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“Goodnight, Mia,” he says. There’s a softness to his voice, even though he has every right to be angry. This is the Sebastian I couldn’t help but develop feelings for, and the Sebastian I need to stay away from. Nice. Understanding. Good. “Keep an eye on your hand.”
A million things threaten to escape from my lips, but all I can manage is, “Goodnight, Sebastian.”
15
SEBASTIAN
The next morning,I dash out of my room while I’m still putting on my shirt. After I said goodnight to Mia, effectively ruining whatever moment had been brewing, good or bad, with my hand on her thigh, I actually slept… right through my alarm. Which means I’m late to conditioning. I needed to leave ten minutes ago, but I can’t find the cat.
I can’t have lost the damn cat.
“Tangerine?” I call again. “Where’d you go?”
Mia is awake—I heard her moving around while I dashed from my room to the bathroom and back again—but I don’t know whether she invited Tangerine into Izzy’s room last night. Probably, but I’m not going to be responsible for losing the cat my brother loves with a passion that’s rivaled only by what he feels for his girlfriend. Plus, I like the cat too, however many times she sticks her butt in my face.
I already checked downstairs, including the laundry room, and didn’t see her. She’s not in Cooper’s room, either, which means the only other place in the house she could be is Izzy’s room. If she’s not there—if last night, while sitting outside with Mia, stewing over the steel fucking barrier between us, I somehowlostthe cat—I won’t be able to forgive myself.
I knock on Izzy’s door. “Mia! Is Tangerine in there?”
She says something, but it’s muffled. Maybe she’s in the bathroom. I try the doorknob; it’s unlocked, so I push the door open. “Have you seen the—”
“Get out!” Mia shrieks.
I freeze—because there’s a very naked Mia di Angelo standing in my sister’s room, towel drying her hair.
The ache that erupts in me nearly makes me see stars. I’ve gone weeks and weeks without seeing this body, and for a moment, all I can do is stare. The sight of the soft curve of her belly, her wide hips, her gorgeous full tits, the birthmark on her ribcage, makes every single memory come rushing to the forefront of my mind. The way my hands spanned her waist. The little gasps she gave me when I sucked on her pert nipples. The taste of her, rich and edged in salt, and how she loved when I bit her inner thighs. Kissing her while my hands wound through her soft, dark hair until we were both breathless.
I miss her.
My heart thuds, keening, wishing I could hold her close enough to feel her heartbeat right alongside mine. I miss her body, and I miss having the privilege of touching her and tasting her, but I missher—her snark, her intelligence, her fire—most of all.
Even though we didn’t hook up until January, the feelings started the moment I saw her at the movie theater last fall. Cooper couldn’t resist cutting the line to talk to Penny, and Mia and I shared a look at the sight of our friends flirting. The feelings have only deepened since. Until a couple days ago, I barely saw her for weeks, but that just made them grow on a steady diet of yearning, the roots curling around my heart and digging in.
Reality comes crashing down in an instant. Friends don’t look at each other naked. She hasn’t magically decided that I’m allowed to see her like this again, which means I’m violating her privacy with every second I stand there, blatantly taking in that beautiful body.
I spin around, swallowing hard.
Friends. I can’t convince her—or myself—to be friends if I do shit like this.
“What the hell were you doing?” she demands.
“I’m trying to find Tangy.”
“She’s not with you?”
I manage to resist glancing over my shoulder. “No. Is she with you?”
“No,” she says.
Fuck. I can’t help but turn around. Mia has wrapped the towel around her torso. She still looks supremely annoyed, but worried too, as the implication about Tangerine sinks in.
“Let me get dressed,” she adds. “I’ll help you find her.”
“Coop will kill me if I let anything happen to this cat.”
She snorts, grabbing a pile of clothes off the bed and retreating into the bathroom. “And Penny will kill me,” she calls. “Unless you told Cooper, she doesn’t even know I’m here right now.”
I check Izzy’s room while she gets dressed, but I don’t see her amid the throw pillows or the clothes in the closet. She’s not underneath the bed, attacking the dust bunnies, either. I rub the back of my neck as I survey the room, eyes peeled for just a hint of that orange fur.
