Total pages in book: 90
Estimated words: 84670 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 423(@200wpm)___ 339(@250wpm)___ 282(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 84670 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 423(@200wpm)___ 339(@250wpm)___ 282(@300wpm)
“Would you like a cup before you go?” he inquired, holding up his mug.
I took the chair opposite him in the two-seater breakfast nook setup. “Nah, I’m good. The shower was enough to wake me up. There’s just something I want you to promise me.”
Liam put his phone facedown on the table and turned to look at me. “What’s up?”
“You’re going to start thinking after I leave. Please, promise me you’ll call or text me if you need to talk or if you begin to panic. Regardless of what’s happened between us—past and present—we’re friends first. You can always talk to me.”
One corner of his mouth curled up in a smirk. “You think I’m going to panic?”
“You wouldn’t be the first.”
“Did you?”
“No, not really, but I also had parents who treated my sexuality like it was a normal thing. You didn’t.”
Liam’s smirk faded, and he rocked his head to the side slightly. “True. I don’t think I’m going to panic, but I might, I guess. I need to…digest all this. Figure out…me.”
“I know you have to do at least some of this alone, but it doesn’t have to all be by yourself.” As I stood, I snagged the nape of his neck and pressed a gentle kiss to the center of his forehead. “Call or text me later. Proof of life. That’s all.”
“I will. Promise.”
That promise secured, I got the fuck out of there. I needed to do my own sanity check with a couple of people.
18
ROME ASHBRIDGE
Sebastian narrowed his eyes at me as I strolled into the lounge with his butler, Wilkins, at my side. Before I could even open my mouth in greeting, he sighed.
“How bad is it?” he inquired.
Byron, who had been sitting beside him on the sofa, staring at his phone, instantly jerked his head up while setting his phone aside. “How bad is what? What’s happened?”
“No clue,” I lied like a fucking dog. Wilkins departed without a word now that he’d delivered me safely to my friends. “I walked in, and he asked how bad something was.”
Sebastian snorted. “Like you don’t know. You text me, announcing that you’re coming over and that I should stop molesting my boyfriend.” To which Byron gasped and flushed, proving that I’d been totally correct. Not that it was a big shock. In Sebastian’s mind, he had three years of sex, cuddling, and spoiling to catch up on since he’d been forced to wait that long to capture the heart of Byron. “And then you walk in with that expression.”
“What expression?”
Byron leaned forward, squinting slightly at me. “He’s right. You don’t look good. What happened?”
This wasn’t fair. It made sense that Sebastian could glance at me and know something was up. He’d known me for at least fifteen years. But not Byron. Prior to him dating Sebastian, we’d encountered each other only a few times.
What was the point in trying to keep up the façade?
I shuffled into the lounge and dropped into a large coffee-brown wingback chair and glared at the table for a second before I mumbled, “I think I have feelings for Liam.”
That announcement was met with complete silence.
I dragged my gaze up to Sebastian and Byron, where I found them staring at me, a little confused and expectant.
“And?” Sebastian prompted.
“What do you mean ‘and’? This is a big deal!”
Byron scooted to the edge of the sofa cushion. He was dressed in a cream-colored cashmere sweater and a pair of camel-brown slacks, looking very relaxed and handsome next to his boyfriend, who’d opted to dress in contrasting dark grays and blacks. As if that could conceal any of Sebastian’s golden retriever energy.
“I think we all suspected that you had developed feelings for Liam when we met him at Music Hall,” Byron explained.
“What? No!” That couldn’t be possible. Not that soon.
Sebastian shook his head. “A month ago, you told us about this childhood friend you had a falling-out with and how you wanted to torment him. If you hated this guy, you would never have introduced him to the rest of your friends.”
Okay, so maybe Sebastian had a point.
“Plus, you stayed very close to him during the performance,” Byron added.
“Wouldn’t take your eyes off him,” Sebastian commented.
Byron nodded. “Constantly whispering in his ear or touching him.”
“All right!” I snapped, cutting them off because it was clear they were determined to bury me under a mountain of evidence that I’d been too unwilling to see. Leaning forward, I balanced my elbows on my knees and dropped my head into my hands. “All right. I thought it was just about getting my old friend back. But…it’s…things have gotten more complicated.”
“Did you sleep with him?” Sebastian inquired.
“Yes,” I mumbled, only to jerk upright and correct myself. “No! I mean…no.” Sort of.
“Rome, what the fuck?” Sebastian asked, but Byron smacked him in the center of his chest and gave him a warning look.