Page 53 of The Seascape Between Us

Chapter Twenty-Two

Grey

“God, I’m exhausted,” I said, collapsing onto the sofa. Daniel shrugged off his jacket and dropped onto the couch beside me.

“Dinner was great,” he said. “Thank you for taking me.”

“You don’t have to thank me. I just like being with you.” Dinner had probably been delicious, but I hadn't notice. The steak had tasted like sand in my mouth.

I’d screwed up. It was obvious, and I should have known better from the start. I’d wanted to spoil Daniel, give him something he never would have given himself, and maybe show off a little. But all I’d really done was make him feel self-conscious and uncomfortable.

Then, to make everything a hundred times worse, Jack Warner, of all people, had to turn up. Tonight felt doomed from the start.

Jack and I had done plenty of business together—and we’d hooked up more than a few times over the years. Both of us weretoo busy for anything long-term—with each other or anyone else—and neither of us wanted anything more from each other. It had been convenient, but it had never been anything more than sex and work. Hell, I hadn’t seen him in months, and out of sight, out of mind.

Daniel sighed, leaning back into the sofa, his eyes heavy, as though he struggled to keep them open. “Your couch is comfortable. I could fall asleep right here.”

“If you think my couch is something, wait until you’re in my bed.” I waggled my eyebrows at him, and he huffed out a laugh.

“Actually, I’m thinking about getting a new sofa. I let Finn’s kid eat Chinese food on it months ago, and I’m still finding fried rice no matter how many times it has been vacuumed.”

“Do you think you’d ever want kids?” he asked, and warmth spread through my chest. Kids weren’t a topic you brought up with someone in a casual, no-strings arrangement.

“I don’t know,” I told him honestly. “I’m notagainstkids, but I wonder if maybe I’m a little too long in the tooth for it at this point.”

“We’re almost the same age. You’re notquiteover the hill yet.”

“Maybe not, but for now, I get to be uncle to Will, which means I let him eat Chinese food while playing video games, even at the inevitable cost of my own sofa, and I always buy the noisiest toys at Christmas. I got him a drum set this year.”

Daniel was smiling now, genuinely, maybe for the first time all night, but his expression clouded. “You weren’t there—with them, with us—this past Christmas.”

“I sent along my gift before high-tailing it to Jamaica for two weeks of fun in the sun.” I’d found out after that Finn had spent the holidays with Daniel. It wasn’t a shock. Alistair had wanted to spend the day with his former roommates, and one of them was dating Brody, who brought Daniel along. Still, it had felt disconcerting knowing Finn had spent Christmas with my ex—like watching two separate worlds collide. I’d been relieved that I’d been out of the country at the time.

Now, it just felt like more time Daniel and I could have talked and been together, more time wasted because of my father’s lies.

“With Jack?”

I shook my head. “Not with Jack.”

“But someone.”

“Yes, with someone I’d been seeing at the time, but not since we got back.” Kevin had been far more interested in my money—and everything it could buy—than in me. Unlike Daniel, who looked like I kicked his favorite puppy anytime I tried to pay for something.

“So look,” I said carefully. “I know tonight wasn’t great.”

Daniel shook his head. “I had a good time.”

I shot him a wry smile because I knew he was full of shit.

“I’m sorry if I ruined it,” he said quickly. “You went through a lot of trouble, and I—”

Turning toward him, I cupped his face gently in my hands and cut him off by pressing my mouth to his. I kissed him hard and hungrily, and he leaned closer, the tension in his body slowly melting away.

I eased back a little, but stayed close enough that I could feel his breath whispering across my jaw. “You didn’t ruinanything. You were perfect.”

He snorted. “We both know that’s not true.”

“We don’t, actually.” And I’d prove that to him later, but for now, I needed to find a way back to where we’d been in The Square. Since coming here, I’d felt him pulling away from me. In The Square, we were so natural with each other, in sync. But almost from the moment we arrived in Portland and I brought him here, I felt him withdrawing. With each passing moment, he grew quieter and more introspective. He was shutting down, and that was the complete opposite of what I wanted.

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