We get to the front steps, and Brandon grabs my hand.
I frown and go to pull my hand from his grip, but he holds me tightly.
“What are you doing?” I ask him.
“I like you, April.”
“I beg your pardon?”
“I think it’s time.”
“For what?” I frown. Huh, what the hell is going on here?
“That we make it official.”
“Brandon, what are you talking about? I’m completely lost.”
“I love you.”
My eyes widen. “What?”
He leans in and kisses me, and the front door opens behind us. I jerk back, shocked at what just happened. What the hell is he doing?
My eyes flick to the person who just opened the door.
Sebastian’s eyes hold mine.
My eyes widen, what the actual fuck?
“Dad,” Brandon announces. “This is April, the love of my life.”
8
April
Sebastian stares at me for a moment, and then without a word, he turns and walks inside the house.
My eyes widen, Sebastian is Brandon’s father?
What the actual fuck? He has a kid?
“Brandon!” I splutter as I march in after Sebastian. “We’re just friends.”
“April, you know it’s more than that,” he argues, following us.
Sebastian turns and glares at me with such contempt that I have never seen before.
“I swear to you, Seb, we are just friends.” I shake my head in a panic. “There’s nothing going on.”
Brandon looks between us in confusion. “How can you say that? You stay in my room all the time.”
“On the floor!” I gasp.
Sebastian’s eyes hold mine. His stance is cold and detached.
“I love you, April,” Brandon says.
Jesus Christ. What the hell? He chooses now to do this?
How the fuck is he Sebastian’s son? They couldn’t be more opposite.
“Brandon… enough!” I snap in an outrage, my eyes glued to Sebastian. “We are not a thing. Get it through your head!”
Sebastian’s eyes flicker red. “Do not speak to my fucking son like that.”
“But… he’s got it wrong.”
“I saw it with my own fucking eyes.” Sebastian steps toward me, and I step back, our eyes locked. “You think you can play him… while you’re playing me?” He whispers darkly.
I shake my head. “No, Sebastian. I swear to you, I’m telling the truth.”
Brandon looks between us. “Wait… what? Do you two know each other?”
I stay silent, scared to speak. Sebastian’s chest rises and falls as he struggles for control.
“Do you know my father?” Brandon demands.
Sebastian’s eyes are fixed on mine.
I stay silent.
“Answer him!” Sebastian yells.
My eyes fill with tears, and I nod.
Brandon’s eyes flick between us. “How?”
My heart begins to race. Sebastian’s scaring me. I’ve never seen him like this. He’s mean when he’s angry.
“Seb,” I whisper. “Brandon and I are just friends. I swear to you.”
“You stay in my room. We were just kissing not two minutes ago,” Brandon cuts in. “You know we are more than friends. Everybody knows it.”
Sebastian’s jaw ticks with fury.
“How do you know my father, anyway?” Brandon demands again.
Oh, for the love of God, just shut the fuck up, kid. You’re ruining my life here!
I look between them.
“Answer his question,” Sebastian whispers darkly.
“Sebastian.” I shake my head. “I swear to you…”
“Dad?” Brandon asks. “What’s going on?”
Sebastian’s eyes drift to Brandon. “She’s not the girl for you.”
Brandon frowns.
Yes, tell him I’m your girl.
“Tell him what you do for money, April.”
My face falls.
“Sebastian, stop.” I snap. If he says this out loud, he can’t take it back. We can’t go back. “I mean it. Do not go there.”
Sebastian’s chin tilts up, as if my words only throw fuel to the flame. “Cartier works in a strip club.”
Brandon’s face falls. “Who’s Cartier?”
“That’s the stage name April uses.”
“Stop,” I cry.
We stare at each other as the hairs on the back of my neck stand to attention.
Don’t say it. Please don’t say it.
“April’s a prostitute who charges men to have sex with her.”
Brandon’s face falls. “How do you know that?”
No.
Sebastian’s eyes don’t leave mine. “Because I paid her to have sex with me.”
My eyes fill with tears.
“You had sex with April?” Brandon frowns.
“Yes.”
I let out an audible gasp of horror.
“She was playing both of us,” Sebastian whispers.
I screw up my face in tears. “No, I wasn’t.”
Betrayal floods my soul.
Sebastian’s cold eyes hold mine. “Get out of my house, you lying whore.” He steps forward. “Go near my son again and see what fucking happens to you.”
What the fuck?
Shame fills my every cell, and I sob out loud at his hurtful words.
“Get the hell out of my house!” he shouts at the top of his voice, as he loses control.
I turn and stumble. If he hit me with a physical blow, it would have been less painful.
I need to get away from him.
I can hardly see from the tears streaming down my face. I stumble out the front door and look around. It’s dark and starting to rain. I have no idea where to go.
I scurry around to the side of the house and stand up against the wall, hiding. I don’t want to see them… either of them.
“Get out of my house, you lying whore.”
I slap my hand over my mouth to quieten my sobs.
“April.” Brandon comes running out of the house, and I press myself further against the wall. “April!” he calls in the rain. “Where are you?”
Sebastian walks out after him onto the front lawn.
“What the fuck have you done?” Brandon turns and cries.
“She’s been lying to both of us.”
“You don’t know what you’re saying.”
“Yes, I do.”
“I can’t believe you slept with her!” Brandon cries.
Silence.
Pain lances through my chest.
“Come inside,” Sebastian says.
“I love her,” Brandon cries.
“I know.”
“You’ve ruined everything!”
“She’s not the girl for you. I’m sorry, but I could never lie to you, and I could never keep a secret like that from you. I love you too much.”
My head rests back against the bricks. The rain is beginning to fall harder now, and I taste hot, salty tears on my lips.
What about me?
This is it for us. . . there’s no coming back from this.
He told his son that I’m a prostitute.
My chest tightens. I knew it. I knew it was too good to be true.
“I hate you!” Brandon cries.
“Come inside and hate me.”
Silence.
“Buddy, come on. Inside.”
I’m overcome with shame. I’ve never felt so abandoned in my life.
“Where did she go?” Brandon asks. “April!” he calls out.
The front door slams shut, and I put my head into my hands, crying in silence.
Sebastian walks out to the street and looks one way and then the other. He drops his head and pushes his hands into his trouser pockets. He stands in the rain for an extended time, and then eventually, slowly walks back inside.
The door slams shut, and I sob, my shoulders bouncing as the tears fall.
“Get out of my house, you lying whore.” The shame.
This hurts.
Is that how he sees me? All the time, while I was falling, he saw me as nothing but a whore?
“She’s a prostitute who charges men to have sex with her.”
My breath quivers as I try to hold in my sobs.
I take out my phone and order an Uber. I have to keep wiping my eyes so I can see the screen.
“Because I paid her to have sex with me.”
I’m embarrassed, I’m ashamed and so confused.
I’m fucking hurt.