CHAPTERTWENTY-SEVEN
Stella
We’re both laughing, hand in hand, when we stumble up the stairs and into Theo’s living room later that evening.
Seb took my suggestion of making things up to me seriously. I’ve had the best day, and I can’t wipe the smile off my face. Okay, so we were followed everywhere by two bodyguards that Damien had assigned to me, but after a while I forgot they were there and just lost myself in enjoying everything the city has to offer.
He took me on the Eye, to the aquarium and the dungeons. It was incredible. And he even managed to look almost as excited by it all as me, despite the fact that he’s done it all before.
He ended the day with a picnic in Hyde Park. Fall was almost upon us, the leaves were beginning to turn a beautiful array of orange, and there was a chill in the air—but with the blanket he bought wrapped around us, it was the perfect end to a pretty spectacular day.
It sure beat going back to school this morning and being the subject of everyone’s attention. I know it’s coming. I can’t keep putting it off and doing online learning forever. But today was worth it.
I felt normal again. He allowed me to see a future where all of this bullshit was gone and maybe, just maybe, we could actually find a way to be together.
It’s the weirdest thought after everything. But Seb is very quickly turning into my favorite person. Not that I intend on telling him that. His ego is already big enough.
He just… he gets me. He knows how to make me laugh, exactly the right thing to say either to make me happy or to piss me off more than I thought possible. And I kind of love both equally. For as incredible and soft and loving Seb has been, I still can’t help craving him wicked.
“You two look like you’ve had a good day,” Theo mutters, looking up from his laptop.
“We sure have. Excuse us,” Seb mutters, pulling me toward his room. “I’ve not nearly eaten enough today.”
His dark, hungry eyes hold mine, ensuring I understand exactly what he means by that statement.
“Should I go out?” Theo asks seriously.
“Do whatever the fuck you like, man. We won’t notice.”
He mumbles something about needing to get laid, but I barely hear it with the way Seb’s eyes bore into mine.
“I need you,” he confesses quietly, wrapping his hand around the side of my neck and stroking my jaw with his thumb.
The door closes behind us, and it’s just the two of us once again.
The air grows thick with desire around us as he continues rendering me useless with just his possessive touch and his intoxicating stare.
His head dips as if he’s going to kiss me, but then he stops himself at the last minute, a thought hitting him.
“Seb?”
“Go sit on the bed. I’ve got something for you.”
“O-okay.”
Reluctantly, I step away from him. My heart is racing, my pulse thundering through my veins, all of which seem to collide at my clit, and I rub my thighs together as I take a seat, needing something to lessen the ache.
I watch as he opens his closet and pulls a wrapped box out. A birthday present.
My breath catches as I think back to him outside my hospital room. Was he sitting beside me on my birthday while I was out of it? Probably.
Knowing what I now know about the guy walking toward me, he probably spent the day holding my hand and begging for me to wake up just so I could shout at him.
“You didn’t need to—”
“Just open it, please,” he says, lowering the box to my lap and sitting down beside me.
“Okay,” I breathe, lifting my trembling hands to the bow on the top and pulling it open.