Mafia Legacy (Book #1 - Mafia Series)

Part 13

"Sebastien?"

She saw him raise his head, his green eyes looking into hers before panic settled in them. "W-what are you doing here?"

Gabriella raised an eyebrow. "It's the campus... I go here?" What was wrong with him? She knew she wasn't his favorite person but he almost looked disgusted by her presence. Wasn't that a little bit too much?

Sebastien and her used to have a long-standing friendship. They hung out every day, they did everything together. It was only natural that over time, she developed feelings for him. Because of her shy nature, she had tried different ways of showing her interest, but none of them had caught his attention.

She knew that Sebastien could come across as brash, or rude, but it wasn't his fault. His mother died when he was very young, and his older brother held nothing but disdain for him. He was used to being on his own.

It took Gabriella a long time to even befriend him. Eventually, they graduated from high school and Gabriella decided she was tired of waiting around. She confessed, but he turned her down. Quite rudely. But at least it was direct. The fact that he did not want to be with her did hurt but - she wanted to remain friends.

He was her best friend.

Unfortunately, he did not have the same opinion.

Ever since that day, he was distant. No more late hangouts, no more outings, or late-night conversations. It was all gone. She had to chase him down to get a minute of his time. She tried to confront him about it a couple of times but he always dismissed her.

She wasn't crazy; she knew something had changed. Fine, he didn't want to date her but did he have to cut her out of his life like this?

"Coulda fooled me."

"What does that mean?" Since when did he care what she did? It didn't seem to make it to his priority list.

"Nothing."

She resisted the urge to roll her eyes. "Fine, don't tell me."

This was their first conversation in months and she didn't feel like fighting. To top it all off, she didn't have the energy, and honestly, the fact that he hadn't run off was a victory. She hadn't been able to sleep well the past couple of days and only one person was to blame; Niccolo.

She had called him once, but he hadn't picked up.

Honestly, she was almost glad. What was she supposed to tell him? The memories of what he did to her were enough to bring heat to her cheeks.

Sebastien's left eye twitched. "What's going on with you?"

"N-nothing," she said, glancing away from him. Gah now was not the time to be thinking about that or him. "Do- do you have time for a coffee? We could hang out," she proposed.

"I'm busy."

"Sitting here by yourself?"

"I gotta study."

"Since when do you study?"

"I said I'm busy, are you deaf?" he snapped.

He turned around, ready to walk away from her when she put her hand on his arm, stopping him. He could have pulled away, but he didn't. Instead, he closed his eyes, taking in a deep breath.

"Sebastien... why are you avoiding me?" her voice was breaking as she spoke the words softly.

She had fully expected to be turned down - but if she had known the cost would have been their friendship, she wouldn't have told him. She would have buried her feelings and never spoken of them. She could have done that.