“Sebastian.”
It rolled off Tim’s tongue, slow and seductive like a soft purr. Seb wanted to hear his full name all the time if it sounded like that. Fuck it, he needed to get out of the car and stop giving the poor guy mixed messages.Why does he have to be so hot, and so nice, and just about everything I want in a guy? Why does he have to be a shifter?“Sorry. You’re right. I’ll get it from Jared if I need it.”
Nathan and Jared stood a few steps away from the car. Seb reluctantly undid his seat belt and reached for the door handle. “Goodbye, Tim.”
“Wait.”
Seb glanced back to see Tim thumbing through his wallet; he dug out a dog-eared business card and thrust it at him. Without a word, Seb took it, slipped it into his pocket, and got out of the car. Jared hung back, giving him space, and Seb hobbled over to him. Nathan ducked his head inside the car to talk to Tim.
“Nice.” Jared nodded at his cast and Seb smiled. “How’s it feeling?”
“Hurts, but I have painkillers, and it’s not as bad as it was.” He shrugged. “But it’ll be about six weeks before I get the cast off.”
“Sucks.” Jared grimaced in sympathy. “What about your wrist?”
The new compression bandage poked out from under Seb’s jacket. He flexed his fingers a little. “Fortunately that’s only a mild sprain and should heal nicely all on its own. Apparently I need to start gentle exercises soon so that it doesn’t stiffen up.”
Jared smiled, albeit a little tightly, and rocked back on his heels. “Well, that’s good news at least.”
“Yeah.”
“Look, Seb.” Jared fidgeted under Seb’s stare. “I’m really sorry about—”
Fuck no, not again.“Stop. We’ve been through this already. It’s not your fault, or Nathan’s. I don’t blame either of you, and I’m not angry, so can we please just drop it?”
Jared’s smile widened. “Yeah, okay.”
“Good.”
Nathan came up behind him then and slipped his arm around Jared’s waist. He ducked his head and nuzzled at Jared’s neck with a small contented sound. Seb looked away from them, just in time to see Tim’s car pull off from the kerb. The two things together set off a flare of irritation, and as quickly as he could manage, he spun around and headed for the door to Nathan’s building.
Since he couldn’t exactly speed away, Jared easily caught up to him. “Hey, what’s up with you?”
“Nothing.”
Jared fell into step beside him, with Nathan on his other side. “You sure about that?”
“Yep.”
Of course Nathan couldn’t keep out of it. Of course. “Tim didn’t look too happy either, and the inside of his car reeked of unresolved sexual tension.”
Seb stopped, leaned on his crutch, and stared at Nathan. “You can’t fucking smell that.” He turned to Jared for clarification. “Can he? Is that a thing that has a… a… scent?”Fucking ridiculous.And even if it did have, there was absolutely none of that going on in Tim’s car.Liar, liar, pants on fire.To his utter mortification, Seb felt his face heat.
Nathan laughed. “Fine, it doesn’t. But other things do, and someone in that car was thinking about sex.” He didn’t add “And I bet it was you,” but he gave Seb a look that spoke for him.
“Whatever. Can we just get inside? My leg hurts and I need to elevate it for a bit.” He set off for the door again, and once they were inside, Nathan scooped him up without bothering to ask first and carried him up the stairs.
Seb couldn’t find the energy to be pissed off at him, and if he was honest, it was a relief not to have to navigate his own way up. He hadn’t lied to them; his ankle throbbed in earnest now and his bed called to him. In fact, Nathan might just as well carry him all the way into the guest bedroom, because a nap sounded pretty fucking appealing right about then.
When Seb suggested this he got the expected sarcastic reply, but his yawn clearly swayed Nathan, because he didn’t set him down until they were next to his bed.
“Thanks,” Seb mumbled through another yawn.
Nathan rolled his eyes. “Lazy bastard.” The playful tone took the sting out of it, and he turned to leave Seb to it.
Jared lingered just inside the doorway. “You okay? I mean, apart from the obvious.”
Seb sighed.Am I that transparent?Sometimes he hated how well he and Jared knew each other. “No. Maybe…. I don’t know.”
