CHAPTER FOUR
In the morning when his alarm went off, Sebastian was exhausted and half-convinced that the whole hookup with Luke Crawford had been a really fucking weird dream brought on by stress and not enough sleep.
But when he squinted at the brightness of his phone screen and checked the hookup app, there was proof of their conversation, just like he remembered it.
And when he stumbled out into the living room, still half-asleep, he found his jersey next to an abandoned bottle of lube on the coffee table and a bunch of tissues in the trash.
Huh.
So that really happened then. Sebastian rubbed a hand over his face. That was probably the most bizarre hookup he’d ever experienced.
But not bad.
That was the worst part of it. He’d enjoyed every second of it. The way Crawford had gripped his hair, the stretch of his dick in Sebastian’s mouth. The way he’d taunted him.
It wasn’t so much that Sebastian was into humiliation—plenty of guys had tried that and it had always seemed so fucking contrived and pathetic. But with the low simmer of animosity between him and Crawford last night, it felt natural.
It would have felt unnatural if he hadn’t chirped Sebastian for his dick-sucking skills.
And Jesus, his hands … Sebastian hadn’t expected that.
At the time, Sebastian had told him it wasn’t that great of a handjob, but the roughness of those big, strong, calloused hands combined with the heat of his skin and the slickness of the lube had sent him over the edge.
It had been the perfect pace and pressure and …
Sebastian shivered but he wasn’t sure if it was from the memories or the reminder that he was getting hard at the thought of Luke Crawford.
What the fuck was wrong with him? It was like his brain, and his body were at war with each other.
But his phone chimed with a reminder, and he abruptly realized he didn’t have time to worry about any hookup when he had a shop to run.
After a quick shower, Sebastian went downstairs, hit with fragments of memories from last night as he flipped on lights and booted up his laptop.
He unlocked the door, remembering Crawford filling up the space as he demanded that Sebastian leave his phone downstairs.
What an asshole. Fuck him.
Though, thankfully, Harper had been just fine last night. There were no texts or calls from Brie.
When Sebastian glanced out the door, he was surprised to see the sun peeping out after several days of gloomy gray January skies.
It was typically quiet at this hour, so he ate microwave oatmeal and drank coffee at the counter as he checked orders and planned out his day.
It was a relatively light one.
On Saturdays, Twig & Bloom generally had good foot traffic, so he’d made some extra bouquets yesterday in anticipation, but there were no big events scheduled for this weekend.
That would change as he got more established here in Boston and they edged toward Valentine’s Day, the spring holidays, and wedding season.
But for now, it was mostly small orders.
A part of him wished it was busier, so he could ignore the guilt lurking at the edges of his thoughts about what he’d done last night. He shouldn’t have let his dick do the thinking. The orgasm had been good, but it had been a shitty thing to do to Nicky.
Sure, Nicky had talked about the price athletes paid for success.
The risks they all took. But would the guy who’d been his best friend and confidant since the age of fourteen really understand Sebastian hooking up with the guy who’d torpedoed his career?
Who’d left him with chronic migraines and vertigo so bad he couldn’t lace up his skates?
Sebastian heard a knock on the back door and sprang to his feet, cursing himself for forgetting to unlock the delivery and employee entrance.
“Sorry,” he told Morgan and Joe breathlessly after he opened the door. “Guess I was a little out of it this morning.”
Morgan waved off his apology but Joe hesitated.
“Uhh, if I’m really on top of my deliveries, do you think I could leave a little early, boss? My kid’s got a school recital that I’d like to make it to.”
“Probably,” Sebastian said. “How early is early?”
“Just like … half an hour. Forty-five minutes, tops. That should give me time to change my clothes and get to his school.”
“Yeah, we should be able to make that work,” Sebastian said. “In the future though, please let me know ahead of time so I can plan for it.”
He wanted to be the kind of employer who worked around people’s schedules, but he needed some notice.
A relieved expression crossed Joe’s face. “Sure thing, boss. And sorry I didn’t ask sooner. It slipped my mind.”
“That happens,” Sebastian agreed. “Just try to do better in the future.”
“I will. I swear. Thanks!” Joe said, already making a beeline for the coolers where orders that would go out for delivery today waited.
