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A small giggle broke from me before I could help it. Oh fudgesticks, he wasn’t joking.
Mortified, I smothered it with my napkin.
“It’s a real degree,” Jeremy said indignantly. “Worth just the same as one of your fancy, trumped-up ones.”
“Of course it is,” I said hastily. “I never meant to imply that…”
“S’all right,” Jeremy grumbled. “Guess I’m a bit sensitive about it.”
I softened. Maybe Jeremy wasn’t so bad. He obviously had some issues going on.
“Why’d you wear all that shit on your face?”
I froze, hoping beyond hope that I’d heard him incorrectly. “Excuse me?”
“All that girly shit.” He waved a hand in the general direction of my face. “I like my men to look like men.”
Strike three.
Before I could think of a response, cool hands landed on my shoulders, holding me steady. “Matty is every inch a man, regardless of what is on his face or the clothes he wears. You, on the other hand, are a pathetic excuse of a human who’ll soon get what’s coming to him.”
Sebastian.
Jeremy stood up, his ruddy cheeks flushing. “Now see here, we’re on a date. You can’t just barge over here and start interfering.”
Sebastian’s hands tightened on my shoulders. “Matty, do you want to continue this date?”
My voice was strained. “No, thank you.”
Sebastian moved up next to me but kept one hand on my shoulder. He looked just as put together as the night in the club—too perfect to be here among us mere mortals. The expression on his face as he stared down my date had me shivering. “Leave. Now.”
I’d expected Jeremy to argue, but he stood up without a word and left.
As soon as he was out of sight, I dropped my head into my hands. “Oh my goodness.”
“I take it that didn’t go as planned.”
“No,” I said miserably. “He seemed so normal on the app.”
Sebastian let go of my shoulder and I immediately mourned the loss. Fortunately, he wasn’t going far, just taking the seat Jeremy had just vacated. “Perhaps that’s where you’re going wrong. Surely you can’t find a suitable partner via an app.”
“Seems to work pretty well for most people.”
Sebastian’s green eyes were piercing as they met mine over the table. “You’re not ‘most people,’ Matty.”
I was saved from thinking up a response by the arrival of our waiter. He put my plate in front of me before looking at Sebastian uncertainly. “Umm, steak and chips?”
Sebastian’s lip curled like he’d been offered gruel. “Certainly not. I’ll take a glass of your finest cabernet, please.”
The waiter returned less than a minute later with his drink, before vanishing once more. “Are you not hungry?” I asked.
Sebastian’s lips twitched like I’d said something funny. “No. The wine will suffice.”
I took in his outfit—a smartly pressed shirt and suspenders. Oh no, had I interrupted him on a date? “Are you here with someone? You can get back to them if you like. I don’t want to keep you from them.”
“Don’t worry about that,” Sebastian said mildly, twirling the stem of his wine glass as he watched me. “Eat, Matty. You deserve to get one good thing from this night, even if it’s not the thing you were hoping for.”
I gave him a cautious smile before tucking in. I couldn’t help but give a small moan as the flavours exploded on my tongue.
