Sebastian Bear (complete)

TWENTY-SEVEN

TWENTY-SEVEN

Blake was smiling. He was happy to see Madeline. She managed a half-hearted one herself. She wasn't nearly as pleased to run into him. He motioned behind them, to three equally as attractive young men standing around under a basketball hoop.

"We are about to play a game," he was out of breath. Had he ran over when he noticed her? She hated the thought that he had gone out of his way for her. She wouldn't do the same for him. "You want to come hang out, meet the dudes?" He looked hopeful. Madeline was shaking her head without meaning to.

"That was a quick answer," he looked bothered. Madeline laughed, uncomfortable.

"I'm with my family right now," she explained. Maggie and Ethan had paused near a patch of clovers, digging around for a lucky one. She wished Maggie would call her over so she'd have a better excuse to run away.

"You think they'd mind you ditching them for some time with me?" She didn't care for his persistence. He was smiling at her as if he had caught her off guard. She forced a polite smile. Something about him didn't feel quite right.

"No, I think I'm going to go with them."

"Cool," but it didn't look cool. There was a hardness that came through his eyes that disappeared in a blink. Madeline watched his expression soften as quickly as if had turned. He glanced back at his friends who were watching them with mild interest.

"Look I know you're busy right now and I need to get back but there's this party next Friday," he crossed his arms over his chest. Madeline made a face and explained quickly that she wasn't really a party sort of gal.

"I saw you at Katie's," he was smiling but that hardness had returned. He didn't like hearing no.

"Yeah it was the first and hopefully last party I'll ever attend. The night didn't go great and I don't reminisce about the smell of beer and cigarettes."

"That's because you were there with Sinclair," Blake grinned. "You've never been to one with me and my friends. We know how to have a good time."

Madeline sighed. He wasn't going to take a no so she lied and told him she would consider it. He asked for her number and she gave it to him sullenly, watching Maggie mouth some unknown message to her down the beaten path.

"Look I gotta go," Madeline was annoyed. She had felt pressured and it irritated her further to see him smile so blatantly at her discomfort. She moved around him quickly, avoiding a hug which she felt he was sure to push on her. She breathed a sigh of relief when she was moving toward home with Maggie and Ethan.

"Who was that?"

"His name is Blake," Madeline grumbled.

"He's still watching you," Maggie laughed.

"Gross," Madeline hadn't meant to say that out loud but it was the truth. There was something remarkably sinister about Blake and his persistence. She thought of Sebastian and his incessant dirty words and grabby fingers and never once had she felt so unnerved by his presence.

"Why did you give him your number?" Maggie asked, ruffling her son's messy curls.

"It was just a means to an end," Madeline sighed. She refused to look back and see his creepy hard eyes watching her. It was crazy that the alcohol had dulled her senses to the point of not seeing how much of a weirdo he seemed to be. She hated to admit it but maybe Nolan was right when he warned her against him.

"Now he's going to text you or even worse he's going to call," Maggie scrunched her nose. They were much closer to home then. Madeline glanced back to make sure the strange guy hadn't decided to follow her home.