They scatter, grinning like idiots, just as Xavier rounds the corner with a coil of rope slung over one shoulder. “Try not to waste the animals’ feed, please,” he says, deadpan. He opens his mouth like he’s about to add something else, but I cut him off.
“Oh, what? Now you’ve suddenly got an issue with me being in a good mood?”
He blinks. “I was coming to ask if you could double-check the inventory in Shed Four.”
Oh.
“Right.” I nod, recovering fast. “Of course. That’s… why you’re here.”
He gives me a long, very suspicious look before turning toward the shed again. “Make sure you tell this special someone we said thank you,” he calls over his shoulder. “He’s done us all a real favour.”
I throw my hands up. “Oh, piss off, Xavier!”
By late afternoon, I’m basically vibrating. Not even metaphorically. Full-body-buzzing, can’t-sit-still, smiling-at-random-objects kind of vibrating. It’s been like this lately—thisthingin my chest every time I think about Sebastian. Butterflies. Real ones. Not the fluttery nerves before a job interview kind, but the warm, fuzzy sort that show up when I know I’m about to see him again. And today? Today, I’ve got a secret.
A big, wicker-basket-shaped one sitting quietly in the boot of his car.
When he opens the front door—early finish today, thankChrist—I’m already grinning like a lunatic. “Get changed,” I say, breezing past him with zero context. “You’re driving.”
He blinks. “Well, hi to you too, Trouble.”
“Hi, Bash.” I go to kiss him on the cheek, because, well, I still don’t quite know the boundaries here. Not with Teddy around. Not with whatever this…thingis between us.
But apparently, Sebastian does. Because his hand catches my waist and suddenly his mouth is on mine—quick, deep, breath-stealing. My knees go a little useless. So much for the cheek. He pulls back with that look in his eyes, the one that always leaves me flustered, and I practically have to shove him toward the hallway.
“Go. Now. We’ve got places to be.”
He raises a brow as he walks backwards, half-laughing. “And where exactly am I driving to?”
“Somewhere,” I sing-song. “But we need to hurry before the sun disappears. So chop-chop.”
It’s not the first spontaneous adventure I’ve dragged him on lately. First, it was a screening of the new live-actionLilo & Stitchat the pop-up drive-in. Then it was a cross-town drive to find a servo selling some ridiculous limited-edition Milo-flavoured Slurpee. And now, this.
He’s back in record time, hair damp from the shower, one hand running through those curls as he jogs down the stairs, grabbing the car keys from the bench. The sight alone makes my stomach flip. Sebastian is always bossy, like it’s coded into his DNA. And lately, I’ve learned Ireallylike it when he’s bossy… in bed. But when the roles are reversed? When I’m the one ordering him around? He looks… intrigued. Suspicious, of course. Maybe a little turned on.
All wins, really.
In the car, I direct him with vague hand gestures and cryptic instructions; left here, right there, go past the big gumtree that looks like a man flipping the bird. When we finally pull up, he frowns out the windscreen. “You brought us to a shed in the middle of nowhere?”
I grin. “Oh, shush.”
Teddy giggles in the back as I hop out, open the boot, and reveal the hidden picnic basket.
Sebastian lifts a brow as he pulls Teddy out of the car. “When did you manage to put that in there?”
“Don’t worry.” I wink, slamming it shut. “Follow me.”
We walk past the old tin shed and up the slight incline behind it. The air’s crisp, sweet with the smell of eucalyptus and something else—floral, earthy, like summer cracked open early just for us. And then we reach the top of the hill.
The tulip field unfurls like a secret. Rows upon rows of colour ripple in the breeze—soft pinks, fiery reds, buttery yellows, all blending into a patchwork dream.
Teddy gasps. “Whoa!”
Sebastian doesn’t say anything at first. He just stands there, staring, blinking slowly. “How did you even find this place?” he asks eventually.
I grin, shrugging like it’s no big deal. “Hiking. Got lost once, and found this instead. Now it’s my spot.”
“Your spot, huh?” he echoes, one brow lifting.
