Page 66 of Finally Forever
I try, and fail, to ignore the pinch of pain that forms in my chest.
25
Ainsley
Kensington and I finish clearing off the table. Nathan and Sebastian recycled the beer bottles and are making us Irish coffees for dessert at the bar in the great room.
Kensie might be one of my favorite people. She’s so bright and happy. She’s direct, too, a what-you-see-is-what-you-get kind of woman. I like that. I like her a lot. I would love to stay friends with her after this. Whatever this ends up being—a passing memory in my future with Sebastian or the end of us.Don’t go there.
Regardless, I have her number, and I’d like to maintain a friendship. She invited us to the wedding, too. I lit up with excitement. Sebastian stiffened and said, “It would be nice to do something normal.”
It’s his classic vague response. He used it on my college classmates. A few times, instead of Xavier, Sebastian would accompany me to Aix. He wanted to scope the area I would be frequenting and meet the students. The girls in the group always drooled over him. He could have said horrible things to them, and they still would have swooned. The guys did what guys typically do in his presence. They remained quiet and wary.
We would laugh about it on our way home, and I would tease him by saying “If only they knew how soft and sweet you really are,” to which he would snarl and say, “I’m only sweet to you, but the last thing I am around you is soft.”
We’d have sex as soon as we got home. Once we did it in the car in the underground parking lot of Aix. It was hot.
We join the guys in the great room. The bar in there is insane. Liquor, a mini fridge, an ice machine, and a fancy coffee machine like the one in the kitchen. Seems like overkill when you can make coffee in the kitchen and walk it over here for liquor.
Nathan carefully carries the Irish coffee he made for Kensie to where she sits by the fireplace where she’d been before dinner. This room, with its massive size and décor, reminds me of a luxurious hotel rather than a house. You’d think I’d be used to money and mansions and stuff like this by now.
I approach Sebastian, who’s still behind the bar, staring at a glass coffee mug—mine, I assume. “Can I help?”
He hesitates. “I don’t know how you take your coffee? Sweet? Dark? Do you like extra liquor? Less?”
His furrowed brows show his concern. I could hug him for caring. Who am I kidding? I could do a lot more than that.
I pat his hand. “It’s okay. I’m a sweet girl. Lots of sugar, creamer, and I’m a lightweight. So less on the alcohol, unless you want me to strip and run ice cubes all over my body,” I tease.
His pupils dilate. “You’ve done this before.”
“Yep. You watched. I was embarrassed because I was trying to get a job from you and thought I ruined the chance. Turns out you liked it, and you really liked my red bra.”
“Red bra? Where’s that been?”
I love that he’s interested and appears turned on. “Come to my room tonight, and I’ll show you.”
I walk away, letting him visualize that.
In the great room, I sit on the couch across from Nathan and Kensie and ask, “When does Riley arrive?”
Nathan puts his arm around Kensie. “He texted when he landed and is on his way; so soon.”
“Have you seen him since college?” The thought of seeing him stirs memories and unresolved feelings. The whole event we experienced together is still so bizarre, as well as how we were ripped from our lives and never got to see each other again or anyone after Marina had kidnapped us because we were thrust into Protective Custody.
“We’ve seen him twice.” Nathan nods and sips brown liquor from a small glass.
Kensie leans forward. “The first time, we visited him where he lives at Gia Gardner’s Santa Barbara mansion. Yes, I’m fan-girling. My grandma and mom were big fans of her movies. Nova is so pretty. I wish you were meeting her. You will at our wedding. She’s so cool and not a snobby celebrity at all. But her grandma isn’t snotty either, so I guess that’s where she gets it from.”
“So he’s not under protection anymore?”
Nathan shakes his head. “He left a while ago but stayed in hiding. He keeps in touch with Agent Keller, too.”
“Wow.” I haven’t heard that name in a while—not since I was relocated to Scotland and given a new handler.
“What made him feel safe enough to live in the public eye again? And with such a famous celebrity.”
“Nova doesn’t think she’s famous.” Kensie rolls her eyes.
