Page 21 of Sebastian's Baby

“Fine. You don’t have to pick anyone up except me to go to Club Delirium.”

Hayden laughs again. “Okay, okay. Want me to bring a pizza with me?”

“If it’s not from Giovanni’s, I won’t eat it,” I warn him.

I know my hometown is known for its deep-dish pizzas, but I’d rather starve than eat those. Giovanni’s is the best place in all of Chicago for Italian food or pizza.

“As if I’d have considered getting anything else.”

We say goodbye, and I switch into the text app to see Heather’s reply.

Sorry, I have a headache. Maybe tomorrow. Did you not get enough last night, though?

Apparently not, since I fucked Lita again this morning.

This thought reminds me of everything that happened, and I curse loudly. I’m so annoyed because if that condom hadn’t broken, I could’ve—I don’t know what I could’ve done. Had an enjoyable morning before sending Lita off on a plane to…wherever she lives, I suppose.

I type out a response to Heather.

There’s no such thing as too much sex. Shame about your headache. I’ll look forward to tomorrow.

Tomorrow never comes. Heather is married to Harrison, and we’re just joking. It’s been this way for our entire friendship. She’s one of my best friends, and since the media has decided we’re having an affair, it’s made our joke even funnier. Neither of us would ever do that to Harrison, but the paparazzi insist on printing shit about us just because we’re pictured together all the time.

I smile at my phone when I see her reply.

Well, get your sex tonight and come have dinner with me tomorrow. Deal?

I send her a text to say that I’ll go to dinner with her, then lock my phone and slip it into my pocket. I’m sitting on my sofa playing a video game when the smell of pizza precedes Jesse Howell, Hayden’s bodyguard, escorting him over to me.

“Call of Duty?” Hayden asks as he sets the pizza down on my coffee table.

“Yup. You want to play?”

“Sure.”

We play the game while we eat pizza and drink whisky. We’ve just finished our third game when Hayden brings up Lita.

“So, how did it go with Lita last night?”

I don’t appreciate the reminder because it brings back memories of her smile and her melodic laugh. I push them away, then drop the controller on the table and pick up my tumbler of whisky to drain it before I head to the bar for a refill.

“Since when do you ask me about my hookups?” I ask with my back turned so he can’t see my face.

“I don’t know. It just seemed like you two hit it off, that’s all.”

I pour too much whisky into my glass, then set the bottle aside and take a big swig before I turn around to head back to the sofa.

“I’m not sure what you mean. I’ve fucked plenty of Italian women, and that’s about all we had in common.” I shrug my shoulders.

He looks at me with a frown on his face but doesn’t say anything.

I sigh loudly and say, “Go on. Say whatever it is you’re going to say.”

“I wasn’t going to say anything.” He shakes his head.

“Yes, you were.” I raise an eyebrow at him.

I’m frustrated that he even brought Lita up at all. I’m trying my best to forget her.

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