Chapter 23 Aria
Aria
“Hey, Logan,” I said as I stepped into his car.
I’d become accustomed to Logan being my personal driver as Sebastian was hardly about these days.
It had been two weeks since we’d had that dinner at his dad’s, which ended with Sebastian nearly punching him.
He’d been more closed off and distant since then.
I didn’t know everything he’d gone through growing up because he’d never told me, but he needed to find a way to deal with it, or he’d never be able to move on from the past.
Other than work, I think I saw him for three full days all in all over the last two weeks. Even then, sometimes he wasn’t at the office when he was meant to be. Things were … strained, and no matter how hard I tried, I was struggling to pull him back to me.
“Hey, how was work?” Logan asked as he pulled away.
“Same as usual. Sebastian locked himself in the office and then disappeared. Caspian wondered where he went.” I shrugged.
“I could not do corporate. Think I’d die.” He chuckled.
“It’s not too bad. It’s not what I wanted to do when I was younger, but as you know, life doesn’t always go to plan.” I shifted in the seat.
“What did you want to do?”
“I wanted to be a social worker.”
It had always been at the back of my mind, but when I moved back, my focus was to start over and get myself sorted. Getting the job at Luxe Corp was the start of that. Maybe it was the absence of Sebastian, or I’d finally realised I could do anything I wanted to now. Either way, I was ready.
“I think you’d be a great one.”
“Thank you. What about you? Was the army always your life plan?”
“I used to do boxing before I enlisted. It helped channel all that anger I had with the foster care system. Looking back now, I know they were only there to help me.”
“Do you not box now?”
“Sebastian and I spar now and then. I like to keep him on his toes.” He looked over and smiled.
“I’ve heard him down in his gym at times, hitting the bag.” I laughed.
Traffic didn’t look too bad tonight, which was a good thing. I couldn’t wait to get home and curl up on the sofa with a glass of wine and a film. Sebastian would probably be out, and if I were being honest, I felt relieved about that. He was mostly on his phone when we were together anyway.
I waved goodbye to Logan and stepped into the house, flinging my shoes off in the foyer. I’d pick them up later. Right now, the wine was calling me. As I reached the kitchen, I jumped.
Sebastian was here.
He stood by the table that dinner had been laid out on.
“Hey, Nyx.”
“What are you doing here?” I blurted out.
He screwed up his face. “What do you mean, what am I doing here? I live here.”
“Sorry.” I stepped into the kitchen, meeting him. “That came out wrong. I thought you’d be out again.”
He placed his hands on my arms, rubbing them gently up and down. “I know I’ve been distant, so I wanted to do something special to make it up to you.”
My body loosened. “No, I get it. I know work has been hard for you with Caspian around and what happened with the fund proposal. I know you’ve got a lot on.”
“All I want is for Luxe Corp to stay in my hands. You understand that, right?”
“Yes, I do.” I hesitated for a moment. “Are you sure there’s nothing else? You can tell me anything, you know that, right?”
He rubbed the back of his neck. “No, there’s nothing else.”
“It’s been really lonely without you.”
He held my hands. “I’m so sorry I made you feel like that. It hasn’t helped with my dad being back. I’ve not put you first, and I should have. You’ve always been my priority.”
He ran his fingers across my jaw and placed his hands there, grazing my cheeks with his thumbs. “There’s nothing in this world that would stop me from fighting for you. For us. You, Nyx, are the best thing to ever happen in my life, and nothing will ever keep me from you. I love you.”
My heart skipped a beat, and those butterflies which had been so dormant recently started fluttering in my stomach again. I leaned in slowly and met his lips.
“I love you too,” I whispered.
“I made your favourite,” he said faintly.
“Bacon sandwiches with mayo?”
He let out a soft laugh and smiled at me. “No, a roast dinner.”
“But it’s not Sunday,” I said, biting my bottom lip.
“I won’t tell if you don’t.” His voice was low, like he was telling me a secret.
My stomach filled with warmth. This—this silliness—was what I’d missed with him. He pulled me into his chest and wrapped his arms around me. Then he kissed the top of my head and released me to pull out my chair, and I sat down.
He had literally cooked everything. There was roast beef, honey-glazed parsnips, carrots.
His famous roast potatoes that he would never share his secret for getting so crispy.
He said it was his nan’s recipe, and he’d be betraying her if he did.
There was butternut squash that he’d roasted, cauliflower—my favourite—stuffing, and enormous Yorkshire puddings.
Everything had been made from scratch, even the gravy.
For a Chelsea boy, I was always pleasantly surprised that he knew how to cook and was so good at it.
“Thank you. This really means a lot to me.”
“I want to be here with you more than anything, I really do, but it’s hard at the moment.”
I took hold of his hand, squeezing it. “I get it. I promise.”
Sebastian put some food on my plate for me, and I soon started to tuck in. The beef fell apart in my mouth and was cooked just enough for it to be tender, without the blood dripping from it. Sebastian knew I wouldn’t eat it if I saw blood.
“I think this has my name on it.”
Sebastian grabbed the crispiest potato from my plate, and I heard the crunch.
I tapped his arm playfully. “Stop stealing my food.”
“Never. Not in this lifetime, anyway.”
“Is this why you left work early today?”
He paused for a moment, not quite meeting my eyes, and took a sip of his whisky before he answered.
“Yeah, it was.”
Shifting in my chair, I realised that he just needed time to get through all of this at work.
He didn’t have all of this when we were younger.
He didn’t run the company back then with all the added pressure.
This had to be hard for him. As much as he tried to hide it, I could tell he was being pulled in all directions, and I wasn’t going to let one of them be me putting demands on him.
I needed to back off and let him deal with it, and I’d be there if he needed me.
“I know you’ve got a lot going on there, and I honestly love this surprise, but don’t miss work because of me.”
“It’s fine, Nyx. I wanted to spend time with you.”
We sat there for a moment, enjoying the food in silence. It was different this time. It was an easy silence that felt like it used to with us. There was no hidden tension in the distance between us. It was like Sebastian had realised and made that effort to help fix it.
The silence was broken by Sebastian’s phone ringing. He pulled it out of his pocket and let out a heavy breath as he looked at the screen.
“You can get that.”
He clicked the side, declining the call, and then turned his phone off and placed it back in his pocket.
He took hold of my hands and gazed into my eyes. “You’re more important.”