Page 213 of Sebastian's Baby

Our conversation is interrupted again, and I’m grateful for the distraction when Lita announces, “You’re some kind of miracle-worker, Heather. I’ve never had pants that made my ass look this good even before I was pregnant.”

“She lies,” I say with a grin on my face. “She was wearing a pair of jeans that made her ass look fantastic the night I met her. I spent a good portion of that night admiring the view.”

Lita doesn’t respond, and I’m reminded of that first night together. I think that I probably started falling for her from the start. She was the first woman that affected me. More than Heather ever did, if I’m honest.

I’m staring at her as I come to the realization that I can’t live without her and am simultaneously feeling my heart shattering. I don’t know what to do about this, so I fall into my default course of action. Flirt like hell.

“Preferisco di gran lunga la vista del tuo culo quando sei nudo di fronte a me, però.”

Lita blushes, and Heather narrows her eyes at me. “I don’t know what you said, but I do know that you seem to be distracting my model. Watch yourself, or you can go hang out in my office or in the reception area with the bodyguards.”

I laugh, and Heather walks over to Lita, then starts pinning the top for alteration. Heather asks her something, and Lita shakes her head in response. I bet she wants to know what I said to her. Oh, I know how to make this afternoon a lot more fun.

Lita tries on the remainder of the clothes. She looks amazing in them, and I keep flirting with her in Italian. Lita blushes every time I do, which is deeply satisfying. I make sure not to do it too often, though, so Heather can’t send me away.

Heather mostly stands over near the change room and doesn’t say much to me after our conversation. She’s right that it’s weird having boundaries between us, but I probably should have put some in place with her years ago. Or she should have done it with me.

“Okay, well, I’ll fix up these clothes and bring them around to you,” Heather tells Lita when she’s finished trying on all the different outfits.

“Thanks, Heather, this is so amazing. I can’t thank you enough.”

We pack up the clothes that Lita is taking back to the apartment, and I say, “You should put the green dress back on, Lita. Just, you know, to promote Heather’s brand when we’re leaving and having our photographs taken, of course.”

“Well, how very thoughtful of you to care about my business like that,” Heather smirks at me.

I know that she knows exactly why I think Lita should wear the green dress, but the temptation to provoke Heather is too strong.

“You’re welcome. It’s absolutely for that reason and not because I want to fuck the shit out of Lita because she looks so good in it.”

“I thought you two weren’t…never mind. I’m not saying a word.” Heather frowns at me.

I sigh. It’s time for us to have a discussion that’s not interrupted by Lita every few minutes. I’ve been avoiding it for too long.

“Can we go to your office? I need to talk to you.”

“What about Lita?” Heather asks.

“Do you mind if I just take a minute, princess?” I ask, knowing that she’ll agree.

“That’s fine; I’ll wait here,” Lita says.

If there’s one thing I’ve learned about Lita, it’s that she will speak her mind, but she also hates confrontation. Heather just shrugs and leads the way to her office. We get there, and Heather sits on a sofa in the corner of the room. She indicates to me that I should sit next to her.

“What do you want to talk about?”

I want to tell her everything. That I’ve loved her since I was fifteen, that I love Lita more than I ever loved her, but that I’ll still always love her. I want to tell her that I haven’t been sleeping with random women when I’ve been going out. I want to tell her that my heart has been ripped out and stomped on by both her and Lita many times over. But I don’t.

“I figured that we should finish our conversation from earlier,” I say instead.

“Okay, well, it hurts that you don’t want to talk to me about this. Why don’t you want to talk to me about it?”

Trust Heather to start with the one question that I won’t answer with complete honesty. I need to reply to this skillfully because she’ll see through any lies. Luckily, I have years of practice at this.

“It’s too painful to talk about, and the few times that you’ve gotten involved, everything’s gotten worse between us. I love you, Heather, I do. You’re closer to me than a sister, and we’ve been through shitloads together.

“What I’m going through with Lita is harder than anything else I’ve been through, though, and your last little stunt has taken away a source of comfort for us both during this shitty time.”

Heather frowns as she says, “That’s not fair, Seb. I didn’t know what would happen, and we were just talking about it. She told me that she’d slept with you, but repeated that she didn’t want to be in a relationship with you. I can see that she’s hurting you, and it’s not fair for her to keep doing that to you.”

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