1. Chapter 1 #2
He sounded almost desperate, like he would have paid me to let him do something for Mason.
For a moment, I hesitated. Leaving Mason home alone felt like a bad idea with Dale lurking around.
Realistically, though, he had no way of knowing Mason was here.
Even if he did, Mason had three male partners, so he’d need to poke around a bit more if he wanted to figure out who got her pregnant.
Dale may have been a monster, but he wouldn’t hurt Mason without concrete proof that she was carrying my child. She was safe, for now.
Besides, with everything going on, I needed Sebastian to trust me.
The last time I was in Sebastian’s SUV, I was doing my best to cope with the knowledge that Mason was, in fact, a celebrity.
Given the stress I’d been under, I hadn’t taken the time to appreciate how nice the interior was.
The gray leather seats were soft, and the cabin was spacious.
The sunroof above me was massive, allowing me to see all the stars on this perfectly clear night.
Nice as it was, though, the vehicle reeked of stale nicotine and mint.
The cigarette hanging from Sebastian’s lips told me he had no intention of improving the smell any time soon.
The cherry at the end flickered as he reached forward to turn up the radio, and an overly-cheery announcer boomed through the speakers.
“And we are back ! Hope everyone’s staying warm out there.
As a reminder, we play music by the people and for the people.
”Sebastian cringed a little and left his hand hovering over the radio.
I wondered if he was going to change the station or just turn it down.
“Fortunately for me, the people love Mason Albright! At the top of the hour, we have—”
Sebastian tapped the volume knob, cutting off the announcer’s ravings.
“What, you don’t like her music?” Sure, Mason’s music wasn’t the cowboy country I’d typically listen to, but it was catchy. Plus, I was proud to know that my girl was so well-loved, even if it did make me a little uneasy.
He shot me a sideways glance before removing the cigarette from his lips and exhaling .
“Mason has a beautiful voice, and I understand why people like her.” He returned the cancer stick to his mouth and gripped the steering wheel with both hands.
“That’s good, but you ain’t answering my question.”
Sebastian’s chest swelled with another breath before he removed the cigarette from his lips and flicked it out the open window.
“Have you listened to any of her songs?”
“All of ‘em, if I’m bein’ honest. ‘Pills Like Candy’ is my favorite. I don’t like the lyrics so much, but when she sings the chorus she just sounds...” Like an angel , I wanted to say, but I wasn’t capable of being that honest with Sebastian.
“Let’s just say I don’t think she should sing about half the stuff she does.
It’s… unbecoming for someone as intelligent as her.
”I take that as a big, fat no, I don’t like her music .
Surprising, honestly; I assumed Sebastian would be Mason’s number one fan.
He seemed like the type of textbook stalker who would get front-row tickets to all of her concerts.
“So… did she still want Mexican?” Sebastian asked as the lights from town appeared over the lines of evergreen trees.
I looked down at my phone for her order.
In the time Seb and I had been gone, she had changed her order at least three separate times.
She went from wanting tacos and chips to sushi to asking if I could just pick her up something chocolaty and sweet.
I told Sebastian as much, and a soft smile contorted his lips.
“She used to do this all the time when I’d visit her in France.
But back then she’d always say, ‘ if I eat anything other than this very specific craving, I will throw up ’.
I’d get about twelve texts in a row with different orders.
” A shard of guilt lodged itself in my chest, and I made a mental note to apologize to Mason for indirectly making her so sick.
“What’d you do back then?”
“I’d get her a bit of everything she wanted. Money’s no object when it comes to making Mason happy.” Sebastian’s tone carried an odd sweetness, hinting at a type of love that I still wasn’t sure if he was capable of truly feeling.
“So, what would you recommend? ”
“We’re done talking.”
Lord help me, I don’t think I’ll ever figure out what this guy’s problem is.
We drove in silence for a few miles, watching road signs flash by. Sebastian’s high beams hit each one head-on, illuminating them against the pure darkness of rural night.
“Hey… has Mason mentioned anything to you about marriage?” He spoke slowly, as if he were trying to hide the obvious motive behind the question.
“I thought you weren’t talking to me.”
Sebastian rolled his eyes. “I wasn’t, now I am… answer the question.”
