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“I know I don’t, but I will. So tell me what you need, and it’s yours.”
Time stalls out for a short while as the sentiment sinks in. He means it too. I can tell from the steel set of his jaw and the gravel in his voice. This is a Sebastian who could move mountains. Who saw this house and made it his personal mission to own it.
Who is now looking at me as though I’m someone to be in awe of.
It’s powerful.
My brother has been calling him family for years now. Perhaps Sebastian agrees and I simply never realized it extended to me as well. That he’d think of me the same way he thinks of Aiden.
Like family.
Somehow that thought hurts about as much as it pleases.
“Okay” is all I can choke out.
As I settle in at the sink, he takes his place by my side, and I can’t stop a smile.
“The first lesson you should learn is to not lie,” he says, and I startle. “I knew I could smell bleach.”
I look back in time to catch his brilliant smile. It honestly takes me thirty seconds to parse his reply, because goddamn, that smile. Crimes have been committed for less.
“Dibs on telling Aiden,” I joke, hoping he can’t see my blush while I’m looking down at the bubbles.
He takes the mug from my hands, our fingers brushing. “Go ahead. As long as you’re prepared for him to gift you sponges for the next year.”
Oh, god. That’s exactly what Aiden will do.
“You’re allowed to take up space, Bee. I want you to.” His touch is gentle. “You don’t need to hide from me.”
I’ve never wanted to be seen by anyone the way I want him to see me, but I’m also nervous about what he’ll make of it. Maybe this whole time I’ve been cleaning up all those surfaces when I should have been sorting out myself.
9
BEE
“I always wonderedhow you did that.”
I pause, the razor perched over my brow. Sebastian leans against the doorframe behind me, arms folded over his chest. He’s rocking a red flannel today, his hair tied back. It’s sexy as hell and way too distracting.
With a razor in my hand, there’s nothing to do except finish tidying up the slit in my brow. No way to distract from the shiver that runs down my spine at his attention.
Sebastian lingers, his dark denim standing out against the faded pink walls. Between that and the red patterned tiles, I can’t tell if it’s giving Barbie Dreamhouse or Pepto Bismol nightmare. One day, I’ll find the original owner and ask what they were thinking.
All I can hear is the soft scrape of the razor. My breaths begin to fog up the mirror as I lean in. When it’s done, I don’t know what comes next. Does he need the bathroom? Is he waiting for me to leave?
As I clear the sink and wash up, Sebastian steps inside, the small space leaving no room between us. Side by sidelike this, the heat of his body is pressed against me. I’m vaguely aware that I’m standing still, not saying a thing, as he pulls a trimmer from the drawer.
“How well can you handle beards?”
This has to be some kind of test.
“I don’t know. I’ve never tried before.”
Sebastian’s eyes glow emerald under the overhead light. “I’ll be your first, then.”
Oh, god, okay. It’s fine. I can do this.
Just get up close and personal with Sebastian while holding a sharp object and wondering how I can talk him out of that shirt.
