Sebastian plucked at some strands of hair over his left ear that refused to lie flat, his stare seeking out Remington’s in the reflection of the mirror. He dropped his hands to the sink and braced himself, holding steady.
“Our place,” Sebastian murmured before clearing his throat. “Do you ever think about how different things could have been?”
“What do you mean?”
“Between us.” Sebastian flipped off the bathroom light and slipped past Remington into the hallway. Remington followed him into the living room where he’d sat down to put on his shoes. Remington sat on the other end of the couch and folded one leg over the other, his ankle resting on the opposite knee.
He had, in fact, thought about that question. He’d thought about it frequently. More than he’d ever wanted to admit, but the question had been asked and he would never lie to Sebastian. Remington had kept himself up nights, tracing back the butterfly effect through every major event of his life, wondering when he’d done something right enough to deserve the life he finally had.
“Often,” he answered, adjusting his glasses up the bridge of his nose.
“I regret marrying Daniella,” Sebastian said with a frown. “But I don’t think I ever would have met you if I hadn’t.”
Remington’s first reaction was to dispute Sebastian’s claim. Of course they would have met because Jace and Callahan would have somehow found each other. Even without Sebastian’s meddling, they’d met. But if Sebastian hadn’t been married to Daniella, he wouldn’t have left the bar, Callahan wouldn’t have gone to the bathroom…
Remington had heard the story over and over because Jace loved to recall their first kiss on the dance floor at a gay bar, but Remington knew how fragile all of it was. It was all chance, all coincidence. And that was how he’d always looked at his life. A series of coincidences strung together into something livable.
Meeting Sebastian changed all of that.
Sebastian had shown him he had the power to take control of the course of his life. He could make decisions; he could choose. Every action had a reaction, and Remington found it hard to regret anything he’d chalked up in the past as being coincidence because…
Because he had Sebastian.
He’d found Sebastian and he’d made the choices necessary to keep him. And he would continue making those choices for both of them.
“I think we would have found each other,” Remington said.
“I don’t see how.”
Remington crooked a finger and Sebastian shifted, leaning across the couch toward him. Remington snatched Sebastian’s tie once he was in reach and hauled in across the rest of the space between them until Sebastian was awkwardly part on the couch and part on his lap. Sebastian’s breath left him in a rush and he looked up at Remington with the hazy sort of half-smile he’d come to love.
“I would have found you,” Remington whispered, dragging his lips from left to right across Sebastian’s mouth.
Sebastian moaned.
“And what would you have done with me when you did?”
“Everything.”
Sebastian opened his mouth and Remington kissed him. He’d gotten better at kissing, far more confident then when they’d started, and Sebastian’s reactions confirmed it. Sebastian’s cock spasmed against Remington’s thigh, and Remington kissed him until he wanted to strip him naked. Then he stopped.
Sebastian whimpered, his eyes closed and his upper body wavering like he wanted to tumble the rest of the way over Remington’s lap.
“We need to get going,” Remington whispered.
“Please, no.” Sebastian shook his head. “Not yet.”
“Not yet?”
Sebastian pumped his hips forward, pressing his thickening cock against Remington’s leg again.
“We’re going to be late,” Remington said.
“You know you can’t kiss me like that and leave me.” Sebastian licked his lips, his eyes still closed.
“I’m not leaving you. We’re going together.”
“I’d rather be coming together.”
