I slide into Ian’s car and fasten my seatbelt just as Noah hops in behind us.
“I’ll ride with you guys,” he says. “The others are all with Francis.”
Ian flashes me a grin. I return it, even if mine feels a little forced.
“Alright, Ian,” I say, turning toward him. “Why don’t you go first? Tell me what you’ve been up to all these years.”
My voice wavers slightly, but I catch Noah’s calm, steady smile in the rear-view mirror. It grounds me.
I lean back in my seat and try to focus on Ian’s voice,
even as the quiet ache of losing Remi’s touch still lingers against my skin.
REMI
The ride to Be At One is pure agony.
I fidget in my seat, tense and restless like a caged animal.
That pushy idiot Ian had the nerve to whisk Seb away,
and just when I was about to intervene, Seb stopped me with a look.
Pleading. Gentle. Unmistakable.
Why didn’t he let me step in? Was he just trying to avoid a scene… or did the idea of being close to Ian not bother him at all?
I can’t even let myself go there. Logically, I know it would make sense. There’d be nothing wrong with it.
But just the thought of someone else touching Sebastian,
his hands on that skin, his mouth on that neck,
makes something primal rise in my chest.
It’s a feeling I’ve never experienced before.
So intense, so all-consuming, it actually scares me.
And as if that weren’t enough, I have to sit here and listen to Anne, bubbling with excitement beside Francis, absolutely thrilled about the latest developments.
She claps her hands, grinning first at her boyfriend and then at me, clearly convinced there’s a future between Seb and Ian.
Oh, for the love of, no.
No. And again, no.
“Guys, what do you think? Ian’s clearly into Sebastian, right? They’d make such a gorgeous couple! Both so beautiful, Seb’s all sweet and graceful, and Ian’s just so strong and… mmm, manly. Sparks would fly!”
Anne’s on a roll, talking a mile a minute. Francis catches my horrified expression and gives the tiniest shake of his head.
She notices a moment later and finally, mercifully, stops.
Thank God. If she’d gone on one second longer, I might’ve strangled her.
I love Anne, really. But she can be a little too much sometimes.
Andverynosy.
