Page 93 of Kneeling for Them
I can’t lie to him, although a dozen tempting excuses flit through my mind.
“Because…I want to ask her to look into something else for me.”
He’s quiet for a long moment.He can guess exactly what I’m saying, what I want Lin to look into.“Sebastian would never agree to that.”
“I know.That’s why I’m not asking him.”
“Fuck.”He clears his throat.“Look, Ella, maybe you shouldn’t get involved…”
“Not getting involved hasn’t worked for you, or for Sebastian, has it?”
Quiet again.Did he hang up on me?Maybe I shouldn’t be snarky, but…well, I shouldn’t be snarky.
“I’m sorry,” I say.
“No, you’re right.”After sighing quietly, he says, “Go ahead.But this could backfire, baby girl.”
“I’ll be careful.”
“Treadverycarefully.Bash has gone seven years without dealing with any of this.Fuck.I wish I wasn’t so busy with work.”
I grip my phone more tightly.“I wish the same.”
“Call me if you need anything.I’ll try to answer.”
“Okay.Thanks.”Why do I feel abandoned?He wishes he had more time, too.And it wasn’t like I called him to ask for help—hell, I wasn’t even going to tell him that I was looking into this.So it’s not like I need him.
Well, I love him.I wish he could be a partner in this, in my attempt to save Sebastian from his own damn stubbornness.It’s not crazy or weird to resent his job right now.
“I have to go now,” he says.“It’s another long day at the office.”
Long day?It’s almost nine p.m.But I push my snotty attitude away, because I’m not being fair.“All right.I’ll talk to you later.”
“I love you, Ella.”
“I love you, too.”
We hang up.Before I can take the time to overthink any of it, I tap the button of the new contact Kingston sent me.A female voice answers almost immediately.
“Hi, Lin,” I say.“My name is Ella.You recently did me a huge favor….”
Twenty-Two
Sebastian
Ella texts me the following morning, asking if I’ll meet her at the practice room at the university.I have a song I want to play for you, she writes.
Be right there.
I get showered and dressed in record time, and then I’m standing outside the practice room, my hand hovering over the door because she’s singing playing and I don’t want to interrupt.But I feel like an asshole standing out here without announcing myself, and she did invite me, after all.So I try the doorknob and, finding that it’s unlocked, I let myself in.
“Hey,” she says, turning on the bench to face me.
“Keep playing,” I say.“I’m here for support, not to interrupt you.”
“It’s not an interruption at all.”She grins.“Did you hear any of it so far?”
“Yeah,” I say.“It’s beautiful, Ella.I couldn’t hear the lyrics from outside, though.”
