Page 149 of Please Save Me

Cameron

I methodically worked, finishing taking the last of the Halloween decorations off of theHoliday Tree.Sophia had wanted me to swap the orange lights on the tree for the clear ones in the attic, but I couldn’t find them in the mess of boxes and cobwebs.Besides, the tree wasn’t my focus tonight.

By the end of our festivities, I’d make sure that Mason knew, without a shadow of a doubt, that Sebastian would be a far better husband for her than Lucianever could be.

Normally, with something like this, I’d prefer to have Sophia involved, but I didn’t want this to get back to Lucian. Don’t get me wrong, I loved Lucian, but I wasn’t sure I liked himwithMason. Not anymore. His behavior was just too erratic to be with someone as soft as Mason.

The house was quiet other than the soft Christmas music playing in the background. Lucian had forbidden premature Christmas decorations, but Sophia said all bets were off with the songs.

She and I were the only adults dressed in our slightly horrific turkey pajamas. Everyone else still had to get ready.

Sophia glided out of the kitchen with a golden platter in her hands. Normally, I baked the goodies for our little holiday traditions, but this time, she wanted totry out a local bakery. Still, that didn’t stop her from trying to pass them off as hers, even if we all knew she’d somehow burn water if given the opportunity.

She sat the tray on the coffee table, and I noted the Pilgrim hat-shaped cookies and the Pumpkin cake pops.

“You must’ve been slaving awayall day,” I teased, placing my hands on her hips.

Her laugh came easy as I buried my face in her blonde hair. I was so distracted by kissing her neck that I didn’t notice Sebastian coming down the steps until he was right beside us.

He awkwardly cleared his throat, shifting his weight from one foot to the other as he pushed up his glasses.

We’d been slowly incorporating him into our madness, but this was the first time he’d gotten roped into matching pajamas. This had to be the first time I’d seen him in somethingnottailored to fit him.

The brown shirt clenched his biceps and stretched across his chest, distorting the turkey on the front while the autumn-colored plaid pants hung from his hips.

I pulled back from Sophia and gave him one more once over, this time taking my time so he knew I was checking him out.

“You look good.” I smiled.

His shoulders tensed, and he looked away before mumbling, “Thank you.”

“No! He’s right!” Sophia chirped before walking closer. Her hand landed on the muscle of Sebastian’s arm before squeezing him. “You lookhot. Like a Superhero in jammies.”

Something in her comment made him perk up a little. His posture straightened as a shy smile crossed his lips.

“Thank you, Sophia. You look…hotas well.” Sebastian’s tone was jarringly formal.

Sophia giggled as she played with her hair. She was laying it onthick, but I was glad I wasn’t the only one slightly bewitched by Sebastian.

“Make yourself comfortable. The cookies are lactose-free, so you should be safe to eat them,” she added with a wink before heading back to the kitchen.

My brows inched toward my hairline. I’d never bothered to consider if Sebastian had allergies. But I wasn’t really surprised. Everything else about him was so damn nerdy it just madesense.

His eyes widened slightly. “Thank you, Sophia. That’s rather considerate.”

“You’re welcome!” she called from the next room.

“You seem tense,” I commented, stepping a little closer. “Is everything alright?”

Sebastian reached for my hand the second I was in range, and I noticed a subtle shake in his hands.

“I, well, I’ve celebrated every holiday alone since I started working at sixteen. So this is all alittlebizarre to me.” His admission was soft as his thumb ran over my knuckles.

But that didn’t seem right. “Didn’t ya have a boyfriend?”

He nodded. “Alex never introduced me to his family, and now that I think of it, I’m fairly certain he was embarrassed of me.”

“What about your family?” I knew the Castillos were weird, but Lucian said Seb was their golden boy.

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