Page 100 of Late Nights & Love Lines
I exhale a heavy puff of air through my teeth. “Sure, Seren. Thanks.”
Her cheeks blush, and then she scurries away as only preteen girls can—with a bounce in her step, her arms swinging side to side.
Meow.
“Not today, Lucky.”
Still a little shaky on my feet, I’m not ready to return to the party yet, so instead, I stand on the outside, peeking in on what it means to be part of a family.
“Look at them, Lucky. They make it appear so easy. It’s a dance that everyone knows but me.”
Meow.
“I swear you’re out here just to curse me.”
Sebastian laughs, and my gaze returns to the window. It’s truly a dance that they do, passing plates and touching shoulders as they move around each other so as not to collide. They’re in perfect harmony while I’m still out of key.
I entermy room after a very long, hot shower, and open my mouth, but the scream dies on my lips when I find it’s Sebastian sitting on my bed with the lights off.
“What the heck are you doing sitting in the dark? You nearly gave me a heart attack.”
“We haven’t really had a chance to talk,” he says.
No, we didn’t because the house was overrun with people for hours.
“It was a pretty busy night.”
“How are you doing?” He keeps his voice low, but the tendril of worry is a caress around his words.
Unwrapping the towel around my hair, I hang it up on the back of my door so I don’t have to face him yet.
“I’m okay. Peopling is really exhausting though.” The words are barely out before the air shifts and his gaze blazes across my skin.
“Yeah, I guess it is. Especially when you’re not used to it.”
Mindlessly, I brush my hair, nodding in agreement. He sits patiently until I have nothing left to hide behind and sink into the mattress next to him.
His arm snakes around my shoulders as he pulls me into his side as if he never heard me say I’m not a cuddler. I actively choose to ignore that some small, tiny, insignificant piece of me is beginning to crave the connection.
“Do you have any idea how much you’ve given us these past few weeks?”
“Seb,” I whisper.
With his free hand, he cups my cheek and tilts my face up to his. “I’m serious, Rowan. When we first arrived, Seren was so angry. It was all she could see, and it was eating her up for months. Three weeks with you, and she’s smiling again. And hearing her laugh, God, it’s been so long since I heard her laugh, and you did that—you connect with her in a way I couldn’t. You pull Miles out of the old man mentality and allow him to simply be a kid, and you’ve always accepted Kade for the cannonball that he is.”
“I really haven’t done anything. They’re good kids, Sebastian. Good kids going through a tough time, and they’re more resilient than us. They would have been fine regardless of who their nanny was or will be.”
“I disagree.” Those two words are laced with frustration, but he doesn’t push the subject more. “I have a question, and a favor to ask.” He sounds almost nervous, and when I look up into his green eyes, I see the hesitation in the windows to his soul.
“Okay, this sounds ominous.” Damn my sweaty hands. Placing my palms on my mattress, I wipe them, then scoot myself back against the headboard to give me a little space.
Sebastian kicks off his shoes and crawls up the bed. With a hand on each knee, he separates them so he can settle himself between my thighs.
“Not ominous, my little rain cloud. Optimistic, yes. Pragmatic is fair. Hopeful for sure.”
His hands run long, smooth patterns up and down my legs from my shins to my thighs where my sleep shorts end. His thumbs swirl in a circular motion that causes my brain to short-circuit. He’s making it really hard to focus on his words.
“What’s the question, and what’s the favor?”
