Chapter Four
ETHAN
Luca.
What kind of name was that?
I’ll tell you what kind: one to match the ridiculously elegant, posh-looking man sitting next to Sebastian. His fucking boyfriend—his fashion-house-family, Italian boyfriend. Could the universe give me a fucking break?
I’d resisted the urge to look him up before coming here. To go digging through social media, to study photos, to measure myself against a stranger I didn’t even know. I hadn’t trusted what I might find—or what it might do to me.
Now I didn’t need the internet.
They looked great together. It worked. Luca, with his hazel eyes, sharp jawline, tanned skin, and that annoyingly effortless wave in his brown hair.
And Sebastian just being… well, Sebastian.
Luca had to be way older than me, which kind of threw me, but still—they made sense. They looked like a couple.
Had we ever looked like that?
I shook off the unease that one single thought sent crawling through my body and tried to focus on the conversation in front of me.
We’d eased out of the awkwardness from my outburst. Which was only fair.
Luca kept touching Sebastian and staring at me like he wanted to make sure I noticed every second of it.
Trust me, I was well fucking aware of how he was basically pissing all over him.
So at the very least, now he knew I didn’t give a fuck.
Which I didn’t.
Sebastian could have a boyfriend. What the fuck did I care?
Plus, it didn’t change the fact that he still couldn’t stop looking at me. Just like his boyfriend, he kept stealing little glances. And after my last comment, he couldn’t even hide the smile pulling at his mouth. Of course he liked the attention.
And I was not into it.
I wasn’t.
Just like I wasn’t into how much cologne he’d drenched himself in, or how it clung to me even though I’d barely touched him. Or how good his skin looked with that fresh summer tan. Or how badly I wanted to slide my hand up his nape and grab the longer curls brushing the collar of his shirt—
Christ.
What the hell was it about Sebastian Langley?
But, in light of everything, was it really that awful to want a little attention back? He was my ex—apparently—and if I was going to sit here pretending I wasn’t flustered just being next to him, the least he could do was suffer a little too.
He owed me that much.
I rolled my shoulders back and tried to focus on Henry and whatever he and Raúl were going on about.
Over the past week, I’d gotten used to Raúl’s presence.
He and Henry had been working around the clock, so I either saw them together at the apartment or ran into him when Henry dragged me out to the site.
“We’re having the party at Lumbre for the birthday bash,” Henry said, giving Sebastian a teasing smirk. His brother just rolled his eyes.
“Not this again…” Sebastian took a sip of his drink.
Not super keen on turning thirty-nine, are we? I smiled to myself.
“We should move it to Senda,” Raúl said.
Henry shot him a curious look. “How come?”
“Adrian just got fired,” he said flippantly. “The whole place is going to shit.”
Henry’s eyes widened. “You’ve been holding out on me.” He slid closer, that tiny smile giving away how thrilled he was about this particular piece of gossip. “Dish right the fuck now.”
“Who’s that?” Sebastian asked.
I propped my elbow on the table and stole a glance at Luca. Just as confused as I was. Good.
“Adrian was the exec in charge of the Fama group,” Henry said.
“That’s the biggest club group in the city,” Raúl added, meeting my eyes.
“So… big gossip?” I said, resting my chin on my palm.
“Very big.”
Raúl usually had that faint glint of approval in his eyes when he looked at me—like he might’ve been into me—but he was careful not to let it linger. Part of me hoped Sebastian had asked him not to, though jealousy had never been his thing.
“So, what happened?” Henry urged.
Raúl’s eyes slid to him; he shrugged, took a slow sip of his drink, then finally said, “Got caught fucking one of the hostesses in a supply closet.”
“No!” Henry half gasped, half laughed. “That fucking asshole.”
“That’s it?” I asked.
“Adrian’s wife is one of the founding members of the group,” Raúl said to me. “I’m guessing that didn’t go over well.”
Yup. That’ll do it.
“Can’t believe he’d do that. How old is he now?” Sebastian asked.
I narrowed my eyes at him. Kind of hypocritical, but okay.
“Going on forty, maybe,” Raúl said.
“Can you imagine being so horny you’d bang one of your employees at work? In a fucking closet?”
A laugh caught behind my teeth as I bit the inside of my cheek.
Sebastian cleared his throat and shifted in his seat. It was just a second, but it was enough for me to catch his eyes flicking to mine—and that tiny curve of his lips.
“He’s a businessman with a reputation to protect,” Raúl said. “He should know better.” He shrugged. “Maybe if he was younger, but to get that primitive?”
“Kinda hot when you think about it. Not the cheating—just the I-have-to-have-you-now energy,” Henry said, sipping his drink.
