Page 99 of The Road to Ruined

"Be nice to me," I whisper, breathless. "I love you."

He wraps his arms around me, and I close my eyes as he trails kisses down my neck.

Afterward, he leaves the bed and pours alcohol on his own chest, but he doesn't react to the stinging sensation the way I did. I shower first, and then Sebastian, who simply said, "No," when I asked him to get in with me, but that's okay.

I bet he's never showered with anyone in his life. I'm sure no one has ever laid back against his chest in the bathtub, and no one has ever washed his hair for him—not for longer than he could remember.

But then he crawls back into bed with me, and he doesn't object when I curl up against his scarred back. I close my eyes and get this really ridiculous idea that not only will Declan and Luca come back for me, but maybe Sebastian could come, too. I could fix him while Luca fixed me, and do things for him that no one ever did, like buy him birthday cards or scratch the back of his head during a movie. Declan always liked that.

I move the hand from behind my head to the back of his neck and then thread my fingers through his hair, scratching his scalp with my nails.

"Mmm, you better stop, Teagan," Sebastian says, his eyes still closed. "I can't get used to things like that."

"I won't tell if you won't." I press my lips against the damaged skin, kissing the old wounds that he says don't hurt anymore, but they changed him from a scared little boy to a ruthless killer. "Hey, Sebastian?"

"Yeah?"

"When's your birthday?"

He sighs. "I don't know anymore, Teagan. I think it was in January or February. There was always snow on the ground."

My eyes start to water again, and I squeeze them shut, wrapping my arms around his body. "I think you're beautiful, too."

"Just go to sleep," he says. "You can say more crazy shit to me tomorrow."

SEVENTEEN

Iwake up the next morning naked and alone in bed. I stretch out onto my back, pull the bloody sheet up to my chest, and sit up.

Sebastian is fully dressed, sprawled out on the sofa looking down at his laptop.

"Hey, come back to bed," I say.

But he doesn't reply or even look up, furiously tapping away at the keys in front of him.

"Oh, I forgot to tell you that Blakely said you could come to the wedding. Do you want to? You don't have to dance."

Still, he doesn't answer.

"Fuck, I have to be downstairs in half an hour. Maybe we could stay a little bit longer. I'll even go to that club with you if—"

"Teagan, let me ask you something," he says, his tone calm and even.

Too calm, too even. Like Bone Saw.

"Yeah?"

"Have you always been a lying fucking whore?"

"I—what? Why would you say that to me?"

"Where were you the night before last, Teagan?"

"I…already told you," I say weakly. "I was here…at the hotel."

He turns his laptop toward me and drops it haphazardly on the table beside him. "Then what the fuck is this Teagan?"

I climb out of bed, pull on a t-shirt, and approach the screen, my hands shaking with adrenaline. I expect to see Declan or Luca, but I see…nothing.

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