are.” I glance at her, noticing her jacket and handbag draped over her arm. “You leaving?”
“Yeah, I’m beat. Party is thinning out anyway.”
I nod around the living room. Only about a dozen of us left now. “Looks like.” I smile. “Drive safe.”
“Will do.” She stretches out her hand and boops the tip of my nose. “Goodnight, Beauty.”
“Goodnight, Beauty.”
Ellie walks toward the front door. As she opens it, I feel a rush of cool breeze strike my face, tempting me off the couch.
I step outside onto the porch, relishing in the night air as my phone vibrates in my hand. Rather than check it and bear witness to yet another perfect moment in my best friend’s life, I let out a deep sigh instead.
“Sup, roomie?”
I startle. If I knew Seth was out here, I would have chosen a better place to escape to.
But he won’t be here much longer.
I walk toward him into the dark corner of the porch. He slouches back against the banister with a beer bottle clenched in one hand.
“She sending you pictures, too?” he asks me.
“Yup,” I answer, turning up my palm. “Best night ever. They’re having fun in Paris.”
“Hey...” He chortles. “I’m having fun. Aren’t you having fun?”
I note the slur in his speech. “Sure.”
“See? We’re having fun!” he says, nearly slipping off the banister as he leans back too far. “My little sister. My best friend. They’re having…” His jovial expression slips. “My best friend. My business partner. The man I was going to spend the rest of my life with.”
“There’s a better way for you to phrase that, you know.”
“He’s in Paris,” he says. “And he’s telling my little sister all about his exciting new promotion.”
“Drew got a promotion?” I ask.
Seth peeks into his empty bottle. “Executive. Assistant.”
“At Little Black Book?”
“Uh-huh.”
I blink. “Are you serious?”
He nods, though he doesn’t seem nearly as excited as I am. “Yup.”
“That’s awesome!” I say. “Good for him.”
Seth scoffs. “Yeah. Good for him.”
I step closer, growing curious. “What’s wrong with it? That’s a huge deal for him.”
Seth drops the bottle. It clamors on the porch near my feet. “Big deal. Huge. He’s got...” he turns up a flat palm, “everything he needs. Right here on a shiny, silver platter. He’s rich and pretty with a big, important job with other rich and pretty people...” He blows out. “He doesn’t need me anymore.”
I balk at the absurdity of it, then pause, taken back by the sadness in his eyes.
It’s not something I’ve ever seen before in Seth Newbury.
“What makes you say that?” I ask.
“Because that’s what always happens,” he says. “No one ever wants little Sethy around for very long.”
“What are you talking about? You and Drew are opening a bar together. You talk about it as much as Heidi talks about The Louvre.”
“Talk.” He laughs. “Talk. Talk. It’s all talk. Not after he gets a taste of that sweet corporate billionaire life. You really think he’s just gonna walk away from running his own app to open some dumb bar with me?”
“Yes,” I answer truthfully.
He shakes his head. “He’s gonna ditch me. Just like my parents and Heidi and...” He looks harder at me. “And you.”
His words strike sharper than expected. I hold my tongue, unsure how to even reply.
“I don’t want to be alone.”
His dark eyes point downward at the porch.
“You’re not alone, Seth,” I say, finding my voice.
“I can still smell it on me.”
“What?”
“Smoke!” He pinches his shirt. “It’s all over me. It’s burned into my nose and I can’t sleep. I don’t want to sleep. I don’t...” He swallows hard. “I don’t want to be alone, Jenna.”
I open my mouth, but I’m speechless.
Alone.
The front door opens behind me. I spin around as Corey steps outside with Wilder a half-stride behind him. He tosses her his car keys, and she jingles them; the proud designated driver. I would be, too, if my boyfriend had a Jaguar.
“You guys heading out, too?” I ask.
Wilder smiles. “We’re still pooped from the show last night,” she says. “Great party, though. As always, Seth.”
Seth attempts a drunken bow and stumbles off the banister, barely catching himself before he falls over.
Corey laughs as he cautiously approaches Seth. “You ready to go?” He offers a strong arm to help Seth stand up. “The couch awaits.”
“Uh...” I shift forward before I can talk myself out of it. “You can just... drop him on Heidi’s bed.”
“You sure?” he asks me.
“Yeah. Honestly, he looks about one sharp turn away from ruining your upholstery and since Wilder is driving...”
“Hey,”Wilder says, fake-furrowing her brow.
Corey cringes at his Jaguar parked on the street. “She’s right, though. Maybe we shouldn’t risk it...”
Wilder rolls her eyes, then turns to me with more serious eyes. “Are you sure?” she asks.
Nope.
I nod. “He should rest.”
Corey shrugs, happy to save his precious vehicle. He braces his shoulder beneath Seth’s arm and pulls him forward. “All right,” he says. “Let’s go sleepy-by, big guy.”
Once they’ve safely stumbled back into the house together, Wilder clears her throat. “Are you sure?” she asks again.
Still nope.
“Yes,” I say. “I’m sure.”
“Okay.” She jingles the keys. “I’ll go start the car.”
“Goodnight, Beauty.”
She hops down the porch. “Goodnight, Beauty.”
I watch her go, my chest tightening now that I’m alone.
Alone.
I don’t want to be alone.
A shiver dances down my spine. Warm and ticklish. A sudden awakening, but one I’ve felt countless times before.
I can’t resist a tall, dark, and tortured man.
And Seth Newbury just checked every box.
“Fuck,”I say.
I squint as a passing car suddenly slows way down on the street. One step forward and it accelerates, plowing through the stop sign at the — thankfully — empty intersection on the corner.
Weird.