Page 151 of Sebastian's Baby

The DJ invites everyone else to join us on the dance floor, and I lead Charlotte over to when they’re sitting and say, “Hi, Tim, I have a dance partner for you, and I believe that this wonderful woman promised to dance with me.”

“That I did,” Lita says with a bright smile at me.

I take her hand in mine as I lead her to the dance floor. I wrap my arms around her, and we sway together in time to the music. Everything is so perfect now that she’s in my arms again.

“I’m going to miss you when you go back to Seattle, you know,” I tell her.

Lita sighs and looks up at me. “I’m sure you’ll find someone to take my place in your bed quite easily.”

I frown at her, because I wasn’t going to have this conversation here and now. I don’t like that she is so matter-of-fact when she talks about me sleeping with someone else. Not that I am. But I wanted to have this conversation at the right time, and I’m not sure that now is that time.

“You’re always so casually cruel to me. You know I prefer you.”

“I’m just being honest. I think that the time and space apart will be good for us. Clearly, I have trouble following the ground rules when you’re around.”

I laugh because I like that she is so attracted to me that she struggles to follow her new rule of us not sleeping together, and I pull her even tighter against me before offering, “Yes, you do seem to. Want to break some more before you go, though?”

“I don’t think that’s a good idea. Should we stop dancing instead?” Lita asks with another beautiful smile at me.

“Okay, okay, I’ll be good.” I sigh because I want her to know the truth, and a part of me is scared of doing this. “I do have to tell you something, though.”

“What?”

“I could fuck a thousand other women, and I would still be in love with you. I know you don’t want me to say it, but it’s true.”

We’ve stopped dancing and she looks up at me. I want to say more, but I don’t because I can see her expression close over before she looks away from me. I’m reminded of her reaction on the plane. She couldn’t look at me then, either. I feel as though I should be more prepared for what she has to say, but I’m not.

She wipes tears from her eyes and says, “I can’t love you like that, Seb. Please, don’t put this on me. I’ve told you where I stand, and you say that you know, but you keep telling me shit like this.”

I can barely breathe through the pain. All of my grand plans of telling her I don’t want to sleep with anyone else. My thoughts of finding some way for us to have a life together. They seem stupid in the face of her telling me this again. I thought that maybe it would be enough of a foundation for us to build something, but it’s not. I hate myself for even trying. I should’ve known what the outcome would be.

I drop my arms from around her waist, then turn and stride back to the bridal table without saying another word. By the time I’m back in my seat, Heather is ushering Lita away from the dance floor with Ariana following them, and quite a few guests are watching the show.

“What the hell happened?” Harrison asks with a frown on his face as he and Gabriel come to sit down with me.

“Just another reminder that Lita can’t love me like that,” I mutter under my breath. Then I say in a normal tone, “Nothing. I don’t want to talk about it.”

I pick up the glass of champagne that’s in front of me and drain it. I want something harder, though. So I stand and walk away from the bridal table, then go to the bar and get a glass of whisky.

I take my glass back to the bridal table and sit in silence as I drink it. Hayden is back, and I don’t know what Gabriel and Harrison told him, but none of my friends try to get me to talk.

The wedding planner comes up to speak to Gabriel with a smile on her face. “It’s time for the speeches. Where’s Ariana?”

He glances at me with a frown on his face, then says, “I’ll go get her.”

He heads off in the direction that Heather and Ariana went with Lita and comes back a few minutes later with all three women.

I watch Lita return to her seat, and I’m sure that my heart has splintered into a million pieces. The pain in my chest is so bad that I don’t think I can stand it, and she looks over at me a few times but quickly looks away again.

Harrison and Heather have both made speeches before the microphone is passed to me, and I catch Lita’s eye as I stand and consider what to say.

“What can I say about Gabriel and Ariana? When I first met Perfect Gabriel, all the girls I knew were in love with him.”

I can’t help but grin at Gabriel, and he laughs at our old joke.

“From the moment he met Ariana, though, she was all he talked about. It’s been nice to see them grow together as a couple; they went through some really hard times, but they’ve come out of them happier than ever.”

Lucky them.

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