Summer Solstice by Vanessa Lockley Read Free Book Online Page B

call and make sure I hadn't died during the day.
     
    "Lex?" Sarah asked quietly. "Lex, are you okay?"
     
    Bumped out of my thoughts, I jolted and looked away from my beer glass and towards her. "Huh?" I asked, wiping the heart off my glass as her question sunk in. "Oh. Oh yeah," I muttered. "I'm fine."
     
    Sarah didn't looked convinced, but I knew that she wasn't going to press the issue.
     
    "Look," she started, her face beginning to show signs of nervousness. "I really need to talk to you"
     
    But then I became an absolutely shit friend to Sarah. Because behind her, across the crowded bar, who should happen to show his face, but my brother's best friend.
     
    Seth stepped up to the bar and ordered his drink.
     
    I watched him in what had to be an absolutely stalkerish way. Maybe he'd come to the bar knowing that I'd be here. Maybe he'd get his drink and come talk to me.
     
    Hating myself for being so pathetic, I yanked my attention away from Seth and back to Sarah who'd begun to bite at her lip nervously. "I'd been meaning to tell you, but the time just never felt right and I wanted to do it in person and not over the phone."
     
    But my attention was snagged again, as I saw the bartender set not one, but two beers down in front of Seth.
     
    What was he doing?
     
    The answer suddenly appeared next to him, as a super anorexically thin red-head slid up next to him, all but wrapping her limbs around his body. I watched as Seth gave her a grin and then handed her a beer.
     
    My stomach sank to my toes as I watched them, feeling like a shit friend to Sarah for not listening and a pathetic girl as my heart began to break before my very eyes.
     
    I wanted to listen to Sarah, I really did, but just watching Seth with that girl was impossible to stop.
     
    "Lexi?" Sarah asked, turning around to look at whatever it was that had stolen my attention away from her entirely.
     
    My brain was working at about five thousand miles an hour. Maybe it wasn't what I thought. Maybe he was just being nice and buying her a drink. Maybe she was his cousin. Maybe it wasn't really Seth. Maybe he hadn't seen me.
     
    But when Seth lifted his head away from leaning in close to talk to the red head, his eyes met mine across the bar. His fingers traced up her arm softly and he pulled his eyes away from me and whispered something into that girl's ear.
     
    And that one look forced my brain to stop creating such pathetic excuses for Seth.
     
    Because I knew what he was up to.
     
    And I knew that he was fully aware of what he was doing with that girl.
     
    Sarah must have seen something play across my face, because she stood up abruptly, which pulled my attention away from the car crash happening across the bar. Grabbing my arm, she pulled me out of my seat. "Come on," she said, as she started dragging me towards the door. I looked back once at Seth.
     
    He looked at me for a brief second, his face displaying no emotions, and promptly turned his attention back to the redhead.
     
    I don't know how I made it out to Sarah's car. By that point, my brain had shut off and I was operating on autopilot. My simple life had become an emotional train wreck.
     
    The next thing I knew, we were parked in front of my house. The ride home had been quiet, but as Sarah turned off her car, she turned to look at me.
     
    "How long have you been sleeping with him?" she asked me.
     
    I didn't even try to act like I didn't know what she was talking about. I knew how obvious I had been at the bar. Plus, Sarah was my best friend. I'd kept this secret from her long enough.
     
    "How much time do you have?" I asked her, and then promptly began to tell her the entire story. From my horribly lengthy crush (which she'd already known about), to that first day at home, to the previous night's extracurricular activity.
     
    And when I got done, it felt as if a huge weight had been lifted off of my chest. Part of me had been terrified that Sarah was going to be angry that I