SEBASTIAN
SEBASTIAN
"Bree?" I straighten up from the door frame.
Ashleigh stops halfway across the floor from Craig, and she turns back on me specifically to roll her eyes. "What a pleasant surprise!"
She's sent a cautioning glance in response as I motivate myself into an approach. "Make him toast or bacon or something, please, Ash. I'll be a couple of minutes, okay?"
Dobby is up and out of his basket as I draw in behind Craig, seating himself at my feet and looking up at me for instruction. When both Brianna and Craig flick him a glance, a soft growl vibrates from him. "It's okay, Dobs," I tell him, but I've snapped acutely in sync with his mood at the immediate bounce of all eyes back to me.
"Hand over my phone, and I'll get out of your face," Craig sullenly appeals to me. He's wearing the posture of quite the broken man, and as much fun as I was having, toying with him a moment ago, the light of it has dimmed somewhat at Brianna's appearance.
I'm actually mighty dependent on his compliance this morning, though, whether I like it or not, and I can't let him leave. "Two minutes." Shoving him back a step as I pass, I hook Brianna's elbow and guide her clear while pulling the door shut behind me.
Dobby darts out just in time, circling my legs, and he's racing away to enjoy the farmyard the instant I give him the go-ahead as if it's not the third time he's been out since dawn.
The sky is hinting at a bright and beautiful day to come, but it's some way off yet. Wispy morning mist stubbornly clings to the land, defying the cleansing efforts of a relentless wind.
"What are—?" A howling gust steals the words from my mouth and whips my hair into my eyes. Brianna's hair slaps her cheeks like it's turned against her. When I reach to sweep it back, she knocks my hand away. "I mean," I try again, "how did you get here?"
"Firecracker and Cherry Blossom are tethered around the front."
"Oh."
"I thought, maybe, you'd be up for a ride with me, make up for last night."
"Ah."
"I did try to call first."
I've already dropped my head before I realise the mistake of it. A beat too late.
"You know what? Never mind. Message received."
But, hell, it's not like snubbing her has been a deliberate effort or anything. Her call woke me this morning when my alarm failed to, after a scant two hours of sleep, and her further two were missed while I showered. I fully intended to get back to her. Just as soon as I finished doing all that needed to be done.
She's taken three steps away when I catch her shoulder and spin her back to me. "Don't, Bree, please? It's just I've got a lot going on at the moment. This morning is—"
"Yeah." She snorts. "Not a good time. I can see that."
"I'm not brushing you off, I swear. If you can give me a couple of hours to get sorted, then my afternoon is all yours, okay?"
"Totally."
"You're welcome to stay and wait. Keep Ash company."
"And your overnight guest?"
"Craig?"
"Craig." Her uncharacteristic bite in the way she echoes his name knocks me off-guard.
"What about him?"
"Yesterday, 'something' came up, and you ditched on our plans. Again. Then, first thing this morning, he's answering your door, wearing your clothes. So, I don't know, Sebastian. How about you tell me?"
I'm completely thrown. "You think…?" It takes me a moment to absorb her accusation, and in that pause, she shirks off my hold and wraps her arms around herself. "No. Christ, no! Craig had nothing to do with me bailing last night, Bree. Seriously. I had some bad news and—"
"Bad news?"
The instant concern pinching her brow has me shaking my head. "Doesn't matter. It's nothing for you to worry about." She looks set to push me, but I don't give her pause. "I just needed time to process, that's all. Craig being here, that's all Ash's doing."
My explanation does nothing to soothe her frown. I know she's owed better reasoning for why she was stood up, and I feel like a genuinely terrible boyfriend. But I'm not up for talking about Mum with her yet. And, thankfully, right now, that's not where her head's at. "Ashleigh had Craig stay over… and you're okay with that?"
I huff out a breath. "Not even a little bit."
"Judy allowed it?"
"He'd gotten himself plastered again and apparently had nowhere else to go."
"So, Ash and Craig, they're—?"
"No!" I make her flinch. Dobby immediately sprints back toward us, confusing the sharpness of my tone as a reprimand for him. However, judging by the mud covering his snout, coupled with his guilty gait, it seems my interruption was inadvertently well-timed.
