Chapter Thirty-Seven - Thalia
“ARE WE THERE yet?” I ask, staring at Sebastian for any hint he might let slip. I’m not very good with surprises. I like knowing as much as I possibly can.
Bash smiles crookedly at me, causing my heart to skip a beat. “Just wait. You got to have your surprise, and now I get to have mine.”
His hand rests on my bare knee, tracing shapes into my skin while we drive around Greensboro. Sebastian is wearing a nice Henley, and he looks…hot. I’m doing my best to keep my mind from wandering, but I’m thinking about how nicely he would look without it.
We came back home a few days ago after visiting Mimi on Sunday. The guys won their game on Saturday, and we went out afterward for a drink with Eric, Chris, and their respective girlfriends. Owen and Blake were there, too, but I’m not sure about their relationship status.
Chris is skeptical, but he doesn’t say anything about it. Eric is happy because Bash has been in a better mood. He tried to suggest that I could sit with Natalie and Allie at games now to join their jersey gang, but I reminded him I have a pass to be on the sidelines. As much as I like both of them, being a part of that sounds unappealing as opposed to being right by the action.
Blake is happy because she doesn’t have to pretend anymore that she didn’t already know about us. Other than Chris, the reaction was pretty positive.
Sebastian is staying at his grandparents’ house this week despite my parents offering him the guest bedroom. The other spare bedroom was taken by our grandparents, who came for Thanksgiving. I know he’s just a few houses over, but I miss knowing Bash is only one room over.
“We already ate dinner, so I don’t know what else you could have planned. Please? Can you tell me?” I ask, trying to focus because his hand is becoming distracting. I haven’t been able to get enough of Sebastian lately. Is it possible to be addicted to a person?
“Nope. We’re almost there.”
I suppose I should just be excited we’re going on a date. Most of what I hear from Stacey about Jeremy is complaining because he never takes her anywhere. It’s nice that Sebastian is already putting effort into us. “Thanks for taking me on a date,” I say, resting my hand on his. Maybe if I stop his tracing, my brain will work properly again.
He gives me a questioning glance. “Lia, you were just complaining because I wouldn’t tell you where we’re going, and now you’re thanking me?”
“And you’re complaining that I’m being nice! I can’t win,” I protest, smiling as Bash laughs, his eyes sparkling with happiness. It’s a good look on him. It’s not fair how handsome he is. Couldn’t he be a little bit uglier?
“I’m not complaining, but we’re here,” he says, parking his car.
My head spins quickly, noting that we’re at the park where we took my junior and his senior year prom photos. I went with a cross-country runner named Adrian, whom I haven’t even thought about since that night. I secretly hoped Sebastian would ask me, but he asked some girl named Rachel to go instead. I was crushed.
“Wait,” he says, climbing out of the car and taking long strides to walk around it. Sebastian opens the door, dramatically bowing before offering me a hand.
“What are we doing here?” I ask, giggling at his antics.
“I thought we could walk around the park. We were here the first time I seriously considered telling Owen I didn’t care you’re his sister,” Sebastian says, offering me his arm.
I gladly accept it, looping my arm with his. “The last time we were here was prom, and we both had dates.”
Sebastian nods, his cheeks flushing a red hue. “Rachel was so mad at me because I spent the entire night looking at you dancing with…I can’t even think of his name. He looked at you like you were a prize he won, and I thought I might be in jail by the end of the night for murdering him.” He laughs softly, shaking his head. “I tried to ignore the pull I felt toward you for a long time, but I considered blowing everything up that night,” Bash admits when I look up at him.
“You were jealous of Adrian?” I ask, surprised to hear this.
“Yeah. I guess I was jealous. I probably should have just asked you instead of Rachel.”
Yes, he absolutely should have asked me instead. “Well, I only said yes to Adrian because you asked Rachel! I wanted you to ask me.”
“It all ended up working out anyway.” He chuckles, a sad look flashing on his handsome face. “Besides, I wasn’t in a good place after Grandpa died. I would have done or said something to ruin everything, so maybe it’s for the best that we waited to get together. It gave us some time to grow up.”
I bump him with my hip as we walk farther into the park on the dimly lit path. “You’re right about that. I probably still have some growing up to do. My stupid temper likes to get the better of me, but I am getting better at holding my tongue.”
