Not today.
But soon.
And then I’m gone, sneaking away from the one place I really want to stay.
Once on the path, I turn and take one last look at his house.
For one reckless second, I almost go back.
But I don’t.
His scent still lingers on my clothes as I disappear into the woods.
This will have to be enough.
For now.
30
SEBASTIAN
The first thing I notice when I get home is Drew.
He’s standing between the living room and the stairway, eyes wide and wild—like he’s ten toes down in an unwilling battle I know nothing about.
His head jerks to me the second I walk in, and his shoulders straighten. Like I caught him doing something he shouldn’t have been doing.
“Hey,” he says, voice a notch higher than usual.
I pause just inside the doorway, keys still in my hand.
“Hey,” I reply.
He watches me like he’s waiting for something. A reaction. A question. A confession.
I set my keys down slowly. “You okay?”
“Yeah. Yeah.” He nods several times like he’s trying to convince himself. “Just—long day.”
That makes two of us.
I head for the fridge. Drew shadows me, close enough that I can feel him there without looking.
“How was work?” he asks.
“Fine.”
“What did you do?”
“Meetings.”
“What kind?”
I stop and glance at him. “Why are you interrogating me?”
“I’m not interrogating,” he says too quickly. “I’m… engaging.”
That’s not a word Drew uses.
