Page 226 of Sebastian's Baby

“We know, darling,” Heather smiles at me. “I don’t think anyone here is his biggest fan.”

Lita makes a face, wrinkling her nose and looking adorably disgusted by Blake.

Harrison laughs and says, “Even Lita doesn’t like him, and she’s only met him a few times.”

“I won’t lie; I’m not a fan either. Was he like that when Hayden was with him before?” Ariana asks.

I remember the arguments they had during theHeart Wide Opentour when Blake was constantly accusing Hayden of cheating on him.

“Pretty much,” I tell her. “He’s an asshole, and I know that’s saying a lot, coming from me.”

“You’re not an asshole, Seb. Not like that, anyway.” Ariana shakes her head.

It’s nice to hear her say she doesn’t think I’m as much of an asshole as Soggy Flake, and I smile at her. “Thanks, Ariana. I think.”

Lita has a thoughtful look on her face, and she says, “He does seem to care about Hayden, though.”

He did backtrack when Hayden said he’d be driving six more hours tonight, which is something.

“His only redeeming feature, I can assure you,” Gabriel tells her. “Seriously. The only thing I like about him is that he does treat Hayden well when he’s not trying to piss us all off. He has a bit of a jealous streak, though, so I’m not surprised he accused you of trying to steal him.”

Me either. It’s so fucking dumb, though. Lita’s having my baby. We literally just got together, and Hayden would never do anything like that to me.

After about half an hour, Hayden and Blake come back downstairs with Blake’s luggage. He gives us a grumpy goodbye, and Gabriel goes with them to find Ethan and ask him to drive Blake back to Chicago. When they come back, there’s silence for a moment before Hayden speaks.

“I’m sorry, guys. I know you don’t like him, but I didn’t think it would go that badly.”

Heather sighs. “No,weshould apologize, Hayden. He’s your boyfriend, and regardless of how any of us may or may not feel about him, we need to accept that. I’m sorry for my part in him feeling like he should leave.”

“Hey, where was that attitude when Gabriel got back together with me?” Ariana raises an eyebrow at Heather.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about, Yoko.” Heather winks at Ariana, who laughs.

I smile as I remember the night that Heather and I were caught bitching about Ariana when I gave her the nickname ‘Yoko Ono.’ It feels like a lifetime ago, and I regret being so cruel to her now, of course.

The conversation moves on, and we decide to go for a swim in the pool. My indoor pool area is one of my pride and joys in this place. It’s totally custom, has a spa, a sauna, and a gym for working out. I also had the Cruise Control symbol tiled on the bottom of the pool, of course.

Lita has spent hours and hours in the pool over the last few weeks since she got discharged from the hospital. She says that she likes the weightless feeling of being in the water, and I like Lita wearing next to nothing when she has a swimsuit on.

Lita is talking to Hayden in the shallow end, while Ariana and Heather are in the spa, and I’m hanging out in the deep end of the pool with Gabriel and Harrison.

I smile at my friends and tell them, “I’m glad you guys came today. I’ve got a song that I want to record tomorrow.”

“Really?” Gabriel raises his eyebrows at me.

“Yeah. I’ve been working on it since we came out here after the surgery. I’ve got the click track all ready to go and everything.”

“Is it about Lita?” Harrison asks with a smile on his face.

I look over at her and Hayden, then nod at him. “It is. And the baby, too.” I grin at Gabriel. “I get why you did a whole album about Ariana now.”

“Sebastian Fox in loooove, I never thought I’d see the day,” he laughs at me.

I splash him with water, and he splashes me back. We fight for a few minutes, with me dunking him four times but him dunking me five times, and Harrison gets splashed as well, despite being an innocent bystander.

Eventually, I tell him through panting breaths, “Okay, I give up! You win!”

“I’m the champion!” He says with a grin as he catches his breath as well.

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