by Hazel Kelly
Sebastian’s kindness satisfied a need in me that I didn’t know I had.
“Seriously, Lil, there’s nothing I wouldn’t do for you. Nothing you can’t talk to me about. Pillow of trust, remember?”
My chest loosened with a laugh. “Wow. I haven’t thought about the pillow of trust in a long time.”
“I have,” he said. “The pillow of trust got an earful from me after you left.”
I imagined how strange it must’ve been for him to suddenly have his pillow all to himself, how strange it must’ve been to stare across the empty pillowcase where my face used to be when I would whisper my dreams to him, dreams I had for me. For us.
“I wouldn’t let my mom wash it for ages because it still smelled like you.”
I blinked at him.
“I’ve missed you, Lily. I’ve missed us.”
“Me too,” I said, wishing on every faint star in the sky that “us” didn’t have to be a memory. “Me too.”
F O U R T E E N
- Sebastian -
“No, I’m fine,” she said. “The champagne totally went to my head.”
I knew it was true from the flush of her cheeks. “Would you mind bringing a Hendricks with elderflower tonic please?” I said to the waiter. “Just in case she gets a scratch in her throat or something.”
“Sebastian,” she said when the server walked away.
I raised a palm. “You needn’t object. I only got it in case you change your mind about letting me drink alone.”
“I haven’t been this tipsy since…” She squinted at the sky. “That time we got kicked out of the roller rink.”
I smiled at the memory, remembering how we drank warm cans of beer behind the building and then fumbled all over the place once we hit the floor. She fell into my arms that night more times than I could count. “I remember. We got Petey’s on the way home, and you ate all your fries and mine.”
“You should’ve eaten yours faster. I was on a mission.”
I grabbed another slice of toasted bruschetta from the plate between us. “I got in big trouble that night.”
“Did you?”
I nodded. “My dad smelled beer on me before I was halfway up the driveway.”
“What did he say?”
“He said I smelled like a brewery and that it was reckless to get so wasted when I was responsible for your safety.”
“You kept me plenty safe.”
“I know. That’s why I set him straight and told him the only thing that hadn’t been safe that night was the warm beer he left in the garage.”
“Uh-oh.”
“It was straight to my room after that.”
“I don’t think my dad ever even knew we drank,” she said. “His own breath was always too boozy to notice.”
“Every cloud, eh?”
She cut her bruschetta in half with a fork and knife, causing her delicate gold bangles to slide down her arm. “So tell me everything,” she said. “What have I missed since we last saw each other?”
“Well, I ended up taking that scholarship for Cornell’s accounting program.”
“Did you like it there?”
“I liked taking classes that I wanted to take, and I liked meeting people with different backgrounds.” I watched a piece of bruschetta disappear behind her red lips and completely lost my train of thought.
“Did you join a frat or anything?”
I narrowed my eyes at her.
“Just curious,” she said with a shrug. “Sometimes I wonder if I’ve missed out on some of the social aspects of getting a degree.”
“You haven’t missed anything in my opinion. If you’ve ever been to a messy party, you got the idea. And no, I didn’t join a frat.”
“Did you think about it?”
“I did, yeah, but a lot of the students were from much wealthier backgrounds than me, and I wasn’t interested in being the token Latino, if that makes sense.”
“I suppose.”
“Plus, I was really focused on learning about the stock market, which took up a lot of my free time and determined the majority of my peer group.”
“I see.”
“Which is why I dress like a rich kid from upstate now.”
A smile pricked her cheeks. “It suits you.”
“Thanks,” I said. “It took some getting used to, but I like to look nice.”
“I get it.”
“Obviously.”
She blushed.
“Though I can’t imagine the other call center workers own dresses with slits that high.”
Her eyes flashed. “Were you checking out my slit?”
“More like plotting how to get inside it.”
She laughed.
My cheeks burned. “That was worse than the taco slip.”
“I forgive you.”
“Maybe for the things I’ve said out loud. Not sure you’d forgive me for the comments I’ve kept to myself.”
Her head fell to the side. “Try me?”
“Not a chance,” I said. “I might sometimes say the wrong thing when I’m distracted by a beautiful woman, but I still endeavor to be a gentleman.”
“In public.”
“Oh yeah. In private all bets are off. You know that.”
She kept her eyes on me as she swallowed.
The server arrived a moment later and replaced the empty plate between us with the last of our three appetizers. “Octopus calamari with sun-dried tomato sauce and two gin and tonics,” he said, narrating his actions as he moved things to and from his tray. “Enjoy.”
“Have you had octopus before?” I asked, extending my palm to encourage her to serve herself first.
“Once,” she said.
“With who?”
She cast her eyes down at the table.
“Sorry, you don’t have to answer that.”
“It’s okay,” she said. “Just a friend.”
My chest loosened. I knew it was ridiculous to be jealous of everyone she’d spent time with in the last five years, but it was hard not to be.
“There have only been friends, actually.”
