Chapter Twenty-Six #2
He lifted his phone, camera pointed at me. “Just a second.”
I pressed my lips together, trying not to smile as he raised our joined hands into the frame. The shutter clicked.
“Did you just take my picture?”
He grinned up at me. “Am I not allowed to?”
“You’re allowed,” I said. “That was just kind of—”
“Hey,” Henry called, holding the door open. “In or out?”
Sebastian’s eyes were glued to his screen once more, so I tugged his hand and pulled him inside with me.
The restaurant was nice—a regular spot for us, where they always tucked us into a table in the back so we could have a little privacy.
Soft light spilled from hanging lamps, warming the stone around us, and the low hum of conversation made it feel like the rest of the world had been gently turned down.
The air smelled faintly of smoked wood and grilled meat as we slid into our seats, coats draped over chair backs, the cold still clinging to us.
We settled in with drinks Henry had already ordered for all of us, because of course he had.
“So,” I said, glancing across the table at him, “finally got the permits?”
“Fucking finally. Just the finishing touches left, and we’re done. Opening date is February fourteenth.” He gave me a sly smile. “So you can push the Valentine’s plans back a day and be all lovey-dovey over there.”
“That’s fine by me.” I peeked at Sebastian, but he was still zoned out. “And Mateo?” I asked, pretending not to watch Henry’s face too closely.
His mouth twitched. Just a little. “Out of town.”
“Uh-huh.”
“Raúl has Loki,” he added. “I’m supposed to pick him up later today.”
“Wow. You’re being incredibly forthcoming.”
“Don’t push it.”
Next to me, Sebastian was still staring at his phone, his thumb moving in slow, careful taps across the screen. He had that focused look he got when he was doing something he absolutely did not want to be interrupted during.
“Are you going to join us any time soon?” I muttered.
He didn’t look up.
“So.” Henry smirked. “Oli and I were thinking about a quick States run, around March. Check on Dad. You two should come—and then we disappear somewhere warm afterward. I’m done with winter.”
“Do you have your phone with you?” Sebastian asked suddenly.
We both turned to him.
“Yeah.”
His gaze dropped back to his screen. “Good.”
I was about to ask what that was about when my phone chimed. Frowning, I reached into my pocket, while Sebastian smiled like the cat who caught the canary.
Sebastian Langley started following you.
“That’s what you’ve been doing?” I held up my phone with a light laugh. “Finally crawling out of the Ice Age and joining the rest of the world on social media?”
He nodded.
“What did he do?” Henry asked, leaning closer to look. “Wow. How the hell do you have so many followers already?”
His eyes went wide, and I was pretty sure mine did too. Hundreds of thousands of them.
What the hell?
“All Vanessa’s doing.” Sebastian’s gaze dropped back to his phone, thumb tapping just before another notification chimed. Then he looked up at me, barely contained excitement written all over his face.
My heartbeat stuttered, sensing something before my mind caught up. I looked down at the screen.
I’d been tagged.
With a tap on the notification, there I was—just minutes ago—smiling in the background, lips pressed together. But what filled the frame wasn’t my face, even though it was unmistakably me.
It was the ring.
Gold. Bold. Impossible to miss.
The restaurant noise dissolved into nothing.
“Holy shit,” Henry breathed beside me.
I looked up at Sebastian, stunned, then back at my phone.
And then I saw the caption.
My one. My love. My darling.
Holy.
Fucking.
Hell.
I could only stare at it, my hand already beginning to tremble. “What—”
“Did you just—” Henry’s gaze jumped from my screen to me, then to Sebastian. “Fuck. Did you just announce your engagement like that?”
Sebastian’s grin faltered just a little before his eyes lifted to mine, bright and intense. “Shouting from the rooftops, darling,” he said. “The way it was always supposed to be.”
Phones began chiming around us—one after another. Mine. His. Even Henry’s. But all I could do was look at Sebastian, my heart pounding, because this—this ridiculous, perfect thing he’d just done—was the most incredible thing anyone had ever done for me.
It was the biggest thing he could have done.
My eyes burned as he wrapped his arms around me, letting me bury my face in his chest and shut out the noise of the world. After a lifetime of doubt, of questions, of not knowing if I would ever be enough for anyone—enough for him—here we were.
And it wasn’t just that he was choosing me so openly—it wasn’t about anyone else believing it. It was how we had chosen each other. Now, instead of hiding our love from the world, we got to shove it down everybody’s throats. Together.
This was ours.
“Only sunlight from now on,” he whispered into my temple.
I closed my eyes, pressed closer to him, and let myself feel it.
Only sunlight.
After all the chaos finally quieted—after the messages, the calls, the congratulations from the people we loved—it was just the two of us again, back in our apartment.
Sebastian sat beside me on the couch, our hands laced together, his thumb tracing slow circles over my skin. He looked at me with that soft, perfectly fond smile that still made my chest ache.
So I took a picture of him.
And tagged him, just like he had done to me. Right below it, I laid down the words I’d been fighting a lifetime to set free. I didn’t have to pretend anymore. This was it.
Mine. For-fucking-ever.