But he's quick to shame, my dog, thanks to his rough start in life, and I hate giving him cause to worry. Tempering myself, I add, "She's smarter than that," because I have to believe it.
And then, it's my turn to startle when Brianna slides icy fingers through mine and calls me "Babe." Pet names aren't things we’ve ever indulged in. "I get that you can't help but help," she continues with a sigh. "I do. And I truly admire you for it. But Craig, he gives me a really bad vibe, you know? He's not someone you—"
"He's trouble, yeah. I'm not an idiot."
"Just." Lifting my hand to her lips, she presses a soft kiss to my knuckle, and the warmth of it coaxes a smile. "Be careful. That's all I'm saying."
"Honestly, Bree, there's nothing you need to—" Another sweeping gust snatches at my voice.
Dobby darts past my legs, a furry brown streak. His disturbance causes me to slip free of Brianna’s grip as I whip around to track him to the house. The back door is wide open, and the subject of our conversation stands at the threshold, fists clenched and face thunderous.
"Don't mind me," Craig dodges my gaze. He stalks out as Dobby disappears in, neither sparing the other any notice. Brianna takes the brunt of his dark look with a whispered curse. She immediately refolds her arms. "Carry on with your slating, please."
"You didn't close the door properly," Ashleigh says, appearing at Craig's back, a frying pan in hand. Her hawk-eyes deftly skim and dismiss Brianna in favour of me. "Nice work."
He's rounding the corner of the house by the time I think to move. "Great!"
"There was no tempting him with bacon after hearing that."
"Well, good riddance, right? Let him go on his merry way." Brianna frowns at me as I shake my head. I feel bad for sidestepping her attempted interception.
Hell, I even feel a twinge over our conversation reaching ears it wasn't meant for. But this attitude of taking without giving back that Craig's recklessly bulling through life with makes me feel worse, and I'll be damned if I'm about to let him off on it so easy. Not this time. "Those are my favourite boots."
"Yep." Without a backward glance, I can tell that Ashleigh, at least, is practising the good sense of staying put for once. "He's wearing your coat, too." I can also tell that she's as entertained as she is annoyed by this turn of events against me.
Brianna shadows my chase. "So, what, you plan on stripping him now?"
The nickering of the horses greets me before the sight of them does, carried on the wind. And upon reaching the front of the house, I catch Craig halfway across the driveway, stopped dead in his tracks and staring at them.
His awe is understandable: The beautiful bay and the formidable chestnut stood on either side of the gates, proud and solid amidst the ghosting fog; they're a majestic pair. However, it's not his wary admiration that has me slowing my pace.
"You ride?"
I see his shoulders straighten and his head jerk, but he doesn't turn. "Been years."
He continues to adamantly not look at me as I pull up beside him. Out the corner of my eye, I spy Brianna idling a few steps away, watching us with an expression that's all kinds of disapproving. "Which of the two were you planning to take?"
"Hadn't decided."
"Firecracker's a gentle giant; he's patient and steady. Cherry Blossom would get you home faster, though."
"That permission?"
"Or," I continue with a shrug. My fingers cuff his wrist the moment he lifts a foot from the gravel. His pulse drums violently against the tip of my thumb. "You know, you could hang about a while, do one small good deed for me. Leave with Alex in your own car and your own clothes, the two of us on even terms."
The sudden force of him wrenching himself free sets me a little off-balance. Then, his palm slams my chest and sends me staggering back. "What the fuck is your problem, man?"
"Seriously!" Brianna's at my side in a heartbeat, a steadying arm embracing my waist, as Craig takes a deliberate and defiant step away. "What the hell is yours?!"
My following words don't come easy, but playtime has now long overrun its course. "I need you." Both pairs of eyes immediately break from each other to sear me. "Your help," I clarify. "On the farm."
A guffaw erupts from Craig, sounding more like a growl.
Brianna looks like I've slapped her. "I can help you."
"No." I'll have a whole lot of making up to do with her later. But I won't back down. "He will."