I shudder. “Good point, let’s run far away.”
We wave at Sofia, who makes rude hand gestures at us, and slip out of the store.
“Now, where would we find your naughty horse?”
“Where? Wherever Fox is.”
Sebastian pulls out his phone and holds it to his ear. “Where are you? Ah, is the horse with you? Right, we will be there in a few minutes.”
“Gale found Fox, didn’t he?”
“Yes, they went to get something to eat, and your horse tried to follow him into the cafe, so Mum banished Fox to the beach.”
I shake my head, muttering. “How does he keep getting out? Can you look at it for me?”
“Me?”
“Yes, you are a male. You have male thought processes, perhaps you can figure it out.”
He’s still chuckling as we get to the beach. I hop over the wooden fence and take the hidden path through the dunes to the beach. As soon as we step out, I stop, watching the ridiculousness that is my life.
Gale, Fox, and Imogen are chasing each other through the surf with a black and white magpie soaring overhead.
We walk down slowly, and I fling myself into the sand beside Katsu, who passes me a bottle of water and a roll.
“You bought me lunch?” No one buys me lunch. I’m the one who organises food and drinks. Except for Sebastian, he often drops food off to me. In fact, now that I think about it, he’s always picking fights over me spending too long in the sun, not drinking enough, not sleeping enough, or working too hard.
It’s like my entire world has turned upside down. I stare at him, remembering a million moments of me thinking he hates me. All this time, he’s been taking care of me.
“I bought you both lunch,” Katsu says and leans back, contentedly watching Fox and Imogen play with my horse. “We thought maybe you would both run away, and we’d never see you again.”
I choke on the roll and have to open the water and drink a quarter of it before I can stop coughing.
“What she means to say is that it was very hot and your audition went very well. Ten out of ten, and a rubber stamp of approval,” Sebastian says with a teasing smirk. “We would like to invite you to progress to the next stage.”
I slap his thigh, but he just captures my hand, drops a kiss on my palm, and returns to eating.
“So, are you saying you’d like to do that with us?” Katsu asks in a low and intimate voice.
My mouth goes dry, and I set the roll aside. “Um, er. Well, yes, but-”
“But?” Katsu asks gently. “You can tell me anything. We’ll respect anything you want to do, anything you don’t want to do. If you have questions, this is a safe place to ask them. We just want you to be happy.”
I stare at the sand, my cheeks burning. “I haven’t done anything before.”
Out of the corner of my eye, I see Katsu glance at Sebastian and back at me. He doesn’t understand. “Okay.”
“Like, nothing.”
There’s a brief pause before the air around me turns to wildfire. Spices and incense and a hot, dry heat that makes me shiver.
“You mean you have no experience?” Katsu asks in a perfectly moderated tone.
I jerk my chin up, dragging my hand through the sand, before I get on my knees and face him. There is no reason for me to be embarrassed. “I was busy, and I had…”feelings for Sebastian. I didn’t want anyone else to touch me. It’s a small town; it’s not like there was a lineup of guys to choose from. I was too loud, too assertive, too weird. People were interested in everyone else.
“Cordelia Lake, stop thinking,” Sebastian growls. “And stop defending your decision.”
I jerk my head toward him. “How could you possibly know what I’m thinking?”
