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“I think…” I paused, trying to find the right words. “I think it makes sense. You lost everything, and then your grandmother kicked you when you were down. Getting the inheritance must have felt like she was trying to buy your forgiveness from beyond the grave.”
“It felt like a slap in the face,” he said, voice edged with venom. “It felt like she’d only willed it to me to send a message to my mother, to punish her for never coming back to New Elwood.”
My heart was heavy with the old, layered pain Sebastian had shared. I’d judged him so harshly for being money-hungry, for wanting to tear my town apart. But inside, he was a hurt little boy who felt the sting of rejection and the fear of losing everything.
I knew what that was like. I’d lost everything over and over again when I went through the foster system. I lost my parents months apart from each other. I lived with the fear that I’d be found out, that one day my friends and community would decide that actually, I didn’t belong. One day they’d turn their backs on me just like my biological parents did, just like all those foster families and earlier guardians. It was the kind of fear that burrowed deep in your heart, that made you lash out just to protect yourself.
Sebastian had lived that loss, just like I had. And then he’d been kicked when he and his family were at their lowest.
“I’m so sorry, Sebastian,” I said.
His arms tightened around me. “It was a long time ago. I’m sorry I barged in and threatened everything you love.”
I searched his eyes. “Does that mean you’ll reconsider demolishing the house?”
“I…” He sighed. “I don’t know, Charlie. It’s falling apart. Besides…”
“Besides?” I prompted.
He shook his head, his jaw growing tight for a moment. “Never mind.”
I frowned. It sounded like he was holding something back, but I didn’t feel like it was my place to push, after everything he’d shared.
So I went for some light humor. “Well I’m not moving out a day early,” I told him, painting a stern expression on my face. “I have six months to change your mind.”
And if I couldn’t change his mind, I could still block him when the demolition permit application finally came across my desk. There were some perks to being the chief historical preservation officer in this town.
Softness entered his expression, and he leaned forward to press a kiss to my forehead. “Okay, sweetheart,” he said. This time, the pet name didn’t sound teasing or mocking. It sounded tender.
When he kissed me, I felt the trembling in his fingers as he slid them across my cheek. I sensed the pounding of his heart as he pulled me closer. I knew that in this beautiful apartment so far from home, we’d both decided to take a giant step toward each other.
And as the kiss deepened, it felt like the absolute right decision to make. Sebastian’s hands clung to me, touching me like he needed to feel my body to live. He slid one hand down to palm my ass, and I rolled my hips into him.
He was hard. His erection pressed against my stomach as I plastered myself against him, and I loved that he wanted me this much. I loved that he’d told me the truth about his past, that I understood him that much better now. I loved that he’d taken me here, to this city, to this apartment, and that now we were alone.
“Charlie,” he said, moving to kiss my jaw, my neck. “I can’t get enough of you.”
“That makes two of us,” I replied, laughing, breathless.
He kissed me again, harder, his hand tunneling into my hair and causing my bun to fall apart. I reached between us and undid his belt and zipper as Sebastian groaned, his tongue sliding over mine.
And when I pushed his pants and underwear down to the ground, we both paused, panting, to look down at his already weeping cock.
My fingers curled around it of their own accord. The sound that tore through Sebastian’s throat at the first touch of my skin against his made my heart jump. I wanted him to make it again. I wanted to make him fall apart.
Sliding my fist up and down his cock, I glanced up at his half-lidded eyes and let the corner of my lips kick.
“You’ll be the death of me, Charlie.”
“That would be unfortunate. I’m just starting to actually like you.”
He huffed a laugh, then sucked in a hard breath when I dropped to my knees in front of him. I took him in both hands, studying the little bead of moisture at the tip of his cock. When my tongue darted out to lick it, Sebastian’s hand shot out to grip the back of my head.
“I wasn’t serious, before,” he said, voice strained. “You don’t have to…”
I slid my hands up and down his shaft a few times and looked up at him. “I think you were very serious before, Mr. Anderson. I think you have been dying to have my mouth on your cock.”
His breathing was labored, and the hand fisted in my hair twitched. His eyes were dark as they stared down at me, wildness painted over his features. “Suck my cock, Reeves. Wrap those pretty lips around my dick and let me see how good your mouth really feels.”
