Page 53 of The Gods Forbid

And hearing that his gift for observation had been weaponized by classmates of his, that they’d preyed on his desire for inclusion and convinced him that his eye for detail was best applied to forging sensitive documents … it still made my heart clench with anguish for him.

He’d known it was wrong from the second he started doing it, but he didn’t know how to find a way out without destroying the only social contact he’d ever had, positive or otherwise.

Penn’s time in Prometheus was focused on learning how to communicate boundaries and ensure he understood signals—verbal and nonverbal—that meant someone didn’t have the best intentions.

If he was openly kind to Sebastian, that said everything I needed to know about the way he treated Penn.

“What did you talk about?” I pressed carefully, my voice softer than normal.

Sebastian made an odd sound in the back of his throat. “I somehow got myself roped into being his art teacher.”

My heart swelled so much I thought it might burst right out of my chest. I had to clamp down on my jaw to catch the rush of appreciation that was about to jump out of my throat.

Sebastian would freeze up if he realized how deeply affected I was by that.

“Scoot over,” Sebastian said, nudging me with his elbow. “The steam is making your eyes well up.”

It wasn’t the steam. I was about to cry.

But I was smart enough to take the excuse when it was given to me. Trying to explain to Sebastian that I happened to cry quite often and it was a rather mild emotional reaction in my book seemed like it would go over about as well as spilled milk.

I wiggled my hips over an inch, but didn’t feel all that keen to completely pull away from him.

Oh, goodness. This was going to be bad. I wished I still thought I was scared of him.

“You’re teaching him to paint?” I asked, when I was somewhat confident my voice wouldn’t quiver with the threat of tears.

Sebastian nodded slowly, and I could tell he was still deciding whether he’d lost his mind. I was pulled toward him like a magnet, needing to know what happened even if it burned me. “How did that come up?”

Sebastian scoffed. “I was buying paint from him, then I blacked out and the next thing I knew, I was offering to teach him how to paint.”

Well, that was a mischaracterization of what happened and we both knew it. I’d let it slide. For now.

“That was very kind of you.”

“It wasn’t kind at all,” Sebastian said, lifting his eyes to meet mine for one, loaded second. “In fact, it was rather selfish.”

“Why’s that?” My voice sounded far too breathy. I’d have to lock myself in my bathroom and practice regulating my voice if this was going to be an issue. I needed to keep this attraction locked so far in the recesses of my mind, not even light from Sebastian’s hands could reach that darkness.

“You were going to place him with someone you knew in Rome,” Sebastian said. I didn’t know whether or not that was intended to be a question.

“I was,” I said, curious who he was going to say. I didn’t need to clarify that it wasn’t someone I knew and rather someone Reyna knew. I wasn’t sheltered by any means, but I didn’t really have a circle outside of the gods and Prometheus.

Sebastian snorted, the sound still somehow sounding lyrical. I didn’t make it a habit to swear often, but that thought made the word asshole jump into my mind, playful and teasing. I bit down on the inside of my cheek to keep it inside. “I don’t know what this Roman guy’s qualifications are, but while I’m here, I might as well give Penn a proper education in art. I have nothing better to do.”

He was intentionally distancing himself from his kind gesture. “Don’t do that,” I said, deciding to call him on it. “You wanted to help him. Admit it.”

Sebastian stopped stirring, resting the wooden spoon against the side of the pot. He set his right hand down on the marble, right next to my thigh. He stepped in front of me like he planned to do the same with his left hand, caging me in.

He stopped at the last minute, the only movement was his fingers curling in on the counter. Good. I didn’t know what instinct had made him move towards me like that, but all I knew was that it was dangerous.

After a moment and a noticeably thick swallow of his throat, he said, “I didn’t realize this was an interrogation.”

“When are you going to learn that I’m just asking you questions?” I shot back, though my voice didn’t have an ounce of bite to it.

Sebastian tsked and the sound did something odd to my stomach. “You didn’t ask much of anything. You demanded I admit the real reason behind helping Penn.”

“Is there a real reason?” Even up on the counter, he was still so much taller than me. So much so it only felt natural to tilt my chin up towards him.