“Oh, I know, Lia. Your temper is one of the things I like about you,” Sebastian says reassuringly, and I hug his arm a little tighter as we walk into the gazebo.
Bash sits, leaning against the brick wall inside the gazebo. I opt to lay against his chest, positioned between his legs. We’re sitting in silence, but the good kind where you’re content with just being by each other. Words that could be spoken aren’t needed.
His arms are wrapped around me, the smell of his cologne strong enough for me to notice but not overpowering. I recognize the scent of cedar, but I can’t quite decide what the undertone is. All I know is that Bash smells great. Sebastian laughs, interrupting my detective skills. “Are you smelling me?”
“Maybe,” I concede, laughing along with him. “It’s not my fault that you smell good.”
Sebastian presses a kiss to the top of my head. Those might be my favorite kind of kisses from him. “I’ll have to wear cologne more often.”
I rest my head in the crook of his neck. “That sounds nice.” Or I could spray my pillow with it—either work.
“Thank you.” He’s quiet, shifting underneath me.
“For what?”
“Giving me another chance. We said a fresh start, but I’m sorry about everything with Vera. Lia, you mean so much to me already. I’m afraid of losing you again.” His voice is shaky and so thick with emotion it pulls at my heartstrings.
I turn slightly to face him, recognizing his expression as the same after visiting Mimi. Sebastian looks worried, and I hate that I’ve helped make him feel this way.
“Hey,” I say softly, and his dark eyes shift to look at me. “Baby, you’re not going to lose me. You weren’t there when I talked to Vera at the Halloween party, but I told her you’re a good man. I still believe that. I’ve never not believed that, even when I was angry. It was part of the reason I was so angry, because I know what a good guy you are.”
“Do you really mean that?”
“I wouldn’t say it if I didn’t. We’re not going to be another almost, I promise. I don’t want you to apologize again for everything that happened with Vera. It’s in the past. Let’s focus on the present and the future.”
Bash plays with the ends of my hair, and I rest my head again on his chest. For a date, this is a good one. He picked me up with a bouquet that I made sure to put in a vase, to his delight, and now we’re here together. It’s simple and meaningful, which is all I wanted.
~
I can taste the strawberry ice cream we had before coming back to his grandparents’ house on his lips. We haven’t made it into the house, though. Bash leaned over to kiss me, and we have yet to leave the car. “You taste like strawberries,” I mumble against his lips as he cups the back of my neck.
“Lucky you.” He chuckles, pressing his lips gently against mine again briefly. “We should go in,” he says, reluctantly pulling away.
“Or we could just stay out here forever doing this?” I smile at Sebastian, pulling him back to me by the collar of his shirt.
“I love my car, but it’s not great for this,” he says, and I groan, accepting that he is right. The dopamine rush I get from Sebastian is enough to block out how cramped it is in his car, but that would be a different story if I were over six feet tall.
“Okay, okay, we’ll go inside,” I agree, climbing out of the car before he can make a big deal of opening the door for me again. It’s sweet, but he doesn’t need to do it every time. We only make it to the living room before Bash kisses me again like I’m the oxygen he needs to breathe. I have never wanted anyone the way I want him.
I don’t understand it, but maybe I’m not supposed to.
“You are a madman,” I say, taking a few seconds to catch my breath. Sebastian slides his hand under my dress, trailing up my thigh to hook it around his.
“Mad about you,” he says roughly as if words are too hard to form right now as he drags his mouth down my neck.
I agree with that. I want to laugh, but it’s hard to focus on laughing when his mouth and hands are doing such wonderful things to me. It’s not fair how everything he does drives me insane. He’s kissing my neck and…words. What are words? My neck! I gasp loudly, pushing him back.
He looks confused by my sudden movement. “Are you okay? Do you want to stop?”
“It’s Thanksgiving; I cannot have a hickey where my family can see.” I poke his chest, and he grins widely.
“Are you sure?” Bash asks, brushing my hair back. “I loved how the last one looked, knowing I left it there.”
“Enough of the caveman act. If you want to leave a mark, leave it where no one but you can see it, okay?”
“Deal.” He lights up, slowly pulling away to remove his shirt in one smooth movement. I wonder if he’s practiced that in a mirror to make undressing look so effortlessly sexy. I shrug out of my jacket, reaching for the zipper on the back of my dress, but I can’t quite get it. It’s definitely not a sexy look, trying to twist for this tiny little zipper. Sebastian smiles, watching me struggle until I finally admit defeat. “Can you please help me?”