I clenched my jaw.
“Since you.”
I searched her eyes for a moment before she flicked them down to the dip, spooning some onto her new plate.
“In case you were wondering.”
“It’s none of my business,” I said. “I shouldn’t have had that reaction.”
“It’s okay.”
I used the small silver tongs to put some calamari on my plate.
“I mean, there’s a reason I haven’t asked about your love life,” she said. “Just the thought of other girls swiping your picture on Tinder fills me with irrational envy.”
“I never tried Tinder.”
“Really? I thought I was the only person in the country under twenty-five who hadn’t.”
I smoothed my napkin across my lap. “Tinder is for people who don’t know what they want.”
“I know some people who would patently disagree with that comment, but I’m willing to hear you out.”
“I suppose I just feel like…once you’ve found the best thing on the menu, what’s the point of even looking at it again?”
“You think you’ve had the best thing on the menu?”
I fixed my eyes on hers. “I know I have.”
She bit the inside of her lip.
“So I’m not bothered about the latest daily specials, if that makes sense.”
“What are you bothered by?”
“Not knowing if the dish I want is still available?”
She glanced down and dragged a crispy ring through her sauce. “You’re not worried about having the dish you once loved and finding out that it’s not as good as you remember?” She raised her gaze and popped her freshly prepared bite in her mouth.
“No,” I said. “I’m not at all worried about that.”
She kept her eyes on me as she chewed, but I couldn’t read her mind. Surely she wasn’t insinu
ating that my skills in the bedroom had deteriorated over time. That would be ridiculous. I was much better informed about the female body now than I had been when she first let me touch her most secret parts.
Besides, by the way she carried herself, she knew her body better than ever, too.
I dropped my eyes to my plate and dipped a ring in my red sauce, smiling when I realized she was only teasing me, daring me, begging me to make a move.
Which I would.
Because one kiss would be enough.
Or it wouldn’t be.
And then I’d know everything I needed to know.
F I F T E E N
- Lily -
Being with Sebastian again was like a fairy tale.
Had it always been this good? Or did it just feel that way because life had been so uncertain since my father’s death?
I finished my gin, washing away the decadent taste of the final dessert of the evening (a sinful chocolate mousse that was as light as it was rich), and made my way over to the balcony.
The balconies directly below the restaurant were covered in manicured gardens, and as I looked out over the city, I couldn’t help but feel like I was in some sort of modern castle.
If only New York were my kingdom and Sebastian my prince.
But I knew that notion was silly. He was a prince all right, but on paper, I was nothing but a lowly escort whose sole purpose was to serve the city’s nobility. I wasn’t princess material, and I’d be discovered soon enough.
Then again, part of me believed I could hide the truth a little longer.
After all, Sebastian was almost making it too easy. When he looked in my direction, I could feel the warmth of his attention and the confidence he had in me. It was almost as if he wanted to be deceived, wanted to think I hadn’t changed, and wanted to believe my leaving had nothing to do with him.
He came up behind me when he returned from the bathroom and rested his hands on the railings beside mine, pinning me in place.
The wind from the city below rushed up past me, blowing my hair behind my shoulders. “That meal was amazing,” I said, willing him to press his body against mine.
He gathered my hair in his hands and pulled it to one side.
My neck broke out in chills when I felt his breath draw close, and I froze as he dragged his lips lightly against my neck.
“The first six courses were wasted,” he said. “You enjoyed dessert the most.”
“Who wouldn’t?” I asked, feigning a calmness I didn’t feel. “I mean, those little cheesecake slices with the berries, my God.”
He breathed me in, and my whole body clenched at his touch.
“Admit you wore red for me,” he said, pressing his hard-on between the cheeks of my ass.
I wanted him so bad I thought I might cry, and it pained me to think I’d been settling for less.
“Admit you knew I’d be drawn to you like a bull in that dress.”
Shivers erupted around every hot kiss he placed on my neck. “I hoped,” I admitted, closing my eyes as he pulled me against him.
I gripped the metal railing and let my head fall back against his shoulder, my body weakening as he slid a hand up to my neck.
I could feel my heart pounding against his palm, my pulse racing against his fingertips.
“You make me want to do very bad things, Lily,” he said, his breath teasing my cheekbone. “You make me want to forget about being a gentleman.”
My chest panted against the weight of his heavy arm until I was high from his touch, but when he turned me around to face him, the dark lust in his eyes grounded me from head to toe.
Then he pressed his hungry lips to mine and parted my mouth, tasting me with a passion that made my stomach flip.
I leaned into his kiss, swirling my tongue around his as he slid a hand up the back of my neck and pulled my hair just hard enough to make me gush.
Suddenly, he stopped for breath and pressed his forehead against mine, his eyes cast down on my heaving chest.
“What is it?” I asked.
“You taste even better than I remember.”
He kissed me again before I could smile, kissed me so hard my knees grew weak.
