Page 55 of Finally Forever
He—we—escaped before that happened. It would have altered Sebastian forever and made it impossible for him to escape. The mafia records the murder to use against you and puts the body in a place that can be reported to the feds, should you betray them. His father had abused him since he was a child, leaving emotional and physical scars—scars he covered with tattoos to hide their existence.
The well-dressed rebel I knew from a distance in college became my best friend, the love of my life, and my everything.
Someone knocks on the ensuite door.
I stare at it for a long moment, wondering if I imagined it, before saying, “Yes?”
“It’s me.” Sebastian’s deep voice sends a rush to my toes.
Why is he here? What does he want? Is this a sign? Does he remember? “It’s open,” I call out.
The door handle clicks, and Sebastian enters the luxurious space. His eyes sweep the bathroom before landing on me in the tub. His lips part as those brown-blue orbs take in my nakedness, slightly obscured by the cloudy water filled with oils and soaps.
He can’t be uncomfortable seeing me like this after what we did yesterday on the bed just outside this room.
He scrubs a hand over his mouth, a line of tension forming between his brows.
“Are you okay? Did you need something?” I ask, wanting to ease him.
“I didn’t expect you to...” He shakes his head. “I don’t know what I expected.”
“Not me naked in a tub?” I tease. “I can come find you when I’m done, if you want.”
“I figured you would be more shy than this.”
“Oh, I am. But not around you. I trust you. You know everything about me—even if it’s temporarily blocked. You know my body better than I do. I stopped being self-conscious around you a long time ago. You taught me that. You wanted me to be comfortable around you in all ways and I am.”Or I used to be.
“It throws me in a way I’m not used to. I don’t surprise easily. I know how to read a room and all the people in it. You’re sweet and sexy and innocent. You’re light and fun, and you don’t let people in easily. I expected that from you, not this…” He strolls toward me, eyes watchful, maybe waiting for me to flinch or cover up.
In a bold move, I say, “I love you, Sebastian. I know you, and I want you all the time. You losing your memory hasn’t changed that for me.”
He stops at the edge of the tub, his pants brushing the rim, and stares down, his eyes darkening with desire.
It gives me the courage to add, “I want you to take whatever you want or need from me. My mind, my memories, my body. I’m yours. I’ll always be yours.”
“Fuck,” he hisses and wipes his mouth again.
His hard erection bulges in his pants.
Good. I still affect him, and I’ll take it. I’ll take whatever I can get, convinced the more he’s with me, the better the chance that he’ll remember us.
“Want to join me? Isn’t that why you’re here?”
He doesn’t deny or admit anything. He lowers onto the stool beside the tub. “Is that how you got me? You offered yourself up like the sweetest fucking dessert I’ve ever seen?”
Sweetest fucking dessert he’s ever seen!My heart blooms at his words because up until now he hadn’t complimented me in that way—the way he used to. And little does he know, he just opened the door for me to insert a bit of our past.
“It wasn’t like that. I almost hit you with a door. I don’t know if you remember, but Ryland had these heavy wooden doors, and I’m on the petite side, so it took considerable effort to open them. One day, I rammed one open after I got kicked out of class, and you happened to be on the other side.”
His brows furrow. “You hit me?”
I giggle. “No. Your Spider-Man reflexes kicked in and you caught the door at the last second.”
His gaze drifts to the side like he’s trying to remember. “That wouldn’t be enough for me to engage in a conversation with you. I’m a very guarded person.”
“Oh, I know. But I saw the blood on your hand and thought I hurt you, so I couldn’t let you leave.”
He runs a finger over the blood droplet 3D tattoos on his knuckles that he had put there after he beat his dad in a fight for the first time in his life.