Sebastian had prepared Joe’s delivery schedule last night before closing up, so Joe typically just went in the back, grabbed the deliveries, and headed out.
The guy had years of experience with floral deliveries so Sebastian could more or less turn him loose and trust that the work would get done.
Which was one of the reasons Sebastian was willing to be a little flexible on Joe leaving early.
Although, if they got any late orders, he’d have to handle the deliveries himself.
Uugghh, he desperately needed to find more employees, which, unfortunately, was proving difficult.
But that was a problem he’d deal with another time.
Sebastian went to the front of the shop, passing Morgan who’d ducked into the closet-sized employee breakroom to hang up her coat and bag.
“How was the game?” she asked a few minutes later as she met him at the front.
“Good,” he said, glancing up from a leaf on the potted Calathea he’d been inspecting. “Well, Portland lost but …”
She grinned. “You’re the only person I know who has season tickets to root against the home team.”
He shrugged. He wasn’t much for fancy cars and he never took vacations. He preferred to shop for vintage clothing and décor, which didn’t always come cheap, but that and season tickets to hockey games were his only big splurges.
And if he was weird about the hockey? Whatever. He wasn’t actually hurting anyone.
“No, it’s great,” Morgan said hastily like he might think it was an insult. “Just different.”
Sebastian wondered what she’d think if she knew whose cock he’d had in his mouth last night.
He shuddered at the thought. Nope, no one needed to know. He could only imagine the kind of shit Brie would give him if she found out. And Nicky … well, Sebastian didn’t even want to think about that.
“So,” he said, clearing his throat. “Let’s go over the plan for the day.”
After Sebastian was done reviewing the orders for the day, Morgan headed to the workroom to take care of a few of the simpler arrangements. She had experience as a florist, she was a hard worker, good at taking constructive criticism, and he was incredibly glad he’d found her.
At opening time, Sebastian flipped the sign on the front door from closed to open, then answered emails while he waited for his first customer of the day. It wasn’t long before the bell on the shop jingled and he looked up to see an older woman step through the door.
“Good morning! Welcome to Twig & Bloom.” he called out as cheerfully as he could manage at this hour.
She shot him a sunny smile. “Hello there, young man.”
“My name is Sebastian, how may I help you?” he asked as he stood and came around the counter.
Younger customers preferred to browse, then come to him if they needed something, but older ones really seemed to appreciate him getting up to greet them and take a more proactive approach.
“Well,” the woman said. “I’m visiting a friend who is in the hospital with a broken hip. Do you have anything cheerful I could bring her?”
“We have several bouquets made up that would qualify,” he said. “Let me show them to you and if they don’t quite suit your tastes, I’d be happy to create something custom for you.”
“Perfect!” she said with a smile. “Lead the way.”
In the end, she asked him to put together a brightly colored bouquet with orange Gerbera daisies, purple stock, magenta solidago, green dianthus, and sprigs of baby eucalyptus.
It wasn’t exactly his style, but it was cheerful, and he carefully wrapped it in paper to protect it from the chilly air, tied it with a purple ribbon, then handed it over to her with a flourish.
She grinned at him, said thank you, and promised to tell all her friends about his shop.
He thanked her and held the door open to let her out, trying not to groan at the thought of increased traffic.
Did he want more customers? Of course he did. What shop owner—especially one who’d just invested a shitload of money on setting up a brand-new space—wouldn’t? Of course, he’d need to solve his staffing issues first.
After that, the morning passed quickly enough, with brisk foot traffic and a handful of orders that came in over the phone or online.
Midday, Morgan took her break, then came around front to work the counter while Joe reappeared to pick up more deliveries.
For lunch, Sebastian ate a bowl of soup and a tuna sandwich upstairs in his apartment, flushing as he took a seat on the couch and got a flashback to the strong grip of a rough hand around his cock.
Yeah, that was … not something he was going to think about right now.
Instead, he spent the afternoon in the back of the shop, listening to the most recent Puck Thoughts hockey podcast episode while he put together bouquets that would be delivered the following day.
He was lost in his own little world, focused on finding the perfect spot to slip the peachy-coral dahlia in the sunset-colored arrangement of roses, snapdragons, heuchera, sedum, and stock he was building, when he felt a tug on his arm.
He looked down to see Harper.