Chapter 32
Persy
I woke up to sun streaming in the windows.
I shot up, thinking I’d slept well into the late afternoon.
With a quick look at the clock on my bedside table, I realized I hadn’t slept in. Not at all. It was seven in the morning. The sun was higher in the sky than it had ever been at this hour. And the god of it was still in my bed.
Sebastian was laying on his stomach, arms shoved under a pillow.
My heart lurched in my throat.
Damnit.
I was hopelessly in love with him. I could have spent hours staring at him, tracing the tiny curves of muscle in his back or the stubble growing on his jaw or the way his breaths expanded his entire body.
Scrambling up and away as quietly as I could, I ran into my bathroom, almost collapsing against the sink. I couldn’t quite catch my breath, let alone haul in enough air to form one coherent thought other than cataloging how calm my body felt compared to how much my heart hurt.
I was well and truly screwed.
I washed my face and brushed my hair in an attempt to regain some sort of control over my body, especially when going back to bed and curling myself along Sebastian’s back sounded incredibly compelling.
Sneaking back around the bed and fighting the urge to jump back in it, I ran outside to catch a breath. The fresh air helped, but the fresh sunlight helped more.
I tipped my head back, soaking in every second and trying to resist the urge to cry.
I really hoped Sebastian didn’t take it with him when he left. It would be the only piece of him I had left.
“Persy!” A loud voice called across the field, and I looked up to find Nikolas sprinting towards me, waving his hands in the air.
“What?” I asked back, not even attempting to raise my voice loud enough to meet him.
When he got to me, he fell forward, dropping his hand to his knees and heaving in breaths.
“Did you run here?” I asked, speaking more to the top of his head.
He lifted to respond, but then his gaze zeroed in on my neck. A moment later, he started laughing. “Oh, I know he is jumping around for joy right now.”
“What? Sebastian?” I asked, my hand flying to my neck. If there was evidence of his touch there, whether it was from his mouth or his hand, I didn’t want anyone seeing it. Those marks were mine.
Nikolas laughed even louder, almost keeling over again. “If we didn’t have duties to attend to right now, I would answer that. But for now, I’ll leave it at that’s a long time coming.”
“Was I that obvious?” I asked, feeling a blush rise to my cheeks.
Nikolas’s eyebrows creased in confusion. “I mean to me, yes, but I was talking about—”
“Nikolas, stop talking!” Kostas yelled from behind him, running up to both of us.
I ushered Nikolas away, not wanting to wake Sebastian and face him. “What is it?” I said, walking up to Kostas, whose arm immediately wrapped around Nikolas’s waist.
“Everyone is losing their mind,” Nikolas responded, sharing a look with Kostas. “If you haven’t noticed, the sun is in the sky and it’s barely eight in the morning. Too early, if you ask me.”
“I’m sorry to have interrupted something,” I said, noting the way Nikolas’s hair looked unbrushed.
“You didn’t,” Kostas said, though it was clear he was lying. “No one will listen to anyone but you. Can you please come tell everyone the sun isn’t about to crash into us?”
“That’s really a question for Sebastian,” I muttered, though apparently Nikolas heard me.
“Want me to go grab him?”
“No!” I said, that one word exposing far too much. “I’ll handle it.” I would have to, especially since it was likely Sebastian would take the sun with him when he left.