Chapter Thirty-Four
Now
“Damn.” Simon let out a slow whistle. “This place is seriously awesome.”
“Prime real estate,” Fae added, pivoting in a slow circle to take in the entire space. I couldn’t argue — Sebastian’s loft was gorgeous. I’d only been here a few hours and had barely begun to settle in, but I couldn’t turn away my best friends when they showed up at Bash’s door with wine in hand, determined to make my day better.
When I’d first arrived this afternoon, Bash had insisted on making roomfor me in his closet and dresser. I’d argued that I would only be here a short time — a few days, at most — but he’d just grinned indulgently in my direction before unzipping my suitcase and tossing a handful of bras and underwear into an empty drawer. The sly look on his face didn’t bode well for my plans to move back into my studio as soon as these abduction shenanigans were over, but I had no desire to argue with him after the day I’d had. With a sigh, I’d relented and unpacked my clothing into his space, ignoring the small part of my mind that wanted this move to be permanent.
I was clearly delusional or, at the very least, suffering from brain trauma after my brush with death this morning. That had to be it. Because it was in no way sane to move in with someone you’d started sleeping with yesterday.
Well, technically eight years ago. And then again yesterday.
It was all very confusing. I decided the mature, logical thing to do was put it out of my mind entirely.
So when Simon and Fae showed up at the door, I was more than happy for a distraction. Bash likely sensed that my friends wanted some private time with me to gossip about things he didn’t want to hear — such as his performance between the sheets — so he quickly made excuses about a conference call with a client and disappeared into the small office space abutting the main room.
Within minutes, Fae and Simon were totally relaxed on Sebastian’s sleek leather sectional, sipping wine and listening to my story aboutLabyrinth. Fae helped me fill Simon in on the meeting with Conor, her face twisting into a sneer as she talked about the FBI agent.
“Why do you two hate each other so much?” I asked. “What happened between you?”
“It’s a long story,” Fae muttered, sipping her wine.
“Is he good looking?” Simon asked.
Fae shook her head darkly. “Who cares what his face looks like?”
“Is that a yes?” Simon looked at me.
I nodded. “He’s gorgeous.”
“Ah, I see.” Simon’s lips twisted into a knowing smile. “Maybe some hate-sex is in order.”
“Excuse me?” Fae asked, turning to face him.
“Don’t knock it till you’ve tried it, sweetheart.” Simon grinned. “All that bottled up anger and aggression can be… explosive… under the right circumstances.”
“He’s right.” I sipped my wine, smiling privately as my mind filtered back over some of Bash and my first interactions during the past few weeks. “Love and hate — they’re two sides of the same coin.”
“Can we please talk about something important?” Fae asked. “Like the fact that Centennial is tomorrow night and Lux can no longer leave the apartment for the mani-pedi we booked her?”
I snorted. “Oh yeah. ‘Causethat’simportant. I’m so glad you want to talk about truly vital issues, Fae.”
“Never fear,” Simon said, reaching into the bag he’d brought with him and pulling out a French manicure set. “I always come prepared.”
I rolled my eyes but didn’t resist as he pulled my bare feet into his lap.
“I can’t believe Jeanine won’t let me out of going,” I complained. “You’d think an attempt on my life would be enough to convince her I can’t attend.”
Fae shrugged. “She’s British. They take attendance and punctuality very seriously.”
“You’re going with the boy toy?” Simon asked, applying a clear base coat to my toes.
“He helped me get intoLabyrinth; now I owe him a date,” I explained, my voice regretful. “I just wish it were anywhere but at Centennial. All the cameras… I’ll probably end up on some trashy gossip site.”
“I can see the headlines now.” Simon smirked. “‘MYSTERY WOMAN SNAGS SEBASTIAN COVINGTON’ — you’ll be famous!”
I glared in his direction.