Chapter 11 Sebastian
Sebastian
One day, my ass. Based on Luke’s update, they were looking at a major overhaul of the entire bathroom plumbing, including having to remove and replace the drywall in the bedroom Lydia had been staying in.
“Whit said that he’ll get started right away on the plumbing, and Reid is going to shift some things around in his schedule to do the construction. We’re looking at a few weeks, though, at a minimum.”
Lydia’s eyes cut over to me quickly. Worry and anxiety were etched on her face.
“Luke, that sucks,” she said, commiserating with him. “Are you and Scarlett staying at Reid’s for now?”
“Yeah. He asked me earlier if he should start getting another room set up for you. I told him I would talk to you about it. I wasn’t sure if you just wanted to go back to Dad’s for bit, or what.”
She made a face like she really didn’t want to, her fingers fiddling with the bottom hem of that T-shirt. I pulled my eyes away from where they danced across her creamy thigh, focusing on the conversation.
“I guess that makes the most sense. I don’t want to put Reid and Claire out with more houseguests. I can always move back in with Dad,” she said with false positivity.
“I’m sorry, Lyds.” Luke sounded genuinely upset to give her the bad news.
“Don’t be. It happens. Let me know when I can get back over there to collect some things.”
We finished getting the update from Luke and disconnected the call. Lydia hopped her five-foot-two self onto the counter in a huff, her head falling back to hit the kitchen cabinets behind her.
“Ugh. I really didn’t want to go back to my dad’s.
He’s great. You know that. But I’m almost thirty, and he still treats me like his little girl.
And now with Sheila there… it’s like I’m an outsider wherever I go,” she sighed.
“This has to be a sign from the universe that I’m not supposed to be here.
From New York to Dad’s, from Dad’s to Luke’s, from Luke’s to here, from here back to Dad’s…
maybe I should just head back to the city. ”
Panic clawed at my throat. Her brothers would be devastated if she packed up and left again. Honestly, I would be too.
“You’re not going back to the city just because you’re out of a room for a few weeks.
And you’re not going back to sit in your childhood bedroom under your father’s roof,” I said, stepping between her legs.
That certainly got her attention. She looked me up and down, her breath hitched as her legs spread the tiniest bit wider to let me in.
“The only place you’re going is into that fucking room to put on some fucking pants before I lose my fucking mind. ”
“I thought you thought of me like your sister,” she countered, her voice breathier than it was a moment ago.
My eyes narrowed. “Those were Luke’s words, not mine.
” A tattoo sat high on her upper thigh, begging me to rub my thumb across it.
Her words were a good reminder though. Lydia was off-limits.
I hadn’t done a very good job of keeping that line intact in the past, but I couldn’t blame the hormones of a twenty-year-old or copious amount of alcohol consumption at 8:30 in the morning.
I stepped back and jammed my finger into the coffee maker to finally get the pot going, busying myself in the fridge until Lydia slid from the counter to her feet and strode to her bedroom.
She had only slept in there one night, but it was hers now, for as long as she needed it.
* * *
The door closed behind me with the lightest click. I ticked my boots off at the door, keeping the lights off, even though Lydia would already be asleep. Luke and I had gone out for a couple of drinks, which turned into a couple of shots, which turned into us closing down Harpoon’s.
I shucked my jacket off and hung it on the back of the couch on my way by. Bright lights blinded my vision in an instant. My footsteps fumbled, and I straightened my back, ready to attack.
“Oh, are you home?” Lydia asked non-nonchalantly as she walked past me.
A tiny scrap of fabric covered her full tits, her legs bare again. Images of her that night, our night, raced through my foggy head.
“What are you doing up? It’s 3:00 in the morning.”
“Just getting water, Seb.” Her legendary attitude was in full swing, and I didn’t need this shit.
I was tired and frustrated. My card was declined at the fucking bar, and I had to try to save face by saying that I got a new card and forgot to swap it out.
Luckily, Luke had me covered, but no man wanted to find himself in that spot.
And now Lydia was strolling around my house, blinding me, and ramping up my frustration in a totally different sense.
Are pants really that hard to wear?
Her hair looked more purple than silver under the kitchen lights, wrapped in a knot on the top of her head, the smallest amount of light brown roots showing.
