“I’m not interested in who is or isn’t cute.” I grab a handful of cashews and stuff them in my mouth. “There is no time for me to date right now. We’re in the middle of hurricane season. I might be starting a new job. Where does a relationship fall into the equation?”
“It’s been too long since you were with someone, Quin.” Mia’s gaze is sharp, assessing. “Three years, right?”
Something like that.
It might be closer to four.
I’ve gone on first dates. I’ve made it to some second dates, but the third date is when things take a turn. I’m too deep into my work. I go all day without checking my phone and miss messages and plans being set up. There’s always an apology. A promise it’s a one-time thing and a rain check that never happens.
I’ve tried the friends-with-benefits route, something physical and easy. No expectations, no pressure. Those last longer, but eventually, they fizzle out too.
It’s not that I don’t believe in love like Harlow.
I’m a secret romantic. I could see myself getting married one day. Could see myself making pancakes on a Sunday morning with a man who wraps his arms around my waist and tells me how beautiful I am. He’d tug me away from my desk after I worked too late, not upset I spent an afternoon in front of my computer instead of with him. We’d argue, but it wouldn’t get very far before we kissed and made up.
I bet it would be nice to have someone light up when they saw me from across the room.
“Yeah.” I swirl my drink around with the cinnamon stick poking out of my glass. I wonder what the record for longest stretch of time without entertaining a man is. I’m probably closing in on the leaderboard. “Around there.”
“Could it be because you have eyes for someone else? Say …” Mia gives me a coy grin. “My brother?”
“What?” I choke out a cough. “You’re not serious.”
“I watched your videos from Claudia. The two of you have chemistry.”
“We have a shared passion for weather and get excited when we indulge in that passion. That’s notchemistry. It’s being professional when I’m forced to be in his presence for an extended amount of time. Especially when I’m on camera. I can’t have the Sebastian Dunn Fan Club coming after me.”
I don’t mention our dinner at Waffle House. I don’t let them know I joined him willingly, sitting and listening to the raw scratch of his voice as he told me deep, dark secrets not even his best friends know. The vulnerability I saw from him and how it made my heart ache. I certainly don’t bring up the sweatshirt I tried to return to him when we got back to my car, the shake of his head when he told me to hold on to it following me all the way home.
“You are cursing his name a lot less,” Harlow adds. “Maybe spending time with him is changing your tune.”
“Just because I’m not resorting to violence doesn’t make us friends. Did seeing him rescue that woman make me realize there’s a sliver of selflessness inside him? Perhaps.” I sip my drink, needing to clear my head. To give myself a second to stall before going any further. The memory of the car stuck in the water is still fresh in my mind. It lingers when I’m trying to fall asleep. Plays back like a movie late at night, the image of his strong rower’s body moving water like he was the force of nature. “It’s good to know he’s not totally an arrogant spawn of Satan.”
“Is that how you feel about me.” The voice behind me is a caress down my back. Featherlight touches and a bite mark on the inside of my thigh. “This might be the best night of my life.”
My mouth goes dry. White-hot mortification settles over me, the bar exponentially warmer than it was two minutes ago. Myblood pressure is spiking. My eyes flutter closed then open as I turn my head, a dagger landing square in my chest.
There, staring right at me with tousled hair and his necklace twisted around his fingers, is Sebastian giving me the world’s biggest shit-eating grin.
“Harlow. Mia.” He moves his attention to my friends, relaxing against the wall like he’s going to be here for a while. “Are y’all having a good night?”
“Seb!” Mia jumps to her feet, giving him a hug. “When you said you were going out with the guys, I thought you meant to The Hideout or a restaurant in town.”
“So did I, but we decided to mix it up.” He ruffles her hair, and I smile, proud when her knuckles land in his stomach. Dark eyes turn back to me. “Can’t tell you how much your kind words mean. Are you back to doodling my name in your diary?”
“Only in your dreams,” I toss back.
“That’s a shame. I bet we would be good together.”
I blush so hard my cheeks must be bright red. I do my best to toss my hair over my shoulder, to look unaffected by his sudden appearance, but I catch his eyes dipping to my lips. They linger on the corner of my mouth for a beat, pupils blown wide, before they drag away.
“I need another drink.” I stand and bump his arm with my elbow. “Does anyone else want something?”
“I’ll take another one of whatever this spicy concoction is.” Harlow arranges our glasses into a neat line. “Please, best friend of mine.”
“Mia?”
“No, thank you.” She puts a hand on her stomach. “But I would take some food. I’m starving, and I haven’t had dinner.”
