“You’re one to talk.”
What did he say to that? He glanced over at Wesleyagain, but Wesley had turned to Rory now, so Sebastian spun Edith in a half circle, lifting her all the way off the floor, so he wouldn’t have to come up with an answer.
They danced four songs together, the dance floor crowded and swinging, and Sebastian was grinning and breathless himself by the end. When the band finally took a break, he and Edith headed toward the edge of the dance floor together.
“I could use a drink,” Edith said.
“On me.” Sebastian really had enjoyed the dancing and it was the least he could do. “Then I must go back to my friends.”
“Must you?” Edith said lightly.
Sebastian offered her a sheepish smile. “I do.”
“Oh.” She smiled ruefully. “You got a girl already, don’t you? Of course you do. I should’ve guessed.”
“You are an excellent dancer,” Sebastian said earnestly. “And it is a joy to dance with a beautiful woman. I would still very much like to buy you that drink.”
She sighed, still smiling. “You even know how to turn a girl down like a gentleman. Yeah, all right, I’ll take that drink.”
There was a crowd at the bar, so they stood at the back. Sebastian made eye contact with Mack the bartender, who nodded at him.
“What would you like?” Sebastian started to ask Edith.
Only to have someone grab his shoulder, hard enough to bruise, and spin him around.
He was suddenly staring into the face of an angry white man of Arthur’s size. “Who the fuck are you?” the man demanded. He was flushed red across his face, angry or drunk or both. “You dancing with my girl?”
“Billy, I told you, I ain’t seeing you anymore,” Edith snapped.
Sebastian tried to pull away, but Billy’s fingers dug painfully into his shoulder. “She says she’s not seeing you,” Sebastian said, low and angry.
“I say she is,” Billy said, through clenched teeth.
With a hard tug, Sebastian wrenched himself out of Billy’s grasp. “Leave her alone,” he started to say.
But Billy had already cocked his arm back.
Sebastian instinctively reached for his magic.
It was like reaching for a gun and finding only the holster. Reaching for a sword to find the scabbard bare.
Too late, Sebastian remembered his magic was gone, and he didn’t have the time or coordination to duck.
Well shitwas all he had time to think, and then Billy’s fist was flying toward his face.
* * *
Wesley was doing an excellent job of pretending not to watch Sebastian, if he did say so himself. And it wasn’t bloody easy, thank you very much, because Sebastian was graceful as a stag out on the dance floor. The girl was quite good as well, light on her feet as Sebastian spun her around. The pair of them looked like they were having fun.
And if Sebastian had effortlessly dipped the girl nearly to the floor and then pulled her into his arms, and Wesley had pulled out his first cigarette in three days, well. That was nobody’s business but Wesley’s.
Arthur was deep in conversation with Jade, but Rory was eying Wesley. “Sebastian keeps looking over here, you know. Trying to check in with you.”
The music was changing and—oh, brilliant, a fuckingtango, why not give Sebastian and his partner reasonsto all but frot on the dance floor? Wesley forced his eyes back to his smoke.
“He oughtn’t bother.” Wesley struck a match. “He’s a grown man. And more to the point,I’ma grown man, one who appreciates that dancing is an art, and whose partner is welcome to dance his way through Manhattan if he likes.” He lit the end of the cigarette and inhaled deeply.
“Uh-huh,” Rory said skeptically. “So you’re not going to admit you’re jealous?”
