“Looks cozy,” she said.
Johnny’s hand rested on Annika’s leg, and they were touching from the waist down.
“Right back at ya.” I avoided Sebastian’s smug gaze.
Names, positions, plays, strategy, and scoring flew around my head while they viewed the game. None of it registered. Everything in me was fine-tuned to Sebastian’s leg brushing against mine each time he moved. Or the way his hand would rest on my leg, as though it was the most natural thing in the world to touch me. Was it possible to overheat from suppressed lust while dying of boredom from a football game? When I couldn’t take my skyrocketing libido anymore, I stood and went to the kitchen for more drinks.
I pressed my hands into the counter, lost in the stupidity of developing a crush on a womanizing football player. He was the opposite of anyone I would have ever wanted. Footsteps sounded from the living room, and I opened the fridge.
Sebastian slid behind me, and my entire body vibrated on a frequency meant just for him. Unfair. Completely and utterly unfair to want someone so wrong for me. I stifled a groan.
“No beer left?”
Several bottles of beer were right in front of me, and he’d be able to see them from where he was standing. I grabbed the pineapple and orange juice from the fridge and gathered the ingredients for a rum swizzle as though that had been my intent all along.
“You have enough for everyone?” Sebastian tipped his head in Annika and Johnny’s direction.
I nodded, still not trusting myself to speak just yet.
“You guys want a swizzle?” Sebastian raised his voice over the noise of the game.
“Is that the girly drink you like?” Johnny called back, at ease with Sebastian in a way he wasn’t with me. Maybe Johnny just didn’t like me.
Sebastian laughed. “It’s de drink of de rock!” Sebastian adopted the Bermudian accent I’d heard so much while on vacation.
“Mmm…beer!” Johnny responded. “Make sure you get something a man would pick.” Annika’s voice wasn’t quite audible, but her admonishing tone was clear. “Okay, fine. The drink of real football fans!”
Sebastian chuckled and shook his head. I passed him the first rum swizzle while I mixed my own.
“Mmm…it’s liquid Bermy. How’d you learn to mix this?”
I half smiled while I shook the next one in the canister. “Truth?”
“Always.” He took another long gulp.
“The bartender at the Hamilton Princess had a thing for me, and I had a thing for learning how to mix this drink. I spent time with him after hours.”
Sebastian raised his eyebrows. “Is that code for something else?”
“Yes.” I grinned. “And I still learned how to make a mean cocktail.” I poured the now frothy concoction into another glass.
He gave me an appraising look across the rim. “So, not a fan of me sleeping around, but you don’t have a problem with casual sex.” He sniffed and scanned the kitchen. “What’s that I smell? Oh, yes! It would be a double standard.”
“’Cause that’s never existed in the history of man. You’re just not used to being on the other side of it.” I lifted my chin in challenge, my own glass poised between my fingers.
He laughed, and an amused smile elevated the edges of his mouth. “You may be right.”
“So, can you turn your accent off and on?”
“At this point, yeah, I can. It’s a carefully acquired skill.” His smile faded. “If football doesn’t work out, I need the lingo for a career in business on de rock. But, if I go pro, I want people to be able to understand me.”
“I understood everyone when I was on the island.”
“All the time?”
I considered the question, my mind drawn back to my vacation. “Okay, maybe not all the time.”
“Imagine being interviewed and being asked to repeat yourself over and over. I’ve been there. No one wants that.”
From the living room, Johnny and Annika’s excited voices drifted into the kitchen.
“You came here to play with Johnny?” I put the ingredients together for another swizzle.
“I did.” He drained the last of his and set his glass on the counter with a soft thud.
“What’s he like?”
“Johnny?” His expression turned to one of surprise. He examined me for a minute, trying to assess why I’d asked. “You’re wondering about Annika?”
I shrugged and shook the mixture in the container. “She’s my friend. I just want to know if I should be worried.”
