Page 121 of Last Man Standing

I still get the heebie-jeebies thinking about it.

Those heebie-jeebies are the reason Nova’s gonna disown me. She reckons I’m obsessing and annoying about it.

I call bullshit. I reckon if the tables were turned and her brother was dating someone we’d already decided we didn’t like, she’d be obsessing, too.

A knock at the door brings my eyes up, then instinctively, I swing them back to the window to search for Sebastion, only to find him thirty feet away in a discussion with his dad and Maverick.

“Scarlett!” Koda’s playful yelp and giggle settles the nerves sitting heavy in my stomach. Drawing a deep breath, I type out a fast text to my brother and push to my feet.

Me:

You said Sebastion was good. You promised. Don’t make me question everything again when I’ve only just started to trust myself.

Lincoln:

I said he was good.

I didn’t say I liked him or that he was good enough to date my sister.

I also mentioned shooting him in the face. So basically, shit is still up in the air as far as I’m concerned.

Snorting, I shake my head and glance toward the quickly shuffling feet of a little boy just on the other side of my door.

Me:

Don’t shoot him. Anywhere. It would bother me.

I’m done with this conversation now, since you said you had some shit to tell me, but didn’t actually say anything at all.

Be safe, stay in communication, and hurry the hell up. I wanna see you almost as much as I wanna ask Sebastion to stop working so he can hug me.

I hit send and choke out a satisfied giggle, knowing my words will have tossed my brother straight back to those heebie-jeebies he hates so much, then I slip the phone into my pocket and swing my door wide with a smile that lasts a mere half second.

Until I lock eyes with Arabella fucking Aster and realize she used her own son as bait.

Classy lady.

Bringing the door back again, I use it as a shield and leave it open only far enough for a five-year-old to squeeze through if he decides to jump ship.

Be brave, Scarlett. She’s just a woman, no scarier than Nova probably considered me way back when I was just a legend in her eyes.

I lift my chin and do that princess’y thing he says I’m so good at. “Sebastion is still working outside. You could probably see him if you go out—” I hook my thumb to the right. “That way.”

It seems Arabella and I have something in common, because the fearsome potentate lifts her chin and meets me, snoot for snoot. “I was looking for you, actually.” She swallows whatever flavor is on her tongue—poison, perhaps, like the evil queen from every single Disney movie ever—and shakes her shoulders back. “It’s almost dinnertime.”

“Okay…?” I pull my phone out again and narrow my eyes. “Agree to disagree. Chow hall filled and emptied an hour ago.”

“No, I…” She exhales a frustrated breath and drops a layer of her bitchiness. “I mean, it’s dinnertime for the family. In just a few minutes.”

“Oh, well…” I close the door another two inches, since it’s obvious Koda isn’t planning to toss his mother over for me. “Cool. Like I said, Sebastion is outside. If he comes back soon and doesn’t know, I’ll tell him to find you.”

“The whole family,” she seethes. God help the woman, she can’t be fake for the sake of pleasantries. I’ll give her that. “That includes you.”

“It includes you,” Koda parrots gleefully. “You’re invited to dinner, Scarlett.”

I bring my eyes back to Arabella’s.

“You’ve been invited to dinner every night,” she grinds out. “Technically. But it’s reasonable to assume tensions between you and I kept you from our table.”