Page 59 of Playing For Keeps

“What are you working on?” she deflected. Her phone lay heavy in her pocket.

But he knew her by now; the months since the con were filled with conversations and jokes, changes and growth. Farren couldn’t hide from him.

Sebastian rose from his chair, cupping her face in his hands and kissing her lips with the barest of touches.

“Farren?” he asked, almost a warning, daring her to keep trying to sidetrack him.

She stared up at him, the warmth of his hands on her cheeks grounding her despite the swirling feeling in her stomach.

“It went really well.” It should have sounded positive. It was supposed to, but he was here, and the email loomed. Farren worried she wouldn’t be able to breathe properly until it was dealt with.

“Then why are you shaking?” Sebastian’s thumb stroked her cheek, hand trailing down the side of her neck and coming to rest on her shoulder. His hazel eyes were soft with concern, worry dissolving his earlier mirth.

“I got an email,” was all she said. All she had to say.

His breath whooshed out of his lungs, hope and fear on his face, likely an echo of her own.

“Have you opened it yet?” he whispered, searching her expression for something.

“No.” She cleared her throat. “No, I was too scared. I wanted to do it with you.”

Sebastian gave her a smile, sweet and understanding, before he nodded and held his hand out. Farren reached shaky fingers into her dress pocket, dropping the phone into his upturned palm.

He tapped in her password, pulling up her Gmail, thumb hovering over the unread email.

“Open it!” she urged, too chicken shit to do it herself, grateful she had Sebastian to help her with these things. He killed the spiders that came in after the rain, and he remembered to put the leftover Chinese in the fridge. Sebastian ran her bubble baths after long days of subbing and watched awful episodes of The Bachelor with her when she needed to escape her brain for a while.

He did the heavy lifting when it came to moving, initiating the search for a townhome. Humoring her after the move-in when she made him move her sectional multiple times to get the flow of their living room right. Sebastian helped her string up her fairy lights and kept his office door ajar so she never felt ignored or forgotten, even when he was hours deep in coding for his freelance jobs. The biggest difference was his pivot into app development for games, a far cry from the government dourness from before.

He tapped her phone screen, eyes roving over the words she didn’t dare to read. Farren screwed her eyes shut, unease building in her stomach along with the sick lurch of hope.

“Farren…” he tried, and she shook her head. If she didn’t read it, she could live in the happy spot between wondering and knowing, between hope and rejection.

“Sweetheart… you’re going to want to read this,” he said, and her heart jumped up into her throat at the light edge to his voice. She looked up at him, scared to let herself fall into the possibility. His face was open, smiling. Proud.

She snatched the phone from his hands, her breath coming in little huffs.

“Dear Farren… blah blah… thank you for your submission after our conversation at PAX East in Boston,” she muttered as she read it to herself. The words dried up when she reached one particular sentence, tears choking what little vocal ability she had left. She cleared her throat, trying to force the emotion down.

“We would be delighted to set up a call at your earliest convenience to discuss the future of Pitch, Please! and look forward to hearing from you soon.” The words were a whisper by the end, and the tears sprung forth, slipping down her cheeks with an incredulous chuckle.

What? What?! Was this actually happening?

Sebastian gathered her into a deep embrace and rained kisses all over her cheeks, both of them laughing in between. Glee dissolved as she saw the look on his face. The joy and something else lurking beneath.

“I knew you could do it. I knew it. I’m so proud of you,” he breathed, his words forceful as if he could convey the depth of his feelings through will alone.

“I couldn’t have done it without—” Farren started.

“That’s a lie. You could have. I’m just glad I got to be a part of it.” When she tried to argue with him, he silenced her with a quick kiss and a stern look, raising his brows when she tried again.

“You did it! You did it.” Sebastian’s voice was filled with wonder, and he held her close as he lifted her slightly off the ground, spinning them both in a little circle, worsening the dizziness when he feasted on her mouth. Farren sank into the kiss, into the happiness she was too scared to hope for for so long.

“You keep going like that, and things might get a little dicey,” Farren said, breathless.

“Did you… did you just make a gaming pun in the middle of my very serious kissing?” Sebastian pulled back, looking at her in question. The corner of his mouth quirked up despite his attempt at being firm, his pretend-irritation at her silliness nullified. It hadn’t been on purpose, but now that he’d put the idea in her head…

“Maaaaybe. You should give it a shot. Just roll with it.” Her smile was massive, stretching her cheeks as she watched the disbelief bloom over his face, followed by him trying to contain his laugh.

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