That was one of the best—and worst—things about having Lydia staying with me.
Seeing her in her natural state, face fresh and makeup-free, no black armor decorating her.
She had stopped wearing the real heavy makeup a few weeks ago, at least most of the time, but even then, she always had something covering up her flawless skin.
“You sure you weren’t waiting up for me?” My brows pitched up, and I swiped my tongue across my lip suggestively.
Her gaze zeroed in on my mouth, interest swirling in her mossy green eyes before she shot me a look of pure annoyance, and I had to smile.
“Don’t flatter yourself.” She finished pouring herself a glass of water from the tap and turned to face me.
Her tattoo on her thigh kept drawing my attention, not just because of the placement—although that was a good excuse for my eyes to wander to where they shouldn’t—but it was also an interesting design.
“I thought you were just going to finish Tanner’s tattoo and be done for the night? ”
I pulled my gaze away from her body, a giddy grin on my face.
“I went out with your brother for a few drinks. Stayed out later than I expected,” I told her, moving toward her.
I hadn’t meant to, but this pull between us was impossible for me to break.
“I missed the part of this where I had to report into you with my plans.”
“Ugh, don’t come over here. I don’t need to smell some cheap perfume when I’m trying to fall back asleep.”
“Are you jealous, little wild?”
“Are you seriously trying to flirt with me after you just left some other poor woman alone and probably unsatisfied?”
“First of all, I wasn’t flirting with you.
If I was flirting with you, you would fucking know it.
And second of all, the only person I spent any time with tonight was Luke.
Ask Ronnie if you don’t believe me. We shut down Harpoon’s like we thought we were twenty-one, and I’m damn sure I’ll be feeling it in the morning.
And lastly, when I do leave a woman’s bed, it is only after she’s been thoroughly satisfied. Multiple times.”
Her eyes widened, her pupils dilating as a tinge of pink crept across her cheeks. It was a damn good look on her.
“Another night poor Seb struck out.” She gave me a fake sympathetic smile and rested her hand on my shoulder. “It’s alright, you’ll get some hapless woman to warm your bed next time.”
A low growl sounded in the back of my throat. “Don’t be a brat, Lydia, just because it isn’t you in my bed. You’re in my house, what the fuck more do you want?”
“Along with a laundry list of women who swooned at the sight of your tatted-up bad boy body, with your strong muscles and charismatic dimple.”
That very same dimple popped when Lydia looked me up and down, a spark in her eye that said she didn’t hate what she saw.
“I think that insult may have gotten away from you, little wild.” I wiggled my brows at her, much to her annoyance, which made my dimple even more pronounced. “And I told you before, I don’t take women home. I go home with them, not the other way around.”
“You are such an ass,” she said.
“It isn’t like that,” I told her honestly, grabbing a sports drink from the fridge. “I never lead anyone on. Every single person I’ve been with knows from the beginning that it’ll be a fun, satisfying night, and then we go our separate ways.”
“Every single one?” She raised her brow at me in challenge. Her green eyes pierced my soul in such a way that I could feel its sting in my heart.
“Fair point,” I conceded. “I did a lot of things wrong that night, and I probably owe you an apology.”
She was shaking her head, the knot on the top of her head swaying with the motion. “I don’t want to talk about it. It’s in the past, where it belongs.”
“Still. I’m so…”
Lydia cut me off so fast I reared back. “No. Don’t, Seb. I said I don’t want to talk about it.”
“Okay.” I nodded. We had been getting along fairly well, especially considering the amount of time we spent together.
The last thing I wanted was to break that tenuous peace we had been building by bringing up something from our past. If she wanted to pretend it never happened, that was her prerogative.
For me, it was embedded in the recesses of my mind for eternity.
“Good night, Lydia.” I strolled past her and collapsed on the couch, grabbing the remote from the side table and flicking on the television.
“What are you doing?” she asked.
“Watching TV. Don’t worry, I’ll keep the volume low. Go back to bed.”
She strolled over to the couch and hit my legs until I moved them so she could sit down too.
“Well, I can’t go back to sleep now anyway.” She shrugged, pulling the remote from my grip. I let it go without a fight and put my feet on her lap, stretching myself out.
Lydia just huffed but didn’t tell me to move my legs as she flipped through the channels.