He crossed his arms and focused on the fridge. “I’m not sure how to answer that.” He frowned. “He’s my ace boy. He’s a good guy.” He gave me a wry smile. “Sometimes women define good differently.”
“You mean he sleeps with a lot of women or he’s mean to them? One’s kind of gross, but the other…?”
He turned so one hand was leaning on the counter, his shoulder almost brushing mine as he took his next drink. He looked into my eyes. “Yeah, he sleeps with a lot of women. But in the last week or two, it’s been less. Does that help?”
I wasn’t sure if he was avoiding the comment about Johnny being mean to girls or he assumed I was concerned with Johnny’s sex life. My heart beat so loudly I feared he’d hear it as I tried to read him. When he came closer and ducked his head as though he might kiss me, I turned to mix another swizzle.
“I’m going to win you over.” Sebastian shifted and leaned back against the counter.
I grinned while shaking the container. “Unlikely.”
“Give me one good reason why you can’t be with me.”
“You only want one?”
“I already know you’re fine with casual sex.” He took a big gulp.
“When I’m on vacation and it’s not my real life, sure. This”—I gestured around the house—“is my everyday life.” I sighed in frustration, but I wasn’t sure if I was upset with myself or him. The thought of sleeping with him sent heat rushing to places I didn’t want to get heated. “I don’t even like football. You can find lots of girls who enjoy football and don’t mind casual sex. From what I’ve heard, you already have. You don’t need to get me just to prove you can.”
Sebastian drank in silence while I poured mine into a cup. I’d mixed it too much, and the ice was melted. Part of me wanted to grab Sebastian’s shirt and drag him to my room, but the other part of me, the more rational part, wanted to go to my bedroom alone, lock the door, and never come out. How could I get off this slippery slope with him?
“I’ll be your wing-woman.” The words tumbled out. Oh, God. Where did that suggestion come from? Insane. His proximity had turned my brain to mush. Wing-woman?
He gave me a half-appraising, amused look. “I’m not sure that’ll work.”
“Sebastian!” Johnny said from the living room. “We have practice at stupid o’clock in the morning. We gotta get out of here or we’ll be dragging our asses.”
Sebastian fished out his phone and checked the time. He grimaced. “There in a sec.” He opened his contacts, typed something into it, and passed it to me.
Nattie—Wing-woman. There was an emoji of a girl with short, dark hair in a cape. I glanced up at him, and my heart pitter-pattered in my chest. The sincerity mixed with humor I always found in his eyes would undo me. I wasn’t there yet, and if I was smart, maybe I could sidestep whatever this was.
“If you’re my wing-woman, I’m going to need a number. I may have to send out the bat signal when I can’t get a girl to sleep with me.”
I laughed in spite of myself and typed in my number, shaking my head. I passed it to him, grinning.
Before I realized what he was doing, he leaned forward and kissed my temple.
“You know what my coaches say is my best quality?” His hand lingered on my waist.
Reluctantly, I lifted my gaze from his broad chest to look into his eyes one last time. “No idea.”
“Perseverance. I’m going to persevere the hell out of you, Natti
e.” He took a step back from me and wiggled his cell. “I have your number now.”
“My superpower is blocking your calls.” I stifled a laugh.
“You wouldn’t dare. I’d have to send out a real bat signal then. Nobody wants that.” Sebastian chuckled and headed for the door, slapping Johnny on the shoulder as they both slipped into the night.
I followed behind him to stand with Annika. At the exact same time, we both sighed.
She turned to examine me. “You’re in deep.”
“Don’t I know it.” Sebastian’s wide back disappeared around the corner. “You seem happy.”
She nodded. “I am. He’s perfect for me. I can’t believe how lucky I am.” A wistful smile was on her face. I stared into the dark night and wondered how many other girls he’d be perfect for this week.
Chapter Nine
A few days later, I was glued to my phone as one more text message rolled in from Sebastian. Another random photo of a pretty girl in a superhero costume. A burst of laughter escaped me.
