Chapter 127: Chapter Twelve ~ Trifecta-2

"Stop trying to pretend nothing changed," I said stiffly. "We were never a happy family, Seb. We never will be. Not after what she made me do." I looked to my mom, who was now crying. Great. Remy was running over to her with a napkin and Sebastian had thrown his arms up in defeat. I knew she wasn't a victim, not after what she'd sent me in that envelope. It was just another ploy to try and trap me—that's what all of this was. I knew how my mother worked, how everything was a sick game designed to catch me off guard, to harness the emotions I was trained not to have. To mess with me. "Let's go," Felix said, finally breaking the silence. I was so grateful. I didn't even realize I was waiting for his approval, but for some reason once he started leading me towards the door, I clicked into motion, not wanting to look into any of their eyes. But I did, just before crossing the threshold. I caught site of Sebastian. "I never want you to contact me again." Once the car door was closed behind me, I folded my hands in my lap and stared at the darkness out of the window. "I'm sorry, that was... awful," Felix said quietly. The murmur of the radio wasn't enough to silence the screaming thoughts in my mind. Why had I invited Felix? Some part of me was hoping it'd be fine. It'd help stop me from feeling the tension between me and Remy and give me an excuse to deflect Sebastian's questions. Maybe it'd even be a nice time. I couldn't believe my brother would do this. "I'm sorry if that's messed everything up," I said. The windows were fogging up, and Felix moved to put the heat on. What would it even be messing up? This whole thing between us was weird. Penelope had already warned me he was just using me. "It hasn't, Josie." He reached his hand out so it took my own, rubbing the tip of his thumb over my knuckles. "I had no idea." I smiled softly out of the window. I'd done a lot to erase my past life. It wasn't just them—my evil parents and the world they'd created for me—it was me too. Joselyn Crawford. "It's complicated. But I don't want to talk about it." He patted the top of my hand before moving to change gears. "Well, are you still hungry?" I shook my head. The last thing I wanted to do was eat. Or pretend to go back to Penelope's like it was my own apartment. "But I don't want to go home, either." "Let's go find food, then." As soon as the aroma of Taco Bell hit me through the car window at the Drive-Thru, I definitely knew I was hungry. Felix ordered for us and paid without a word, and then drove further down the road to a deserted parking lot. "Thank you," I said, shoving a taco into my mouth and internally dying at the taste. It had been so long since I'd had fast food, or someone to eat it with. "You know, I've always had the strong belief that parents don't know anything these days. There's such a gap, you know? Internet, social media, this insane exponential increase in technology. We're basically a different species." "Who, millennials?" I asked, laughing into my food. "Well, yeah," he said. "I never thought my parents understood me. I still don't. And I think they're good parents." I got what he was trying to do, but for some reason humoring him made me feel a little better. "What about bad parents then?" "More than not understanding. Not even comprehending. Imagine feeling like you don't comprehend your kid? It makes you do stupid—even terrible—things to control them." "You're pretty wise for someone with good parents," I said. He didn't really understand, though. Because my parents could control me, they still could if they really wanted to. "I'm one of the lucky ones," he said, wiping his lips on a napkin. Somehow, he made the action look sexy, and I found myself looking away. I didn't want my thoughts clouded again—I already felt too vulnerable. "But my friends... Cole and Poppy... they've gone through a lot." My ears pricked at that. "What do you mean?" He sighed and leaned backward in his seat, tucking a stray coil of hair behind his ear. "It's complicated." He didn't say anything else, which was fair enough. It was personal. I knew Cole and Poppy's family were high profile, but I didn't know much more than that. Penelope would. "It always is," I said, casting my eyes to the empty parking lot before us. "Do you want to go home?" I shook my head. The last thing I wanted was to retreat to my shabby little falling-apart apartment where Sebastian could find me. Where any of them could find me. I'd made a huge mistake trusting Sebastian. I guess I could go to Penelope's place. She wouldn't know if I spent the night again, curled on her plush sofa. "Why don't we go to mine for a bit? I can make you some tea." I scrutinized him for a moment, wondering if there was still a chance he was testing me. I didn't understand him. "Why?" I asked. "I mean, not why do you want to make tea, but why do you like me at all? I'm some girl who stole your seat in class and I know—I've heard stories—it's not like we're going to—" "Josie," he said, thankfully stopping me from my humiliating ramble. "You really think that?" "I don't know what to think," I muttered. Ever since the night he cooked for me, or the night we spent in the Kensington Beach house, I'd been confused. I know I was doing this to earn enough to stay on my feet, but I was tied to this in so many ways now. He'd seen the worst of me. "I think you're sweet," he said. I still couldn't look at him. "I think you're incredibly beautiful and funny and smart. A fucking trifecta. And, for what it's worth, my intentions have never been to take this anything but seriously." My heart probably couldn't take much more tonight, but still, it accelerated heavily as I finally met Felix's eyes. He'd adjusted himself so one of his elbows was on the top of the steering wheel and he was completely facing me. "I promise," he said. His eyes burned into mine, his expression so transparent I felt like I could see through to his soul, to the very matter than created him. "You can trust me." Shit. Here he was laying it on the line and I couldn't even say the same. He couldn't trust me. He shouldn't. I was just an undercover boyfriend spy doing Penelope's dirty work. So I just kissed him.