“My mom called you?”
“Of course she did. Told me to get myassover here to kick yours.”
Ryder chuckled. That sounded like something she’d say. She’d always referred to Sebastian as his grown-up friend.
“Look, I’ll call her, but I can’t go upstairs and deal with all the judgmental looks from them, or anyone taking the piss. I don’t need that now.”
“Have you thought about Felix in any of this?”
“Why should I? He cheated on me.”
“Did you even give him a chance to explain?”
“Explain what? There was a picture of him online kissing his ex. Then when I showed up, he was there in just a fucking towel. There’s nothing to explain, Sebastian.”
“I want you to think about the consequences of your actions. Felix is accused on social media of cheating on you. Then what happens? You delete all your accounts. Who do your millions of followers blame for that, Ryder?”
Oh fuck!
“Catching on, are we? You’ve got one hour to come upstairs, or I’ll bring them all down with me. There’s a lot that’s happened in the last week. When you’re ready to hear about it, we’ll be waiting. One hour.”
Sebastian turned to leave and stopped. He turned back to Ryder and pulled him into a hug.
“You know you only have to call and I’ll be here as quick as I can. Never doubt my love for you, Ryder.”
Sebastian pulled away, tears in his eyes. Something you didn’t see often. He left without another word, leaving Ryder to absorb the enormity of what he’d caused. Instinctively, he went and retrieved his phone and tried to turn it on. He needed to know what he was dealing with. The battery was dead, which it would be after no use for a week, so he stuck it on charge and went back to his kitchen. The wine was tipped down the sink, and he turned on the coffee machine. He had an hour to get his head together, before he faced those men upstairs. Ryder knew they all loved and supported him, but they would also be the first to call him out on his bullshit. He needed a plan.
“You were cutting it fine,” said Deacon, as Ryder walked into Sebastian’s penthouse apartment.
All his friends were there. It felt like months since the sixof them had all been together, but it had only been last month, just before Thanksgiving. Now they were closing in on Christmas. The last few weeks felt like years, given how much had happened.
They each greeted him with a hug, even Mason, who was not a hugger.
“Did you go for a spa visit in the last hour?” asked Sebastian. “You looked like shit when I last saw you.”
“Love you too!”
They all laughed. He felt good after taking a second, longer shower, and having a shave. His beard would grow back in a couple of days, but he always felt fresh when he took it all off. A big advantage of doing a lot of brand deals is that he was never hurting for beauty products either, so he’d basically given himself a spa treatment at home.
“Does anyone know where Felix is?” he asked.
“He’s dropped off the grid,” said Mason. “He kind of had to.”
“How bad is it?”
“Have you looked at social media?”
“I still haven’t reactivated my accounts. Not sure I even want to right now.”
“That’s the problem. The fact you’ve completely disappeared... People are assuming something bad happened, and they’re blaming Felix for it.”
That was the last thing he wanted. Felix had hurt him with what he’d done, but Ryder hadn’t even listened to his side of the story. He hadn’t been able to. Seeing his ex all wet after showering, his muscles on display with a towel round his waist... It was clear Felix had a type, although Ryder had a good few inches on the guy, probably in every sense. He snorted.
“What’s funny?” asked Sebastian.
“Nothing, just intrusive thoughts. I’m not sure?—”
There was a knock at the door. Who could that be? It wasprobably one of the boyfriends. Sebastian headed to the door, so he was clearly expecting someone. The others looked apprehensive, so something was up. They weren’t going to bring Felix in here and blindside the pair of them, were they?
