Page 26 of Tempting Sebastian

Finally,

Morning, Sebastian. It was ok. A little creepy. Really quiet. I got an air mattress but no tv yet or anything, so I put on a podcast and fell asleep to an episode about Aliens. They’re out there, ya know. Lol

His text made me sad and happy at the same time. We enjoyed listening to podcasts together too. His sleeping on an air mattress with nothing else was what I hated.

I responded,Were you warm? Do you want to go shopping today for anything for your apartment? I planned to go to Target. Do you nee…

I was remembering what Quinn said about need versus want. So, I deleted the text that I was about to send and instead asked,

Do you want to come with me?

I was really trying because I missed him already and if going shopping was a way to see him and make sure he was getting what he needed, then I was willing to do that. Shopping was not my thing. I held my breath as I waited.

Sebastian Moore…shopping. I don’t believe my eyes. I’ll take it. What time?

An instant smile came over my face, excitement bubbling at getting to see him.

I’ll pick you up in an hour. Shoot me your address and I’ll see you soon.

Happy was a damn understatement! Who was I? Hopping out of bed, I got ready to go. Spending time with him in any way I could was important to me, especially after my talk with Quinn. He’d only been gone one stupid night, and I was sick about it.

Chapter 20

Jackson

Getting a good morning text from Sebastian was one hell of a way to start my day. Especially after a kind of shitty first night in the apartment. There was loud music and a weird ass smell that seeped into my place. Someone must’ve been cooking something late at night. My air mattress lost air, so I woke up basically on the floor. It didn’t matter though. The place was mine.

When I finished getting ready, I received a text from Sebastian that he was downstairs. I’m sure he wanted to see my place, but I wasn’t ready yet. Maybe once I picked up some things while we were out, I would have him up but, in that moment, the air mattress in all its flat glory wouldn’t exactly instill confidence in him that everything was going to be okay.

I got downstairs and got into Sebastian’s car. It smelled amazing. It’s amazing how you can miss a smell in just twenty-four hours. “Hey!” I said.

“Hi, Jackson.” He smiled at me. Why did my name sound so good coming off his lips?It’d only been twenty-four hours, I kept repeating to myself.

We sat there for a few minutes and then finally I said, “The Home Store, right?”

Smiling, he shifted the car into drive and said, “Yes! The Home Store. Let’s do it,” and then he took off. We mostly listened to music on the way there. He’d change the channel, and then I’d change the channel that he just changed making him laugh. It was nice to laugh with him.Twenty-four hours. I could do this, I thought.

Once inside the store, I grabbed a cart. We went to the home goods section first. I wanted blankets, candles, and fake plants. Everything I picked out, Sebastian had something to say about, but not necessarily in a bad way. His taste was just slightly different than mine on some things. “Get this one! It’s dark, dark is nice,” he said.

It was a side table because I told him I needed something to put my phone and water on at night. I wanted lighter colors, but I gave in because I couldn’t resist his look of happiness as he encouraged me to buy things I wanted. It made me melt. “Ok, I’ll get the dark one. But I’m buying a pumpkin candle…”

“Pumpkin? It’s Christmas. Why not a pine candle?” He picked up a pine scented jar and took a big whiff. “Come on! You can’t tell me this isn’t the best smell.” He waved it back and forth under my nose.

“Why do I feel likeyouare moving into my apartment?” We laughed as I put the pumpkin and the pine candles in the cart and kept shopping. It was honestly the most fun that Sebastian and I had had together in months. Before I knew it, the cart was full, I was nervous about what the bill was going to be, and we were about ready to check out. I had to pee, so I said, “Hey, Ineed to use the bathroom. Wait for me. I’ll be back in a minute.” I bee lined to the bathroom trying to be quick.

When I came back out, I didn’t see Sebastian standing at the checkout. Looking around, I finally saw him standing by the service desk and the cart was full of bags. “What are you doing?” I asked.

He smiled and said, “One of the prices were wrong on the throw blanket. I brought it up here to have them adjust it.”

“But…you didn’t have to…”

“Thank you for fixing the price. Have a good one,” he said to the service desk worker and then turned to me, “You ready to go?”

Suddenly, I felt shy, so I smiled, nodded and we walked out to the car with him. Sebastian loaded everything into the trunk, and I got into the passenger side. When he got in, I turned to him and said, “You didn’t have to buy all of that. I was fully prepared to pay for my own things, Sebastian.”

He said, “I know I didn’t, but I wanted to. I’m happy for you, Jackson. I just wanted to do something nice. I know you didn’t need me to. Please consider it a gift.” He looked at me with puppy dog eyes and I couldn’t even be mad at him.

“Thank you!” I said quietly.

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