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Understanding dawned in Quinn’s eyes. “You’re talking about the Harris case,” he said.
Sebastian nodded. “He didn’t do it.”
Quinn didn’t answer, and the silence was heavy as it settled around them.
Will and Peyton shared a look.
Jericho decided it was time he steered the conversation elsewhere. Sebastian had clammed up, and he wasn’t going to give them more, and he doubted this was something that he and Quinn were on the same page about. In many ways, they were on different sides of the fence professionally.
Distracting them by flirting outrageously was an effective tactic. Making them all blush was an added bonus that he enjoyed.
Persephonetriedherbestto get in the way as Sebastian led Jericho and Will through the living room and across the wide hallway to the spare rooms. One was at the front of the house, and the other further back towards the balcony, overlooking the beach.
Before they could bypass the first room, Jericho peered inside, leaning his elbow and forearm on the doorframe. “I can’t have this room?” he asked, his mouth tilting up.
“Sure, if single beds andPhineas and Ferbare your thing.” His nephews, Alex and Tristan, went through a lot of phases, and that was their current phase. The room was theirs for when they spent the odd weekend. The second spare was for his niece, Claire, but it was a relatively normally decorated room because she’d decided she was “too old” for that now. Old at eight. It made Sebastian feel ancient.
“They could be,” Jericho said. “If I knew what they were.”
Will grinned. “You never watched? Perry the Platypus?”
“That’s… an odd name for a platypus.”
“It’s better than Heinz Doofenshmirtz.”
Jericho blinked. Sebastian could sympathise. “Now you’re just making up names. Someone named their platypus that?”
“No, he’s the bad guy. Though he’s more like a mildly annoying guy thatthinkshe’s a villain; he’s terrible at it,” Will said. “He’s my favourite.”
“He’s your favourite?” Sebastian asked in surprise. He closed the door firmly and led them further down, past the downstairs bathroom, the stairs, and the laundry room.
“I love a good underdog,” Will said.
“Me too,” Jericho said helpfully. “But I’m sorry to say, you can’t keep a platypus as a pet.”
“Well, he’s not an ordinary platypus. He’s a secret agent.”
Jericho ran a hand through his hair and tugged on the ends of the strands. There were hints of light streaks in his hair. Sebastian didn’t know whether they were natural or not—he still couldn’t tell which parts were real and which weren’t with this man—but they added an extra depth to the shoulder length that was eye-catching.
“Let me get this straight,” Jericho said. “There’s a TV show, for kids I assume, that has two characters called Phineas and Ferb—I’m going to go out on a limb and say that they’re the two on the bedspread, including the one with atrianglehead—and there’s a platypus named Perry, who’s a secret agent, and a bad guy named Heinz Doofenshmirtz?”
“Yeah, basically,” Sebastian said. He’d followed that easier than Sebastian would have if he’d never seen the show before.
“Huh.” Jericho peered into the room that would be his. If it were up to Sebastian, he’d tell him to sleep in his car, but Quinn would give himthatlook. “Sounds like a riot. I should watch it.”
“I think the kids have some DVDs here,” Sebastian said dryly. “You’re welcome to watch them.”
“I appreciate that,” Jericho replied, his eyes roving the room. It was fairly basic, with light blues and whites and a large window with an empty chest of drawers underneath it. There were pictures of Sebastian and his siblings on it. Sebastian had no idea where his designer had gotten them and had been too afraid to ask. Claire seemed to like them, so he hadn’t moved them.
Jericho picked one up, studying it curiously. “Where’s your room?” he asked.
“Why? Are you planning on sneaking in during the night?”
Jericho looked up, and their eyes met. Sebastian had no idea what he saw in them. They were a different colour today, a bright blue instead of the green or even the colour he’d had as “Warren.” Sebastian was as curious as the others to know what his real colour was. How many different colours did he use?
“Hey, if there’s room, I’m game,” Jericho said. “Just point me in the right direction.”
“Tempting,” he deadpanned. It was more tempting than Sebastian wanted to admit. Something had happened in his office the other day that he’d studiously ignored. Having a mild attraction to a person didn’t mean anything. There were a lot of people in the world, and the idea that he wouldonlyever be attracted to the three men he’d found himself in a relationship with made little sense. It didn’t mean, however, that he had to do anything about it or dwell on it. It meant nothing in the bigger scheme of what was actually important to him.
