Page 64 of Release Me

“And slowly.”

She frowns, making it clear that she’s caught the note of apprehension in my tone. “Sebastian, I’m just trying to be nice. I don’t want to hurt his feelings.”

I nod like I understand what she’s saying even though I don’t give a damn about Preston’s feelings. “You don’t have to.”

“What does that mean?”

I step back and give her a grin that can only be described as devilish. “ It means, I’ll hurt his feelings for you.”

“Sebastian!” She calls out, her tone filled with admonishment that rings in my ears as I stride through Zoe’s salon and out the front door to find Preston leaning against the passenger door of his car with his hands in his pocket and a smile on his face that disintegrates the second he sees me.

“What are you doing here?” he asks, pushing off the car to meet me on the sidewalk. I’m several inches taller than him, so he has to look up at me, which seems to only piss him off more.

I glance down at his empty hands and cock my head to the side. “You didn’t even bring her flowers?”

“The fuck are you doing here, Adler?” He attempts to look around me, but I move with him, blocking his view because I don’t know where Nadia is and I don’t want to risk him seeing her. “Where’s Nadia?”

“She’s unavailable. I came out here to tell you that she won’t be able to make it tonight or any other night because she’s no longer interested.”

“Bullshit! When I called her on Thursday to ask her out, she was excited.”

Doubt flickers in his eyes, making me think those weren’t Nadia’s exact words. She was probably just being polite again, trying to avoid hurting his feelings while using this date with him to hide from her feelings for me.

“She changed her mind.”

And I made sure of it, which had been my intention all along. When Zoe called Dad about needing the generator turned on, I was sitting next to him on the couch listening to every word. I wasn’t trying to eavesdrop, but the moment I heard Nadia’s name in the same sentence as the word ‘date’ I tuned out the game we were watching and tuned in to the conversation. Nadia hadn’t even told me she’d solidified her dinner plans with Preston, probably because she knew that would be the final straw for me, the thing that would make me throw caution to the wind and act on the feelings I’ve been keeping at bay for her comfort.

I know now that it wasn’t her comfort I should have been worried about. In fact, it was the space I was giving her in the name of comfort that was causing the true issue between us. Making her believe that the man I am to her and the things I do for her are the result of some inherent kindness I give to everyone in my life instead of a quiet demonstration of the love I have for her.

I won’t be quiet about it anymore, though. Once I’m done with Preston, I’m going to make it my mission to spend every day loving Nadia out loud, to spend every day showing her that no one owns the parts of me that she does.

Preston scoffs. “She doesn’t get to change her mind.”

“Excuse me?”

“You heard me, Adler.”

“No.” I shake my head, a dangerously deceptive calm coating my words. “I don’t think I did.”

There’s a part of me that hopes he won’t repeat himself because I don’t want to turn my sister’s salon into a crime scene, but there’s another part of me—the one with a short fuse that becomes nonexistent where Nadia is concerned—that wants to know what his skull will sound like when it hits the sidewalk.

Preston, being the idiot that he is, decides to provoke my less rational side, looking me square in my eyes as he repeats himself. “I said, she doesn’t get to change her mind. I’ve invested too much time and money playing this little game of cat and mouse with her, and tonight, I plan on getting a return on that investment, so go in there and get her.”

“I’m right here, Preston.”

We both turn toward the sound of Nadia’s voice. Her heels click on the sidewalk as she moves over to us. My heart swells with pride and satisfaction when she stops beside me, making us a united, and extremely pissed off, front.

She crosses her arms and pins him with a hard stare. “Now what were you saying about a return on your investment?”

“No…I…it wasn’t—” Preston stammers, and Nadia and I share a look that’s confusion, humor and anger all wrapped in one.

I crack my knuckles, preparing for the inevitable moment when I have to punch him in the face, and sigh. “Don’t lie to her, Fredricks. If you’re going to be a disrespectful piece of shit, at least have the decency to be an honest one.”

He ignores me, angling his body towards Nadia, which is a mistake because she looks like she wants to hit him too. Maybe I’ll let her.

“Nadia, please. I didn’t mean it that way.”

She purses her lips. “I don’t really think there’s another way you could have meant it, Preston. Did you honestly think this date was going to be an extension of the time we spent together at Ludus?”

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