Page 28 of The Boy Who Loved Wicked
He came around and hauled me into a hug. “Do I need to be concerned about Mason Jones?” he asked into my ear.
“How do you know his name?” Mason didn’t have a class with him. Sebastian waited for my answer, giving nothing away. I could imagine him typing furiously on his computer, accessing the student photo database, going through hundreds of pictures until he came across Mason’s. The thought spread warmth through my body.
“I won’t share you.”
“You won’t?” I poorly concealed the smile in my words.
“Never. It’s not something I’ll budge on.” He pressed a possessive hand against my throat, and I slanted my head so he could take a firmer hold. “You can walk away from this whenever you want, but while I have you, you’re mine.”
“We’re friends. I made it clear to him.”
“Good.” He eyed me with curiosity. “Do you like me holding you like this?” He pulsed his fingers on my throat. I swallowed around it.
“I think so.” And then decisively, I said, “Yes.”
He hugged me again, pressing his lips to the side of my head. “Let’s go to bed.”
We didn’t do more than kiss, but I was beginning to think kissing was underrated. His lips took mine and never let go, keeping me at the edge of a cliff until the sun rose and I was granted permission to plummet back to earth.
Chapter 10
Phoenix
“Love is a serious mental illness.”
~Plato
“Ithought you weren’t into girls?”
“Crap!” I fell out of my desk chair, the binoculars flew into the air and landed on the floor next to me. Danny leaned in my doorway wearing ayou’rebustedsmirk and tight leather pants. “Haven’t you heard of knocking?”
“I never knock. And that’s the third time I’ve caught you watching her.” He swiped the binoculars off the floor and took my now vacated seat, ignoring my glower. “She is hot,” he whistled.
“Give me those before you’re noticed.” I snatched them. “You’re about as subtle as a brick to the face.”
He twirled in the chair, following my retreat to the closet. “Why so interested in her? Who is she anyway?”
Theory entered the room then, dropping her bag on my bed and pulling a tight top out of it. “Whichsheare you talking about?”
“Phoenix has been stalking his neighbor lady,” he teased.
“Grow up, Danny. I have not.” I put my coat on as Theory went over to the window to investigate. Danny so helpfully handed her the “spy glass” as he called them. It’d been over a week since the first sighting of Emily reading Sebatian’s journal, and I’d fallen into an obsessive habit of watching her. As cold as it was, she always read on the back patio.
“That’s Mr. Wicked’s house,” Theory muttered, losing interest.
“Mr. who?” Danny asked, but she’d already taken her shirt and slipped into the bathroom, and I wasn’t answering his question. The less I said the less suspicions would be raised. I distracted him with a topic change and minutes later we were on our way to school.
Sebastian’s temporary home was on a hill and sat off alone. I couldn’t resist forcing him out back with me on an unseasonably warm Saturday.
“What are we doing, Phoenix?” He eyed me lying on the grass dotted with autumn leaves.
I patted the area above my head in answer to his question. “Head to head,” I instructed. With a put out sigh, one that didn’t hide a sliver of a smirk, he moved behind me. I didn’t have to see him stretch out to picture it. He’d squat, then slowly lengthen one leg with a hand thrown behind him. He’d softly sit before stretching the other leg. I grinned at the sound of him dusting off his hands.
“I’m glad to see I amuse you, Mr. Michaelson. I’ll be happy once you tell me what this is all about.”
“Are you lying down yet?”
“Yes,” he said indulgently.