I grabbed his shoulders to brace myself, and he slid his hand into the high slit of my dress.
He didn’t ask me to spread my legs, but his large hand parted my thighs with no problem, and when his fingers grazed the outside of my burning thong, I bit his lower lip.
He smiled and curled his fingertips, pressing the lace against my wet seam. “Fuck,” he breathed, twisting his hand around the fabric.
“Someone might come,” I whispered as he teased my swollen bud.
“Someone better,” he said, his eyes flashing at me.
I chewed my lip as he massaged me, hitting all the spots only he knew about and proving that he remembered everything I’d whispered across his pillow so long ago.
Then he dropped his lips to my neck again, his focus on me so concentrated it felt like a dirty dream.
When a whimper escaped my throat, he took it as a cue to force me open.
I thought he’d go slow, thought he’d break me in one finger at a time, but it seemed his fingers weren’t willing to wait their turn. Instead, the thrust of his plunging wrist forced a silent gasp from me that evaporated from my throat as my head fell back.
He stirred so much desire in me I feared I might faint from how severely my body pulsed around him. “Sebastian,” I breathed, losing myself in the cloud of pleasure I’d become.
His thumb found my swollen bud and his hand played me like an upright bass. “Come for me, Lily,” he said, growling against my jawline.
I turned my head and found his lips with my own, stealing his air as my body burned for him. Then I grabbed a clump of his hair and shook against him, panting against his lips as my whole body pulsed.
“Keep coming,” he demanded. “I want it all.”
The flood came a moment later, and I bent towards him like a boomerang, trembling between him and the railing in the sky as I came at his touch like I used to.
Only better.
S I X T E E N
- Sebastian -
I stared at her parted lips as I lifted my wet fingers to my mouth.
Her smoky eyes watched as I sucked her sweet taste from them.
“Sebastian, I—” She cast her lashes down, grabbed my wrist with both hands, and brought my palm to her décolletage.
I spread my hand across her bare skin and felt her breath, her pulse, her heat.
When she lifted her face, her eyes were smiling.
I clenched my jaw. “You make me forget myself.”
“Funny,” she said. “You seem to have the opposite effect on me.”
I licked my lips, my craving for her still unsatisfied. “When was the last time you fooled around in a car?”
“What?”
“Sorry.”
She raised her eyebrows.
“What I meant to say was, would you like to see my new car?”
“Depends,” she said, trailing a red fingernail down the front of my shirt.
“I’ll let you touch the radio and everything.”
“Does it have a roomy interior?”
“Very roomy,” I said. “So I can fill it with lots of manly things like firewood and tools.”
“Does it have tinted windows?”
My cock surged. “Of course. I’m a very private man.”
“Sounds…nice.”
“Any other questions?” I asked. “Because I’m really keen to show it to you.”
Her eyes flicked down to the bulge in my pants and she swallowed. I swear to God she swallowed. Did she know what she was doing to me?!
“Then I only have one more question,” she said.
“Dear God I hope I have the right answer.”
“How’s your backseat driving?” she asked, batting her heavy lashes.
“Fuck,” I breathed. Then I grabbed her hand and turned t
owards the elevator, pulling her behind me.
“We have to pay the bill,” she said, yanking my arm so I would slow down.
“It’s already taken care of.”
“Tonight was supposed to be my treat.”
“Oh, it will be,” I said, flashing my brows as I gave the elevator button a quick double tap.
“I’m not so delicate I can’t bear to see a check, you know?”
“I know.” I clasped my hands in front of me and rocked back on my heels, desperate to keep my increasingly distracting hard-on under wraps.
“It’s not necessary to give me this celebrity treatment.”
“It’s not celebrity treatment,” I said, holding the parted doors. “It’s simply what you deserve.”
A couple appeared from behind some nearby curtains and approached the elevator.
“Sorry,” I said, raising a palm and pressing another button to close the door. “Two is the capacity after nine.”
They shared a confused glance before disappearing from view when we sank towards the earth.
I looked across the elevator. Lily’s expression looked so youthful it almost made me forget that she was in a floor-length stunner. She could have been in pigtail braids and overalls, and I would’ve wanted her just as badly.
“So you drove here?”
“I had a late meeting nearby,” I said. “Figured I’d pick up my car tomorrow morning.”
She took a deep breath and clasped her clutch in front of her. “That was nice, what you did up there.”
“Nice?! You haven’t been waiting five years for nice.”
She blushed. “I didn’t mean it like that. You know what I meant.”
I shook my head. “It’s too late. I can’t unhear it.”
“Sebastian—”
“Nope.” I raised my palms between us. “I’m going to have to try again. That’s all there is to it.”
She rolled her eyes.
“I hope you’re getting excited,” I said as the doors opened.
“Oh, I am,” she said, walking through the pay station lobby towards the underground garage. “It’s not every day I get to tour the backseat of a new car.”
I stopped in my tracks. “That sounds awful. I should take you somewhere else. This is ridiculous.”
