Ray's POV
We had it all planned.
Surprise Seb at school. Drive to the pier. Lunch at that seafood shack Ava loved. Laugh too loud. Let her sneak fries off his plate. Let her be his soft, clingy, overbearing mother just the way she was meant to be.
She was bouncing beside me in the car, arms full of chocolate boxes, a new hoodie she bought for him, and a custom keychain with the letter S in silver, of course, because she had "no self-control when it came to Sebastian's face."
It was a regular Sunday. The kind where my heart felt full just watching her exist.
We parked across from the school gate, just where the trees thinned.
"I see him!" Ava gasped, practically vibrating beside me. "Ray, I see my baby—wait, who's that—oh, she's pretty—wait—wait, is that—"
She froze.
I looked.
And my vision swam.
Sebastian. My boy.
Standing near the bike racks. Leaning casually against a pillar like he owned the place.
And then she—some girl, leggy, confident, older-looking—stepped up close.
Too close.
And then—
No.
They kissed.
Not a peck. Not something innocent or sweet.
A full-on, hands-in-hair, mouth-on-mouth, public, no-regrets, teenage hormone movie scene kiss.
Ava dropped everything she was holding.
I instinctively grabbed her arm before she slid to the ground, because she made a sound like the air had been sucked out of her lungs.
"No," she whispered. "No. No. He's a baby. He was just—he was just three yesterday. He had a crush on Sonic the Hedgehog. This is not—he's not—Ray—Ray—I'm going to die."
"You're not going to die," I said, though I wasn't completely sure myself.
Because what the actual hell had we just witnessed?
He didn't even see us.
He didn't notice Ava halfway collapsing into me, didn't see her face pale like she'd seen a ghost. He just kept kissing her, then smiled lazily like he did this every day.
Which, apparently, he did.
Ava yanked her sunglasses off and stormed toward the gate like a tiny war goddess. "I'm going to kill him. I'm actually going to murder my child. I'll go to jail, but I'll make it look like an accident."
I followed her, catching up just as Seb finally noticed us.
"Oh," he said. Like we were two distant relatives he forgot existed. "What're you guys doing here?"
"What am I—Sebastian, what was that?!" Ava shrieked.
He looked bored. Bored.
"Chill, Mom. It's not a big deal."
"Not a big deal?! You—you were—you had your tongue halfway down that girl's throat—"
"She's my girlfriend."
"You're SEVENTEEN!"
"Exactly. I'm not twelve. Relax."
Ava's hand clutched my arm so tightly she was shaking. "How long has this been going on?"
He shrugged. "Dunno. A few weeks. She's just one of them."
Ava blinked. "One of—"
"I mean, not like, the one. Just one. I kinda see a lot of girls. It's...whatever."
Whatever.
I had to bite down so hard on my cheek I tasted blood.
Ava staggered backward like he'd slapped her.
"I raised a playboy," she whispered.
"You didn't," I said softly, placing a hand on her back.
"I did. I raised a—an emotionally unavailable, emotionally reckless—you—he's turning into you, Ray!"
"That feels like unnecessary fire—"
"DO YOU EVEN KNOW THEIR NAMES?" she cried.
Seb sighed. "Most of them."
"Most?"
"Mom. Seriously. You're being dramatic."
I stepped in front of her before she burst into actual flames.
"Sebastian. Get in the car. Now."
He smirked. "Why? So I can get a lecture?"
"Because if you don't, she's going to pass out and then we're both going to feel terrible."
He rolled his eyes, but followed.
Ava didn't speak the whole drive home. Not even once. Just held the hoodie she bought for him like it had personally betrayed her.
When we pulled into the driveway, she got out without a word and walked straight inside.
Seb leaned back in the seat, arms crossed.
"She's gonna get over it, right?"
I looked at him.
Really looked.
The jawline. The swagger. The recklessness.
He was like me. And that terrified me.
"I don't know, Sebastian," I said quietly. "But maybe you should ask yourself why you think love is a game."
He scoffed.
But I saw it—the flicker in his eyes.
The guilt.
And I prayed that Ava's heart wasn't the first one he shattered.
Because if it was, not even God could stop me.