Page 11 of Sebastian

“Oh.” Frankie’s eyes lit up. “You mean the hot guy you accidentally gave a lap dance to.”

The screech that came out of me could have rivaled a howler monkey as I slapped Frankie with the file. Then, when that wasn’t enough, I started hitting him with every pillow I could find.

“That’s. Not. What. Happened. I. Just. Fell.”

His laughter could be heard even through the barrage of pillows. “Yeah, right onto his lap. Ride ‘em, cowboy.”

By then, I’d run out of pillows and had no choice but to try and bury myself under the couch cushions so I could die of shame. “You’re impossible. Why do I tell you anything?”

“Because my advice always works. Now, sit up and tell me. Did something else happen with Mister Not-So-Private Dick?”

Giving Frankie one more withering glare, which had no effect, I took a deep breath and rescued the file from where it had fallen to the floor. “The DNA test for the John Doe came in. Miss Constella says she’s too busy to call him, which, I guess is true. But now I’ve been asked to contact Bastian... I mean, Mr. Roth, and tell him the results.”

As he listened to my problems, Frankie twirled a piece of his hair around his finger. Unlike me, he’d grown his hair out intentionally. Dozens of shoulder length braids hung from his head. When he was working, he tied the braids back in a loose ponytail, but at home he preferred to keep them unbound. He also usually dressed in lighter colors since they contrasted with his dark skin. Altogether, it gave him a relaxed, bohemian vibe that I usually found comforting.

His patients liked him as well. They all sang his praises, and no one ever questioned Frankie about whether he was actually a physical therapist. He looked like he belonged at his job.

“Okay,” Frankie said when I’d finished unleashing my woes. “Not seeing a problem here. If anything, it sounds great. You’ve got the perfect excuse to call the guy and ask him out to dinner.”

I smacked Frankie again, with much less force this time. “I can’t do that.”

“No, you’re right. Probably better to start with coffee. Work your way up to dinner.”

“Would you be serious for a moment?” I was half tempted to throw the file across the room but stopped myself. That wouldn’t be very professional.

Not that anything I’d done since getting the file could be called professional, but I had to draw the line somewhere.

“Forget speaking face to face. How can I even call the guy after doing something so embarrassing? I’ll probably explode the moment I hear his voice.”

I regretted my choice of words the moment I noticed a spark in Frankie’s eye. The man was gearing up for another innuendo, and I quickly cut him off.

“Don’t. I can see your thoughts. Get your mind out of the gutter and help me.”

Frankie frowned for a moment, but relented, and the teasing glint in his eyes turned serious. “I don’t think it’s as bad as you’re making it out to be. You had a klutzy moment. Some guys like klutzy. They think it’s charming. I’ve even pretended to trip a few times to get a guy’s attention.”

That was a lie. Frankie never needed to try so hard to get someone’s attention. With his flawless complexion and charming personality, people easily flocked to him. However, there was no way to say such a thing without sounding bitter, so I kept the thought to myself. Usually, it didn’t bother me how much easier Frankie found the whole dating process. In the end, he’d had just as many boyfriends as I had, which was exactly none. We were both too busy with our hectic jobs to focus on much else.

The difference between us just chaffed a little after I’d made such a fool of myself in front of someone so attractive. I wished I could laugh it off as easily as Frankie did.

“No way.” I shook my head. “Some people might think klutzy is cute, but not this guy. He’s far too...”

I vaguely waved my hands in front of me, trying to capture the shape of everything that was Bastian Roth. The man had a constant air of intensity about him, even when he wasn’t doing anything, and when he looked me in the eye, I thought my organs had melted.

He was tall too, and obviously strong. I’d gotten a good feel of the muscle under his clothes when I’d fallen on him. The man could easily pick me up, hold me against the wall and...

Nope. I stopped that train of thought before it even started. Now was not the time to get distracted by hormones.

“There’s just no way. I’ll call him, tell him what he needs to know, then hang up. Two minutes. Maybe less. Then it’s done.”

I expected Frankie to argue more, but instead he sighed and stood from the couch. Confused, I watched him leave in silence, only for him to return a moment later and hand me a small piece of paper.

“All right. I didn’t want to have to do this, but I’m turning in one of my coupons.”

“What? No, you can’t do that.”

I snatched the paper from him. Handwritten on it were the words ‘Anything Coupon’. We first started exchanging these coupons back during our college days, when we were too broke to afford proper birthday or Christmas presents. We didn’t need them anymore, and mostly kept them around for the sake of nostalgia, but we still honored the promise behind them.

“We’re supposed to use these for selfish things, like making the other person do the dishes, or choosing what takeout to get for dinner.”

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