Sebastian’s eyes met mine again, and we both looked away quickly. He coughed into his hand, and I pressed my lips together to keep from grinning.
“Is she younger than him?” I asked, keeping my tone innocent.
Sebastian shifted again as I kept my eyes locked on Raúl.
“In her twenties,” Raúl said.
“Maybe he just wanted to prove he could keep up with her,” I offered.
Sebastian tapped my foot under the table, like he was telling me to behave. I took a big gulp of my drink to hide my laugh.
“Forty isn’t old,” Sebastian said defensively. “There are plenty of people who have better stamina when they’re older.”
Henry and Raúl looked at him like he’d grown two heads.
“Have you seen Adrian?” Henry asked. “The guy walks around with an inhaler.”
“Maybe a midlife crisis then,” I teased.
Another tap on my foot, harder this time.
“That sounds more likely,” Raúl said.
“Maybe trying to prove something? Fucking someone against a wall isn’t that easy,” I said with a sigh. “Reeks a little of overinflated ego.”
Sebastian let out an offended scoff. But that curve at the corner of his mouth? Worse now. And aimed right at me.
“Actually, it doesn’t sound like him,” he said. “So it was probably the twenty-something waitress—”
“Hostess,” Henry corrected.
“Who clearly has no impulse control. An affliction of the young.”
“No impulse control?” I asked with a laugh.
Sebastian smirked.
Raúl tilted his head. “Do you know him?”
Henry’s eyebrows shot up when he finally caught on. The pantry. He looked torn between bursting out laughing and scolding both of us.
Meanwhile, Luca and Raúl looked confused as fuck.
“No,” Sebastian said smoothly. “But I can imagine.”
A laugh slipped out of me, and both Langley brothers looked away, trying—and failing—to hide matching smiles.
“I’m going to the bathroom. Be right back,” Luca said. He stopped by Sebastian’s side, gave him a quick kiss on the cheek—one that left a bitter taste in my mouth—and walked off.
As soon as he was gone, Henry sighed. “You two are fucking unbelievable.”
I put on my very best innocent face—betrayed instantly by the laugh bubbling up my throat. “Me?”
“It’s all him.” Sebastian tipped his chin in my direction.
I shoved his shoulder. “What?”
Sebastian bit his lip and leaned in, turning fully to me. “You’re acting like a total brat.”
I chuckled. “Haven’t you heard? It’s an affliction of my age.”
That finally cracked him. His laugh rang out across the table, loud and bright, as he reached over to ruffle my hair. I swatted his hand away.
Raúl leaned back in his chair, looking between us. “I’m so confused.”
“They’re acting like children,” Henry explained flatly, “because they got caught fucking in a closet once, and that was their clever little way of making fun of each other.”
“A pantry,” Sebastian and I said at the same time—then looked at each other and burst into laughter.
“Fucking children,” Henry muttered, but his mouth was definitely curving.
If Raúl’s eyebrows went any higher, they’d climb into his hairline. “Right. The scandalous ex. It all makes sense now.”
That sobered Sebastian a bit. His laugh faded into a chuckle as he gave Raúl a shrug.
“So does he hate me?” I teased, keeping the mood light.
“What do you think?” Sebastian asked, smirking.
“I think I’ve been nothing if not cordial.”
Henry barked a laugh. “Cordial? Babe, come on. Be so for real.”
I shrugged. “It’s your fault for giving me the opening.”
“Are you going to behave now?” Sebastian leaned in, eyes locked on mine.
I mirrored him, lifting a brow in quiet challenge. “You don’t get to tell me what to do anymore.” I kept my gaze on his and mouthed, Daddy, barely containing my grin.
He laughed, shaking his head. “As if I was ever able to.”
I grinned wider, still not breaking eye contact. It felt like a dare. Like pulling on a live wire between us. The temperature seemed to spike—or maybe the heat was just under my skin.
Henry cleared his throat loudly. “Reel it in.”
We sat back at the same time, still lingering in each other’s orbit until we physically had to look away. Until Luca came back to the table, and I had to pretend that little moment hadn’t been fucking… electric.
Did he hate it?
It didn’t look like he did.
Sebastian’s smile didn’t leave him the rest of lunch.
He kept leaning closer, asking me things, pulling me into conversation, keeping us tethered in ways we definitely weren’t supposed to be, especially with his boyfriend right next to him.
We’d fall into our own little world for two seconds before remembering we had an audience.
Exhilarating. And also incredibly fucking dumb.
Because Luca’s hand kept slipping onto Sebastian’s thigh.
And Sebastian kept letting it stay.
Like it belonged there.