Page 48 of Perfect Night
“I’m irrelevant here. He’s not ready. There’s some darkness there, and he needs to work through it first.”
“Why don’t you help him?”
“You’re deflecting. This is about you and Charlie. What are you going to do?”
“Wait.”
“Sebastian, you’ve never struck me as the submissive type.”
“That’s not what this is about. He has to want to be with me.”
Patrick said nothing for a while. He was considering what Sebastian had said, and although he knew his friend wanted to push him to take action, he knew Sebastian was right. Charlie had to come to him. Not egotistically. Charlie had to make his own choices.
The friends spent the next couple of hours chatting. Charlie occasionally came up, but all the heavy stuff was done. Sebastian was tempted to tease Patrick about Jason again, but he didn’t. He’d also seen the darkness Patrick referred to. You could see the pain in Jason’s eyes. Charlie probably knew more. Having seen the friends together, even though it was when Charlie was having a panic attack, it was clear they all had different roles in the group. And Charlie was the heart. Those boys loved him and would do anything to protect him. Did they think he needed protecting from Sebastian?
There was a knock at the door. In a slight moment of panic, Sebastian looked at his watch and saw there was no way Bex could have made it here in that time, even if she’d been boarding a plane as they spoke. He walked over to the door and looked through the spyhole. His heart sped up as he opened the door. There was his Charlie, looking gorgeous and bashful. Sebastian couldn’t help but smile. Before he said anything, Charlie jumped into his arms and pressed his lips to Sebastian’s, who turned Charlie around and pushed him back against the door, taking control of the kiss. He was so happy to have him back.
Sebastian snapped out of his lust-filled haze at the sound of a cough. He broke the kiss and looked behind him to see Patrick with a grin on his face. He was signalling to get past them.
Sebastian looked back at Charlie, who clearly hadn’t realised Patrick was there and went bright red. It was adorable, and Sebastian kissed his hot cheek before lowering him back to the ground so they could let Patrick pass; he now had his shoes and jacket on. How long had they been eating each other’s faces?
“Call me tomorrow, big guy,” said Patrick, gripping his shoulder. “Look after him, Charlie.”
He left before saying any more. Sebastian closed the door and was tempted to kiss Charlie again and drag him to the bedroom, but they needed to talk. He took Charlie’s hand and guided him over to the couch, where they both sat down.
Sebastian slipped his arm round Charlie’s shoulder and held him close. It wasn’t a possessive thing. He just wanted to be certain Charlie was really here and wouldn’t leave again. Okay, maybe it was possessive. Charlie didn’t seem to mind.
“How are you feeling?” That seemed like a good opener.
“I’m okay. Sorry if I scared you. I haven’t had a panic attack in well over a year.”
“You’ve nothing to be sorry for. I’m just glad you’re okay.”
“It didn’t freak you out and put you off me?”
“Me, put off you? Never. Was I freaked out? Maybe a little anxious. Only because I wanted to help and didn’t know what to do. And Langdon threatened to punch me.”
“Oh God, I’m so sorry. He’s the oldest, so he’s taken on the big-brother role.”
“It’s okay. I know he didn’t really mean it.”
“Oh, he meant it.”
It surprised Sebastian for a second, then he started laughing.
“What’s funny?”
“Just the matter-of-fact way you told me your friend really would have punched me.”
“Well, I’m glad he didn’t. And not just for you, but because it wouldn’t have been good for Langdon either. He’s come so far.”
“There’s a story there.”
“Not mine to tell.”
“That’s fair. And Jason?”
“Definitely not my story to tell. Why do you ask?”