“But it’s so fun watching you try to take your clothes off,” he says, his whiskey-colored eyes trailing all over me with desire, making me feel less ridiculous.
I pull Sebastian back to me by his belt, my fingers trailing over his torso. “Think about how much more fun we’ll have without our clothes on.”
He slowly unzips my dress; I slide my arms out of the sleeves, letting it fall to a heap on the ground. I regain my grip on his belt, undoing it so Sebastian can be in as little clothes as I am.
I feel like a horny teenager eager to have sex because sex with Bash is everything and more. It’s about needing him just as much as he needs me. I am craving that close intimacy during and afterward.
I back away, desperate to take my heels off before I break an ankle while Sebastian kicks his shoes off. He removes his pants quickly before we’re fused back together, stumbling backward into the kitchen table. Based on Sebastian’s newfound urgency, I don’t think we will make it to his bedroom.
Bash doesn’t wait to finish undressing me as he turns me to bend me over the table. “Hell, you look so beautiful like this,” he murmurs, pulling my underwear down and leaving them around my ankles.
I look over my shoulder to see him fisting his cock, and my mouth waters. “Are you going to fuck me or your hand?”
His hands land on my hips, my body shivering at Sebastian’s touch. He enters me painfully slow, taking his sweet ass time as I moan. “So beautiful,” he repeats, his voice a low rumble. I clench my fists, overwhelmed by the pleasure I feel now.
“Bash,” I moan his name. Waiting when I’m entirely at his will is almost too much for me to handle. I love that we can’t get enough of each other. Sex with Sebastian is everything and more; I crave the intimacy I feel during and after when it feels like no one exists but us.
The crescendo in my body builds, and I start squirming for Sebastian to pick up the pace. He leans over me, threading a hand with mine as I feel the table move underneath me at the force of his thrusts.
“Come for me, Lia,” he instructs, and I tip over the edge, Sebastian following right behind me with a groan.
He kisses the middle of my back as I unpeel myself from the table, my arms shaky. I kick off my underwear because I might trip if I don’t. “I think you’re trying to kill me.” Sebastian pants, looking at me through half-laden eyes that are still roaming over me with a hunger I’m not quite sure I can satiate.
“I’m happy to try again.” I laugh breathlessly, and Sebastian scoops me up to lay me on the rug before the fireplace. He grabs a blanket off the arm of the couch and covers me up with it as he turns the fireplace on, casting a soft glow around the room. “Careful, Bash, you’re setting the standard pretty high,” I tease, and he smiles at me.
“Good. You deserve high standards,” he says, looking over me appreciatively. “Wait there.”
“What? Where are you going?”
“Do you want your present or not?” Sebastian calls back. Present? What am I getting a present for?
He walks back into the room with a long velvet box in hand. Bash lowers himself to lie beside me, placing the box in my hands. “Why am I getting a present? Are you paying me for sex?” I tease, trying to calm the hammering in my heart.
“I am not paying you for sex, but I never got to give you this for your birthday.” He smiles softly, and I open it carefully. It’s a delicate gold chain with a small plaque just big enough to fit coordinates on it.
“It’s beautiful. What are the coordinates of?”
From the close proximity, I can see his cheeks flush. “The coordinates are for the front yard of this house because it was the first time I saw you. You and Owen had just moved in and came over with your mom, and I was sitting on the front step.” He smiles fondly, and I wish I were old enough to remember. I was three, but as far as I can remember, Sebastian’s always been a part of my life. “It took me a few days to decide what coordinates to have engraved: first kiss, first argument, first time together, and I finally decided on the first time we met because without that first, none of the others could have happened. That is what makes it so special out of all the others.”
I feel tears form in my eyes. “Will you put it on me?”
He nods, so I hand him the necklace carefully. I sit up, turning and pulling my hair over one shoulder. Bash places the cold jewelry across my collarbones and clasps it with minimal effort.
“And you’ve just been holding onto this?” I ask, lying back on my side to face him.
“It just never seemed like the right time to give it to you.”
My hand drifts up to touch it, and I smile at him. “Tonight has been perfect. Thank you.”
“Anything for you, Lia,” Sebastian says, cupping my face. “I’d do anything for you.”