the way he goes about things, still being polite, is so much worse, than if he had sunk to sebâs level, said something at least mean, if not worse, in return. but at least what he does say is still honest, like sebastien had asked for. at least heâs giving him something more than saying itâs fine when it clearly wasnât. seb doesnât care about being on good terms with bash, itâs never been something on his radar since heâs only been competition, heâs only ever been the other in sebâs relationships to date, other than with liam. âso then be angry about it,â he returns, setting his own glass back on the counter, to lean forward, frustration bleeding into his words. âbe upset. pour l'amour du christ, do not just act like everything is fine and good when you are not happy with me. it is disingenuous, it does neither of us any favors.â and he can speak from experience there, from their discussion at the party â pretending they get along, that they can be friendly, doesnât help anything but prevent drama for the cameras. âit is not about winning, bash. he is not a prize, and it is not a competition,â he says, like a liar, but at least heâs a good one. will the audience believe him? not a chance in hell, with his past behaviors, but itâs about appearances. âi am acting like this because you would rather pretend you have no issue with it. and it is merde, it is bullshit. if you have bad feelings towards me, i would rather know that than you put on whatever mask you keep on for the cameras. you have done this the entire time.âÂ
some part of him recognizes that nanaâs exit was also, in a very direct way, telling bash he wasnât worth staying for either. that whatever it was that he thought the two of them had was not real enough for her to stay, it wasnât just seb hurt there. itâs not like his actions with rhys were out of any type of revenge, and he doesnât want to even give the impression of that when heâs sure that narrative already exists. so heâll leave her out of it. âand did you not do the same?â he asks, almost rhetorically. ârhys and i kissed well before the recoupling. twice, even. it was not a secret, and you really did not think i was interested in him? and yet you still went after him. is that not the same?â bash didnât owe him anything, nor does seb think he did, but he hates the idea that heâll get painted as if heâs the only one wrong here. as if either of them knew the otherâs relationship with rhys. it wasnât like either kiss of theirs, prior to casa amor, was hidden, though. it was all painfully public. âc'est malhonnĂȘte.â
be angry about it. he should be angry about it. he should be furious with seb. but heâs genuinely not angry. maybe thereâs a language barrier of some kind but there is a difference in bashâs eyes between being angry and being upset. and he was the latter. it stung, yeah, but he wasnât the kind to carry around anger with him. even when he had every right to feel angry. and right now? he didnât really feel the right to feel angry but he did feel the right to feel disappointed. âiâm not angry at you. iâm not angry at all. iâm upset, thereâs a difference. iâm disappointed in the way things turned out. iâm disappointed at the situation, not a particular person.â bash doesnât know how this isnât obvious. didnât rhys talk to seb about their talk last night? it all pretty much boiled down to bash not having any hard feelings but still being disappointed. âiâm not being disingenuous. if you make rhys happy, i am genuinely happy about that. but that doesnât mean iâm not allowed to be...sad.â saying that word sounds unnatural coming from bash. âand just because iâm sad about the situation doesnât mean iâm gonna be a dick and take it out on you. like i said, i donât think anyone was in the wrong so iâm not mad at anyone. i meant it when i said no hard feelings but you clearly donât believe me for whatever reason.â
and talking with him more about that topic is futile, bash thinks. seb has whatever idea of bash in his head so that he can somehow justify the way he acts towards him. but bash uncharacteristically doesnât care how seb views him. âi actually...i actually didnât know that, i was pretty caught up in my own thing with nana before and then, i dunno, rhys said that thing in the challenge and i figured i should go for it. so if that upset you, me going after him, iâm sorry. it wasnât my intention.â see how easy that was? is what he wanted to say after but he bit his tongue.