If you’re going to resist me, you’re going to need a hot superhero outfit. As my wing-woman, costumes are essential.
“Sebastian?” Annika asked from behind her laptop.
I wiped the grin off my face and nodded. “Yeah. Another stupid picture.” My tone was carefree, like I didn’t find the whole thing amusing.
Annika typed more and then rubbed her wrist again.
“Is your wrist sore?” I’d noticed her babying it a few times over the last couple of days, but I hadn’t remembered to ask until just now.
She frowned. “It’s a bit sore.” She shrugged as though it was no big deal.
I rose from my part of the sectional and went to sit beside her. I took her arm and examined her wrist. Yellow and blue bloomed on her brown skin. A fading bruise. “How’d that happen? Was it while you were coaching? Those little kids too rough on you?”
“Um.” She flicked her dark hair over her shoulder. “We left the bar because Johnny almost got in a fight with a guy who started grinding on me on the dance floor.”
My frown deepened. “Okay.” I took a beat to try to connect the dots. “What’s that have to do with your wrist being bruised?”
“Sebastian talked Johnny into walking away from the fight,” Annika said, as though that explained the mark.
“And…” I cocked my head.
“I’m sure he didn’t mean to, but he grabbed my wrist a little hard when we walked out of the club. He let me go as soon as I said he was hurting me, and he apologized a lot.”
I collapsed onto the couch beside her, and my brain ticked away in silence. She said I overreacted about things because of my dad’s job, so I took an extra beat. The whole episode with Johnny had gotten lost in a flurry of text messages between me and Sebastian this week. Now, remembering his face, his rage had been frightening. “That’s a pretty substantial bruise for him just leading you out of the club.”
“You’re reading into this and there’s nothing to see. I knew you’d do this, which is why I didn’t tell you.” Annika snapped her laptop shut and faced me. “It was an accident. The guy was being rude to me, and then he was really terrible to Johnny once he realized who he was. Johnny was so wound up. He didn’t mean to hurt me. He’d never hurt me.”
I was quiet for a moment, weighing the best way forward. I had to say something. “Kristy has heard rumors about his temper.”
“Kristy is a gossip. She’d believe there were leprechauns at the bottom of every rainbow if someone whispered it to her in a conspiratorial voice.”
“So, you haven’t seen his temper?” His face, contorted in rage, was burned into my brain.
Annika sighed, and her shoulders slumped. “The thing at the bar was nothing. He got carried away, heat of the moment, and he apologized. If something happens a second time, I’ll break it off.” She stared at her wrist. “Can you get me ice?”
“You’d tell me, right? If something else happened?”
“It’s not going to happen again,” Annika said as I rose to grab the ice.
My phone pinged while I was retrieving the ice from the freezer.
Accidents happened. He was a strong guy, and maybe he didn’t realize his strength. Even as I tried to talk myself around, I wasn’t convinced. I wanted to go in there and tell Annika to break it off, that no one was worth that risk.
Instead, I took the ice pack to her but said nothing more about Johnny. My phone lit up with another text from Sebastian. The giddy feeling I’d had a few minutes ago was gone.
What was I doing? I wasn’t going to become one of his conquests, and he wasn’t boyfriend material.
Switching it off, I grabbed my textbook from the kitchen table and headed for my room at the end of the hall. I left the door open in case Annika wanted to talk. With my laptop on the bed, I started making course notes while I went through the week’s readings. Sebastian and Johnny were pushed out of my mind as I got lost in political science jargon.
There was a soft knock on my doorframe.
Annika smiled, back to her bubbling and confident self. “I’m going to practice. Do you want to come?” She twirled her necklace.
“No, I have a lot of reading this week. Have fun.” I flipped a page in my textbook. “Take lots of careful notes about the shape of his ass.” An afterthought, a peace offering.
“Johnny said a few of them might go to a pub for drinks after. Did you want to come?” Annika cocked her head.
