Page 60 of After Midnight

It’s a video call from Riley.

She probably wants to know how my date went last night. But I don’t want to wake Seb up. So I deny the call, slather some jam onto my bagel when it pops, then carry my second cup of coffee, cell phone, and bagel out to the porch. After getting settled back into my armchair, I call Riley back. She answers on the second ring.

“So?” She’s sitting in the kitchen at home, eating another yogurt cup. I swear, she’s going to turn into a cup of yogurt if she keeps eating those things. “How’d it go?”

I take a bite of my bagel, chewing thoughtfully for a moment, because I know it’ll drive her crazy having to wait for my answer. And sure enough, an irritated furrow appears in her brow as she waits for me to swallow.

“Good,” I finally say.

Riley’s blue eyes narrow. “Good? That’s it? That’s all you’re going to tell me?”

I sip my coffee and smile at her. “We ate tacos and drank beer. It was good.”

Riley stares at me for a minute, and I start to get the feeling that she’s assessing me and finding truths written on my face that I’d really rather not say out loud.

“Is he still there?” She asks it so blatantly, it makes my throat go tight.

For a moment, I picture him sprawled out on my bed, his skin glowing golden in the morning sunlight, his head nestled comfortably into my pillow—like he belongs here. Like my bed is his bed.

And that’s a dangerous, dangerous feeling. So I try to shove it down where I don’t have to look at it.

I draw a breath, prepared to tell her that no, he’s not here. But then the sliding glass door opens behind me. On the phone screen, Riley’s gaze flicks up, and her mouth falls open, a little smudge of yogurt clinging to her bottom lip.

Slowly, I turn.

Sebastian stands in the doorway, hands braced against the doorframe in a way that makes his chest and biceps look way too good at this time of morning. He’s wearing nothing but his jeans, and they cling to his hips, accentuating the V of muscle leading down—

“Morning, beautiful.” His voice is still rough with sleep.

And it makes Riley squeak.

Sebastian’s gaze shifts, like he’s just now realizing my teenage sister on the video call. But instead of acting annoyed or embarrassed, he immediately smiles at her and lifts a hand from the doorframe to wave at the screen. “Hey.”

“Oh. My. God.” Riley puts a hand to her chest. “You’re really him.”

Sebastian looks confused for a second. “Really who?”

Before Riley can respond, I turn in my armchair so she and Seb can’t see each other anymore.

“I’ve gotta go,” I tell her.

Immediately, she opens her mouth to protest, yogurt still smudged on her lip, but I don’t let her get a word in.

“I’ll talk to you later. Love you.” I blow a kiss at the camera, then end the call just as Riley starts to argue.

The screen goes dark, and I turn to look up at Sebastian as I put my cell down on the low patio table. He’s still smiling, still looking like his own little ray of Cali sunshine.

“Good morning,” I say back. “Want some coffee?”

“I’ll get it,” he says, then steps forward to press a kiss to my forehead. It’s so delicate and tender, I go frozen for a second, and I’ve barely thawed by the time Sebastian returns to the porch, closing the sliding door behind him before sinking into the armchair across from mine. He’s still shirtless, and he casts his gaze out over the big desert sky as he takes his first sip of coffee.

I was attracted to him the moment I laid eyes on him in Club Caliber, but this is different. With him reclining easily in the chair, skin shining in the morning light as he slowly drinks his first coffee of the day, he looks like someone who might actually fit here—not just in my chair or in my condo, but in my life. And the thought fucking terrifies me.

“What’s that?” he asks, pointing out over the patio railing.

I cast my gaze that way, not seeing anything. “What?”

Sebastian just laughs, and when I turn back to him, he’s snatched the second half of my bagel off my plate and is sinking his teeth into it, smiling at me around the blueberry jam.