I sighed as I considered how much I should tell him. “She did bring it up once, when she’d just got back from Lyon. Nothing serious, though.”
I didn’t know much about it myself; I’d only really caught snippets of a conversation between her and Lucian.
She wanted to get married quickly, and he admitted to wanting to be her husband.
But he also said his family would skin him alive if they eloped.
Hell, I’d kill him too, considering he wasn’t supposed to make any big decisions until he’d been sober for a year.
Even if they both felt ready, I assumed it’d be a while before we heard wedding bells for the two.
“What’s got you askin’ something like that?” Surely he had some ulterior motive.
Sebastian’s expression hardened. He took a deep pull from his cigarette, then flicked the still-lit cancer stick out the window. “Because I personally feel ready for marriage.”
I fought the urge to arch my brows. He and Mason had only been dating since she got pregnant; that wasn’t long enough to know you wanted to marry someone.
At least, I didn’t think it was. Lucian said Seb was some super intelligent whiz-kid who graduated high school before his age hit double digits.
Maybe a person that smart didn’t need as long to figure out if someone was right for them.
Could a super genius really master the art of love by the tender age of.
.. wait, how old was Sebastian? For all I knew, he could be eighteen looking terrible for his age…
although, if that were the case, he’d need someone buying his cigarettes for him.
“How old are you, again? ”
“Twenty-three.”
I blew out a pained breath. Surely it didn’t help that my fortieth was coming up that Sunday, but lately I felt like the adults in my house kept getting younger and younger.
“What?” He seemed offended at my response.
“Nothing, I just thought you’d be older.”
His nose wrinkled in a way that would have been cute on anyone else. “Why?”
“Well, you got a Ph.D., don’t ya?”
“I fail to see how that’s related to my age.”
Spending time with Sebastian was making me like him less, and I hadn’t thought that was even possible.
“So, if you’re ready to marry her, do you know how you’ll propose?”
“I don’t think I have to propose ,” he scoffed. “We can elope at the courthouse.”
“...What if she wants a wedding?”
“Cameron, I know Mason well enough to know she’s fine with eloping.” His response came automatically, almost cutting off the end of my question.
“How?”
“Because that’s what relationships are: knowing the other person better than the back of your own hand.”
I was taken aback by his philosophy. If that was the case, then I wasn’t in any relationships. Even after three years of living together, Lucain and Sophia still surprised me at times; that’s what kept life interesting.
Sebastian interrupted my musings with another shocking insight: “Mason is a massive, hormonal mess right now anyway. There’s no way she’d want to be seen in a wedding dress looking like that.”
I fought the urge to jump out of my fancy leather seat and break Sebastian’s nose.
No one in this world was allowed to talk about Mason like that, least of all this miserable narcissistic scum-sucker.
Sure, she was big and miserable, but she was allowed to be a little grouchy.
I had seen the way Jas and Juni could destroy a room; I couldn’t even imagine the kind of trouble Rosie could get up to inside Mason’s belly .
Sebastian continued speaking, though I could barely hear him over the rage in my ears. “I’m hoping that if I help you do something nice for her, like get her food, it’ll get the ball rolling for a conversation that ends with her as my wife.”
There was no way in hell I’d let that happen… but I wasn’t going to tell him that.
“Is that why you wanted to come with me?”
As he nodded, the guilt in his expression reminded me of a dog that had just chewed up someone’s shoes.
“And I’m kind of surprised you let me come.”
And now, I had the perfect opportunity to explain why I wanted to hang out with Seb.
“I, uh, my motives ain’t pure either.”
He studied me as he pushed up his glasses. “You’re not using this as a chance to woo me, are you?”
A bark of laughter escaped before I could stop it. “You ain’t exactly my type.”
“I could say the same… I like partners who actually take care of themselves.”
I ignored the fact that this was a classic case of the pot calling the kettle black.
“I saw Dale today.” My heart thundered just thinking about the encounter. “Worse than that, he was on the property.”
His eyes went as wide as the ocean. “Does he know about Mason?”
That was the scary part. I had no idea what Dale knew, and what he didn’t. But I did know that there would be safety in numbers. And, until Lucian and Sophia got home, Sebastian was the only number I had.