“Are you going?” Given Johnny’s rage, unsupervised drinking time with him might be a bad idea, at least until I was sure the other night was a fluke. Sebastian would likely be there, so I had to weight his presence too.
“Yeah, it’s just a couple drinks. They have practice again tomorrow morning…” Annika trailed off, but she wasn’t giving me the usual pleading look. She was comfortable enough around Johnny and the other football players, and she didn’t need me to go anymore.
“Text me where you are, and I’ll show up.”
She nodded and disappeared down the hall. The front door closed, and I stared off into the distance for a minute, unsure whether the unease in my stomach was about Johnny or Sebastian or both.
A couple hours later, I turned my phone back on and saw I’d missed five text messages from Sebastian, full of outrageous outfits, superhero memes, and fifteen minutes ago, a video of the bat signal.
Ridiculous. I wasn’t sure if I was referring to my giddy smile or the messages. Ugh. Why did he have to be so annoyingly charming?
I changed out of my sweats and searched for clothing that walked the line between trying too hard and looking good. No one needed to think I’d made an effort, and yet I was going to make an effort. If Annika was here right now, she’d laugh at me.
Jeans and a fitted T-shirt would fit the bill just fine. I grabbed my keys and headed to the pub that wasn’t far from our house.
The Irish pub had cozy booths and dark wood. The dim, intimate lighting made the place one of my favorites for a chat while drinking. Perfect for deep conversations over a pint or two. Annika and I had spent many nights there since we started college together last year.
Opening the heavy wooden door, I stood at the entry for a moment, scanning the booths and listening for familiar voices. When my phone pinged, Sebastian’s name appeared.
At the back.
I didn’t bother to respond to any of his messages, so how did he know I arrived? Wasn’t I supposed to be the one with superpowers?
I slid my phone into my pocket and wandered deeper into the pub. Annika’s laughter floated over, and my uncertainty vanished. Sebastian spotted me first, and a grin broke out across his face, lighting up the room.
There were five football players, including Sebastian and Troy, spread out around the booth. Annika was the lone girl, and she was tucked up against Johnny on the far side. He was watching her talk, and as she made a gesture with her hands, he leaned over and kissed her temple. She turned to him and rested her head o
n his shoulder, a silly sweet grin on her face.
Her hand cradled her pint glass, and now that I realized the bruise was there, it was all I could see.
Sebastian shifted and patted the seat beside him. “Wing-woman! I’ve been waiting for you.”
Annika glanced at me. “Wing-woman?” Confusion settled over her face.
“She volunteered to help me find women willing to sleep with me.” He took a drink from his pint. “She thinks my taste is questionable.”
Halfway through sipping her beer, she sputtered. “She what now?”
God, what must she be thinking? When our gazes connected, I hoped she could read my helpless expression.
“Sebastian doesn’t need to convince girls to have sex with him. They show up ready and willing all hours of the night.” Johnny’s voice was bored. He took another long pull from his drink and glanced at Sebastian. “What was the name of the girl last night? Did you get it?”
Sympathy coated Annika’s expression, and I refused to make eye contact with either Sebastian or Johnny, but then Sebastian let out a laugh tinged with annoyance.
“What are you playing at? Don’t be a dick, Johnny. There was no girl last night.”
I snuck a glance out of the corner of my eye. Was he being serious or was he hoping Johnny would play along?
“My mistake. Must have been the night before. There are so many, it’s hard to keep track.” Johnny drank his beer while scanning the bar.
Annika snatched her purse off the seat and stood up, pushing at Johnny’s knees. “Let me out.”
“Where are you going?” He made no effort to move.
“I’m not sitting here while you make my friend feel uncomfortable.” Annika gestured toward me.
When the two of them started arguing, Sebastian leaned over and whispered in my ear, “He’s in a shitty mood. There was no woman last night or the night before. Honest.”
Saving Us: A novel of love and friendship (Northern University Book 1) Page 5