“He told me I was crazy. Well, I guess he said, ‘Are you crazy?’”
“That’s not really the same thing, is it?” Scarlett asked.
“Do you guys think it’s a red flag? Or am I being…” I almost said it about myself, but I stopped.
“Cautious,” Maeve said. “You have every right to be cautious. We all should be. It’s not a bad thing to look out for patterns that concern you.”
“But be careful not to let what happened to you in the past ruin something good for your future,” Claire said. “I’m not saying that Sebastian is that good thing. That’s for you to decide. But projecting past trauma on someone else isn’t right either. Seb isn’t Blake, Lydia.”
He really wasn’t. Sebastian was kind and playful. He was funny, driven, and compassionate. He was selfless, even when it hurt him to be so. He took pride in his work and in himself. He was loving and affectionate, and he dealt with my badattitude with a smile and a cup of coffee every time.
Sebastian wasn’t Blake, and it was unfair of me to lump them together simply because Seb said something that triggered a reaction inside of me.
My leg bounced erratically. I wasn’t even sure when I had moved from leaning back to sitting up, but suddenly, I was half out of my seat.
“I think I need to go,” I said.
All three of them smiled back at me. “Sure. Drive safe,” Claire said.
I looked down at my full glass of wine. I hadn’t even taken a sip yet.
“Yeah, leave me with the whole bottle to drink by myself,” Maeve laughed.
“Thanks for letting me talk that out.” I shot up, but before I could put my shoes on, Claire stopped me.
“Wait. Should you maybe put some clothes on first?”
I looked down at the borrowed pajama shorts and loose Wilder Construction T-shirt that Reid had given me two days ago when I’d shown up with nothing but the clothes on my back.
“Not going to lie, Claire. I kind of hope the clothes will be the first thing that goes.” I smirked.
Maeve giggled like she wasn’t married with two kids, and Scarlett hooted, “Get it girl.”
I slipped my feet into my shoes and yelled another bye on my way out.
It was early enough that SD Ink should still have been open, but when I passed by, all the lights were off. I drove to the other side of town to Sebastian’s house. Our house.
Home.
Sebastian’s car wasn’t there either. I debated about calling him, but what I wanted to say was better in person. I let myself into the dark house and immediately felt a sense of rightness.
I kicked my shoes off at the door and padded my way to the couch. As much as I wanted to roll around in bed, surrounded by the scent of Sebastian, I wanted to see him more. Waiting for him to go from the door to the bedroom wasn’t even an option. I wanted to be here as soon as he opened the door. Hopefully, he wouldn’t keep me waiting all night.
35
Sebastian
Luke and I stayed out for about an hour, but unsurprisingly, I wasn’t feeling up for a night on the town. Before we left, he got a text from Scarlett saying that she was heading home after a girls’ night at Claire’s house.
“Was Lydia there? Ask her if Lydia was there,” I said.
“Of course Lydia was there. Where else would she be,” Luke huffed but asked the question anyway. A second later, he smirked down at his phone, typing a message back.
“What the hell, man. What did she say?”
“Yes, Lydia was there. She’s fine.”
Fuck. She was doing just fine while I was over here pining and missing her like crazy.
